VOA慢速英语2019 女性风采闪耀格莱美颁奖礼

Women ‘Step Up’ at Grammy Awards

This year's Grammy Awards seemed to be all about women.

今年的格莱美颁奖典礼似乎都是关于女性的。

The Recording¹ Academy held the event Sunday night in Los Angeles, California. At last year's ceremony, the organization’s chief, Neil Portnow, said women need to "step up" to deal with the lack of women nominated for the major awards.

周日，美国唱片学院在加州洛杉矶市举办了颁奖典礼。在去年的颁奖典礼上，该组织的负责人尼尔·波特诺（Neil Portnow）表示，女性需要“加把劲儿”，改变重大奖项缺少女性提名人的现状。

Many stepped up and onto center stage this year.

今年很多女性站在了舞台中央。

Early in Sunday's ceremony came a surprise appearance by former American first lady Michelle Obama. Along with artists Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Alicia Keyes, Obama told the crowd what music meant to her.

周日的典礼开始不久，美国前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马（Michelle Obama）意外现身。她与艺人詹妮弗·洛佩兹（Jennifer Lopez）、Lady Gaga、扎德·平齐特·史密斯（Jada Pinkett Smith）以及艾莉西亚·凯斯（Alicia Keyes）同台亮相。米歇尔向现场观众介绍了音乐对于她的意义。

"From the Motown records I wore out on the Southside to the 'Who Run the World' songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story."

她说：“从我在美国南方听了无数遍的魔城唱片，到过去十年激励我前行的这首‘谁主宰世界’，音乐一直帮助我诉说自身的经历。”

Obama also said, "Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys."

米歇尔还表示：“无论是喜欢乡村音乐、说唱还是摇滚乐，音乐都有助于我们展示自己 — 我们的尊严与悲伤，我们的快乐及希望。”

Keyes was the host of Sunday's 61st annual Grammy Awards, which honors some of the year's best music. This year’s show also honored the American music greats Diana Ross and Dolly Parton.

凯斯是周日这场第61届格莱美奖的主持人，该奖项旨在表彰年度最佳音乐。今年的颁奖典礼还致敬了美国音乐大师戴安娜·罗斯（Diana Ross）和多莉·帕顿（Dolly Parton）。

Ross sang several of her famous songs as she walked through the crowd. Later she told those at the gathering², "Thank you for being here and celebrating my 75th birthday." Ross’s real 75th birthday is March 26.

罗斯在走下观众席时演唱了几首成名曲。随后她向观众致谢：“感谢大家来到现场庆祝我的75岁生日。”罗斯的实际生日是3月26日。

Miley Cyrus sang to her godmother Dolly Parton as part of the tribute to the country music superstar. Cyrus was joined by Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry to sing Parton's Here You Come Again. Parton and Cyrus also sang Jolene.

麦莉·赛勒斯（Miley Cyrus）向她的教母帕顿献唱，以此向这位乡村音乐巨星致敬。塞勒斯与凯西·马斯格雷夫斯（Kacey Musgraves）以及凯蒂·佩里联袂演绎了帕顿的《Here You Come Again》。帕顿和塞勒斯还演唱了《Jolene》。

Musgraves' Golden Hour won Album of the Year for country music. Her song "Butterflies" won Best Country Solo.

马斯格雷夫斯的《Golden Hour》获得了乡村音乐年度最佳专辑，她的歌曲《Butterflies》还获得了最佳乡村音乐奖。

Artist Cardi B. accepted the Grammy for best rap album for Invasion of Privacy. It was the first time a woman has won that award.

艺人卡迪·B(Cardi B)凭借《Invasion of Privacy》荣获格莱美最佳说唱专辑奖，这是女性首次获得该奖项。

Lady Gaga won best pop solo for Joanne (Where Do You Think You're Goin'?). Gaga and Bradley Cooper won best pop duo/group performance for Shallow.

Lady Gaga凭借歌曲《Joanne(Where Do You Think You're Goin'?)》获得了最佳流行歌手奖。Gaga和布拉德利·库珀还凭借《Shallow》获得了最佳流行对唱奖。

Ariana Grande won her first Grammy. The award for best pop vocal³ album went to the singer’s, Sweetener. She did not attend the ceremony, however, after having a public dispute with the show's producer.

阿丽亚娜·格兰德（Ariana Grande）捧回自己的第一座格莱美奖杯，这位歌手凭借《Sweetener》获得了最佳流行音乐专辑奖。然而，此前她与该颁奖典礼的制作人发生公开争议，因此并未出席。

Dua Lipa earned the Best New Artist prize.

杜阿·利帕(Dua Lipa)荣获最佳新人奖。

H.E.R. took home the best rhythm and blues⁴ album award for H.E.R. And H.E.R. and Daniel Caesar won best rhythm and blues performance for Best Part.

H.E.R.凭借《H.E.R.》带回了最佳节奏布鲁斯(R&B)专辑奖，而丹尼尔·凯撒（Daniel Caesar）凭借《Best Part》获得了最佳节奏布鲁斯歌手。

Words in This Story

decade – n. a period of 10 years

dignity – n. the quality of being worthy⁵ of honor or respect?

sorrow – n. a feeling of sadness or grief caused especially by the loss of someone or something?

host – n. a person who talks to guests on a television or radio show?

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

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

4 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。