雅思阅读材料：Lady Gaga为什么这么红？

　　Recipe for Musical Success 音乐女王!

　　5)Infectious melodies, the biggest debut album of the year and hit singles including one of the best-selling digital songs of all time,…the 23 year-old New Yorker has risen to global fame in barely a year, her “eccentric” outfits defining an image.

　　Interviewer: You’ve achieved a massive amount of fame in a short period of time, so how has it all been for you?

　　Gaga: It’s been life-changing, but very exciting for my music, and as a song-writer it’s been a long time coming. I spent two and a half years writing my album, and it’s my greatest hits.

　　Interviewer: “Just Dance,” “Poker-face”—huge hits; what do you think is the reason why they’ve become so big?

　　Gaga: I guess I seem to have 6) struck a nerve. I think that my music as well as my performance art offers a sense of 7) escapism. And I think that, especially in America—I can’t speak for the rest of the world—but especially in America, there was a real need for someone to tell a story.

　　Interviewer: You’re also a song-writer, you write your own stuff, so how does that creative process take place?

　　Gaga: In all sorts of ways. Inspiration comes to me all day long every day, sometimes, when I’m falling asleep, I have these visions. But it’s not just music—it’s music, it’s the clothing, it’s the stage performance.

　　Interviewer: Do you think pop music at all has gotten too commercial?

　　Gaga: Not if I’m around.

　　Interviewer: Have there been any downsides to fame?

　　Gaga: No. There are no downsides. I, for myself, am surrounded by very creative and wonderful people, and I’ve always been taught, and it’s funny, because 8) Grace Jones said this to me when I met her—I washed her feet—and I looked up at her, and she said, “No matter what you do in your life, don’t you ever let anybody take your creative people away from you.” And what my creative friends always remind me of is…they say, “Only value the opinion of those that you respect, and anyone that you don’t respect, pay no mind to their opinion about you or anything else.” And that’s how I live my life. If I worried about everything that everyone said, I would not be a good artist. But when somebody that I respect sends me a message via someone I work with and says, “Tell Gaga I loved this. Maybe she should try this,” then I listen.

　　充满感染力的旋律,年度最优秀的处女大碟,多首大热单曲,其中一首还是当今销量最高的数码歌之一……这位23岁的纽约人在短短一年便名噪全球,其“古怪”衣着为其树立起独特的形象。

　　记者:你在短短的时间内便获得了相当高的知名度,那这一切对你来说意味着什么呢?

　　Gaga:意味着翻天覆地的改变,但对我的音乐来说非常让人振奋。作为一个作曲人,这经历了漫长的等待。我花了两年半来写自己的唱片,里面收录的都是我最好的热门歌曲。

　　记者:《只管跳》和《扑克脸》都是超级热门歌,你觉得为什么它们会这么受欢迎呢?

　　Gaga:我想是我可能唱出了大家的心声。我认为我的音乐以及我的表演展示了一种逃离现实的感觉。我认为,特别是在美国——我可不能替世界上别的地方的人说话——但是,特别是在美国,特别需要有人代述心声。

　　记者:你也是个作曲人,你写自己喜欢的曲子,这个创造性的过程是怎么产生的呢?

　　Gaga:以各种各样的方式产生。每天,灵感整天都会浮现,有时候,当我正要入睡时,我就有这些幻像。但那不止是音乐。有音乐,有服装,还有舞台表演。

　　记者:你觉得流行音乐已经变得太商业化了吗?

　　Gaga:我在就不会。

　　记者:名声给你带来什么负面影响了吗?

　　Gaga:没有。没有负面影响,对我自己而言,我身边有许多极有创意、非常了不起的人,而且我一直受到别人启迪,很有趣,因为格蕾斯·琼斯在我碰到她的时候跟我说——那时我给她洗脚,我抬头看着她,她说:“在你的人生中,无论做什么,都绝不要让别人把你身边富创意的人抢走。”而我那些极富创意的朋友总是提醒我说:“只要重视那些你尊敬的人的意见就好了,而那些你不尊敬的人,不要理会他们对你或者对其他事情的意见。”那就是我生活的方式。要是我在意每个人说的话,我就不会成为出色的艺人。但是要是那些我尊敬的人通过我的工作伙伴给我传话说:“告诉Gaga我喜爱这个。或者她应该试试这个。”那我就会听。