美语三级跳 (Go English) 006B讲 - “音乐”单元中级课程

喜欢流行乐的Ernie和酷爱嘻哈乐的Beth打算组个乐队。

P: Today they`re discussing what kind of music their band should play.

Beth: Ernie, I`m really excited about starting this band together. We`re going to be the two coolest students on campus.

Ernie: I know! It`s gonna be great. But what kind of music do you think we should play?

Beth: That`s a good question. You know I love hip hop, so maybe we can play some Vanilla Ice songs.

Ernie: Hmm ... Vanilla Ice? I know his most famous song, "Ice Ice Baby," but I don`t know his other songs.

Beth: That`s OK. You can buy his songs on iTunes and listen to them.

P: Winnie, what does Beth think will happen if she and Ernie start a band?

她说，组了乐队，他们就变成学校最酷的两个人！ 不过，说实话，我可不这么觉得。

他们要唱"Vanilla Ice"的歌，他的歌早就过时了！

P: Well, Vanilla Ice was a popular rapper in the 1990s. I`m sure he still has fans today, like Beth.

E: Well, I`ve never downloaded music before. How does it work?

B: You haven`t? If you`ve never tried it I can show you how.

E: Alright. But why is downloading music better than buying CDs at the store?

B: Downloading music is really fast and convenient, and you can preview all the songs before you buy them.

P: So Winnie, why does Beth like downloading music?

她说从网上下载歌曲又快又方便，还可以在购买前"preview,"“试听”一下。不过，Ernie居然说他从来没下载过音乐。天啊，难道他一直住在火星上么？

P: Yeah, even old people know how to download music these days. Let`s see if Ernie can catch up.

E: That sounds pretty good. But isn`t downloading music illegal?

B: Not if you pay for it. For example, if you download from iTunes and pay with your credit card, it`s legal.

E: OK, I`m going to get iTunes and download some Vanilla Ice songs.

B: Awesome. You`ll see that they are really catchy.

Professor, 他们说这些歌很catchy, 这是什么意思呢？

P: You can say a song is "catchy" if it`s fun and easy to listen to, and you want to hear it all the time.

哦，就是“好听，上口”的意思。

P: Exactly. Sometimes a "catchy" song can get "stuck in your head."

不过， 我觉得Vanilla Ice的歌可没有这种魔力。

B: Now that we know what kind of music we will play, we have to decide what each of us will do.

E: Well, I love hip hop dancing, so I should probably dance. Do you know how to rap?

B: Oh yeah! I`m a great rapper. And I know all the Vanilla Ice lyrics by heart.

E: Excellent. I`ll start practicing my dance moves.

俩人一唱一跳，跟真的似的! 可我对他们实在没信心。

P: Well, you never know, maybe they will be really good and surprise you. But Winnie, do you know what song lyrics are?

当然知道， lyrics就是歌词。不过， to “know the lyrics by heart”是什么意思呢？

P: That means you have memorized them.

Oh, 原来to know something by heart就是“记住”、“熟练于心”的意思。

B: But Ernie, we`re still missing something. We need someone to play the music!

E: Oh right ... you know, my friend Eric is a DJ. Maybe he would like to play with us.

B: Hmm ... does he have a good ear for hip hop music?

E: Well, I don`t know, but we can find out. We can talk to him and ask if he wants to join our group.

P: Well Winnie, can you guess what it means to "have an ear" for a kind of music?

Sure，这就是说对某种音乐有天生的感觉和才华。唉，真希望Eric能让这两个人清醒点，帮他们选几首好歌。

P: Let`s hope so. Tune in next time to find out!