Final Goodbye: Remembering Influential People Who Died in 2022

Final Goodbye: Remembering Influential¹ People Who Died in 2022

As 2022 comes to an end, we look back to remember the people the world lost over the year.

Several world leaders, past and present, died. Possibly, the most recognized was Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. She died September 8 after 70 years as ruler.

Elizabeth helped guide the monarchy³ through periods of social unrest, war, and economic crises, as well as family scandals.

The only monarch² known to have served longer than Elizabeth was Louis the XIV of France who died in 1715.

Elizabeth's death led to a collective expression of sadness and respect for her leadership. But, there was also renewed discussion and criticism of the monarch's part in British colonial rule of many areas around the world during her lifetime.

Elizabeth likely met more world leaders than anyone in history. And her image was among the most reproduced in the world. It can be found on money, mail and many buildings linked to Britain.

Elizabeth was 96 years old. Her rule passed to her son, Charles.

Another famous world leader who died in 2022 was former Soviet⁵ President Mikhail Gorbachev. His efforts to reform the Soviet Union led to the collapse⁶ of communism in Russia and the end of the Cold War competition with the West. After an attempted overthrow⁷, he resigned on December 25, 1991, just as the republics declared independence from the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev died on August -30 at the age of 91.

The year also saw the shocking assassination⁸ of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July. He was giving a speech at a political campaign event in Japan when a gunman shot and killed him.

Abe was Japan's longest serving prime minister. He was also a much criticized and complex politician. During his years in office, Abe helped pull Japan out of an economic recession. He built strong ties with the United States.

However, his goal of rewriting the nation's constitution failed because of weak public support.

He was 69.

Other former leaders who died this year include Angola's José Eduardo dos Santos; Ukraine's Leonid Kravchuk; Mexico's Luis Echeverría Alvarez, and former Peruvian president Francisco Morales Bermudez.

Among the entertainers who died was actor Sidney Poitier. His work in television and film helped expand the representation of Black people in the media. Poitier, who died in January, became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his part in the 1963 film Lilies of the Field. Queen Elizabeth II honored Poitier with a knighthood in 1974.

Music and film star Olivia Newton John died in August. The Australian singer sold more than 100 million record albums during her career. From 1973 to 1983, she was among the world's most popular entertainers. She had 14 top 10 singles in the United States alone and won four Grammy awards.

But Newton-John might be most remembered for her performance in 1978's popular musical movie Grease. She starred as Sandy, a new student at an American high school. There, she reconnects with her summer boyfriend.

Newton-John died of cancer at her home in California. She was 73.

One of the world's most famous film directors died in September. Jean-Luc Godard was 91. He was known as the "enfant terrible" of the artistic⁹ movement known as the French New Wave. Godard revolutionized popular cinema in 1960 with his first full length movie, Breathless.

The world of music lost many including rapper Coolio, Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie, country stars Loretta Lynn and Naomi Judd and jazz great Ramsey Lewis.

Along with McVie, rock and roll lost Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins; Depeche Mode keyboardist Andy "Fletch" Fletcher; Ronnie Spector, often called the first "bad girl of rock and roll;" and the performer known as Meat Loaf.

And finally, the world of sports lost one of its greatest athletes. Brazilian soccer player Pele died Thursday at the age of 82. Since 2021, he had been receiving treatment for colon⁴ cancer. Pele was one of the most commanding sports figures of the last hundred years. He won a record three World Cup soccer championships with Brazil. Pele was the standard-bearer of "the beautiful game," a term he helped make popular with the national team and his club Santos. Late in his career, he helped popularize soccer in North America by joining the New York Cosmos¹⁰.

Words in This Story

monarchy – n. a form of government in which a country is ruled by a king or queen whose children have some claim to special rights of rulers

scandal –n. an incident in which people are shocked or upset by behavior that is morally or legally wrong

assassination –n. murder by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons : the act or an instance of assassinating¹¹ someone

entertainer –n. a performer, such as a singer, actor, dancer, etc.

enfant terrible –n. (foreign term) a young and successful person who sometimes shocks others and does things in a way that is different than normal

standard-bearer –n. someone that leads an organization, movement, or party

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

3 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

4 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

8 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

9 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

10 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

11 assassinating   

v.暗杀( assassinate的现在分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• They struck a blow for freedom by assassinating the colonial governor. 他们为了自由而奋力一博，暗杀了那位殖民地总督。 来自互联网