As a solo artist, Brightman has sold 26 million albums and two million DVDs in 34 countries. Her musical styles put opera, pop and jazz together. She is popular in the States but not here(Britain) – the image of her and her second husband, Andrew Lloyd Webber (he much older, she his muse) seems for ever frozen.
The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony that came out of a “very dark time”, including her decision to give up trying to have children. “People have suggested I could adopt,” Brightman says. “But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children bees the norm and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I’m not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich.”
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted (father a property developer who later mitted suicide), she says: “I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5 I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume.” She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe（辣妹三人舞） Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart. “I was probably in love but I can’t remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22. It didn’t really work out.” In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility(敌意) “from the beginning. I haven’t tried to understand it. I’ve done very well everywhere else, especially the US, where I now live, I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don’t miss it, although I miss my family. Our profession can be unfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it.”
【小题1】The first paragraph tells us that .A．Brightman is very popular around the world except in AmericaB．Brightman’s musical style is a mixture of opera, pop and jazzC．the British people don’t like her for her style of musicD．Brightman is much older than Andrew Lloyd Webber【小题2】Brightman decided to give up having children because .A．she could adopt oneB．her life and career were unbelievably rich without childrenC．she felt it normal not to have childrenD．she was too busy【小题3】 The following statements are true except .A．Brightman first appeared in a West End musical at 5B．Brightman disliked life on the campusC．Brightman was very gifted when she was young D．The saucy dance troupe made Brightman famous【小题4】The underlined word in the fourth paragraph probably means .A．locatedB．admiredC．followedD．found【小题5】What does the author try to say in the last paragraph by quoting Brightman’s words?A．Brightman has to accept the fact that she is liked in Britain B．Brightman lives in America but she loves her own countryC．The British coldness towards Brightman led to her hatred to her homelandD．Brightman was at a loss why she was not wele in BritainB
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(答案→)B
解析：莎拉·布莱曼与刘欢的《我和你》使她在中国家喻户晓。布莱曼在美国和世界其他国家也很有名气，她的专辑和DVD唱片一度火爆。但她在自己的国家英国却并不受欢迎，这让布莱曼深感困惑。
【小题1】细节理解题。从第一段我们可以了解到，莎拉·布莱曼的音乐特色是歌剧，流行音乐，和爵士乐的相互交融的综合产物。
【小题2】细节理解题。第二段说After a while not having children bees the norm and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different，布莱曼并没有觉得没有孩子有什么不正常的。
【小题3】细节理解题。布莱曼从小就是一个有音乐天赋的孩子，她第一次登台演出是在11岁，演出剧目《西头》音乐剧。因此A项的叙述是不正确的。
【小题4】词义理解题。spot意为“认出，发现”。1981年布莱曼被Webber发现，遇到了“伯乐”。
【小题5】作者意图推断题。文章最后一段援引了布莱曼的话，充满了无奈。布莱曼并没有说自己因为英国人不喜欢她而痛恨英国，但她也坦言她并不想念自己的家乡，虽然只是惦念父母和家人。I just accept it for what it is说明布莱曼只有接受现实而已。