英语博客(A cup of English):066 A Rocker in a previous lif

　　Beginners.
"Oh, no!" you say, "she's going to talk about New Zealand again." Well, in a way I am. This part of today's podcast is about a perfect day in Christchurch. A day when I experienced many of the things I like most: good company, historic¹ buildings, great music, quiche, gardens, and tea! Ah, what a dreamy day. It was one of my last days in New Zealand, my brother didn't have to work, so we decided² to hang out in the center of town and enjoy ourselves. We walked around quite a bit, went back to visit the Botanical gardens again, and window shopped. I got hungry after a while, so we found a cafe just a couple of streets away from the main square. I ordered a quiche, a juice, and a pot of tea, and we chose a table outside. The weather was perfect, sunny, a slight breeze, and joyfully³ bright. We sat there and watched the world go by. Then a lady with very red hair who was standing⁴ on the sidewalk*started to sing. She sang jazz. Wow, she was good. She sang many songs that we recognized. She stopped often and played the saxophone. It was wonderful to sit and be entertained. " Just think," said my brother, "if you had a voice like that, you could travel the world and make the money you need by just singing."
Grammar notes.
Preterite: walk-walked, go-went, get-got, find-found, watch-watched, is-was, start-started, have-had.
Exs: She walked down the street, went into a shop and found a dark corner to hide in. She watched to see if the man was following her. He was. She started to panic. She had to find a way to escape unnoticed.
* Sidewalk (Americanism) = pavement (British).
Advanced.
While my brother and I were listening to the talented, red headed jazz singer outside the cafe in Christchurch, I remembered something. A chapter of my youth came to mind, and I was reminded of something I did in my teens. I must have been only 19 years old, and in college. I joined a rock band. One evening, in the college bar, I had met a very friendly group of German students. We chatted for a while, and then they told me that they were looking for a backing vocalist for their group. "I'll do it!" I said, not knowing  at all just how much work was involved. Well, I tried out for the position, and they said that I would do. It was very exciting. I had never done anything like that before. I had an idea of fame, and lots of record contracts. Well, one of the young men on the group had met a music manager who said that he had been one of the managers for the famous Ozzie Ozborne. Mmm, I don't know if that was a good thing, but, at least it was a connection to the music world. He arranged for us to have three performances in different pubs around London.We actually got paid for it. I don't even remember what our group was called, but I do remember that we would dress in black, and look very cool. Our sound was not so cool, thanks, in part, to me. It wasn't until we played in my own college, in front of my friends and other students, that I realized that being a famous singer was not for me. It was very embarrassing. One of the electric guitar strings⁵ broke half way through the concert; I sang a very corny, romantic song that I had written, which sounded terrible. And, afterwards, when we listened to the recording⁶, we laughed so hard that we cried. You could say that it was our final debut⁷. There is no substitute for talent. So, we decided to stick to studying, and leave the singing to the naturally talented.
Grammar notes.
Preterite continued: remember-remembered, remind-reminded, join-joined, chat-chatted, pay-paid, realize-realized, try-tried.
Exs: My friend reminded me to go to the acting⁸ audition⁹. I remembered to practice my lines. I joined the line of other actors and we chatted nervously¹⁰. Many had paid a lot to travel here. I realized that I just had to relax. I tried my best and got the part!
Related vocabulary: vocalist, backing vocalist, recording, contract, manager, debut, encore, performance, concert.

1 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

6 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。

7 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

8 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。

9 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。

10 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。