Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Ariana Grande is a famous singer. She made a new album called Petal.
The album became number one on the music chart. This is the best position an album can have.
This is the seventh time one of her albums has reached number one.
Soon, Ariana said she will stop performing in public for a while. Her tour will end in September in London.
- singer
- a person who sings, especially as a job
- album
- a collection of songs released together
- chart
- a list that ranks the most popular songs or albums
- number one
- the top or best position on a list
- seventh
- coming after six others in a series
- perform
- to sing, act, or play music in front of people
- public
- people in general, or open to everyone
- tour
- a series of shows in different places
Level 2 — Elementary
Pop star Ariana Grande's eighth studio album, Petal, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart this week.
The album sold the equivalent of 295,000 units in its first week, making it her biggest week in the 2020s and her seventh number one album overall.
The achievement puts her among a small group of women with seven or more number one albums, alongside artists like Lady Gaga and Janet Jackson.
The album's success comes as Grande prepares to step back from public life. She will finish her final scheduled show of the Eternal Sunshine Tour on September 1 in London before taking a break.
- pop star
- a very famous and successful singer of popular music
- debut
- to appear or perform for the first time
- equivalent
- equal in value or amount to something else
- unit
- a single standard measure used for counting sales
- achievement
- something accomplished successfully through effort
- artist
- a person who creates music, art, or other creative work
- scheduled
- planned to happen at a particular time
- break
- a pause or rest from an activity
Level 3 — Intermediate
Ariana Grande's eighth studio album, Petal, debuted atop the Billboard 200 this week, earning 295,000 equivalent album units in its first week in the United States, the singer's biggest week by that measure in the 2020s.
The milestone marks Grande's seventh number one album, tying her with Janet Jackson and Lady Gaga for the fifth most among solo women, trailing only Taylor Swift, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna.
Reviewers have described Petal as a departure from Grande's earlier sound, calling it experimental, a description the singer has embraced in interviews about the record.
The chart topping debut arrives shortly after Grande announced she plans to step back from public life, citing what she called endless, ongoing scrutiny over her physical appearance, a break that will begin once her Eternal Sunshine Tour concludes at London's O2 Arena on September 1.
- album units
- a combined measure of album sales, streaming, and track downloads used to rank chart performance
- milestone
- a significant event or achievement in the progress of something
- tying
- matching another's result or record exactly
- trailing
- being behind or ranked lower than others
- departure
- a significant change from what is usual or expected
- embraced
- accepted something readily and enthusiastically
- chart topping
- reaching the number one position on a popularity chart
- scrutiny
- close and critical observation or examination
Level 4 — Advanced
Ariana Grande's eighth studio album, Petal, debuted at the summit of the Billboard 200 this week, moving 295,000 equivalent album units in its first tracking week, a figure that constitutes her most commercially formidable week of the current decade and cements her seventh career chart topping release.
The achievement places her in rarefied company among solo female artists, tying Janet Jackson and Lady Gaga for the fifth greatest number of Billboard 200 leaders, a tier surpassed only by Taylor Swift, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna.
Critics have broadly characterized Petal as a deliberate stylistic departure from the sound that defined Grande's earlier catalog, a framing the artist herself has reinforced by describing the record in interviews as experimental and markedly different from her prior work.
The commercial triumph arrives against a poignant backdrop: Grande recently announced her intention to withdraw from public life, attributing the decision to what she termed endless, ongoing scrutiny of her physical appearance, a hiatus set to commence once the Eternal Sunshine Tour concludes with a final performance at London's O2 Arena on September 1.
- summit
- the highest point or peak of achievement
- tracking week
- the standardized weekly period used to measure chart sales and streaming data
- formidable
- impressively powerful or strong in achievement
- rarefied company
- an elite, exclusive group achieved by very few
- tier
- a level or rank within a hierarchy
- stylistic departure
- a notable shift in artistic style from previous work
- poignant
- evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret
- hiatus
- a pause or gap in an activity or sequence
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