The Price of Fame 成名的代價‏

Jesse loved hip-hop and in his room, he had posters of his favorite rappers like Eminem and 50 Cent. One day he decided to work hard and see if he could be a rapper, too. He spent most of his free time writing raps down on paper. After a few months, he had enough of them to put an album together. Jesse then called his friend, DJ Gizmo, to help him record a demo CD. When the CD was finished, he handed it out to all of the record companies he could think of.
傑西非常喜歡嘻哈樂，他的房間裡掛滿了海報，海報上是他最喜歡的饒舌歌手，像是阿姆和五角。某天他決定好好努力，看他是否也能當個饒舌歌手。他花了大半的空閒時間把歌詞記在紙上。幾個月後，他寫的歌曲足夠湊成一張專輯。接著傑西打電話請他的朋友──DJ吉默來幫他錄製試聽CD。錄完之後，他就把CD發送到所有他記得的唱片公司。
A few weeks later, Jesse got a phone call from Damon Hill, the boss of the most famous record company in New York. Damon wanted to sign him to a million-dollar contract. Jesse couldn't believe it. He was finally making it big like his idols. He changed his name to Sisco and flew all the way to New York. It took six long months to record his first album. He spent all of his time doing concerts and going on radio shows. Little by little, he began to talk to his friends less often.
幾個禮拜後，傑西接到一通由戴蒙‧希爾打來的電話，他是紐約一家最出名唱片公司的老闆。戴蒙想要跟他簽下一筆百萬合約。傑西簡直不敢相信。他終於就要跟他的偶像一樣飛黃騰達。他改名為西斯可，並一路直飛紐約。他花了整整六個月的時間錄製他的首張專輯。開演唱會、上廣播節目也佔據了他的每分每秒。慢慢地，他開始越來越少跟他朋友說話。



Building Your Vocabulary

►sign　vt. 簽約雇用
The baseball team has just signed a new pitcher.
那支棒球隊剛簽下一名新投手。



Phrases for Learning



1.put...together　　湊出∕整理出……
Jeff put the clues together and solved the crime.
傑夫將線索拼湊起來，偵破這樁案件。
2.hand...out　　分發∕散發……
My job was to hand the flyers out on the street.
我的工作是在街頭分發傳單。
3.make it big　　變得成功∕有名
The singer made it big when she had a hit song.
那位女歌手的歌曲大受歡迎，因此一炮而紅。
4.all the way　　一路直達；大老遠
Max went all the way to New York just to watch a Yankees game.
麥克斯大老遠到紐約去，只為了看洋基隊的比賽。
5.little by little　　逐漸地；慢慢地
Little by little, the couple started to work their problems out.
這對戀人開始慢慢地解決彼此間的問題。



參考字詞

1.hip-hop　n. 嘻哈樂
2.poster　n. 海報
3.rapper　n. 饒舌歌手
　rap [ rAp ] n. 饒舌歌
4.demo　n. 試唱帶（本文中作形容詞用）
5.contract　n. 契約，合同
6.idol　n. 偶像



Tips In Use

...help him record a demo CD.
（……幫他錄製試唱CD。）
...all of the record companies he could think of.
（……所有他記得的唱片公司。）
上述兩個句子中的 record 用法不同，唸法也不同。第一句中的 record 作及物動詞用，唸時重音須擺第二個音節。第二句的 record 則為名詞，重音擺第一個音節。
例：
1.record　vt. 錄下；記錄
Karen recorded the professor's speech on a tape.
（過去這幾個月吉兒已換了三次工作。）
2.record　n. 唱片；記錄
I always keep a daily record of the money I spend.
（我總會把每日的開銷作紀錄。）