英语名人堂：玛丽·布莱姬

玛丽·布莱姬（Mary Jane Blige，简写作Mary J. Blige，发音为/ˈblaɪʒ/），1971年1月11日出生于纽约，美国歌手、唱片制作人、曲作者、女演员、说唱歌手。

1992年，Mary J. Blige分布第一张个人唱片《What's the 411?》。1996年凭借歌曲“I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By”和Method Man一起获得了第38届格莱美最佳说唱组合奖。2005年岁末，Hip-Hop Soul天后Mary J. Blige发行了第7张个人专辑《The Breakthrough》。新专辑《Stronger》也于2009年12月15日发行。而Mary J. Blige还将客串担任2010年《美国偶像》的评委。[1] 

 

Mary Jane Blige is a singer, rapper, songwriter and actress. She is widely known as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" for mixing the two musical genres¹ together. Blige has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has won eight Grammy awards. She also has a World Music Legends Award, despite her young age. Her musical style has influenced many other female vocalists, including Alicia Keys and Ashanti.

 

Blige was born in 1971 in New York. She grew up listening to the new sounds of hip-hop and rap that were starting to come out of New York. She also loved her mother’s collection of 60s and 70s soul records. She won a talent competition when she was seven and decided² she wanted to be a singer.

 

Blige improved her singing technique in the local church choir³. In 1988, she recorded an Anita Baker⁴ song at a recording⁵ booth in a local mall. Her mother's friend loved it and sent it to a recording company executive, who signed Blige instantly. She spent several years as a backup singer, before releasing her debut⁶ album in 1992.

 

Blige has recorded eight studio albums, including the highly successful ‘The Breakthrough’, for which she scooped⁷ many awards. She also branched out into acting⁸ and has appeared in television series, Broadway plays and movies. Blige is also actively⁹ involved in several charities and started the Foundation for the Advancement¹⁰ of Women Now, “to inspire women from all walks of life to reach their individual potential.”

1 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

2 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。

3 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。

4 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

5 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。

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。

7 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。