英语听力精选进阶版 6216
时间：2019-02-21 作者：英语课 分类：英语听力精选进阶版
Must Try Harder 仍需更加努力
Fans have waited 11 years and put up with three postponements of the concert, but the American singer Whitney Houston finally returned to the UK stage last night.
But Whitney's comeback gig on British soil prompted a mixed response from the fans who had looked forward to her return for so long, with one concert-goer describing it as "the biggest shambles 1 I've ever experienced".
Although other fans described the 46-year-old diva's performance as "brilliant", many more were frustrated 2 by technical hitches 3 such as Whitney's head mic breaking and a 15-minute costume change that drew boos from the restless audience.
It seems that the years of drug addiction 4 and her rocky marriage to the singer Bobby Brown have taken their toll 5 on the performer.
So while her voice managed to hold out, her lack of stamina 6 meant that the show was constantly interrupted for her to catch her breath with water breaks and bantering 7 with the audience.
"Throughout the show, her breathing was an issue. Two numbers in and Whitney was panting," said Colin Paterson, the BBC entertainment reporter who attended the gig.
The concert had been put off three times due to the singer suffering from an upper respiratory infection, which had in turn fuelled rumours 8 in the press that Whitney had returned to a lifestyle of drug and alcohol abuse.
Whitney denied those stories, dismissing them as "ridiculous".
Speaking to the press upon entering the UK last week she said of the press rumours: "At this point I just don't respond. I don't even read it."
"I'm doing what I love to do, which is singing. And the best part is seeing all of my fans around the world," she added.
With a sell-out tour ahead of her, she may need to improve her performances to ensure the fans continue to love her for years to come.
Glossary 词汇表
put up with 忍受，容忍
comeback gig 复出演唱会
prompted a mixed response 引起了不同的反应
shambles 一团糟
diva 天后
technical hitches 技术故障
head mic 头戴话筒
drew boos 引起嘘声
drug addiction 毒瘾
rocky marriage 问题重重的婚姻
taken their toll 造成伤害
hold out 坚持
catch her breath 歇口气
bantering 开玩笑，说笑
number （量词）一首歌
panting 气喘吁吁的
put off 推迟
upper respiratory infection 上呼吸道感染
fuelled rumours 促进谣言的扩散
sell-out tour 票已售空的巡回演唱会
- My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
- The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。
- It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
- The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He hitches a lift with a long - distance truck. 他搭上了一辆长途卡车。
- One shoulder hitches upward in a shrug. 她肩膀绷紧，然后耸了耸。
- 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。
- The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
- The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
- I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
- Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。
- There was a friendly, bantering tone in his voice. 他的声音里流露着友好诙谐的语调。
- The students enjoyed their teacher's bantering them about their mistakes. 同学们对老师用风趣的方式讲解他们的错误很感兴趣。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》