自考高级英语第一课

Lesson 1: Rock Superstars:What Do They Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society?Rock is the music of teenage rebellion青少年反叛的音乐.--- JohnRockwell, rock music criticBy a man's heroes通过（借助）一个人眼中的英雄we shall know him.--- Robert Penn Warren, novelist It was mid-June, 1972, the Chicago Amphitheater圆形露天剧场was packed ……挤满了人, sweltering, rocking. Onstage在台上，上台, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was singing "Midnight Rambler漫步者；漫谈者." Critic Don Heckman was there when the song ended. "Jagger," he said, "grabs a half-gallon jug（有柄的）水罐of water and runs along the front platform, sprinkling喷，洒，喷淋its contents over the first few rows of swelter ing热气逼人，（使）汗流浃背；（使）中暑listeners满身汗流的歌迷. They surge to follow him他们蜂拥地跟随着他跑, eager to be touched by a few baptismal洗礼的drops（基督教）洗礼仪式洒的水滴".It was late December, 1973, Some 14,000 screaming fans were crunch ing发出嘈杂声地走，嘎吱作响地走；嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼up to蜂拥挤向the front of the stage at Capital Center, outside Washington, D.C. Alice Cooper, America's singing ghoul以恐吓人（或恐怖事件）为乐的人：食尸鬼鬼魂歌星, was ending his act正在结束他的演出. He ends it by pretending to end his life - with a guillotine断头台假装结束自己的生命---用断头台. His "head" drops into a straw basket. "Ooh," gasp ed喘气；（因惊喜、震惊等而）喘着气说a girl dressed in black. "Oh, isn't that marvelous?" Fourteen-year-old Mick Perlie was there too, but his parents weren't. "They think he's sick, sick, sick," Mike said. "They say to me, `How can you stand that stuff ? 他们问我怎么能忍受那种东西呢？"It was late January, 1974. Inside the Nassau Coliseum体育场in Uniondale, New York, Bob Dylan and The Band were tuning调音for a concert. Outside, in the pouring rain, fan Chris Singer was waiting to get in. "This is pilgrimage朝圣," Chris said, "I ought to be crawling趴on my knees."How do you feel about all this adulation过分赞美，奉承and hero worship英雄崇拜? （译：你如何看待这种赞美和英雄崇拜？）When Mick Jagger's fans look at him as a high priest or a god把他视作主教或神, are you with them or against them? Do you share Chris Singer's almost religious reverence宗教的崇敬for Bob Dylan? Do you think he - or Dylan - is misguided迷入歧途? Do you reject Alice Cooper as sick直译为：由于认为埃利斯，库铂有病而拒绝他。

这里应该意译为：由于他演出令人厌恶而拒绝而他? Or are you drawn somehow或者不知是什么原因你被……吸引住了to this strange clown小丑，丑角, perhaps because he acts out your wildest fantasies? 他把你狂热的幻想表演出来These aren't idle questions无用的问题，无根据的问题. Some sociologist s社会学家say that your answers to them could explain a lot about what you are thinking and about what your society is thinking - in other words, about where you and your society are可以说明你和你所在社会的立场. "Music expressed its times音乐表现它的时代," says sociologist Irving Horowitz. Horowitz sees the rock music arena as a sort of debating forum摇滚舞台是一个论坛, a place where ideas clash and crash在此不同的观点相互交锋碰撞. He sees it as a place where American society struggles to define and redefine its feelings and beliefs他认为这是美国社会力图阐明和重新定义自己的感情及信仰的地方. "The redefinition," Horowitz says, "is a task uniquely performed by the young. It is they alone who combine invention and exaggeration创造与夸张, reason and motion理性与运动, word and sound言辞与声音, music and politics音乐与政治."Todd Rundgren, the composer and singer, agrees. "Rock music," he says, "is really a sociological社会的，与社会有关的；社会学的expression rather than a musical force 与其说摇滚乐是一种音乐推动力，不如说是一种社会表现. Even Elvis Presley wasn't really a great musical force. It's just that Elvis managed to embody体现the frustrated teenage spirit of the 1950s只不过他的演唱表现了50年代青少年那种沮丧的精神状态."Of course Presley horrified震惊了adult America. Newspapers editorialize d（报刊）发表社论against him, and TV networks banned him电视网禁止播放他的演出. But Elvis may have proved what Horowitz and Rundgren believe. When he appeared on theEd.Sullivan Sunday night variety show（电视上的）歌舞杂耍节目；（马戏团的）演出in front of millions, a kind of "debate"一种类似“辩论”的场面took place. Most of the older viewers frowned, while most of the younger viewers applauded.Between Elvis and Alice, rock critics say, a number of rock stars have helped our society define its beliefs and attitudes. Bob Dylan touched a nerve of disaffection不满（他的歌曲触动了人们不满的神经）. He spoke of civil rights民权（主要指人人平等之权，指针对种族歧视而提出的，与公民权不太一样）, nuclear fallout, and loneliness他的歌曲涉及民权、核尘和孤独感. He spoke of change and of the bewilderment迷惑；慌乱，不知所措of and older generation.他还提到了变革以及老一代人的困惑"Something's happening here," he sang. "You don't know what it is, do you, Mr.Jones?"Others entered the debate. The Beatles, Horowitz said, urged peace敦促和平and piety虔诚, with humor and maybe a little help from drugs以幽默的方式再借助一点大烟. The Rolling Stones, arrogant street-fighting men滚石乐队是一些蛮横的街头打斗者, demanded revolution. The Jefferson Airplane's "We Can Be Together" and Volunteers (Got a Revolution)" were two further statements of radical youth. 是激进的年轻人更进一步的声明。