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Culture: Review of the Year 年终回顾
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A Look Back at 2008 回顾2008年

The Olympics were a definite high point of 2008
2008 will be remembered by the British people as a year of economic crisis. Things have steadily worsened as the year has gone on with companies going into administration, job losses, falling house prices and the collapse of banking institutions.
Britain is just one of the many victims of a wider global financial crisis and sadly the predictions for 2009 do not show any sign of improvement for the British economy.
2008 also sadly saw the worst earthquake in China in over 30 years. The Great Sichuan Earthquake registered 8 on the Richter scale and killed around 70,000 people in May, not to mention the tens of thousands who were injured or went missing.
On a happier note, China also hosted its first Olympic games this summer in Beijing. It was a very successful games with an amazing opening ceremony and a staggering 43 new world records and 132 new Olympic records set.
China topped the medals table with 51 gold medals and Great Britain had its most successful Olympics in over a century with 19 gold medals and 47 medals in total.
2008 will also be remembered in history as the year Barack Obama was elected as the first black President of the United States. This was particularly poignant in a country where black people were once slaves and where segregation existed as little as half a century ago between black and white people.
In the British world of entertainment, Madonna and Paul McCartney’s high-profile divorces were finalised.
Reality TV remained as popular as ever where celebrities learning to ice skate, ballroom dance and survive in the jungle dominated headlines.
TV talent shows also ruled the airwaves with 8 million people voting for Alexandra Burke to win the X Factor, Britain’s most famous talent contest. Her first single ‘Hallelujah’ has become this year’s biggest-selling UK song.
GLOSSARY 词汇表 (收听发音, 请单击英语单词)
economic crisis经济危机
going into administration被接管
victims受害者
registered登记
staggering大量的
set创造（纪录）
poignant强 烈的，深刻的
segregation（种族）隔离
high-profile divorces瞩目的离婚案
dominated headlines垄断报端
steadily worsened逐步恶化
banking institutions金融机构
show any sign of improvement显示任何改进迹象
Richter scale里氏
records纪录
topped the medals table名列奖牌榜首
slaves奴隶
half a century ago半个世纪前
finalised终结
ruled the airwaves垄断时空的
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