VOA标准英语2015--Top 5 Songs for Week Ending March 14

Top 5 Songs for Week Ending March 14

Here are the five most popular songs in the Billboard¹ Hot 100 pop singles chart, for the week ending March 14, 2015.

Our one-new-song-per-week policy is humming along nicely. Hozier leaves the Top Five, while Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney return to contention² with “FourFiveSeconds.” Rihanna and Kanye are all over the news this week.

For the third year in a row, Rihanna is the most popular female act on the streaming service Spotify. As for Kanye, he just finished a four-show residency in Paris as part of Paris Fashion Week. Both Kanye and Rihanna have albums on the way; he’s executive producing her set, and a joint³ tour is rumored⁴ to be in the works.

It’s a “down” week for Ellie Goulding (Golding), as “Love Me Like You Do” - from the "Fifty Shades of Grey" soundtrack - weakens a slot in fourth place. Ellie hits the road every day - she’s a fitness fanatic⁵ who especially enjoys running: she’s done five half-marathons and is a spokesperson for Nike.

Taking over third place is Maroon⁶ 5, who go the remix route for their latest hit “Sugar.”  A new remix features Nicki Minaj - and this isn’t the first time Maroon 5 has enlisted⁷ rappers to sweeten up their songs: Big Sean handled the remix of “Maps,” while “Animals” featured two remixes: one with J. Cole and the other with Big Boi.

Holding steady in second place is Ed Sheeran, with “Thinking Out Loud.” Ed went on Instagram to share a letter from a fan in South Korea and well, you could say something was lost in translation. It said, “You are a little ugly, but I love you!” Ed captioned⁸ it, “God bless Korea.”

Holding the Hot 100 title for a ninth big week are Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, with “Uptown Funk.” It’s also the champ in the U.K…putting it in pretty special company.  Mark and Bruno follow in the footsteps of Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)”; Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”

That’s it for now, but a new lineup awaits you next week.

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 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

5 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

6 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。

7 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 captioned   

a.标题项下的； 标题所说的

参考例句：

• This paper reviews the production, development and nationalization of the captioned materials. 本文就铜系合金引线框架材料的生产、发展和国产化进程作一论述。
• Please advise other considerable hotels for this captioned group. 请推荐其它一些高级的旅馆给这一群打标语的人。