VOA慢速英语2014 泰勒·斯威夫特与碧昂斯荣膺最佳音乐与吸金王

 

Taylor Swift, Beyonce Top Music and Money Lists 泰勒·斯威夫特与碧昂斯荣膺最佳音乐与吸金王

It is all about women on today’s music piece. They made some interesting news this week. But there is also some news you might have expected.

We start with the not-so-surprising news. Taylor Swift is on top of Billboard¹ Magazine’s top two hundred albums list for a second week. The singer-songwriter’s new CD “1989,” has sold almost 1.7 million copies since its release October 27th.

Also, this week, Forbes Magazine named Swift the second highest earning woman in music. Guess who was number one on the yearly grouping? Queen Bey, of course. Forbes says Beyonce Knowles made 115 million dollars between June of 2013 and 2014. That also put her at number one on Forbes list of richest celebrities².

Another music mega star, Madonna, celebrates an anniversary this week. Her extremely successful 1984 album, “Like A Virgin,” turned 30 on Thursday. The album’s song and linked video, “Material Girl,” was such a major hit that the press often calls Madonna herself, “the Material Girl.”

And finally, on Monday, Legacy³ Records released the first-ever album of live performances from Whitney Houston. The music star died in 2012 at 48 years old. The legendary⁴ producer, and Houston’s friend, Clive Davis, produced the collection. It includes a CD and a DVD. Davis spoke⁵ about the new album during an appearance on the American television program, “The Today Show.” He said the collection shows that she was the greatest singer of her generation.

Words in this Story

celebrities – n. famous people

mega – adj. very popular, successful, or important

legendary – adj. very famous or well-known    

1 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

2 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。