人物:Lady GAGA-一个明星的重生(2)

 Raised by mom Cynthia, at one time an executive at Verizon, and dad Joseph, an aspiring¹ musician turned Internet entrepreneur, she had a mostly happy childhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. 她的母亲辛西娅(Cynthia)曾是威瑞森的一名高管，父亲约瑟夫(Joseph)是一名有抱负的音乐家，后来成为互联网企业家。她在曼哈顿上西区度过了一个快乐的童年。

She naturally gravitated toward music, was classically trained in piano and loved to perform as a kid. Then came high school. 她天生就对音乐感兴趣，受过古典钢琴的训练，从小就喜欢表演。然后到了高中。

"I was bullied² and made fun of for having big dreams," she later recalled of her years at the elite³ private Catholic school she attended. “我因为有远大的梦想而被欺负，被取笑，”她后来回忆起自己在精英私立天主教学校的日子。

Being an outcast took its toll⁴, and she began to act out. "I was such a bad kid ... a f-----nightmare," she later explained. 作为一个被社会抛弃的人，她付出了代价，她开始付诸行动。“我是个坏孩子……真是个噩梦，”她后来解释道。

But she was determined⁵ to escape the scrutiny⁶ of classmates once and for all: Dropping out of New York University in 2005, she made a deal with her dad that if things didn't work out for her music career, she'd go back. 但她决永远地逃避同学们的挑剔目光：2005年从纽约大学(New York University)退学后，她和父亲达成了一项协议，如果她的音乐事业不顺利，她就回去。

She swiftly landed a record deal—and then lost it within a year. 她很快就达成了一份录音协议，但不到一年就丢了。

At the time, "it ruined her life," says friend Brendan Jay Sullivan, who met her in the early 2000s and wrote the 2013 memoir⁷ Rivington Was Ours: Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side, and the Prime of Our Lives. 当时，“那件事毁了她的生活，”她21世纪初认识的朋友布兰登·杰伊·沙利文(Brendan Jay Sullivan)在2013年出版的回忆录《里温顿是我们的：Lady Gaga、下东区和我们的黄金岁月》写道。

Her dad didn't force her to return to school, and she continued to take her music and performance art to any stage that would have her. 她的父亲没有强迫她回到学校，她继续带着她的音乐和表演艺术去任何一个她想去的舞台。

She was also dealing⁸ with the trauma⁹ of having been sexually assaulted at the age of 19 by a music producer, which she revealed to Howard Stern in 2014. 她19岁时曾被一名音乐制作人性侵，当时她正在处理这一创伤，2014年，她向霍华德·斯特恩(Howard Stern)透露了此事。

"I went through some horrific things that I'm able to laugh at now," she told Stern. But back then "she was struggling a lot," says Sullivan. “我经历了一些可怕的事情，现在我可以笑着面对了，”她告诉斯特恩。但那时候“她挣扎了很久”，沙利文说。

On top of everything else, "she was not being taken seriously. Music executives would say, 'Oh, you're just downtown cool, but I can't sell you in mainstream¹⁰ America,' " Sullivan adds. 最重要的是，“她没有被当回事儿。音乐主管们会说，‘哦，你只是在街头大放异彩，但我不能向主流美国推销你，'”沙利文补充道。

"We heard people say, 'You're not pretty enough for a pop star.' And not behind her back either—to her face." “我们听到人们说，‘你不够漂亮，不能做流行歌星。'”而且也不是在她背后说——当面说。

That all changed once she became Gaga, a name based on the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga." 但当她成为Gaga后，一切都改变了，Gaga这个名字来源于皇后乐队的歌曲"Radio Ga Ga"。

Her first producer and later boyfriend, Rob Fusari, who witnessed the creative transformation¹¹, says that when he first heard her sing, "it was like watching electricity bouncing off the walls. 她的第一位制作人、后来的男友罗布·富萨里(Rob Fusari)见证了这一创意十足的转变。他说第一次听到她的歌，“就像看着电流从墙上弹回来。

It was the future, it was the past, right in front of me, and it came in the form of this tiny New York girl." 这是未来，这是过去，就在我面前，全都这个纽约小女孩身上表现出来。”

After she inked another deal that led to the runaway¹² success of her first album, her fame grew with every over-the-top ensemble¹³ and performance. 她又签署了一项协议，由此她的第一张专辑大获成功，之后每次夸张的顶级服装和表演，都使她的名气大增。

But struggles in her love life followed. In Five Foot Two she linked her success to a string of collapsed¹⁴ romances. 但随后，她的爱情生活陷入了挣扎。在《五尺二寸》中，她将自己的成功与一连串失败的恋情联系在一起。

"I sold 10 million records and lost Matt ("Dada" Williams, a producer she dated in 2009 and 2010). I sold 30 million and lost Luc (Carl, a bar owner she dated in 2005 and 2010). 我卖了一千万张唱片，失去了马特（“达达”威廉姆斯，她在2009年和2010年约会的制作人）。我卖到3千万，失去了卢克（卡尔是一名酒吧老板，她在2005年和2010年约会过）。

I did a movie and lost Taylor (Kinney). It's like a turnover¹⁵. This is the third time I've had my heart broken like this." 我拍了一部电影，失去了泰勒（泰勒·金尼）。这就像员工流动。这是我第三次这样心碎了。”

1 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

2 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• 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。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

7 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

12 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

13 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。

14 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

15 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。