万花筒 2009-03-05&03-06 娱乐新闻串烧

Britney Spears is kicking off her first tour in five years promoting her latest hit album Circus before an adoring hometown audience with jugglers, acrobats¹, rings of flame and lip syncing(1). The pop star is in the process of a major comeback after a high-profile meltdown that included stints² in psychiatric care, an ugly divorce, shaving her head and partying without panties. The Circus-theme tour makes stops in 44 cities.

 

U2 just released its first album since 2004 this week. But the Irish rock band is already planning a quickie follow-up next year. Lead singer Bono says the new disc will be called Songs of Ascent³ and will be more mellow⁴ than the current album.

 

Ex-Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are reportedly said to perform together at a charity concert next month. Sir Paul will headline the event that will take place at Radio City Music Hall.

 

Horror flick⁵ fans will get a chance to own the score(2) to Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho. The 20-page document is being auctioned⁶ later this month and includes the shrieking⁷ violin notes to the film's famous shower scene.

 

In Los Angeles, I'm John Russell for Reuters.

 

1 acrobats   

n.杂技演员( acrobat的名词复数 )；立场观点善变的人，主张、政见等变化无常的人

参考例句：

• I was always fascinated by the acrobats at the circus. 我总是着迷于马戏团里的杂技演员。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The acrobats' performance drew forth applause from the audience. 杂技演员的表演博得了观众的掌声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 stints   

n.定额工作( stint的名词复数 )；定量；限额；慷慨地做某事

参考例句：

• He stints himself in [of] sleep. 他节制睡眠。 来自辞典例句
• She never stints herself of money to buy books for her children. 她从不吝惜掏钱让子女们买书。 来自互联网

3 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

4 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

5 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

6 auctioned   

v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 shrieking   

v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》