英语名人堂：夏奇拉·伊莎贝尔·迈巴拉克·里波尔

 夏奇拉（Shakira），1977年2月2日出生于哥伦比亚巴兰基亚，哥伦比亚歌手。

1991年，夏奇拉发行了个人首张专辑《Magia》。1998年，夏奇拉凭着唱片《Donde Estan Los Ladrones》夺得了第44届LatinGrammy的“最佳拉丁摇滚另类女艺人奖”[1-2]  。2000年的专辑《Shakira：MTV Unplugged》为夏奇拉赢得了拉丁格莱美最佳拉丁流行专辑奖。2002年，她赢得5项拉美MTV视频音乐奖。2006年2月，夏奇拉在世界杯闭幕式献唱《Hips Don’t Lie》。2010年，由夏奇拉创作并参与制作的歌曲《Wakawaka》被选为南非世界杯官方指定全球唯一主题曲。2014年，夏奇拉与卡里尼奥·布朗在巴西世界杯闭幕式联袂演唱《La la la》，这也将是夏奇拉连续第三次在世界杯决赛前的闭幕式上献唱[3]  。

 

Shakira is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and dancer. She is one of Latin America’s top stars and is very popular internationally. She is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time. She has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and has won numerous awards. She is also the only South American singer to have a number one record in the USA.

 

Shakira was born in 1977 in Colombia. Her mother is of Spanish and Italian ancestry¹, and her father is of Lebanese descent. She speaks fluent Spanish, English, Portuguese² and Italian, and a little Arabic. Shakira was an outstanding student at school. Reports are she has an IQ of 140. She grew up writing poems on a typewriter she got as a Christmas gift.

 

Shakira wanted to perform from the age of four. She danced at school every Friday and her classmates nicknamed her "belly³ dancer girl". She said: "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance." Aged⁴ 13, she signed a three-album contract with Sony Music. The first two flopped⁵; but the third, ‘Pies Descalzos’ sold over five million copies and made her a star.

 

Shakira crossed over into singing in English. Her 2001 album ‘Laundry Service’ sold 13 million copies and established her as an international phenomenon. Gabriel García Marquez asked her to write the songs for the movie ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’. Shakira has written the lyrics⁶ to every song she has recorded, bar two. She describes herself as a perfectionist.

1 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

2 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

3 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

4 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

5 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。