VOA慢速英语2018 麦当娜：并非致敬艾瑞莎

Madonna: It Was Not Meant to Be an Aretha Tribute

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American singer Madonna is being hotly criticized for her comments about legendary¹ musical artist Aretha Franklin who died last week.

美国歌手麦当娜因对8月16日去世的传奇音乐艺术家艾瑞莎·富兰克林的评论而饱受批评。 

Madonna spoke² Monday night at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York City.

20日晚，麦当娜在纽约举行的MTV音乐录影带大奖颁奖典礼上发表了讲话。 

The pop star told a lengthy³ story that began with the words:

她用这样一段话开始了冗长的演讲： 

“Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life.”

“艾瑞莎·富兰克林改变了我的人生轨迹。” 

It seemed to be the start of a tribute to the woman known as the Queen of Soul.But critics say Madonna’s speech was only about Franklin on the surface.Madonna went on to tell about one of her own early singing auditions⁵ in Paris in which she sang a song Franklin made famous.

这似乎是向这位被称为“灵魂歌后”的女性致敬的开始。评论家说麦当娜的演讲虽然表面上只是关于富兰克林。但实际上讲述了她早期在巴黎的第一次试唱，当时她演唱了一首富兰克林的成名曲。

Twitter user Michael Arceneau described the speech this way:

推特用户迈克尔·约瑟夫这样描述麦当娜的演讲： 

“Madonna’s tribute to Aretha Franklin is Madonna telling a story about herself while acknowledging she loved the “Lady Soul” album.

麦当娜对艾瑞莎·富兰克林的赞颂其实就是在承认喜欢“灵魂歌后”的专辑的同时，讲述了自己的故事。

Another tweet from ESPN’s Kate Nolan read: “Does Madonna know Madonna didn’t die?”

娱乐体育节目电视网的凯特诺兰在另一条推特上写道:“麦当娜知道自己没死吗?” 

On Tuesday, Madonna tried to explain.In an Instagram post she said she was asked to present the video of the year awardand share any stories she had from her career that were connected to Franklin.

21日，麦当娜试图对此做出解释，她在Instagram上发帖称，在当天的颁奖典礼中，相关组织方要求她介绍音乐录影带年度奖项，并分享她职业生涯中与富兰克林有关的故事。

She also wrote that she could never do Franklin justice with a tribute amid the noise and tinsel of an awards show.

她还写道，她无法做到在颁奖典礼的喧闹声和浮华声中为富兰克林主持正义。 

Other social media users also criticized Madonna for what she wore on the VMA stage at Radio City Music Hall.The Northern African style clothing and headpiece was protested as “cultural appropriation⁶.”

其他社交媒体用户还批评了麦当娜在无线电城音乐厅颁奖典礼舞台上的穿着。北非风格的服装和头饰被批评为“文化盗用”。

Words in This Story

legendary - adj. very famous

course - n. the path or direction that something or someone moves along?

tribute - n. something that you say, give, or do to show respect or affection for someone?

audition⁴ - n. a short performance to show the talents of someone (such as an actor or a musician) who is being considered for a role in a play, a position in an orchestra, etc.

tinsel - n. thin strips of shiny metal or paper that are used as decoration?

appropriation - n. the act of taking or using something especially in a way that is illegal, unfair, etc.

1 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

4 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

5 auditions   

n.（对拟做演员、歌手、乐师等人的）试听，试音( audition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Find modeling auditions, casting calls& acting auditions, all in one place. 找一个立体感试听，铸造呼叫和表演试听一体的地方。 来自互联网
• We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. 我们现在准备找一个新的吉他手。 来自互联网

6 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。