Courtney Love on ‘Dirty Blonde’

　　BBC Learning EnglishWeekenderCourtney Love on ‘Dirty Blonde’
　　Amber¹: Hello, I'm Amber, and you’re listening tobbclearningenglish.com.
　　In Weekender today, we listen to an interview with thesinger and actress Courtney Love who’s been called ‘themost controversial woman in the history of rock’.
　　Controversial means shocking, or provoking disapproval².
　　Just over a year ago an American court ordered CourtneyLove to spend several months in ‘rehab’ to overcome yearsof drug addiction³. Since then, she’s written and recordeda new album ‘How Dirty Girls Get Clean’ and she’spublished a ‘scrapbook-memoir⁴’.
　　A scrapbook is a blank book for sticking in photos,newspaper cuttings or any pieces of paper that you want tokeep. And a memoir is a book about your life. Courtney Love’s scrapbook-memoir is called ‘Dirty Blonde’, and it’sa wild collection reflecting the chaos⁵ of her life. Thereare flyers for gigs with her band, Hole, and photos of herhusband Kurt Cobain, a rock musician who committed suicidein 1994. And there are photos of her daughter Frances.
　　Here is Courtney Love talking about her childhood to theBBC interviewer Martha Kearney. It’s clear that Courtneyknew what she wanted to be when she grew up! But she had a‘disrupted’ and unsettled childhood, living with many‘foster families’, families who look after children whoare not their own, and living in ‘communes’, communityhomes.
　　As you listen, try to catch the word that Courtney Lovetrips up on – the word she finds difficult to say. Itmeans going from place to place.
　　Courtney Love‘I was actually doing a lot of children’s radio, and Iwas going to the Ashland Shakespeare festival camp forchildren that we have in Ashland, Oregon every year. So Iknew a lot about acting⁶ as a child - I wanted to be anactress - I also wanted to be a rock musician – so Iwanted both things. I was very strong about wanting to bean actress – I would audition⁷ for commercials, forge aparent’s signature …(Martha Kearney: And you were living in communes all overthe place weren’t you? Very disrupted …)Foster homes, communes – how do you say ‘peri …’?
　　(Martha Kearney: Peripatetic⁸.)Peripatetic. Very peripatetic.’
　　Amber: Courtney Love spent her childhood in many differentplaces. But she says her desire to be an actress was ‘verystrong’, and she would ‘audition’, do tests, for partsin ‘commercials’ or adverts⁹. She would even ‘forge’,write illegally, a parent’s signature, if she thought itwould help her get a job as an actress.
　　Now Courtney’s life is more settled.  She’s happy workingas a singer- songwriter for the ‘sought-after’ producerLinda Perry. If someone is ‘sought- after’, they are muchwanted, they are in high demand. As you listen to the nextpart of the interview, try to catch the word Courtney Loveuses to describe herself and how much she works.
　　Courtney Love‘I like to work; I’m a bit of a workaholic. Just in doingthis album – we took six months, we did 12-hour days, Iworked with Linda Perry who is probably the most sought-after producer and songwriter in the United States rightnow. I love structure, I being able to get up at a certaintime and I like work, and yet I chose a profession in termsof rock that has a very chaotic¹⁰ element to it!’
　　Amber: Courtney Love describes herself as ‘a bit of aworkaholic’ – a workaholic is addicted¹¹ to working. In thelast part of our interview, Courtney Love was asked if shehas ever used work as an escape from the tragedies in herlife. For example, when her husband Kurt Cobain committedsuicide, Courtney Love was ‘on the road’, working as amusician, very quickly after, but she says itwas a lonely and difficult time. And yet it resulted inpowerful performances on stage. She says she was goingthrough a real ‘catharsis’ – a strong release ofemotion.
　　Courtney Love‘Nobody even suggested a psychiatrist¹²; nobody evensuggested a bereavement¹³ group. And so I have to say, if youdid see me in 1994 or 1995, I won’t be able to everreplicate that again because I was going through a realcatharsis. And the truth is that I wouldn’t do this job ofrock and roll, particularly rock and roll – nor do I thinkI would I do any acting, if I didn’t truly, really believein it, and nor would I put out a book, if I didn’t truly,really believe that it was good.’
　　Amber: So Courtney Love says she truly believes in whatshe does - acting, singing and writing.
　　Now here’s a list of the language we focussed on in theprogramme today. controversialscrapbook memoir disrupted foster families communesperipatetic forgesought-after workaholic catharsisMore entertainment news stories and language explanationsnext time at bbclearningenglish.com

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

3 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

4 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 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。

7 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。

8 peripatetic   

adj.漫游的，逍遥派的，巡回的

参考例句：

• Her father was in the army and the family led a peripatetic existence.她父亲是军人，所以全家人随军过着一种流动的生活。
• Peripatetic music teachers visit the school regularly.兼职音乐教师定期到校授课。

9 adverts   

advertisements 广告，做广告

参考例句：

• the adverts on television 电视广告
• The adverts are not very informative. 这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。

10 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

11 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

12 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

13 bereavement   

n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛

参考例句：

• the pain of an emotional crisis such as divorce or bereavement 诸如离婚或痛失亲人等情感危机的痛苦
• I sympathize with you in your bereavement. 我对你痛失亲人表示同情。 来自《简明英汉词典》