偶像励志英语演讲06:第26届MTV音乐录影带大奖开场麦当娜悼念迈克尔·杰克逊(2)

 　　He performed in soccer stadiums around the world, he sold hundreds of millions of records, he dined with prime ministers and presidents. Girls fell in love with him, boys fell in love with him, everyone wanted to dance like him. He seemed otherworldly--but he was also a human being.

　　他在世界各地的足球场做过演出，他有着数亿张的全球专辑销量，他接受过许多国家首相和总统的宴请。女孩儿们爱上了他，男孩儿们迷上了他，每个人都想和他一样跳舞，他是那么的超凡脱俗——但同时他也是个凡人。
　　Like most performers he was shy and plagued with insecurities. I can't say we were great friends, but in 1991 I decided 1 I wanted to try to get to know him better. I asked him out to dinner, I said "My treat, I'll drive--just you and me."
　　正如大部分歌手一样，他很腼腆，又深深为自身的不安全感而困扰。我不敢说我们是很要好的朋友，但是在1991年我决定更为深入地了解他。于是我邀请他共进晚餐，我说：“我请客，我来开车——就你和我。”
　　He agreed and showed up to my house without any bodyguards 2. We drove to the restaurant in my car. It was dark out, but he was still wearing sunglasses. I said, "Michael, I feel like I'm talking to a limousine 3. Do you think you can take off your glasses so I can see your eyes?"
　　他答应了，并只身一人不带任何保镖出现在我家。我开车和他去饭店，天已经黑了，可他仍然戴着墨镜。我说：“迈克尔，我觉得我是在跟这辆车说话。你能把眼镜摘下来让我看见你的眼睛吗？”
　　He paused for a moment then he tossed the glasses out the window, looked at me with a wink 4 and a smile and said, "Can you see me now? Is that better?"
　　他犹豫了一会儿然后把眼镜扔出窗外，用闪烁的眼睛直视着我，笑着说：“现在你能看见我了吗？这样是不是更好？”
　　In that moment, I could see both his vulnerability and his charm. The rest of the dinner, I was hell-bent 5 on getting him to eat French fries, drink wine, have dessert and say bad words. Things he never seemed to allow himself to do. Later we went back to my house to watch a movie and we sat on the couch like two kids, and somewhere in the middle of the film, his hand snuck over and held mine.
　　这时我终于感受到他的脆弱和他的魅力。在接下来的晚餐时间里，我尽我所能地让他和我一起吃炸薯条，一起喝红酒吃甜点，甚至爆粗口，让他做一些他似乎从来不允许自己做的事。后来，我们又开车回到我的家，一起像小孩儿一样坐在长沙发上看电影。看着看着，他悄悄地把手搭过来握住了我的手。
　　It felt like he was looking for a friend more than a romance, and I was happy to oblige him. In that moment, he didn't feel like a superstar. He felt like a human being.
　　那种感觉，就像他正试图拥抱他的朋友而非恋人，而我非常高兴地接受了他。就是这样的时刻，让我觉得他不再是一个超级巨星，他只是一个平凡的人。
　　We went out a few more times together, and then for one reason or another we fell out of touch. Then the witch hunt began, and it seembed like one negative story after another was coming out about Michael. I felt his pain, I know what it's like to walk down the street and feel like the whole world is turned against you. I know what it's like to feel helpless and unable to defend yourself because the roar of the lynch mob is so loud that you are convinced your voice can never be heard.
　　在那之后，我们又一起出去过几次，但后来因为某些原因我们失去了联系。紧接着，巫婆的诅咒似乎就开始了，关于迈克尔的坏消息一个接着一个不断地传出。我可以体会他的痛苦。我很清楚当一个人走在街上而全世界似乎都与你为敌的感觉，我也很清楚那种无助和无法为自己辩护的痛苦，因为那些嘶吼着要将你处死的声音实在太大，以至于无论你如何大声否认也没人听见。
　　重点讲解：
　　1. dine with
　　和……吃饭；和……进餐；
　　eg. Occasionally they would come to dine with us.
　　他们偶尔会到这里来和我们吃一顿饭。
　　eg. She has invited me to dine with her.
　　她邀请我与她一起用餐。
　　2. fall in love with
　　堕入爱河；（与…）相爱；喜欢上；喜爱上；
　　eg. I fell in love with him because of his kind nature...
　　我爱上他，是因为他秉性善良。
　　eg. Working with Ford 6 closely, I fell in love with the cinema.
　　与福特的密切合作开始令我爱上了电影。
　　3. take off
　　脱下，脱掉（衣物）；
　　eg. He wouldn't take his hat off.
　　他不肯摘下帽子。
　　eg. She took off her spectacles.
　　她摘下了眼镜。
　　4. be hell-bent on doing sth.
　　决意的；不顾一切的做某事；
　　eg. He is hell--bent on having his own way.
　　他一意孤行。
　　eg. He seems hell bent on drinking himself to death.
　　他拼命喝酒，似乎连命都不要了。
　　5. turn against
　　（使）与…反目；（使）反对；（使）反感；
　　eg. A kid I used to be friends with turned against me after being told that I'd been insulting him.
　　曾和我很要好的一个小孩听人说我一直在辱骂他以后就和我翻脸了。
　　eg. Workers may turn against reform.
　　工人们可能反对改革。
　　eg. Working with the police has turned me against the use of violent scenes as entertainment.
　　与警方合作后，我开始很反感把暴力场面作为娱乐表演的做法。
　　名人简介：
　　麦当娜出生在美国密歇根州贝城（Bay City）的天主教家庭，父亲Silvio Ciccone是意大利裔美国人，克莱斯勒的工程师，母亲Madonna Fortin是法国裔加拿大人。麦当娜小时候就与她的5个兄弟姐妹居住在底特律的郊区地带，从庞蒂亚克到罗切斯特。
　　在麦当娜5岁的时候，30岁的母亲就因乳腺癌逝世。而她也时常会提到母亲的去世对自己的生活和职业生涯的巨大影响。在母亲过世后，父亲Silvio雇用了一个保姆Joan Gustafson，后来他们结婚并生有两个个孩子。
　　父亲要求自己所有的孩子都接受音乐训练。麦当娜也上过几个月的钢琴课程，之后，在她的央求下父亲答应她改上芭蕾课，很快她就证明自己是天生的舞者。
　　麦当娜第一首真正的热门歌曲是由Mark Kmins担任制作的Everybody，它在R&B音乐广播引起了热烈反响，让许多人误以为麦当娜是一位黑人歌手。当Everybody作为单曲发行时，麦当娜的照片并没有出现在唱片套上，因为唱片公司不想冒险宣传麦当娜是一位白人歌手，而当时麦当娜的核心听人是黑人群体。1992年推出的专辑Erotica《情欲》令她声势大为下滑，但1998年的Ray of Light《光芒万丈》又令其重回宝座。她被誉为“全球最成功的女歌手”。
　　麦当娜与盖·里奇的离婚谣言从2008年初盛行。同年10月15日两人达成离婚协议。