VOA慢速英语2018 麦当娜：并非致敬艾瑞莎

（单词翻译）

Madonna: It Was Not Meant to Be an Aretha Tribute

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American singer Madonna is being hotly criticized for her comments about legendary¹ musical artist Aretha Franklin who died last week.

美国歌手麦当娜因对8月16日去世的传奇音乐艺术家艾瑞莎·富兰克林的评论而饱受批评。 

Madonna spoke² Monday night at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York City.

20日晚，麦当娜在纽约举行的MTV音乐录影带大奖颁奖典礼上发表了讲话。 

The pop star told a lengthy³ story that began with the words:

她用这样一段话开始了冗长的演讲： 

“Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life.”

“艾瑞莎·富兰克林改变了我的人生轨迹。” 

It seemed to be the start of a tribute to the woman known as the Queen of Soul.But critics say Madonna’s speech was only about Franklin on the surface.Madonna went on to tell about one of her own early singing auditions⁵ in Paris in which she sang a song Franklin made famous.

这似乎是向这位被称为“灵魂歌后”的女性致敬的开始。评论家说麦当娜的演讲虽然表面上只是关于富兰克林。但实际上讲述了她早期在巴黎的第一次试唱，当时她演唱了一首富兰克林的成名曲。

Twitter user Michael Arceneau described the speech this way:

推特用户迈克尔·约瑟夫这样描述麦当娜的演讲： 

“Madonna’s tribute to Aretha Franklin is Madonna telling a story about herself while acknowledging she loved the “Lady Soul” album.

麦当娜对艾瑞莎·富兰克林的赞颂其实就是在承认喜欢“灵魂歌后”的专辑的同时，讲述了自己的故事。

Another tweet from ESPN’s Kate Nolan read: “Does Madonna know Madonna didn’t die?”

娱乐体育节目电视网的凯特诺兰在另一条推特上写道:“麦当娜知道自己没死吗?” 

On Tuesday, Madonna tried to explain.In an Instagram post she said she was asked to present the video of the year awardand share any stories she had from her career that were connected to Franklin.

21日，麦当娜试图对此做出解释，她在Instagram上发帖称，在当天的颁奖典礼中，相关组织方要求她介绍音乐录影带年度奖项，并分享她职业生涯中与富兰克林有关的故事。

She also wrote that she could never do Franklin justice with a tribute amid the noise and tinsel of an awards show.

她还写道，她无法做到在颁奖典礼的喧闹声和浮华声中为富兰克林主持正义。 

Other social media users also criticized Madonna for what she wore on the VMA stage at Radio City Music Hall.The Northern African style clothing and headpiece was protested as “cultural appropriation⁶.”

其他社交媒体用户还批评了麦当娜在无线电城音乐厅颁奖典礼舞台上的穿着。北非风格的服装和头饰被批评为“文化盗用”。

Words in This Story

legendary - adj. very famous

course - n. the path or direction that something or someone moves along?

tribute - n. something that you say, give, or do to show respect or affection for someone?

audition⁴ - n. a short performance to show the talents of someone (such as an actor or a musician) who is being considered for a role in a play, a position in an orchestra, etc.

tinsel - n. thin strips of shiny metal or paper that are used as decoration?

appropriation - n. the act of taking or using something especially in a way that is illegal, unfair, etc.