VOA标准英语2015--Top 5 Songs for Week Ending April 11

Top 5 Songs for Week Ending April 11

We're counting down the five most popular songs in the Billboard¹ Hot 100 chart for the week ending April 11, 2015.

Winter has fled the Washington, D.C. area and like a fresh spring breeze, we welcome a new song in the Top Five.

The Weeknd introduces himself, as “Earned It ("Fifty Shades Of Grey") jumps a slot to fifth place. This song is blowing up all over the place… It already topped the Billboard R & B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and has crossed the one-million sales mark here in the United States. Want to know more about the Weeknd? Well, his real name is Abel Tesfaye, he’s from Canada, and this coming weekend, he’ll take the stage at the Coachella Festival in Southern California.

Dipping further into the "Fifty Shades of Grey" soundtrack we encounter Ellie Goulding, holding steady in fourth place with “Love Me Like You Do.” Ellie has a high-profile fan: The members of the British rock band Blur² recently named their favorite albums, and bassist Alex James cited Ellie’s Halcyon³ Days. He calls Ellie “the real deal in a world of bogus pop pretenders.”

Ellie and Ed Sheeran remain side-by-side, as Ed’s “Thinking Out Loud” holds in third place. If you remember your recent music history, their proximity⁴ could get a bit uncomfortable. Ed supposedly wrote his hit “Don’t” about their brief affair, and her betrayal of Ed with Niall Horan of One Direction.

Maroon⁵ 5 remains⁶ your runner-up with “Sugar,” and this week they made a little girl’s dream come true. On April 6, Adam Levine and his band performed in Anaheim, California. They also got to know five-year-old Esperanza Duran, who’s battling cancer. She credits Maroon 5’s music with helping⁷ get her through chemotherapy, and the guys met her just before going onstage.

Mark Ronson celebrates with Lionel Richie after receiving the British Single award at the BRIT music awards at the O2 Arena⁸ in Greenwich, London, Feb. 25, 2015.

Mark Ronson celebrates with Lionel Richie after receiving the British Single award at the BRIT music awards at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London, Feb. 25, 2015.

Up at number one, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars are your guys for a 13th week with “Uptown Funk.” How big an accomplishment⁹ is this? It’s one of only 10 singles to lead the chart that long. The all-time record-holder is “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, which lasted 16 weeks in 1996.

So, that’s it for now, but please join us in seven days and we’ll do it all again.

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 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

3 halcyon   

n.平静的，愉快的

参考例句：

• He yearned for the halcyon day sof his childhood.他怀念儿时宁静幸福的日子。
• He saw visions of a halcyon future.他看到了将来的太平日子的幻境。

4 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

5 maroon   

v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的

参考例句：

• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks.埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。
• Robinson Crusoe has been marooned on a desert island for 26 years.鲁滨逊在荒岛上被困了26年。

6 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。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

9 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。