English on the Internet - English Magazine

Now that the party has finished and the decorations have been put away, this is the time that many people look back and ask "was it what we expected?". This is a very important question for the British government at the moment. The reason is the "Millennium Dome". I am sure that most of your have heard of it. For those who haven't, the Millennium Dome is, basically, a very expensive tent! The government allocated more than 700 million pounds (I think) of national lottery money to make the Dome, to extend railway lines to meet the Dome, and to put on a year-long show within the Dome. The Dome itself is the largest building of its kind in the world.

Many people now want to know if it was worth spending all that money and whether the Dome is a success. Some people think that the money would have been better spent on schools and hospitals. The idea is that it might be better to have a healthier and better educated population, than to have a large tent!

It is too early to tell if the Dome has been a success - we will have to wait until the end of the year to decided that. Having said that, there were a number of problems on new year's eve: (1) Many people were stuck for many hours at one of the railway stations, (2) Over 5000 tickets for the evening had not been posted to their owners, meaning that these people couldn't get in, and (3) There were large queues for some of the attractions when the organisers said that there would be no queues. Despite these problems, many people who have been to the Dome say that it was interesting and it was worth the money and time they spent going there.

Well, we shall see later in the year if the Dome is a success or not. The politicians are already arguing about it! When the answer is clear, I shall write again on this issue!

If you have any requests or suggestions for articles, please email them to me at dareid@btinternet.com