VOA标准英语2015--Top 5 Songs for Week Ending Feb. 7

 

Top 5 Songs for Week Ending Feb. 7

This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re revving¹ up the five most popular songs in the Billboard² Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending February 7, 2015.

Grammy excitement is in the air…can you feel it? It’s electric! Every artist in this week’s lineup has either already won or is nominated for a Grammy Award.

Seven-time Grammy winner Taylor meets herself coming and going in this week’s Top Five. It all starts in fifth place, where “Shake It Off” holds steady. Taylor won her first Grammy award in 2010. She took home four trophies³ that year, including Album Of The Year for Fearless.

Taylor dips a slot to number four with “Blank Space,” from her 1989 album. Here in 2015, Taylor’s chasing Grammy Awards for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance - all for “Shake It Off.” She’ll be going up against our third-place hit for Song Of The Year.

Hozier rebounds⁴ a slot to number three with “Take Me To Church.” Last year, this song became a smash after its hard-hitting video went viral…to date it’s racked up 93 million views on YouTube. Andrew Hozier-Byrne says the past few months have been a bit unbelievable… including his Song Of The Year Grammy nomination⁵.

Holding fast to second place is Ed Sheeran with "Thinking Out Loud". His own story is pretty amazing: Ed was more or less homeless while establishing himself as a singer-songwriter. Ed says that as a struggling musician, he sometimes had no fixed⁶ address… and slept in friends’ apartments. Those days are long gone: he has six Grammy nominations⁷ under his belt, including three this year for Album Of The Year, Best Pop Vocal⁸ Album, and Best Song Written For Visual Media.

Between them, our two chart-toppers have five Grammy wins.

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars rule the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a fourth week with “Uptown Funk.” Mark is a three-time Grammy winner. In 2008, he took Non-Classical Producer Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album, stemming from his work with Amy Winehouse on Back To Black. Bruno is a two-time winner: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Pop Vocal Album, for Unorthodox Jukebox.

The Grammy Awards happen on Sunday, February 8 and later in the week we’ll look at an all-new hit list.

1 revving   

v.（使）加速( rev的现在分词 )；（数量、活动等）激增；（使发动机）快速旋转；（使）活跃起来

参考例句：

• The team are revving up for next week's game. 这个队伍对下周的比赛跃跃欲试。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Since the introduction of new techniques, the production has been revving up. 自从新技术的引进，产量一直都在增加。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 rebounds   

反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴

参考例句：

• V is the velocity after the gas particle rebounds from the wall. V是粒子从壁上弹开后的速度。
• In the former case, the first body rebounds with practically its original velocity. 在前一种情况下，第一个物体实际上以原来的速度弹回。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

8 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。