英语名人堂：碧昂丝·吉赛尔·诺斯

碧昂丝·吉赛尔·诺斯（Beyoncé Giselle Knowles），1981年9月4日生于美国德克萨斯州休斯顿，美国女歌手。

1993年与拉塔薇亚·罗伯森、凯莉·罗兰成立组合“天命真女”。2003年，推出了首张个人专辑《Dangerously in Love》。2006年9月4日，推出专辑《B'Day》登上公告牌二百强专辑榜的榜首。2008年4月4日与Jay-Z两人完婚[1]  。2008年11月18日，发售第三张个人专辑《双面碧昂丝》获最佳当代R&B专辑。2012年1月7日生下女儿Blue Ivy¹ Carter。

 

Beyonce Giselle Knowles was born in Texas in 1981. She grew up singing and dancing and quickly developed the qualities that would make her an international superstar. Her talents were discovered by her dance teacher while she was a church choir² soloist⁴. She took Beyonce to local talent competitions, where she won no fewer than 30 of them.

 

Beyonce decided⁵ to form a singing group. She asked her best friend LaTavia Roberson to join her. She also invited along a cousin and a friend and together they formed a quartet called 'Destiny's Child'. Beyonce’s father saw their potential and quit his well-paid job to become the group’s manager. They shot to fame as the most successful female group of all time.

 

It was touch and go at the beginning whether or not her father’s financial risk would pay off. In 1997, they signed with Columbia Records and their debut⁶ single, ‘Killing Time’, was the soundtrack to the film ‘Men In Black’. They recorded hit after hit and won dozens of awards. Beyonce went solo³ in 2000 and her career continued to take off.

 

Knowles won five awards at the 2004 Grammy Awards and a BRIT Award for International Female Solo Artist. She has recorded with the biggest names in music. Her career also went off in different directions. She became the first singer ever to model for ‘Sports Illustrated’ magazine and appeared in many movies. In April 2008, she married her long-time sweetheart, rapper Jay-Z.

1 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

2 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

3 solo   

n.独奏，独唱；adj.单独的；adv.单独地；v.放单飞，单独表演

参考例句：

• Tara is currently working on a solo album.塔拉眼下正忙着制作个人专辑。
• There's wonderfully lyrical flute solo in the middle of this symphony.在交响乐中间有一段奇妙的抒情长笛独奏。

4 soloist   

n.独奏者，独唱者

参考例句：

• The soloist brought the house down with encore for his impressive voice.这位独唱家以他那感人的歌声博得全场喝彩。
• The soloist had never performed in London before.那位独唱者过去从未在伦敦演出过。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。