The New Year Countdown party at Singapore's Marina Bay is expected to draw in a bigger crowd this year, with the completion of key developments in the area and more vantage points on offer.
文中的countdown party就是指“跨年晚会”,也就是从12月31日晚一直举办到1月1日凌晨的新年晚会。Countdown这里就是指新年的“倒计时”,一般在晚会中都会设置这个环节。飞船发射等的倒计时,也可以用这个词来表示,也就是the space shuttle countdown。
Countdown还可以用来指“大事临近的时期”,比如:Tonight only four days are left in the countdown toward election day.(今夜离大选日只有最后四天了。)
提到countdown party,肯定就要说说audience ratings(收视率),这也是各家卫视跨年火拼的目的。“收视率”也称为viewership ratings或者television viewing。“我们的节目收视率提高了”就可以说成是Our show has gone up in the ratings.