voa标准英语2015--Top 5 Songs for Week Ending Jan. 31

 

Top 5 Songs for Week Ending Jan. 31

We’re lighting¹ up the five most popular songs in the Billboard² Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending January 31, 2015.

It’s been a good year so far, with every week yielding at least one new title. We could get used to this!

Let’s open in fifth place, which brings back a previous champ: Taylor Swift, and “Shake It Off.”  This week, Australian network Triple J announced the winner of its fan-voted Hottest 100 music poll…and Taylor Swift’s name was nowhere to be found. The network had banned her, reacting to a social media campaign to push “Shake It Off” to number one. By the way, singer-songwriter Chet Faker emerged the winner.

Dipping a slot to fourth place is Hozier, with “Take Me To Church.” The Irish singer recently surprised some students. Earlier this month, Hozier paid a surprise visit to Dublin’s British and Irish Modern Music Institute. He spoke³ about gigging around the globe and dealing⁴ with sudden fame.

Sudden fame is ancient history to our third-place act: Taylor Swift has been a superstar for more than five years. In fact, her latest album is her fastest-seller yet. Taylor backs off a notch⁵ to third place with “Blank Space.” Last week, her 1989 album became her fifth set to reach four million U.S. sales…by the way, that’s every one of them. As icing on the cake, it achieved that milestone⁶ faster than any of her other albums.

Jumping two slots to second place goes Ed Sheeran with “Thinking Out Loud.” Ed may have made an unlikely fan out of a previous opponent. Earlier this month, former Oasis⁷ member Noel Gallagher said he couldn’t live with the fact that Ed was playing several July dates at London’s massive Wembley Stadium. Ed reached out to Noel, offering him free tickets. He tells the Daily Star that Noel accepted, on behalf of his teenage daughter. Ed also says he doesn’t mind criticism - it keeps him humble⁸.

Fellow British artist Mark Ronson keeps the crown, as “Uptown Funk” featuring Bruno Mars spends a third week at the top. How’s Mark doing back home?  Across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, “Uptown Funk” spends a sixth week at number one, while Uptown Special becomes his first chart-topping U.K. album.

That’s it for now - join us next week for a whole new lineup.

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

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 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。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

6 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

7 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

8 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。