Goodbye 2010

The celebrations are over for another year and 2010 has come to a close, so let’s look back and remember some of the news stories that took place, both good and bad.

January - Apple launched the iPad and this has now become the fastest-selling consumer electronic device ever!  Haiti was devastated by an earthquake killing 230,000 people.

February – Snow wreaked havoc in the UK with 10 inches of snow causing schools to close and some areas getting temperatures as low as -8C.

March – Kathryn Bigelow won the Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker controversially beating her ex-husband James Cameron with Avatar.

April - As the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupted, weather conditions meant that the volcanic ash covered a large area of Europe, causing widespread disruption to aviation. To see how to pronounce this word click here.  BP disaster causes oil to gush into the seas of the Gulf of Mexico endangering wildlife and livelihoods.

May – The UK election, Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats finally decided to back David Cameron of the Conservative party and formed the coalition government.  Chelsea won the FA cup giving them the double, whilst Inter Milan won the Champions League giving them the treble in Italy under former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

June – John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to the song ‘a day in the life’ sold for $1.2m at Sotheby’s, London.
July - A late goal from Andrés Iniesta gave Spain victory over Holland to win the World Cup for the first time.

August – Pakistan's worst flooding in nearly a century affected more than four million people and left at least 1,600 dead.

September – The Pope Benedict XVI visited the UK and on the third day of his visit gave a sermon to 5,000 pilgrims in Hyde Park.

October – South African Bishop Desmond Tutu retired from public life at 79.

November – Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement after dating for eight years.  Dilma Rousseff was elected the first female president of Brazil succeeding Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

December – Students protested after MPs voted to raise university tuition fees in England and a car containing Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall was attacked amid violence. Coronation Street, Britain’s oldest soap opera, celebrates its 50^th anniversary.  England retained the Ashes down under! 

Well, despite some of the sad news stories I personally had a great year and I hope you did too.  We all wish you a happy and prosperous 2011, keep reading. 

Glossary

• To launch – (v) to make a product available for sale
• To devastate – (v) to damage something badly
• To wreak havoc – (exp) to cause a lot of damage to something
• Inch – (n) a measurement equal to 2.54 cm, used in UK and America
• To gush – (v) to flow quickly, usually liquid
• To endanger – (v) to put in danger
• Livelihood – (v) the way you earn money in order to live
• To back – (v) to support someone or something
• The double – (n) the 2 main titles in English football, the premiership and the FA cup
• The treble – (n) the three key titles in Italian football
• Lyrics – (n) words for songs
• Sermon – (n) a talk given as part of a Christian church service
• Pilgrim – (n) a religious person who travels a long way to a holy place
• To retire – (v) to stop working because you reach a certain age
• Engagement – (n) an agreement between 2 people to marry
• To date – (v) to have a romantic relationship with someone
• To succeed – (v) to be the next person to take a position
• Tuition fees – (noun phr.) money paid to be educated
• Soap opera – (n) a television or radio story about the daily lives and relationships of the same group of people, which is broadcast regularly
• To retain – (v) to keep
• The Ashes – (n) a cricket competition between England and Australia
• Down under – (n) a nickname for Australia because it is the other side of the world from the UK

By Heather