世界名人简介 第39期:伊迪丝·琵雅芙

 Edith Piaf (1915-1963) was a French singer and one of her country’s best-known cultural icons¹. She is probably France’s greatest ever singer and sang classics such as ‘La vie en rose’. She was so popular that 100,000 people attended her funeral in Paris and traffic came to a standstill. There is a museum in Paris dedicated² to her memory.

伊迪丝·琵雅芙（1915-1963）是一名法国歌手，也是法国的文化符号。她也可能是法国最伟大的女歌手，她演唱过的经典之作有《玫瑰人生》。在巴黎，有10万人来参加她的葬礼，交通陷入了停滞。在巴黎，有一座伊迪丝·琵雅芙博物馆。

She was born Edith Gassion in a poor suburb of Paris. Piaf’s parents abandoned her when she was a child and she lived with her grandmother. When she was 14, she teamed up with her acrobat³ father. She toured France with him and sang in public for the first time. Aged⁴ 16, she went her own way and became a street singer.

她出生在巴黎郊区，当时她的名字叫作埃迪特·琵雅芙。在琵雅芙很小时父母就抛弃了她，她与曾祖母住在一起。在她14岁那年，琵雅芙就跟随着身为杂技演员的父亲。她与爸爸游遍了巴黎，并首次在公众面前唱歌。16岁那年，她通过自己的努力成为了一名街头歌手。

In 1935, Piaf was discovered by a nightclub owner, who asked her to sing in his club. He gave her the nickname Little Sparrow because she was so small. She was an instant success and began to mix with the rich and famous of Paris. During World War II, she frequently performed for German officers and many considered her a traitor⁵.

1935年，琵雅芙被一名酒吧店主发现，并邀请她在他的酒吧中唱歌。由于她的个头矮小，他给她取了一个“小麻雀”的艺名。她迅速取得成功，并开始接触巴黎的社会名流。二战期间，她经常为德国士兵演唱，许多人将她视为卖国贼。

Piaf became famous worldwide after the war. However, her personal life hit many low points. Her lover died in a plane crash in 1949 and in the 1950s she had three near-fatal car crashes and became addicted⁶ to morphine and alcohol. In 1961, she recorded her famous song "Non, je ne regrette rien". It was one of the last songs she sang.

战争结束之后，琵雅芙一举成名。但是，她的私人生活却并不如意。她的情人在1949年的一场空难中死去，50年代，她逃过了三场致命车祸，之后沾染上了毒品，并开始酗酒。1961年，她录制了著名歌曲《我无怨无悔》。这也是她最后几首歌曲中的一首。

1.addicted to 上瘾

例句：Jack⁷ became addicted to drugs at quite an early age.

杰克很小年纪时就吸毒成瘾了。

2.plane crash 空难

例句：The reporters besieged⁸ me with questions about the plane crash.

记者们纷纷向我提出有关这次空难的问题。

3.best-known 最有名的

例句：One of the best-known badges is Cooper.

库柏是最有名的汽车标牌之一。

4.come to a standstill 停滞不前

例句：However, new contributions are required now or the operation will come to a standstill in July.

但现在必须获得新的捐助，否则，救援行动将在7月份陷入停顿。

1 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 acrobat   

n.特技演员，杂技演员

参考例句：

• The acrobat balanced a long pole on his left shoulder.杂技演员让一根长杆在他的左肩上保持平衡。
• The acrobat could bend himself into a hoop.这个杂技演员可以把身体蜷曲成圆形。

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 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

6 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。