英译汉

Fame is very much like an animal chasing its own tail who, when he captures it,does not know what else to do but to continue chasing it. Fame and the exhilarating celebrity that accompanies it, force the famous person to participate in his or her own destruction. Ironic isn‘t it? Those who gain fame most often gain it as a result of possessing a single talent or skill: singing, dancing, painting, or writing, etc. The successful performer develops a style that is marketed aggressively and gains some popularity, and it is this popularity that usually convinces the performer to continue performing in the same style, since that is what the public seems to want and to enjoy. The demand of the public holds the artist hostage to his or her own success, fame. If the artist attempts to change his or her style of writing or dancing or singing, etc., the audience may turn away and look to confer fleeting fickle fame on another and then, in time, on another, and so on and so on.

【正确答案】

声誉极像一只追逐自己尾巴的动物, 抓住后除了继续追逐不舍之外, 再也没有其他方法了。 声誉和随之而来的令人兴奋的赞扬迫使这位出了名的人走上自己的末路。这难道不令人啼笑皆非吗?在已出了名的人们中间, 绝大多数是因有一技之长,如唱歌、 舞蹈、 绘画、 写作等等, 而获此声誉的。 成功的表演者展示出一种在市场上可以争雄制胜的风格, 因此而获得声誉。 而且也就是这种声誉常使表演者确信必须把这种风格坚持下去, 因为看来这正是大众所需要和喜爱的。 为了维持自己的成功和声誉, 大众的要求竟把艺术家如人质般束缚住了。 如果艺术家企图改变笔调、舞步、 唱腔的话, 观众就会舍他而去, 把那飘忽不定的称誉转移给别人。 随后又转移给另一人, 这样不停地循环往复。

【答案解析】