Beckham Unwrapped

Beckham Unwrapped

You know you've made it when you're 1)baited by world leaders, copied by 2)doyens of fashion and adored by fans worldwide, throw in a celebrity 1 romance, marriage and children, the drama of physical injury and 3)astronomical 2 earning capacity and you'll have some understanding of the person and product that is David Beckham. And by the way, he plays football as though with the wings of angels on his feet.

Born May 2 in 1975 in Leytonstone London, football's smiling 4)assassin brought many a goalkeeper to his knees, even at the age of 11 when he won the 5)Bobby Charlton Soccer skills award. The famous smiles continued when he was signed with world famous Manchester United as a trainee 3 in 1991 and debuted 5 the following year. Less than a year later with an FA Youth Cup under his belt, Beckham was a grinning professional with the mighty 6 Man U for whom he dreamed of playing as a boy.  

Before long his deadly accurate and powerful kicking 6)etched itself into the consciousness of opponents and fans alike. Beckham had arrived and took home the hardware to prove it: the FA Cup, Premier 7 League Cup and Charity Shield in one fell 7)swoop 8, already the fans were in love. Here was a rough diamond with a 8)cheeky grin, raw talent and wide-eyed innocence 9, he was drop-dead gorgeous but when he opened his mouth which was rarely, his non-descript working class background was on show for all to see. Still Beckham was on his way to conquering the world.

Beckham's teammate in real life is real pop-star Victoria Lee Adams, also known as Posh Spice, the supposedly classy one, she chirped 10 her way to fame with Baby, Scary, Sporty and Ginger 11. Becs had seen her in a Spice Girls' video clip and later said he had to meet the one with the 9)bob and the short skirt. Four months later they were expecting. 10)Paparazzi followed Becs and Posh everywhere. 11)Tabloids had to pay one and half million dollars US however for wedding snaps of Britain's new royalty 13 who moved into a mansion 14 near London nicknamed of course "Beckingham Palace." Their marriage in July 1999 followed the birth of son Brooklyn in March, with his name an interesting choice after conception in Brooklyn New York. Five years after buying Posh a 65 thousand US dollar engagement ring, the quiet lad with 12)lanky 15 hair has morphed into the 13)epitome 16 of style, charm and political correctness. Victoria's influence has been enormous giving him confidence in the limelight off field as well as on. She's widely regarded as the driving force in his transformation 17 to marketable new millennium 18 man and together they're amongst the world's most influential 19 trend-setters. She's genuinely the couple's spokesperson and he lets his wife, his football and his smile do the talking, except on special occasions. "It's a boy, Romeo," a beaming David Beckham told reporters. "It's just a name we love," the England captain said brimming with pride and easy confidence he was announcing the birth in 2002 of a second Beckham son named after Shakespeare's famous tragic 20 character.

While her husband has scaled the heights under Victoria's firm and some would say protective guidance, her own career has wilted 21. Solo musical releases, a catwalk debut 4 and an autobiography 22 have received 14)lukewarm critical responses frustrating 23 the 15)starlet spoilt by Spice success. After the birth of Romeo David says he discussed retirement 24 with Victoria. His parents were divorcing, his relationship with Manchester United's manager had deteriorated 25 and two plots to kidnap Victoria and their children had been discovered and 16)thwarted. With Victoria's support he changed his mind, recalling his love for the game and for captaining the English side. So Beckham kicked on with the names of his sons on his boots.

17)Dubbed "world's most romantic couple", in a Cable Network poll, Posh and Becs have an incredibly strong bond. They've resisted the temptation to hire a nanny to look after their boys and retained a mostly practical slant 28 on life despite the public 18)adulation. As one journalist put it, five years on it's proved a celebrity coupling made in heaven.

So the boy becomes a man. The man plays football, captains his country, marries his princess of pop, pays a lot for clothes and haircuts, curls plenty of super strikes into the net, overcomes injury, copes with constant media intrusion, works for charity and has the respect of men, women and children around the world. It sounds too good to be true, but it's not, for the time being at least this is the life of David Robert Joseph Beckham, Becs for short.

注释：
1) bait [ beit ] v. 以饵引诱
2) doyen [5dCiEn] n. 资格最老者，地位最高的人
3) astronomical [AstrE5nRmikEl] a. 极巨大的
4) assassin [E5sAsin] n. 暗杀者
5) Bobby Charlton 鲍比·查尔顿，英格兰前著名球星，他主办了一所以自己名字命名的足球学校
6) etch [etF] v. 把……铭刻（在心灵或记忆中）
7) swoop [swu:p] n. 飞扑。in one fell swoop，一下子，一举
8) cheeky [5tFi:ki] a. 厚颜无耻的
9) bob [ bCb ] n. 短发
10) paparazzo [7pa:pa:5ra:tsC:] n. 复数形式为paparazzi, （意大利）专门追逐名人偷拍照片的摄影者（或记者）
11) tabloid 12 [5tAblCid] n. 小报
12) lanky [5lANki] a. 过分瘦长的
13) epitome [i5pitEmi] n. 缩影
14) lukewarm [5lju:kwC:m] a. 不热情的
15) starlet [5stB:lit] n. 小明星
16) thwart 26 [WwC:t] v. 挫败
17) dub 27 [dQb] v. （以某种称号）授与
18) adulation [7Adju5leiFEn] n. 奉承

足球王子贝克汉姆

    如果，世界领导人追捧你，时尚人士模仿你，全世界的球迷崇拜你；并且，你与某位明星有过一场风花雪业的爱情，然后结婚生子；还有，你经受住了戏剧性的受伤，所赚的收入是天文数字的话，你就能明白大卫·贝克汉姆的感受了。顺便说一句，他踢起足球来就好像脚上长了一对天使的翅膀。
    1975年5月2日，贝克汉姆出生于伦敦莱顿斯通，他的迷人微笑一度使许多守门员都无法抵挡。甚至还在十一岁的时候，他就赢得了“鲍比·查尔顿足球技能挑战赛”冠军。这招牌式的微笑一直伴随着他，1991年与世界著名的曼联队签约，成为曼联青年队球员，第二年便初露锋芒。不到一年时间，他便赢得了“足总青年杯”冠军。儿时便梦想效力曼联的他，此时也已成为强大的曼联队一名经验老到的职业球员。
    不久，他准确的命中率和有力的踢球给对手们和球迷们都留下了深刻的印象。贝克汉姆所取得的奖杯足以证明这一切：他一举拿下了英格兰足总杯，英超联赛以及慈善盾杯，球迷疯狂地爱上了他。贝克汉姆就像一颗待雕琢的钻石，带着自信的微笑，与生俱来的才华和满眼的天真。他是如此优雅迷人，可是，一旦他开口说话，他那罕有的、不值一提的工人阶级的家庭背景就被所有人看得清清楚楚。然而贝克汉姆继续在征服世界。
    贝克汉姆在现实生活中的队友是真正的娱乐明星维多利亚·李·亚当姆斯，众所周知的“高贵辣妹”，“ 辣妹合唱团”中优雅的一位，与“宝贝辣妹”、“ 疯狂辣妹”、“运动辣妹”和“姜汁辣妹”一起闯出了自己的名声。小贝有一次看到“辣妹合唱团”的广告片后说，他得见见那个留短发、穿短裙的辣妹。四个月后，他们见面了。狗仔队四处追逐着贝克汉姆和“辣妹”维多利亚。一些小报得付五十万美元来买他们的结婚照，而这一对英伦新贵入住伦敦近郊的一座公寓，外界戏称其为“贝金汉宫”。他们于1999年7月结婚，次年3月便喜得贵子布鲁克林，这个有趣的名字是根据纽约布鲁克林区而得名的。当初贝克汉姆花了65000美元为“辣妹”维多利亚买下一枚订婚戒指，5年以后，这个一头长发的安静的年轻人成为有着正确政治倾向的时尚和魅力的代言人。维多利亚的影响给了他巨大的信心，使他无论是在球场内外都成为引人注目的中心。贝克汉姆转变成为人见人爱的新千年好男人，维多利亚功不可没，他们俩也双双成为世界上最有影响力的时尚潮流大师。维多利亚当然是发言人，而贝克汉姆则让妻子、足球和微笑来说明一切，只有特别场合例外。“是个男孩，叫罗密欧，”喜气洋洋的大卫·贝克汉姆告诉记者说。“我们都很喜欢这个名字，”说话时，这位英格兰足球队队长的脸上洋溢着自豪和自信--此时此刻正是2002年，当贝克汉姆宣布他的次子出生，并以莎士比亚的著名悲剧人物为其命名时。
    当丈夫贝克汉姆在维多利亚的影响下（或者有人说保护性的指导下）事业蒸蒸日上时，她自己的事业却江河日下。个人专辑、初试模特以及自传都反应平平，使得这位当年荣耀一时的辣妹明星备受挫折。罗密欧出生后，大卫说他曾和维多利亚商量退隐。当时，贝克汉姆的父母离婚，他与曼联的经理关系恶化，还有两起策划绑架维多利亚和孩子们的阴谋事件败露未遂。在维多利亚的支持下，他改变了想法，重新燃起了对足球的激情，并担任了英格兰足球队队长。他穿着印有孩子们的名字的球鞋继续踢球。
    在有线电视网的一次名为“世界上最浪漫的夫妻”的民意测验中，贝克汉姆和“辣妹”维多利亚得票最高。他们抵受住了雇佣一名保姆来照看孩子们的诱惑，除了公众媒体的誉美之辞外，他们够着一种最实际的生活。正如一名记者指出，5年时间，足够证明这一对名人夫妇是天作之合。
    昔日的小男孩已长大成人。他踢足球，率领国家队出征，与明星公主结婚，将大笔钱花在衣着和发型上，踢出了无数个绝顶漂亮的进球，克服了受伤、常与不请自来的媒体合作，乐心慈善事业，赢得了全世界的男人、女人和孩子们的尊重。这听起来像天方夜谭，但这的确是真的，这至少是大卫·罗伯特·约瑟夫·贝克汉姆的真实生活，简称“小贝”。