VOA慢速英语2018 格莱美奖上混杂着政治与音乐

A Mix of Politics and Music at the Grammys

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Politics co-starred with music at the 60th Grammy awards Sunday night in New York City.

周日晚间在纽约市举行的格莱美颁奖典礼上，政治和音乐联袂出演。

Perhaps the most surprising non-artist to appear? Former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She took part in a skit¹ making fun of President Donald Trump² and his leadership.

前国务卿和2016年总统候选人希拉里·克林顿（Hillary Clinton）也许是这次颁奖典礼上出现的最令人惊讶的非艺术家。她参演了一个取笑川普总统及其领导地位的搞笑短剧。

Clinton pretended to be seeking work as the voice for the spoken word recording⁴ of Michael Wolf's best-selling book "Fire and Fury." His book describes an unfavorable representation of Trump's first year in office.

克林顿假装寻找工作，参演了朗读迈克尔·沃尔夫畅销书《火与怒》的录制。沃尔夫的这本书描述了川普第一年任期的不利一面。

Along with Clinton, John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Cardi B and DJ Khaled also "auditioned⁶" for the part.

除了克林顿以外，约翰·传奇(John Legend)、雪儿(Cher)、史努比狗狗(Snoop Dogg)、Cardi B和DJ Khaled也参与了这部分的“试镜”。

Grammys host James Corden told Clinton that she defeated the competition to win. "The Grammy's in the bag?" Clinton questioned. Political observers say Clinton thought a presidential win for her was also "in the bag," or very sure and secure.

格莱美主持人詹姆斯·科登（James Corden）告诉克林顿，她赢得了这次竞争。克林顿问道：“那格莱美奖是我的了？”政治观察人士表示，克林顿曾经认为赢得总统大选对她而言也是“十拿九稳”。

United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley did not see the humor in the skit. "I have always loved the Grammys, but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it," she tweeted. "Don't ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it."

（美国驻）联合国大使尼基·黑莉（Nikki Haley）并不认为这个短剧很幽默。她在推特上说：“我一直都很喜欢格莱美，但让艺人们朗读《火与怒》毁了它。别用垃圾毁掉伟大的音乐。我们有些人喜欢不掺杂政治的音乐。”

Neil Portnow, head of the recording academy, defended the skit. He told the Associated Press that he thought Clinton's appearance was more satirical than political.

美国唱片学院负责人尼尔·波特诺（Neil Portnow）为这个短剧进行了辩护。他对美联社表示，他认为克林顿的出现，其讽刺性远大于政治性。

The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted: "Getting to read a #fakenews book excerpt⁷ at the Grammys seems like a great consolation⁸ prize for losing the presidency⁹."

川普总统的儿子小川普（Donald Trump Jr.）在推特上表示：“能在格莱美上朗读一本#假新闻书的节选，像是输了总统大选的安慰奖。”

Singer/actor Janelle Monae gave a well-received speech at the ceremony. She said the music industry needed to face its sexual harassment¹⁰ and gender¹¹ discrimination issues, just like Hollywood.

歌手兼演员加奈儿·梦奈(Janelle Monae)在颁奖典礼上发表了颇受欢迎的演讲。她说，音乐界跟好莱坞一样需要面对性骚扰和性别歧视的问题。

"To those who would dare try and silence us, we offer you two words: Time's Up."

她说：“对于那些胆敢试图让我们噤声的人，我们会送你几个字 - 丧钟响起。”

Monae introduced singer Kesha. She has long sought to break her business agreement with her producer, who she says raped¹² her. Kesha's song Praying included the lyrics¹³, "After everything you've done, I can thank you for how strong I have become."

梦奈介绍了歌手凯莎（Kesha)。她一直试图终止跟制作人的商业协议，并称制作人强奸了她。凯莎的歌曲《Praying》中包含这样的歌词：“历经你所做所为，感谢你使我坚不可摧。”

Cuban American singer Camila Cabello spoke³ out for legal protection for "dreamers" -- immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children but do not have legal status. "This country was built by dreamers for dreamers," she said.

古巴裔美国歌手卡米拉·卡贝洛（Camila Cabello）大声呼吁为“梦想者”提供法律保护。这些移民在儿时非法进入美国，但是没有法律地位。她说：“这个国家就是梦想家为梦想家建设出来的。”

Cabello introduced a pre-recorded performance by the Irish band U2, who sang their song "Get Out of Your Own Way." The band performed on a boat in the New York harbor with the Statue of Liberty behind the musicians. The statue serves as a symbol of American freedom and a sign of welcome to immigrants from all over the world.

卡贝洛以爱尔兰乐队U2预先录制的一次演出作为开场，他们唱着《Get Out of Your Own Way》。该乐队是在纽约港的一艘船上演出，在他们背后就是自由女神像。这座雕像是美国自由的象征，也是欢迎世界各地移民的标志。

Words in This Story

skit - n. a short, funny story or performance?

pretend - v. to act as if something is true when it is not true?

audition⁵ - v. to try out for a role in a play or film, a position in an orchestra, etc.: to perform in an audition?

in the bag - expression certain; sure to happen

consolation - n. something that makes a person feel less sadness, disappointment, etc.?

excerpt - n. a small part of a longer written work

1 skit   

n.滑稽短剧；一群

参考例句：

• The comic skIt sent up the foolishness of young men in love.那幅画把沉溺于热恋中的青年男子的痴态勾勒得滑稽可笑。
• They performed a skit to amuse the crowd.他们表演了一个幽默小品来娱乐观众。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

7 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

8 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

11 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

12 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

13 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。