VOA标准英语2014--Top 5 Countdown for Week Ending June 7

 

Top 5 Countdown for Week Ending June 7

We’re featuring the five most popular songs in the Billboard¹ Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending June 7, 2014.

Something happens this week on the Hot 100…that hasn’t occurred in half a century.

That’s still to come -- but first let’s swing by fifth place for DJ Snake and Lil Jon, holding steady with “Turn Down For What.” 

DJ Snake says he initially² wanted to sample Redman for this track. When Redman wouldn’t clear the sample, Lil Jon entered the picture…and voila! It became a big hit.

Staying put in fourth place is Pharrell Williams with  with his former title-holder “Happy.” Pharrell has a busy festival season in store. This North American summer, Pharrell will log plenty of air miles. June and July find him at several European festivals, with a proper European tour kicking off in early September.

John Legend loses his singles crown in third place with “All Of Me,” in the wake of this week’s historic³ chart shift. The news isn’t all bad for John, though: this week "All of Me" takes the Billboard Adult Contemporary title. Also, John’s Love In The Future album has surpassed⁴ half a million copies in U.S. sales.

Now we come to the good part: there’s a major development atop the hit list. Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea touch it off with “Problem,” jumping a slot⁵ to second place.

Ariana is a 20-year-old singer-actress, while Iggy is a 23-year-old rapper from Australia.  As a teenager, she came to the United States with the intention of becoming a star…and it seems as though her dream is coming true.

Iggy and Charli XCX ascend⁶ the singles throne with “Fancy,” and that’s just the beginning: hold on for details.

Iggy Azalea jumps a slot to number one with “Fancy,” featuring British singer Charli XCX. Iggy becomes the first artist since The Beatles in 1964 to reach the top two chart positions with her first two Hot 100 singles.

Iggy is also only the third woman to concurrently⁷ hold first and second place: Ashanti did it in 2002, with Mariah Carey following in 2005.

That’s all for now, but the action never stops on the Hot 100! Drop by next week and we’ll do it 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 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

3 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

4 surpassed   

v.超过( surpass的过去式和过去分词 )；优于；多于；非…所能办到

参考例句：

• This realization of our dreams surpassed even our wildest expectations. 我们梦想的实现甚至超越了我们最大胆的估计。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mao's fame surpassed well beyond the limits of China. 毛泽东的名声远远超越了中国国界。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 slot   

n.（口）位置，职位，狭长孔，狭槽

参考例句：

• Put a coin in the slot.将硬币放入投币口。
• He's been given a regular ten-minute slot on the radio.电台定期给他十分钟的节目广播时间。

6 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

7 concurrently   

adv.同时地

参考例句：

• He was given two twelve month sentences to run concurrently. 他两罪均判12个月监禁，同期执行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was given two prison sentences, to run concurrently. 他两罪均判监禁，同期执行。 来自辞典例句