VOA标准英语2-14--Top 5 Countdown for Week Ending April 26

 

Top 5 Countdown for Week Ending April 26

We’re counting down the five most popular songs in the Billboard¹ Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending April 26, 2014.

The top five remains² the same as last week - in fact, the top seven songs haven’t moved for the past three weeks. That’s a first in the 55-year history of the Hot 100 chart. C’mon, people, let’s start buying different songs!

 

Idina Menzel holds in fifth place with “Let It Go,” from the Frozen³ soundtrack. That album has entered the record books - Frozen rules the Billboard Pop Album Chart for a 10th week…tying The Lion King for the longest championship run by an animated⁴ movie soundtrack album.

Another week, another fourth-place showing for Jason Derulo with “Talk Dirty,” featuring 2 Chainz. A lot is riding on this song and its accompanying album - his label, Warner Brothers, wants it to be a hit. Warner lost many of its urban stars in 2012, when Rick Ross and his Maybach Music label defected⁵ to Atlantic Records. Jason’s also counting on this album to establish an image to accompany his hit singles.

Holding at number three are Katy Perry and Juicy J, with “Dark Horse.” Katy was bested by a fan on national TV. On April 21, she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV talk show, where she squared off against a fan named Emily. Both answered questions about Katy’s personal life…and Emily won! She received an autographed pillow from Perry.

John Legend holds in second place with “All Of Me.” John says you’ll never see him and his wife on reality TV. John, who is married to model Chrissy Teigen believes it’s not healthy for relationships.

Pharrell Williams rules the Hot 100 for an eighth week with “Happy.” Pharrell recently sold his famous Grammy hat. Back in January, Pharrell wore an outsized hat on the Grammy telecast. As a result, the Vivienne Westwood hat became a bit of a celebrity⁶ in its own right. Last month, restaurant chain Arby’s bought the hat for $44,000 in an online auction⁷. The money went to Pharrell’s charity From One Hand To Another, which helps children learn through technology and the arts.

That’s it for now, but please join us next week for a new hit list…possibly featuring new songs!

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 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

4 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

5 defected   

vi.叛逃（defect的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The politician defected from his own party and joined the opposition. 这个政客叛离了自己的政党而投向了反对党一方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many writers, threatened with imprisonment, have defected to the West. 由于有被监禁的威胁，许多作家投向了西方国家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

7 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。