A Song for the Victims为受难者献上的一首歌

Singers and bands from around the world have been gathering in London to record a charity single in aid of the victims of the Haiti earthquake disaster.

Artists like Mariah Carey, Robbie Williams and Susan Boyle have donated their time and talent in order to record a cover version of REM's classictrack Everybody Hurts.

The project has been organised by music mogul Simon Cowell, the mastermind behind recent TV talent shows such as the X Factor, America's Got Talent and Pop Idol.

Cowell has assembled talent from his stable of X Factor winners alongsideestablished acts such as Take That to record the song, the proceeds of which will be divided between a UK newspaper's Haitian fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organisation made up of 13 of the UK's leading aid agencies.

Music fans who want to see their favourite artists gathered in one place for the recording of the single will be sadly disappointed however.

That's because the performers are recording only a line or two of the song which will then be stitched together digitally to complete the track.

It's all a far cry from the early days of charity singles when singers would huddle round a microphone, giving a live performance.

Other famous faces have also been doing their bit for the Haitian victims.

The British band Radiohead raised more than $500,000 (3m yuan) for the appeal by performing a special gig in Los Angeles.

Hollywood actor George Clooney's Hope for Haiti Now telethon has so far raised $61m (414m yuan) thanks to celebrities like Madonna and Jay Z.

The 7.0 magnitudeearthquake on 12 January killed as many as 200,000 people and has left an estimated 1.5 million people homeless.

• talent [´tælənt]   n.天才；才干；天资   (初中英语单词)
• project [prə´dʒekt, ´prɔdʒekt]   v.设计；投掷 n.计划   (初中英语单词)
• factor [´fæktə]   n.因素；原动力；要素   (初中英语单词)
• stable [´steibəl]   n.马棚 a.稳固的   (初中英语单词)
• charity [´tʃæriti]   n.施舍；慈悲；博爱   (高中英语单词)
• earthquake [´ə:θkweik]   n.地震；大变动   (高中英语单词)
• classic [´klæsik]   a.第一流的 n.杰作   (高中英语单词)
• alongside [əlɔŋ´said]   ad.在旁 prep.横靠   (高中英语单词)
• emergency [i´mə:dʒənsi]   n.事变；紧急关头   (高中英语单词)
• umbrella [ʌm´brelə]   n.伞   (高中英语单词)
• huddle [´hʌdl]   vi.卷缩 vt.乱堆，乱挤   (高中英语单词)
• appeal [ə´pi:l]   vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉   (高中英语单词)
• gathering [´gæðəriŋ]   n.集会，聚集   (英语四级单词)
• version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən]   n.翻译；说明；译本   (英语四级单词)
• magnitude [´mægnitju:d]   n.宏大；重要性；大小   (英语四级单词)
• microphone [´maikrəfəun]   n.扩音器，话筒   (英语六级单词)
• madonna [mə´dɔnə]   n.圣母玛利亚；圣母像   (英语六级单词)
• homeless [´həumlis]   a.无家的   (英语六级单词)