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März 2023
Nr. 3 | 70. Jahrgang
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INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
Chinese balloon shot down
over the US
Page 2
A2–B1
AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
St Patrick’s Day down under
| Photo: Getty Images
It’s not only Read On
celebrating a 70th anniversary:
this year marks Agatha Christie’s
The Mousetrap’s 70th year in the
West End.
Read more on page 3
Feeling down? Try doing
something nice for someone else.
A study showed that performing
acts of kindness helped people with
depression feel better.
Read more on page 6
Nicola Sturgeon resigns
| Photo: Getty Images
CROSSWORD
Page 4
EXERCISE • HUMOUR
The Silly Walk workout
Page 5
AROUND BRITAIN
British Science Week
Page 6
OLD SCHOOL/
NEW SCHOOL
Artificial intelligence
Page 7
SPORT
World Women’s Curling
Page 8
Die Sprachzeitung nach
Bildungsplan!
JUST
PERFECT
in the classroom.
examples include:
AKTUELLE THEMEN UND
EREIGNISSE
Nicola Sturgeon resigns
page 1
WISSENSCHAFT UND
TECHNIK​
ChatGPT: The clever chatbot
page 7
€ 3,00 [a,b] CHF 4,90 [ch]
UK POLITICS
The leader of the
Scottish National Party
has been Scotland’s first
minister since 2014.
By Siobhan Bruns
1 AFTER EIGHT years
in the job, Scotland’s first
minister and leader of the
Scottish National Party (SNP)
Nicola Sturgeon has resigned.
2 The SNP supports and campaigns
for Scottish independence
from the United Kingdom. Nicola
Sturgeon became the party’s
leader when the 2014 referendum
on Scottish independence did not
go the way the SNP wanted it to –
55 per cent of Scots voted for Scotland
to remain as part of the UK.
3 But shortly after she became
leader, the SNP won more seats
than it ever had in Scotland – 56
of 59 – making it the third-largest
party in the UK Parliament.
As SNP leader, Sturgeon campaigned
to have another referendum
on Scottish independence
from the UK.
4 Sturgeon hoped that Brexit’s
unpopularity with the Scots
would make a new independence
referendum successful. In Scotland,
62 per cent voted against
the UK leaving the EU. And for
some time after she became leader,
polls showed that a majority
of Scots would vote for Scottish
independence.
0 – 2 TO RESIGN zurücktreten — leader
Vorsitzende(r) — party Partei — first minister
Regierungschef(in) von Schottland — to support
befürworten — to campaign for sich einsetzen für
— independence Unabhängigkeit — to vote stimmen
— to remain bleiben
3 – 5 seat Sitz im Parlament — unpopularity Unbeliebtheit
— successful erfolgreich — poll Umfrage
— majority Mehrheit — political misstep
politischer Fehltritt — recent jüngst — row Streit
— support Unterstützung — sharply drastisch
6 government Regierung — to pass a bill
(into law) ein Gesetz verabschieden — controversial
umstritten — gender recognition Geschlechtsanerkennung
— legally rechtlich — to
apply for s.th. etw. beantragen — certificate Bescheinigung
— medical diagnosis medizinische
Diagnose — gender dysphoria Geschlechtsdysphorie
— in order to um zu — applicant
Antragsteller(in)
7 although obwohl — two-thirds zwei Drittel
— those opposed die Gegner(innen) — women’s
rights Frauenrechte — single-sex spaces geschlechtsspezifische
Orte — to protect schützen
— to allow s.o. to do jdm. erlauben zu tun — violent
gewalttätig — male Mann — to abuse ausnutzen
— UN special rapporteur UN-
Sonderberichterstatter(in) — fear Befürchtung
| Photo: Getty Images
5 But after several political missteps
over the years and, as the
Times reported, especially after
the recent transgender bill row,
support for the SNP, for Nicola
Sturgeon and for Scottish independence
fell sharply.
6 In December of last year, Sturgeon’s
government passed the
controversial Gender Recognition
Reform Bill that would make
it easier to legally change gender.
The bill lowered the minimum
age at which someone can apply
for a gender recognition certificate
(GRC) from 18 to 16, said a
medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria
in order to receive a GRC
would no longer be needed, and
cut the time an applicant had to
wait for a GRC from two years to
three months.
7 Although the SNP government
passed the gender bill into
law, two-thirds of Scots were
against it. Those opposed worried
that women’s rights and
single-sex spaces wouldn’t be
protected, and that it could allow
violent males to abuse the system.
UN special rapporteur Reem
Alsalem wrote a letter to the UK
government, sharing fears about
the bill, the BBC writes.
8 For the first time ever, the UK
government used Section 35 of
the Scotland Act to block the Gender
Recognition Reform Bill. The
never-before-used power was put
in place to prevent Scottish bills
that would have an “adverse effect”
on laws over which the UK
Parliament has jurisdiction.
9 Nicola Sturgeon called the
decision by the UK government
to block the bill an “outrage” and
a “full frontal attack” on the Scottish
Parliament.
10 But just a few weeks later, the
exact scenario of violent males
abusing the system seemed to be
playing out. After being found
guilty of raping two women, a
man then claimed he himself
was a woman and so was placed
by the Scottish government in a
women’s prison.
Continued on page 2
8 section Abschnitt — Scotland Act Gesetz
von 1998 über die Dezentralisierung, das ein eigenes
schottisches Parlament schuf — power Befugnis
— to put s.th. in place etw. einrichten — to
prevent verhindern — to have an adverse effect
on s.th. sich nachteilig auf etw. auswirken — law
Gesetz — s.o. has jurisdiction over s.th. etw. fällt
in jds. Zuständigkeitsbereich
9 – 10 decision Entscheidung — outrage Skandal
— full frontal attack Frontalangriff — to seem
scheinen — to play out sich abspielen — to be
found guilty schuldig gesprochen werden — to
rape vergewaltigen — to claim behaupten — to
place unterbringen — prison Gefängnis

2
March 2023 Read On
Chinese balloon shot down over the US
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
A balloon thought to have been used for spying
was shot down by the US military.
By Siobhan Bruns
1 THE USmilitary shot down
a high-altitude balloon just off
the coast of South Carolina last
month. The balloon had been
spotted moving from west to east
over US airspace for several days
but wasn’t shot down until it had
moved over the Atlantic Ocean –
so that no one would be hurt.
2 The balloon came from China.
The US government believes
it was being used to gather intelligence
about American military
sites. The Chinese government
has said that isn’t true, that the
balloon was just a weather-monitoring
device which had
blown off course.
3 In the following
days, three more
devices were
shot down out of
North American
skies. One was
flying over Alaska, another over
the Yukon in Canada, and a third
over Lake Huron, which is at the
border of the US and Canada. It
will be hard to find where they
landed, so they may not be able
to be examined.
4 But some of the remains of
the first balloon could be pulled
out of the water and looked at.
The balloon was equipped
with multiple antennas
capable of “intelligence
collection
operations”,
a senior US State
Department official
said.
The balloon
can clearly be
seen in the sky
above North
Carolina.
King Charles III to visit
Germany
MONARCHY The
monarch plans to go to
Hamburg and Berlin.
By Siobhan Bruns
5 It has been a few hundred
years now since balloons were
cutting-edge technology, but they
still may be better at gathering
intelligence than satellites. The
New York Times writes that while
it is believed that Chinese satellites
are good at capturing images,
“balloons can linger longer
over a site, and potentially collect
multiple forms of intelligence”.
6 Several more suspected Chinese
spy balloons have also been
spotted over the skies in Central
and South America.
7 After discovering the first
spy balloon, the US Secretary
of State cancelled his upcoming
visit to China. It would have been
the first visit by a high-level US
official in several years. The two
countries were going to discuss
Taiwan and other security issues.
Sailors
recover the
high-altitude
balloon from the
Atlantic Ocean.
| Photos: Getty
Images
0 – 1 TO SHOOT s.th. down etw. abschießen — international
relations internationale Beziehungen — for spying
zu Spionagezwecken (to spy spionieren) — high-altitude
balloon Höhenballon — just off the coast direkt vor
der Küste — to spot sichten — airspace Luftraum
2 – 3 government Regierung — to gather intelligence
Informationen sammeln — military site Militärstandort
— weather-monitoring device Gerät zur Wetterbeobachtung
— to blow off course vom Kurs abkommen — border
Grenze — to examine untersuchen
4 remains Überreste — to be equipped with ausgestattet
sein mit — multiple mehrere — (to be) capable of
s.th. zu etw. in der Lage (sein); h.: für etw. eingesetzt werden
können — intelligence collection operations nachrichtendienstliche
Operationen — senior US State Department
official hochrangige(r) Mitarbeiter(in) des
US-Außenministeriums
5 – 6 cutting-edge hochmodern — to capture an image
ein Bild aufnehmen — to linger verweilen — potentially
möglicherweise — to collect sammeln — suspected mutmaßlich
7 to discover entdecken — US Secretary of State US-
Außenminister(in) — upcoming bevorstehend — highlevel
US official hochrangige(r) US-Vertreter(in) — security
issues sicherheitspolitische Fragen
1 BRITAIN’SKing Charles III
and his wife Camilla are planning
to visit Berlin and Hamburg
from March 29 to 31. The King and
Queen Consort will travel to Germany
after visiting France.
2 This isn’t Charles’s first visit to
the country. He has been to Germany
numerous times. His last
visit was for Remembrance Day
in November 2020.
3 Charles has been the British
monarch since the death of his
mother Elizabeth II in September
of last year. His coronation is due
to take place at the beginning of
May.
King Charles III.
| Photo: Getty Images
0 – 3 QUEEN CONSORT Königin
(Bezeichnung für die Ehefrau eines
regierenden Königs) — numerous
times viele Male — Remembrance
Day Gedenktag zu Ehren aller im
Krieg getöteten Soldaten aus dem UK
und dem Commonwealth — coronation
Krönung — to be due to do tun
sollen — to take place stattfinden
Themenheft
Extra: The United Kingdom – Monarchy
www.sprachzeitungen.de
Continued from page 1
11 There was a lot of anger about
the situation, and the Scottish
government did move the convicted
rapist out of the women’s
prison. But when asked about the
case, Sturgeon continued to be
indirect in her answers. She was
flustered and seemed annoyed at
being questioned about it, which
angered people further.
12 Just a week later, the first
minister resigned. However, in
her resignation speech, Sturgeon
said she was not leaving because
of any recent issues.
13 It’s not clear who will replace
Sturgeon as leader of the SNP.
She has been the face of the party
for so long, many think that once
Sturgeon is gone, the SNP will no
longer be as powerful as it once
was.
14 The SNP’s agenda to leave the
UK has always been a thorn in the
side of the Tories, who want the
UK to stay united. So the SNP’s
11 anger Wut — convicted verurteilt — rapist Vergewaltiger(in) — case Fall
— to continue to do weiterhin tun — flustered aufgeregt — annoyed genervt
— to anger verärgern
12 – 15 resignation speech Rücktrittsrede — issue Problem — to replace s.o.
jdn. ersetzen — once sobald — powerful mächtig — to be a thorn in s.o.’s
side (fig) jdm. ein Dorn im Auge sein — downfall Niedergang — to be met
with s.th. mit etw. aufgenommen werden — to be likely to do wahrscheinlich
tun — general election Parlamentswahl — to call an election eine Wahl ansetzen
— vote Stimme
downfall might well be met by
them with some schadenfreude.
15 But it may be a case of ‘be
careful what you wish for’ – Scots
who don’t vote for the SNP are
likely to vote for Labour. The
next UK general election must be
called by January 2025, and all
those new votes for Labour could
make it difficult for the Tories to
win it.
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Redaktionsleitung Sprach zeitungen
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Read On March 2023 70 Jahre
The Mousetrap, the world’s
longest running play
ENTERTAINMENT • LITERATURE After opening in 1952 in London’s
West End, Agatha Christie’s murder mystery play has never closed.
mit Audiodatei und
By Siobhan Bruns
1 IT’S NOT ONLY Read On
that is celebrating a 70th anniversary.
This year marks one of
Agatha Christie’s whodunnit’s
70th year on stage: The Mousetrap.
After the play opened in the
West End in 1952, it has moved
(to a larger theatre), and it didn’t
take place for one year (because
of the Covid pandemic), but The
Mousetrap has never closed –
making it the longest running
play in the world.
2 Christie wrote the murder
mystery as a 30-minute radio play
for Queen Mary, wife of George V,
for Mary’s birthday in 1947. It was
called Three Blind Mice then. Like
many of Christie’s murder mysteries,
the title was taken from a
Mother Goose nursery rhyme.
3 Three blind mice are mentioned
and the nursery rhyme’s
tune is heard in the play, but the
title was changed when it came to
the stage. Another play with the
Übungsmaterial
same name was in the West End
at the time. However, the new title
Christie gave it also has a literary
connection: The Mousetrap is
the title of the play-within-a-play
in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
4 Christie’s two-act murder
mystery play opens with a group
in a guest house who are becoming
snowed-in, just as radio reports
say a murderer is on the
loose. Soon after, a detective arrives
on skis to tell them that the
murderer, and probably the next
victim, is among them.
5 The play’s clues keep the audience
guessing until the twist ending
is finally revealed. But how
could a surprise ending be kept
secret all these years?
6 At the end of each performance,
a cast member tells the
Agatha Christie, 1890 – 1976.
St Martin’s
Theatre, where
Agatha Christie’s
famous whodunnit
The Mousetrap has
been running for so
many years.
| Photos: Getty
Images
audience that they are “partners
in crime” and should “keep the
secret of the whodunnit locked in
their heart”. Christie also asked
that the story not be published in
the UK as long as it ran as a play in
the West End. She probably never
dreamed that it would be so many
years!
7 But it’s not just Christie’s The
Mousetrap that has staying pow-
3
er. So much of her work has stood
the test of time. Not only did she
write the world’s longest running
play, Christie is still the world’s
best-selling novelist, with an estimated
two billion books sold, the
play’s website says.
8 People not only go to see
Christie’s work on stage, they also
enjoy seeing it on television and
in movie theatres. Many of Christie’s
works have been adapted for
the screen, and her more popular
stories have been adapted many
times.
9 Yet another will open in
movie theatres this year. Oscarnominated
Kenneth Branagh
will direct and star as Christie’s
fictional detective, Hercule Poirot,
in A Haunting in Venice. The
film is based on one of her lesserknown
novels, Hallowe’en Party.
It will be Branagh’s third Christie
movie. He did Murder on the Orient
Express in 2017 and Death on
the Nile last year.
10 What’s old is new, they say.
And that seems to be the case for
The Mousetrap. The play may be
the ‘grand old dame’ of London,
but it’ll be the new kid on the
block in New York in 2023. After
70 years on the stage in the West
End, the beloved whodunnit is finally
coming to Broadway.
0 – 2 THE MOUSETRAP dt. Titel: Die Mausefalle
— murder mystery play Krimi-Theaterstück — anniversary
Jubiläum — whodunnit (coll) Krimi —
to take place h.: aufgeführt werden — nursery
rhyme Kinderlied; Kinderreim
3 – 5 to mention erwähnen — tune Melodie —
connection Verbindung — murderer Mörder(in)
— to be on the loose (fig) frei herumlaufen — victim
Opfer — clue Hinweis — audience
Zuschauer(innen) — twist ending überraschendes
Ende — to reveal enthüllen — to keep s.th. secret
etw. geheim halten
6 – 7 cast member Darsteller(in) — partner in
crime Komplize(-in) — to keep s.th. locked in
one’s heart (fig) etw. in seinem Herzen bewahren
— to publish veröffentlichen — staying power
(fig) Ausdauer — to stand the test of time (fig) die
Zeit überdauern — novelist Romanautor(in) — estimated
geschätzt — billion Milliarde
8 – 9 movie theatre Kino — to adapt s.th. for the
screen etw. verfilmen — yet another noch eine —
to direct Regie führen — to star as … die Rolle des
… übernehmen — fictional fiktiv
10 what’s old is new (fig) alles kommt irgendwann
wieder in Mode — to seem scheinen — to be
the case der Fall sein — grand old dame (fig) altehrwürdige
Dame — the new kid on the block
(fig) der/die Neue — beloved beliebt
10./11. März 2023
RMCC Wiesbaden
Freitag, 09 bis 15 Uhr
Samstag, 10 bis 15 Uhr
www.azubitage.de
EINTRITT FREI
By Siobhan Bruns
1 MOTHER GOOSEis a fictional
character who is supposed
to have written nursery rhymes.
Nursery rhymes are short verses
or songs which tell a story in
just a few short lines. They have
rhythms and sounds which make
them easy to remember and, of
course, they usually rhyme.
2 Nursery rhymes often have
silly subjects, which makes them
popular with children. Besides
being fun, they teach children
English speech patterns, which
can help them to become better
readers and speakers.
3 Most nursery rhymes date
from the 1500s to the 1700s. For
question time
Who is Mother Goose?
a long time, they were only spoken
aloud, not written down. The
earliest known book of nursery
rhymes was published in 1744.
Shortly after that, Mother Goose
came on the scene.
4 Mother Goose was the makebelieve
author of French fairy
tales. But she became associated
with English nursery rhymes
when a book called Mother Goose
Nursery Rhymes was published
in England in the 1760s. Since
then, those rhymes have often
been called Mother Goose or Old
Mother Goose nursery rhymes.
5 Because people in Englishspeaking
countries know the
Mother Goose nursery rhymes
so well – having learnt them in
Children have been reading
Mother Goose nursery rhymes
for generations. | Photo: Getty
Images
childhood – they make the perfect
cultural reference.
6 At the beginning of Agatha
Christie’s play The Mousetrap,
the tune of Three Blind Mice is
heard without words. The tune
alone is enough for the audience
to recognise the nursery rhyme.
And surely, as Christie knew, they
would begin asking themselves:
why Three Blind Mice?
7 Agatha Christie used Mother
Goose nursery rhymes a lot in
her writing – either as a reference
inside of the work, like in
The Mousetrap, or as a title of a
book. Famous examples include
Hickory, Dickory, Dock, A Pocket
Full of Rye, and One, Two, Buckle
My Shoe.
8 Here’s a tip for English learners:
get yourself a Mother Goose
book and learn the rhymes. Not
only will it help you with English
speech patterns, you’ll be able to
understand many cultural references.
If the world’s best-selling
author of all time used them so
often in her work, they’re surely
worth knowing.
1 – 2 MOTHER GOOSE Mutter Gans (Figur in Märchen und Kinderreimen) —
fictional fiktiv — character Figur — s.o. is supposed to ... jd. soll ... — nursery
rhyme Kinderlied; Kinderreim — line Zeile — silly albern — subject Thema
— besides ... neben der Tatsache, dass ... — speech pattern Sprachmuster
3 – 4 to date from stammen aus — to speak s.th. aloud etw. laut aufsagen
— to publish veröffentlichen — to come on the scene (fig) auf den Plan treten
— make-believe erfunden — fairy tale Märchen — to become associated
with s.th. mit etw. in Verbindung gebracht werden
5 – 8 in childhood in der Kindheit — cultural reference kulturelle Anspielung
— The Mousetrap dt. Titel: Die Mausefalle — tune Melodie — audience
Zuschauer(innen) — to recognise erkennen — Hickory, Dickory, Dock dt.
Titel: Die Kleptomanin — A Pocket Full of Rye dt. Titel: Das Geheimnis der
Goldmine (rye Roggen) — One, Two, Buckle My Shoe dt. Titel: Das Geheimnis
der Schnallenschuhe — worth knowing wissenswert

4 March 2023 Read On
How the red continent got a little greener
AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
St Patrick’s Day is a big celebration down under.
mit Audiodatei und
By Franziska Lange
1 IF YOUcome to Australia on
March 17, you might think you’ve
accidentally been dropped off in
Ireland. St Patrick’s Day is not an
official holiday, but everywhere
you look, people are celebrating
Ireland’s patron saint: shamrocks
are all over the place, parades are
going by, everyone is wearing
green, and Irish pubs are full of
revellers.
2 These shenanigans in a country
so far away from Ireland
might seem surprising, but it all
makes sense when you look at
Australia’s history.
3 In 1788, the British founded
a penal colony in Australia: New
South Wales in the southeast of
the continent. It was settled with
convicts from England, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales. The Irish
Übungsmaterial
convicts brought St Patrick’s Day
with them when they came to the
red continent: records show that
alcohol flowed so freely on March
17, 1795, that prison cells were full
of Irishmen who had had a few
glasses too many.
4 Descendants of those Irish
convicts and Irish immigrants
would go on to make
the Irish a big part of the
Australian population. Today,
around 30 per cent of Australians
say they have Irish ancestry. And
Irish or not, everyone seems to
celebrate St Patrick’s Day down
under now. But the holiday has
been celebrated in different ways
over the years.
5 Beginning in the late 1820s,
while the lower classes met in
pubs, the leading politicians
of the colony held formal dinners
on the day. One of the most
popular forms of celebrating St
Patrick’s Day in the 19th century,
both for the higher and the lower
classes, was having a picnic with
Irish music and dancing as well as
sports and games. In the evening,
there were balls, banquets, concerts
or theatre performances.
| Image: Pixabay
Sometimes, the day included all
of these forms of celebration.
March 17 also became a day for
boating regattas and horse races.
6 In the 1880s, the picnics became
more political, with speeches
in favour of home rule, Irish
independence from Britain, and
there were street marches too.
At that time, Australia was still
a British colony, so many people
didn’t like this Irish nationalism.
Sydney’s Cardinal Moran
also thought these loud activities
might make people more prejudiced
against the Irish. That’s
why he took control of the celebrations
in 1895 and turned the
day into a religious holiday.
7 These days, St Patrick’s Day
in Australia is about Irish culture
and no longer political.
Those with Irish roots (and
many without) raise a glass on
the day, just like the Irish did all
those years ago. Only now, they
aren’t all behind bars.
Gibt's auch
digital!
0 – 1 CELEBRATION Feier — accidentally aus
Versehen — to be dropped off in gebracht werden
nach; h.: landen — holiday Feiertag — to celebrate
feiern — patron saint Nationalheilige(r) —
shamrock Kleeblatt — all over the place (fig)
überall — reveller Feierlustige(r)
2 – 4 shenanigans (coll) Schabernack; Unfug —
to seem erscheinen — to make sense (fig) Sinn
ergeben — to found gründen — penal colony
Strafkolonie — to settle besiedeln — convict
Strafgefangene(r) — records Aufzeichnungen —
to flow freely reichlich fließen — descendant
Nachfahr(in) — population Bevölkerung — ancestry
Vorfahren; h.: Wurzeln
5 – 6 politician Politiker(in) — to hold a dinner
ein Abendessen veranstalten — banquet Bankett,
Festessen — boating regatta Bootsregatta —
speech Rede — to be in favour of s.th. etw. befürworten
— home rule Selbstverwaltung — independence
Unabhängigkeit — march Marsch — to
make s.o. prejudiced für Vorurteile bei jdm. sorgen
— to turn s.th. into s.th. etw. zu etw. machen
7 root Wurzel — to raise a glass sein Glas erheben
— behind bars (fig) hinter Gittern
www.sprachzeitungen.de
Funny-sounding
Irish words
By Siobhan Bruns
language corner
1 THE ARTICLEon this page
uses the funny-sounding word
shenanigans to describe the St
Patrick’s Day celebrations. Shenanigans
means mischief or
deceit but is also often used to
describe high-spirited behaviour.
Most people think it’s an
Irish word, and many Irish pubs
have that name. However, it’s not
clear if it really is Irish. But here
are some other funny-sounding
words that are.
2 There is blarney, as in “That’s
a whole bunch of blarney.” It
means nonsense or flattering
or deceptive talk. It comes from
Blarney Castle in County Cork,
home to Blarney Stone. Kiss the
stone, and you’ll be given the “gift
of the gab”. At least that’s what
the legend says.
3 Then there is gob, which is
another word for mouth. But it’s
almost always used in a negative
way, as in “You’d better keep your
gob shut”. Smithereens sounds
funny, too. It means “small, broken
pieces”.
4 One funny-sounding Irish
word which is now often used in
a joking way in English but has
very much kept its original meaning
when used in German is hooligan:
a person who fights or causes
damage in public places.
0 – 1 FUNNY-SOUNDINGkomisch klingend — celebrations Feierlichkeiten
— mischief Schabernack — deceit Täuschung; Ablenkung — high-spirited
fröhlich und ausgelassen — behaviour Verhalten; h.: Stimmung
2 – 4 bunch Haufen — flattering einschmeichelnd — deceptive trügerisch
— county Grafschaft — gift of the gab (fig) Gabe der Beredsamkeit — that’s
what the legend says das besagt die Legende — smithereens Scherben —
joking scherzendt — to cause damage Schaden anrichten — public place
öffentlicher Ort
Across
1 (Together with 13 Across)
A sporting event on the water
3 A place where you can sit with others
and have a drink
9 A meal eaten outside
11 A plant that has three round leaves
on each stem
13 See 1 Across
crossword puzzle: St Patrick’s Day in Australia
All of the words for this crossword are in the article on this page. If you put the letters in the
orange squares in the correct order, you can find the answer below. Answers on page 8.
14 The colour associated with Ireland
This funny-sounding
word means mischief:
— — — — — — — — — — —
Down
2 Where you go to see a play, musical, or other
stage performance
4 A large meal for many people
5 See 10 Down
6 Belonging to Ireland
7 A line of people or vehicles that moves through a
public place as a way of celebrating an occasion
8 Moving your body, usually to music
10 (Together with 5 Down) An equestrian sport
12 A formal dance
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9
11 12
14
10
13

Read On March 2023 70 Jahre
5
The Silly Walk workout
EXERCISE • HUMOUR
Walking like Mr Teabag from
Monty Python burns a lot of calories,
researchers found.
mit Audiodatei und
Übungsmaterial
By Siobhan Bruns
1 RESEARCHERS HAVE done
a study that no one was expecting.
They looked at Mr Teabag’s
‘silly walk’ and found it strenuous
enough to qualify as vigorous exercise.
2 Mr Teabag is a character in a
sketch from Monty Python’s Flying
Circus, a British comedy series
which aired on the BBC from
1969 to 1974.
3 In the sketch, Mr Teabag,
played by John Cleese, works at
the Ministry of Silly Walks. The
sketch opens with Mr Teabag
walking to work. His walking
style includes slightly bent knees,
high kicks, backwards hops and
odd, random leg movements.
4 When he gets to his office, he
finds Mr Putey, played by Michael
Palin, waiting for him. Mr Putey
says that he has a silly walk and
would like to obtain a government
grant to help him develop
it. Mr Putey shows his walk to Mr
Teabag: every other step, the left
knee is bent at a 90-degree angle.
5 Mr Putey’s walk isn’t silly
enough for Mr Teabag, and he is
A tunnel in the Netherlands with a mural of Mr Teabag. | Photo: Getty Images
not impressed – and neither were
researchers at Arizona State University,
who compared the walking
styles of both Mr Teabag and
Mr Putey in a study about how
much energy is expended while
walking different ways.
6 For the study, the researchers
showed 13 healthy adults between
22 and 71 years of age, with
no history of heart or lung disease
and no known walking disorder,
a video of the Ministry of Silly
Walks sketch. The researchers
then asked them to walk in different
ways for five minutes in three
trials.
7 In the first trial, they walked
the way they usually do or as
slowly or as quickly as they liked.
For the next two trials, participants
were asked to recreate, as
well as they could, the walks of
Mr Teabag and Mr Putey.
8 Walking silly like Mr Teabag
proved to be much harder than
walking normally, requiring
about 2.5 times as much energy.
Putey-walking, although slightly
silly, still only expended about as
much energy as normal walking.
9 The results suggest that super-silly
walking can be strenuous
enough to qualify as “vigorous
exercise”, the lead author of
the study, Glenn Gaesser, said.
He said that if someone does a
silly walk for at least 11 minutes
a day, they will meet the standard
recommendation of at least
75 minutes of vigorous exercise
every week, which should really
improve health and aerobic fitness.
10 They say the only exercise
programme you’ll stick to is one
you enjoy. Silly walking sure does
look like fun. Why not give it a go?
But unless you happen to work
at the Ministry of Silly Walks,
it might be best to practise it indoors.
0 – 1 SILLY albern — walk Gang — researcher Forscher(in) —
study Studie — to expect erwarten — strenuous anstrengend
— to qualify as … als … gelten können — vigorous intensiv
2 – 3 character (Film)Figur — to air ausgestrahlt werden —
Ministry of S. W. Ministerium für alberne Gangarten — slightly
bent leicht angewinkelt — backwards hop Hopser rückwärts —
odd merkwürdig — random beliebig; planlos — leg movement
Beinbewegung
4 to obtain s.th. etw. erhalten; h.: sich etw. sichern — government
grant staatliche Bezuschussung; h.: Forschungsgelder
— to develop (weiter)entwickeln — every other step bei jedem
zweiten Schritt — at a 90-degree angle in einem 90-Grad-Winkel
5 – 6 to impress beeindrucken — neither were … die … auch
nicht — to compare vergleichen — to expend verbrauchen —
no history of … disease ohne bekannte Vorerkrankung im Bereich
… — walking disorder Gehbehinderung — trial Versuch
7 – 8 participant Teilnehmer(in) — to recreate nachahmen —
to prove to be … sich als … erweisen — to require erfordern
9 – 10 to suggest darauf hindeuten — lead author Hauptautor(in)
— to meet s.th. etw. erfüllen — standard recommendation
übliche Empfehlung — to improve verbessern — aerobic
fitness Ausdauer — to stick to s.th. h.: etw. konsequent durchhalten
— to give s.th. a go (fig) etw. ausprobieren — to happen
to do zufälligerweise tun — to practise (aus)üben
how to do the silly walk
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
| Images: Wikimedia Commons

6 March 2023 Read On
Get your goggles on – it’s
British Science Week again!
AROUND BRITAIN
To get more people
interested in science,
British Science Week
offers events and ideas
for fun experiments.
mit Audiodatei
By Franziska Lange
1 PLANTING YOURpants in
soil might not seem like a very
scientific thing to do, but it’s fun
activities like this that make the
yearly British Science Week so
popular. “Plant your pants” is just
one of the many events, experiments
and activities which will
be taking place from March 10 to
19 this year.
2 The aim of British Science
Week is to spark interest in science,
technology, engineering
and maths – or STEM for short
– in people of all ages. Anyone
can organise an event: British
Science Week has a platform so
that people can find each other to
do so, but most events take place
in schools, libraries, museums,
community centres and research
institutions.
3 British Science Week has a
special theme each year. This
year it’s “Connections”. Those
that take part can explore how
technology connects people
around the world, how all animals
are connected in an ancient
family tree, or how atoms connect
to make up everything around
us. Kids below the age of 14 can
design a poster about this year’s
theme, enter a competition and
win prizes.
4 Schools often use the activity
packs that can be downloaded
for free from the website. These
packs include experiments and
research activities. They also
combine science with other topics,
such as art, history and politics.
5 This year, the activity packs
on the website encourage you to
do experiments like “plant your
pants” so you can find out how
tiny organisms in the soil work
to decompose matter. You can
also build your own barometer,
find out what it takes to design a
bridge that can be used for heavy
loads, or extract DNA from a
strawberry.
6 During British Science Week,
teachers often invite STEM Ambassadors,
people who work in
science, to talk to pupils. Talking
about their fields and what
it’s like being a scientist, they
0 – 2 GOGGLES Schutzbrille — to plant s.th. in soil etw. einpflanzen —
pants (BE) Unterhose(n) — to seem scheinen — scientific wissenschaftlich
— to take place stattfinden — aim Ziel — to spark interest Interesse wecken
— engineering Ingenieurwesen — community centre Gemeindezentrum —
research Forschungs-
3 – 4 theme Motto — connection Verbindung — to take part teilnehmen —
to explore erforschen, erkunden — ancient uralt — to make s.th. up etw. zusammensetzen
— to enter a competition an einem Wettbewerb teilnehmen
5 – 6 to encourage animieren — tiny winzig — to decompose zersetzen —
matter Substanz(en) — load Gewicht — to extract DNA DNA extrahieren —
ambassador Botschafter(in) — scientist Wissenschaftler(in) — to bring s.th.
to life (fig) h.: etw. lebendig vermitteln — career berufl. Laufbahn
7 – 8 British Science Association Britische Vereinigung zur Förderung der
Wissenschaft — annual jährlich — the public die Öffentlichkeit — audience
Teilnehmer(innen) — ultimate goal oberstes Ziel — after all schließlich
| Photo: Getty Images
can bring STEM subjects to life
and might even inspire pupils to
think of a career in science.
7 British Science Week is organised
by the British Science
Association. It started as an annual
meeting where scientists
came together to discuss their
work and present it to the public.
From there, it grew into a festival
with events and activities for
schools, families and community
audiences. The first official Britain’s
National Science Week was
held in 1994. The name was later
changed to what it is today.
8 The ultimate goal of the organisers
is to get people interested
in STEM for more than ten
days. After all, the activity packs
can be used all year for fun experiments,
not just during British
Science Week.
You can find all of the
activity packs on the British
Science Week website:
https://www.britishscienceweek.org/activity-packs/
m e s s e
• Die Sprachzeitung •
Wir freuen uns auf Sie!
Treffpunkt:
didacta 2023 in
Stuttgart
Halle 3, Stand A34
7. 3. – 11.03.2023
Feeling down?
Do something nice
for someone else
SCIENCE • MENTAL HEALTH
A study showed that being kind to others
helped more than other therapies did.
mit Audiodatei und
By Siobhan Bruns
1 DOING SOMETHING nice
for someone else not only
brightens that person’s day
– it also brightens yours.
And if you’re really feeling
down, it may help more
than other types of therapy,
a study says.
2 Researchers at Ohio State
University interviewed a group
of 122 adults with moderate or
severe depression and anxiety
and split them into three groups.
3 Two groups were asked to do
things often used in cognitive
behavioural therapy (CBT) for
depression and anxiety.
4 One CBT group was told to
plan social activities two days a
week. The other CBT group was
asked to make notes about their
negative thoughts at least twice
a week and to write down ideas
about what they could do to feel
less depressed and anxious.
5 A third group was told to
perform three acts of kindness
a day, two days a week. Acts of
kindness were defined as “big or
small acts that benefit others or
make others happy, typically at
some cost to you in terms of time
or resources”, the Ohio State
News website says in an article
about the study.
6 The acts of kindness those
in the group later reported doing
included baking cookies for
friends, offering to give a friend
a ride, and leaving sticky notes
for roommates with words of encouragement.
Übungsmaterial
Performing acts of kindness,
like baking cookies for a friend,
helps those with depression and
anxiety. | Photo: Getty Images
7 All 122 people in the study did
what they were asked to do for
five weeks and then were interviewed
by the researchers again.
The researchers then checked
with the participants after another
five weeks to see how they were
feeling.
8 The researchers published
what they had found in The Journal
of Positive Psychology. All
three groups reported greater
life satisfaction and a reduction
in depression and anxiety symptoms,
but those who performed
acts of kindness showed the most
improvement.
9 Dr David Cregg of Ohio State
University, who led the study,
said: “Social connection is one
of the ingredients of life most
strongly associated with wellbeing.
Performing acts of kindness
seems to be one of the best ways
to promote those connections.”
0 – 1 TO FEEL DOWN sich niedergeschlagen fühlen — mental health psychische
Gesundheit — study Studie — kind nett — to brighten s.o.’s day
(fig) jdm. etw. Gutes tun
2 – 4 researcher Forscher(in) — moderate mittelschwer — severe schwer
— anxiety Angstzustände; innere Unruhe — to split (into) … aufteilen (in)
… — cognitive behavioural therapy kognitive Verhaltenstherapie — twice
zweimal — anxious besorgt; unruhig
5 – 6 to perform an act of k. eine gute Tat vollbringen — to benefit s.o. jdm.
guttun — typically üblicherweise — at some cost h.: mit einigem Aufwand
verbunden — in terms of … was … anbetrifft — resources Ressourcen; h.:
Materielles; Geld — to report … von … berichten — to give s.o. a ride jdn. im
Auto mitnehmen — sticky note Klebenotiz — roommate Mitbewohner(in)
— encouragement Ermutigung
7 – 8 to check with s.o. (erneut) bei jdm. nachhaken — participant
Teilnehmer(in) — to publish veröffentlichen — to find h.: herausfinden —
journal Fachzeitschrift — life satisfaction Lebenszufriedenheit — reduction
Verringerung — improvement Verbesserung
9 to lead leiten — social connection soziale Bindungen — ingredient
Zutat; h.: Bestandteil — strongly stark — to associate s.th. with s.th. eine
Sache mit etw. in Verbindung bringen — wellbeing Wohlbefinden — to promote
unterstützen

Read On March 2023 70 Jahre
7
Old School | 1968
Machines that
Talk and Walk
1 MACHINESseem to be getting
more and more like people.
You know what a COMPUTER is,
don’t you? It is a machine that
can add, subtract, multiply, and
divide. It can solve a problem
in a few minutes. It may take a
man many years to figure out the
same problem by himself.
2 Computers have “memory”
devices: thousands of tiny parts
inside the machine. But a computer
cannot think for itself. A
man has to tell it what to do and
how to do it. He uses special cards
or tapes to “feed” the machine
with problems. Computers help
figure out taxes, run machines
in factories, predict the weather
or election returns. They keep
spacecraft on the right course.
Some computers can even talk.
“Optical scanners” can “read”
numbers, printed words, or even
handwriting. “Electric eyes”
(tiny light beams) can pick out
the differences in shapes of letters
or numbers.
3 Reading machines can read
zip code numbers on the mail in
post-offices. Then the mail is automatically
sorted.
4 Scientists are now working
on a “pedipulator,” a walkingmachine.
A man inside this machine,
whose arms and legs will
be strapped to small, movable
controls, can move the machine’s
“arms,” “hands,” and “legs.” The
pedipulator may lift heavy materials,
help build houses, dig
tunnels, and unload lorries. A
giant “walking lorry,” controlled
by one man, will walk about and
carry heavy materials across
wide streams, through jungles,
or over mountains. It will step
over obstacles in its way.
(AM.) – My Weekly Reader (adapted)
GE (General
Electric) developed
the Pedipulator, or
“Walking Truck,” for
the U.S. Army in the
1960s. | Image:
Popular Mechanics
Magazine (1965)
0 – 1 TO SEEM scheinen — computer Elektronengehirn, Rechenmaschine
— to subtract subtrahieren — to solve a problem h.: eine Rechenaufgabe
lösen — to figure s.th. out (coll) etw. lösen, ausrechnen
2 memory device Speichervorrichtung, Informationsspeicher — tiny
winzig — tape Band; h.: Lochstreifen — to feed (fig) füttern — taxes Steuern
— to run a machine eine Maschine/einen Mechanismus bedienen, - in
Gang halten — to predict voraussagen — election returns Wahlergebnisse
— spacecraft Raumfahrzeug(e) — scanner Abtaster — printed gedruckt
— light beam Lichtstrahl — to pick out ausmachen, erkennen — shape
Form
3 – 4 zip code number Postleitzahl — scientist (Natur-)Wissenschaftler(in)
— to strap to mit Riemen befestigen an — movable beweglich
— control Lenk-, Steuervorrichtung — to lift heben — to dig graben — to
unload entladen — lorry Lastwagen — giant riesig — stream Fluss, Strom
— to step over hinwegtreten über, sich hinwegbewegen über — obstacle
Hindernis
New School | Today
ChatGPT:
The clever chatbot
TECHNOLOGY • AI
A new artificial intelligence chatbot can write
detailed essays, making teachers worry.
American English
By Jessica Stuart
1 THE NAME
“ChatGPT” has been
trending across the internet
for the past few months.
What is ChatGPT?
2 “ChatGPT is like a super
smart computer that can understand
and respond to what you
say in English. It can help you
learn new words and phrases,
and can also answer questions
you have. Think of it like a talking
dictionary that you can have
a conversation with.” This explanation
doesn’t come from a
person. It comes from ChatGPT
itself, an artificial intelligence
chatbot that can respond to all
types of questions and orders.
3 ChatGPT was created by
OpenAI, an American artificial
intelligence research company
that also created the popular image
generator DALL-E 2. While
DALL-E 2 can create digital art
from written requests, ChatGPT
can give you words, lots and lots
of words. It can answer questions,
tell jokes, find errors in a
computer programmer’s code,
and even write long and accurate
essays. And that worries
teachers.
4 Christian Terwiesch, a professor
at the University of Pennsylvania’s
Wharton School of
Business, announced in January
that ChatGPT had passed the fi-
nal exam for his school’s
MBA program – something
that can be difficult
for a lot of human
students.
5 For anyone interested
in AI, this is exciting news. As
New York Times reporter Kevin
Roose says, ChatGPT is “the
best artificial intelligence chatbot
ever released to the general
public.” For teachers who want
to stop students from cheating,
though, ChatGPT is making
their jobs harder.
6 The New York City Department
of Education has
now banned the chatbot
from the city’s schools,
saying it doesn’t “build
critical-thinking and
problem-solving skills.”
Some university professors
are also changing
the way they teach.
One professor, Antony
Aumann, told the Times
that he’s now making students
write first drafts of
essays in class.
7 It’s unlikely that ChatGPT,
which is backed by Microsoft
and now used by thousands of
people, will go away any time
soon. But there is some hope for
teachers: GPTZero. Created by
Edward Tian, a computer science
student at Princeton University,
the app can tell you if the
essay you received was written
by a real person or by clever AI.
0 – 2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE(AI) chatbot Chatbot mit künstlicher Intelligenz
— detailed detailliert — essay Aufsatz — to respond to s.th. auf etw.
reagieren — phrase Ausdruck — explanation Erklärung — order Anweisung
3 to create entwickeln; s.w.u. erstellen — research company Forschungsunternehmen
— image generator Bildgenerator — request Anfrage — error
Fehler — programmer Programmierer(in) — accurate fehlerfrei
4 School of Business Fakultät der Wirtschaftswissenschaften — to announce
bekannt geben — MBA = Master of Business Administration M. in
Betriebswirtschaft — program Studiengang — human menschlich
5 – 7 to release s.th. to the general public etw. der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich
machen — to cheat schummeln — though allerdings — Department of Education
Bildungsministerium — to ban verbieten — to build h.: fördern — criticalthinking
and problem-solving skills Kompetenzen in den Bereichen kritisches
Denken und Problemlösung — draft Entwurf — unlikely unwahr scheinlich —
to back s.o./s.th. jdn./etw. (finanziell) unterstützen — computer science Informatik
The computer room at
Tetley’s Brewery in England,
1968.
ChatGPT is a type of artificial
intelligence technology that uses
natural language processing and
machine learning to generate
human-like conversations.
| Photos: Getty Images
70 Jahre
easy English,
aus unserer
Redaktion, jeden
Monat neu!

8
March 2023
Read On
World Women’s
Curling Championship
2023
SPORT The teams that play on ice
will meet in Sweden this month.
By Siobhan Bruns
1 SANDVIKEN, a city around
190 kilometres north of Stockholm,
will host the 2023 World
Women’s Curling Championship
from March 18 to 26. The last
time Sweden hosted the curling
championship was in 2004,
when men’s and women’s
competitions were
held together before
splitting
in 2005.
The World
Men’s Curling
Championship
will
take place next
month in Canada,
from April 1 to 9.
2 The World Curling Championships
are organised by the World
Curling Federation. The yearly
contest sees curling champions
from around the globe battling
– or should that be sweeping – it
out, to crown one national team
the best in the world. There is also
a mixed doubles championship,
as well as a world championship
for wheelchair curling.
| Photo: Getty Images
3 Curling is like lawn bowls, but
played on ice. For the game, two
teams play against each other.
Each team has four players. The
players take turns sliding stones
made of granite across the ice
towards something called the
house. The house has a centre
circle with three more circles
around it. The player who gets
their stone closest to the centre
circle wins the point.
4 Blocking and knocking out
the other team’s stones are important
strategies of the sport, as
is curling the stone – which is how
the sport got its name.
The April issue is out on March 28.
5 A player can curl a stone – give
it a curved path – by throwing it in
a way that makes it slowly rotate
as it slides. The movement of the
stone can then be further helped
by sweepers: two teammates who
use brooms or brushes to sweep
the ice in front of the stone as it
moves towards the house. Doing
this can cut down on friction,
which helps the stone move further.
6 According to the Britannica
website, the sport of curling dates
to the early 16th century in Scotland.
It was also played in the
Low Countries around that time,
as can be seen in paintings by Pieter
Brueghel the Elder and Pieter
Brueghel the Younger. But it was
Scotland that promoted the game
worldwide.
7 In 1838, the Grand Caledonian
Curling Club was organised
in Edinburgh to give the sport an
international body. The International
Curling Federation was
founded in Perth in 1966 and became
the World Curling Federation
in 1990.
Answers to the crossword
on page 4
Across: 1 boating, 3 pub,
9 picnic, 11 shamrock,
13 regatta, 14 green
Down: 2 theatre, 4 banquet,
5 race, 6 Irish, 7 parade,
8 dancing, 10 horse, 12 ball
• Solution: SHENANIGANS
Back by popular
demand!
Aufgrund der zahlreichen
Anfragen
führen wir die Lautschrift
in der Read On
wieder ein.
Ab der April-Ausgabe
finden Sie die Lautschrift
wieder in den
Vokabelangaben unter
den Artikeln.
Cartoon interpretation: www.sprachzeitungen.de
Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s painting “Winter Landscape with a
Bird Trap” from around 1626. People can be seen curling in the lower
left-hand corner of the picture. | Image: Wikimedia Commons
0 – 1 CHAMPIONSHIP Meisterschaft — to host ausrichten — competition
Wettkampf — to split h.: getrennt werden — to take place stattfinden
2 – 3 federation Verband — contest Wettkampf — to battle it out (coll) gegeneinander
antreten — to sweep wischen — to crown (fig) krönen — mixed
doubles ... ... im gemischten Doppel — wheelchair Rollstuhl — lawn bowls
Rasenbowling — to take turns sich abwechseln — to slide (s.th.) (etw.) gleiten
(lassen) — centre circle Mittelkreis
4 – 5 to knock s.th. out etw. wegschlagen — to give s.th. a curved path etw.
auf eine gebogene Bahn bringen — to rotate sich drehen — movement Bewegung
— sweeper Wischer(in)— teammate Mitspieler(in) — broom Besen —
to cut down on friction die Reibung verringern
6 – 7 according to laut — to date to stammen aus — the Low Countries (historisch)
die Niederlande — Pieter Brueghel the Elder Pieter Brueghel der Ältere
(Maler der Niederländischen Renaissance, gest. 1569) — Pieter Brueghel
the Younger Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere (1564 – 1638, brabantischer Maler
der Spätrenaissance) — to promote s.th. worldwide etw. weltweit bekannt
machen — Caledonian schottisch — body Verband — to found gründen
| Cartoon: CartoonStock.com