UK election continues

It has been an interesting week in the UK election campaign. There have been several warnings that the election winner will have to make enormous spending cuts. But none of the three main parties will give details of how they would save money.

And the Prime Minister had a dreadful day when he met ordinary voters on the street.. He did not like what one lady said to him and was rude about her as he drove away in his car. Unfortunately he was being recorded by a television company and people could hear what he said.

The news that night was full of the story. There was also film of the prime minister with his head in his hands as he heard the tape of his comments. The election will be held on Thursday May 6.

Sport in the news

It has been a good week for sport. London football club Fulham beat Hamburg to go into the final of the Europa League. The final will be played on 12 May against Atletico Madrid.

And the London Marathon went ahead this week. The race has been run every spring since 1981 and around 36,000 runners took part this year. Many of them were running for charity.

Many runners also take part in strange clothes. This year a man dressed as Fred Flintstone set a new record for the fastest cartoon character.

Let’s cook outside

If the sun comes out, British people like to cook food outside. Barbecues (where food is cooked over hot coals) are very popular for parties.

Now a new barbecue is for sale in a British supermarket. It is nearly 10ft (3m) long. It has five gas burners and a working sink. And it costs £1,599.

Sales of barbecues have gone up 20 per cent in the last two years, even though UK weather is often not good enough to eat outside. Men are very keen on cooking outside.

Peppermint

A school in England wants to know if different sounds and smells will help pupils to learn better.

The primary school in Liverpool has put the smell of peppermint into the classrooms of 10 and 11 year old pupils. It is also playing the sounds of running water and moving leaves.

The experiment will go on for four weeks. The children will do a test on the computer every day to see if they work better because of the changes.

by Susan Young
susan@englishuk.com