Spotlight The big Events Quiz (Vorschau)

Spotlight
12 2013
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African culture:
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New horizons: how
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Debate: are
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EDITORIAL | December 2013
Do you have the
answers?
Erweitern Sie
Ihren Englisch-
Wortschatz!
This month, I’d like to begin by inviting you to
take part in our special 2013 quiz. If, like me,
you love nothing better in December than relaxing
with a cup of cocoa and taking a mental
Inez Sharp, editor-in-chief
journey back through the past year, then our
quiz is a great way to do that. Test your memory of events in Britain, the United
States, Australia and other places by answering the questions in six categories.
We don’t supply the cocoa, but we are offering five fantastic prizes. Do you
know who Malala Yousafzai is? Can you remember who won Wimbledon this
year? Then sharpen your pencil and flip to page 24.
For hundreds of years, the Maasai people have had their homeland in
the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro on the border between Kenya and Tanzania.
Now their lifestyle is under threat. Eve Lucas visited the Maasai to see for herself
what challenges they are facing. Join her on a journey of discovery. “Maasai on
the move” begins on page 30.
Titelfoto: plainpicture; Foto Editorial: Birger Meierjohann
Do you have the courage to change your life? Many of us dream of taking
a sabbatical, of leaving our jobs, family and friends for a time to try out
something new. Spotlight author Robert Parr took the leap and went to Madhya
Pradesh to work and teach in a school in a remote part of India. Beginning on
page 14, he describes what he encountered there. Perhaps his experiences will
inspire you to try something similar. In the meantime, a happy and peaceful
holiday to you from the Spotlight team!
i.sharp@spotlight-verlag.de
Hunting for
answers:
a Maasai
tribesman
Spotlight 12|13
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CONTENTS | December 2013
The big events quiz
Have you been keeping up with events in the news?
Do this fun quiz and win a prize.
24 30
Meet the Maasai
Learn about the Maasai, a semi-nomadic people who
live on the border between Kenya and Tanzania.
6 People
Names and faces from around the world
8 A Day in My Life
A Maori guide from New Zealand’s north
10 World View
What’s news and what’s hot
13 Britain Today
Colin Beaven on Christmas lights
22 Index 2013
Your guide to an entire year of Spotlight
28 I Ask Myself
Amy Argetsinger on tragedy in Washington, DC
40 History
Oliver Cromwell and the English republic
42 Press Gallery
A look at the English-language media
44 Arts
Films, apps, books, culture and a short story
66 The Lighter Side
Jokes and cartoons
67 American Life
Ginger Kuenzel on a key person in her town
68 Feedback & Impressum
Your letters to Spotlight — and our responses
36 Around Oz
Peter Flynn on following a well-travelled sport
38 Debate
Are there any gentlemen left? People in
Dublin, Ireland, have their say
69 Next Month
What’s coming next month in Spotlight
70 My Life in English
Author Michael Braun Alexander on Quentin
Tarantino films, sandwiches and “serendipity”
Fotos: iStock; Mauritius; R. Parr
THE SPOTLIGHT FAMILY
Spotlight plus
Every month, you can explore
and practise the language and
grammar of Spotlight with the
exercise booklet plus.
Find out more at:
www.spotlight-online.de/plus
Spotlight Audio
This monthly 60-minute CD/download
brings the world of Spotlight
to your ears. Enjoy interviews and
travel stories and try the exercises.
Find out more at:
www.spotlight-online.de/audio
new cover
4 Spotlight 12|13

14
A sabbatical in India
Robert Parr put his teaching and management skills to
the test over several months at a school in India.
37
Easy English
Time to try Green Light, an eight-page booklet that
makes learning English easy and fun.
IN THIS MAGAZINE: 14 LANGUAGE PAGES
50 Vocabulary
Words for talking about fabrics and patterns
52 Travel Talk
An evening in a casino
53 Language Cards
Pull out and practise
55 Everyday English
Buying and giving presents
57 The Grammar Page
The use of “be going to” for making plans
58 Peggy’s Place: The Soap
The latest from a London pub
59 English at Work
Ken Taylor answers your questions
60 Spoken English
Ways to start a conversation in English
61 Word Builder
A focus on the words in Spotlight
62 Perfectionists Only!
Nuances of English
63 Crossword
Find the words and win a prize
IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH WITH SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTS
Spotlight Audio: hear texts and interviews on our CD or
download. See www.spotlight-online.de/hoeren
OUR LANGUAGE LEVELS
The levels of difficulty in Spotlight magazine correspond roughly to
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
A2 B1– B2 C1– C2
To find your level, visit Sprachtest.de
Spotlight plus: 24 pages of language exercises related
to the magazine. See www.spotlight-online.de/ueben
Spotlight in the classroom: free of charge to teachers who
subscribe to Spotlight. See www.spotlight-online.de/teachers
Readers’ service: abo@spotlight-verlag.de · www.spotlight-online.de
Tel.: +49 (0)89 / 85681-16 · Fax: +49 (0)89 / 85681-159
www.SprachenShop.de: order products
from our online shop (see page 48).
Spotlight
in the classroom
Teachers: if you use Spotlight in
your lessons, this six-page supplement
will provide great ideas for
classroom activities based on the
magazine. Free for all teachers
who subscribe to Spotlight.
www.spotlight-online.de
Spotlight Online will help you to improve
your English every day. Try our language
exercises or read about current events
and fascinating places to visit. Subscribers
will also find a list of all the glossed vocabulary
from each issue of the magazine.
12|13 Spotlight
5

PEOPLE | Names and Faces
The sailor
Who exactly is…
Sir Ben Ainslie?
This year, one of Britain’s top
athletes helped the US win the
oldest trophy in international
sport. Sir Ben Ainslie was the tactician
for the US Oracle team in the
America’s Cup. The 2013 yacht race,
held in the San Francisco Bay, was the
closest ever. The US beat New
Zealand by just 44 seconds.
Ainslie is known as an aggressive
competitor who does not like to
come second. He began sailing when
he was eight years old, competed for
the first time when he was 10, and
won his first Olympic medal — silver
— in 1996, at the age of 19. He took
part in the Olympics again in 2000,
2004, 2008 and 2012, and he won
gold every time.
These successes have made him a
hero in the UK. The Independent calls
him “the amazing Ben Ainslie”. Earlier
this year, he travelled to Buckingham
Palace to be knighted.
close [klEUs]
dude [du:d] N. Am. ifml.
halfway through [)hA:fweI (Tru:]
heritage [(herItIdZ]
hoist [hOIst]
knight sb. [naIt]
lack confidence [)lÄk (kQnfIdEns]
lead a charge [)li:d E (tSA:dZ]
morph [mO:f]
national anthem [)nÄS&nEl (ÄnTEm]
tactician [tÄk(tIS&n]
To Kill a Mockingbird [tE )kIl E (mQkINb§:d]
trademark sth. [(treIdmA:k]
yacht race [(jQt reIs]
The Guardian recently wrote that,
surprisingly for someone so successful,
Ainslie sometimes seems shy and
lacks confidence — but that changes
the moment he gets into a boat.
Ainslie himself agrees: “I was very
quiet on land, and did turn into a bit
of a monster on the water. But now
I think the two characters have sort
of morphed.”
In a video posted on the Oracle
team’s website, Ainslie discusses his
win at the 2012 London Olympics:
“It was an amazing feeling to win at
home, hear the national anthem
being played, [see] the flag being
hoisted.”
He hopes to form a British team
to challenge the US for the 35th
America’s Cup. Although the race
began in England in 1851, the British
have never yet won it. Ainslie may be
just the man to bring the cup “home”
to Britain.
hier: knapp
Kumpel
auf halbem Wege; hier: mitten im Stück
kulturelles Erbe
hissen
jmdn. zum Ritter schlagen
zu wenig Selbstvertrauen haben
hier: eine Aktion leiten
sich verwandeln
Nationalhymne
Taktiker(in)
Wer die Nachtigall stört
etw. als Markenname schützen lassen
Segelregatta
In the news
Every year, thousands of tourists visit
the Monroe County Heritage Museum
in Alabama, and it’s all because of
Harper Lee. The museum is located
near where the author of To Kill a
Mockingbird grew up. It has a shop
where fans can buy T-shirts and other
souvenirs with the words “To Kill a
Mockingbird” on
them. Lee has nev -
er received any
money from the
sales, but she
thinks she should.
The 87-year-old
recently applied
to trademark the
title of her book.
Bob Geldof is honest with his
friends about their musical talent. Recently,
the Irish singer told the Daily
Mail about being invited to Kofi
Annan’s 75th birthday party. At the
party, Annan suggested that they play
a song together. So Geldof sang “Have
I Told You Lately” and Annan played
the bongo drums.
“I stopped halfway
through,” Geldof
said “and then told
Annan: ‘Dude, for
an African, you’re
the worst drummer
I ever heard.’ No
rhythm at all.”
Because of Halle Berry, a law has
been passed in California to protect
children from being photographed by
the paparazzi. This summer, Berry told
lawmakers about how photographers
frighten her six-year-old: “My daughter
doesn’t want to go to school because
of ‘the men watching for her...’.
They jump out from behind cars.”
Other stars are thankful for her efforts.
“Halle Berry is my hero for leading
this charge,” Jennifer Garner, who
has three children, told ABC News.
6
Spotlight 12|13

Fotos: action press; dpa/picture alliance; Getty Images
Out of the ordinary
Mohammed Ashour probably never expected Bill Clinton to
hand him a million dollars. But that’s what happened when Ashour,
along with four other students from Montreal’s McGill University,
won the Hult Prize. The students developed a business plan to help
feed some of the world’s hungriest people. Their plan is to raise insects
such as grasshoppers, cut them up very small and mix them
with flour to increase its protein and iron content. Ashour told National
Public Radio that the team will soon begin breeding grass -
hoppers in Mexico: “By the end of March 2014, we’ll have ten tons.”
Khan: a fan of old Bollywood
assume [E(sju:m]
award [E(wO:d]
breed [bri:d]
complacent [kEm(pleIs&nt]
conjugate [(kQndZugeIt]
degree [di(gri:]
duchess [(dVtSIs]
flour [(flaUE]
graduate [(grÄdZueIt]
grasshopper [(grA:s)hQpE]
happen to [(hÄpEn tE]
in line: ~ to the throne [In (laIn]
recipe [(resEpi]
well-read [)wel (red]
Irrfan Khan, an Indian
actor, has hard words for Bollywood.
The Indian film in -
dustry celebrated its 100th
birthday this year (see
Spotlight 4/13, p. 40), but
Khan says the quality has suffered
over the years. “Earlier,
in the 1950s and 60s, we had
our own language ... and the
songs were the strength of the
film,” he told the BBC. “...Now
we have become complacent.”
Khan is familiar to Western audiences.
He acted in Life of Pi,
and his latest film, The Lunchbox,
won a viewers’-choice
award at Cannes this year.
Many fans of Jane Austen would love to sit down to an authentic
meal of Austen’s time. Pen Vogler has made that possible. Vogler
wrote down every mention of food in Austen’s books and letters.
Then she found authentic historical recipes for the dishes and
rewrote them for 21st-century kitchens. The result is a book called
Dinner with Mr Darcy. She told The Daily Telegraph that it is “a working
cookbook”. “For me, food history is most interesting when you
actually get to eat the results,” she explained. To get a taste, visit
Vogler’s blog: http://greatfoodclub.tumblr.com
annehmen, vermuten
Auszeichnung, Preis
züchten
selbstgefällig
(ling.) (Verb) konjugieren,
beugen
Diplom, Abschluss,
akademischer Grad
Herzogin
Mehl
einen (Hochschul-)Abschluss
machen
Grashüpfer
hier: zufällig(erweise)
an ... Stelle in der Thronfolge
(Koch)Rezept
belesen
Texts by RITA FORBES
The newcomer
• Name: His Royal Highness Prince George
Alexander Louis of Cambridge
• Also known as: Prince George
• Born: 22 July 2013 at St Mary’s Hospital, London.
• Background: his parents are Prince William
and the Duchess of Cambridge; his grandfather is
Prince Charles, and his great-grandmother is
Queen Elizabeth II.
• He is: third in line to the English throne.
• Lives at: Kensington Palace, London.
• Nanny: Jessie Webb, 71, cares for Prince George
part-time. She was also William’s nanny.
Happy birthday!
Samuel L. Jackson, who will turn 65 on 21 December, is
known as one of the hardest-working actors in Hollywood.
He has made more than 100 films. Jackson’s early years
continue to influence him. He was born in 1948 and raised
by his grandparents in Tennessee.
“When I was a kid, all the adults in my house got up and
went to work every day,” he told CBS News. “I assumed
that’s what grown people do. That’s what I do. I just happen
to have a very interesting job that’s kind of cool.”
After getting a degree in 1972, Jackson started
acting. In 1994, he starred in Quentin Tarantino’s
Pulp Fiction and became world-famous. He hasn’t
stopped since. His film Oldboy will be showing in
Germany from 5 December.
Jackson supported Obama’s presidential
campaign in 2008, but he recently
criticized the president for
trying too hard to connect to
people by dropping “g”s from
the end of words, possibly in
an effort to sound more
“African American”. “When
I’m out presenting myself to
the world [as someone] who
graduated from college, who
had family who cared about me,
who has a well-read background, I
... conjugate,” Jackson told Playboy.

A DAY IN MY LIFE | New Zealand
Inside
Maori
culture
Culture first:
Jen Murray at
the marae
My name is Jen Murray. I’m 41, and I’m a Maori
woman from the Te Arawa tribe in New Zealand.
I’m from the Northland region and of Ngapuhi
descent, but I always felt I belonged somewhere else. So
as soon as I was old enough, I migrated south to the Bay
of Plenty. Now I feel as if I were home.
I’m a business owner and a tour guide. I have a company
that does kayaking tours on the lakes in the Rotorua
District, and I also work as a contract guide for other companies.
One special activity I offer is cultural visits to an
original Maori marae.
Our marae is located in Otaramarae in Okere Falls,
which is not far from the city of Rotorua. The marae is a
cultural centre and the main meeting point for the Maori
tribes. Guests come to learn about our language, our history
and traditions.
Typically, when a group of guests are
about to come to the marae, I have the
morning off. At about lunchtime, my husband,
Sean, and I start to prepare for our visitors.
That usually involves doing the grocery
shopping for meals. Then we go to the
marae, because we need to open everything
up and make sure that we have enough of all
the things the guests will need. Generally,
our visitors arrive in the afternoon.
Die maorische Reiseführerin bietet kulturelle
Besuche der traditionellen Marae an. Was das
ist, berichtet BIANCA PIPER.
We Maori are really strong on manaakitanga, which
means hospitality. We believe in making all visitors feel
welcome. We believe in people, in community. For us,
people come first — before property or resources. If we
send you away from here, and you haven’t been fed well,
haven’t been cared for, that falls back on our marae. We
don’t want our marae to be thought of that way. It’s up to
us to make sure that the hospitality we show to you is
beyond reproach. When our visitors arrive, we want to
know why they are here and whether they are coming in
about to: be ~ do sth. [E(baUt tE]
contract guide [(kQntrÄkt gaId]
descent [di(sent]
fall back on sth. [fO:l (bÄk Qn]
grocery [(grEUsEri]
hospitality [)hQspI(tÄlEti]
marae [mE(rVI] NZ
migrate [maI(greIt]
off [Qf]
tribe [traIb]
up to: be ~ sb. [(Vp tE]
im Begriff sein, etw. zu tun
Reiseführer(in) auf Honorarbasis
Abstammung
auf etw. zurückfallen
Lebensmittel
Gastfreundschaft
(Maori) soziales und
religiöses Zentrum
abwandern, fortziehen
hier: frei
(Volks)Stamm
jmds. Aufgabe sein
Prince William with Maori elder Ben Hutana; a tourist experiences the hongi
8 Spotlight 12|13

INFO TO GO
Fotos: B. Piper; Getty Images; iStock
Another New Zealand marae with elegant Maori artwork
peace. Once we have established that, we take them into
our house.
First, there is a welcoming ceremony, which everyone has
to perform. When you arrive at our gate, you are considered
waewaetapu, which means “sacred feet”, or “newcomer”, as
your feet haven’t been on our ground. What we are trying to
do is bring you in and make you one with our community.
You cross our sacred ground and enter the house, and the
hongi — the traditional Maori greeting — is our first contact.
We breathe, we share the breath of life, by pressing
our foreheads and our noses together. We do this twice.
As we breathe each other in, we become one people.
After we have made physical contact with each other
and have shared the breath of life, we sit down and share
something to eat. The meal is a way of finishing that
whole welcoming process. After that, you are considered
one with us.
There was a time when the Maori culture was endangered.
We are thankful that we had a Maori queen who
brought in a Maori language school that was set up for
preschool children. Today, you can go from preschool right
through university — all in Maori. The language is taught
in the context of our cultural values. Our heritage is very
important to us.
I am happy that I can share my culture with others.
For me, it is being able to educate visitors on the subject
of New Zealand and have them go out into the world and
know something about us — who we are and what we are
about.
context [(kQntekst]
endangered [In(deIndZEd]
forehead [(fO:hed]
heritage [(herItIdZ]
hub [hVb]
preschool [(pri:)sku:l]
sacred [(seIkrId]
Rahmen, Umfeld
gefährdet
Stirn
kulturelles Erbe
Mittelpunkt
Vorschule
heilig
Answers: beyond reproach: a) are beyond reproach;
b) are beyond reproach; c) is beyond reproach
about: “All about” is used in this sense in sentences a) and b).
Rotorua
Located about 230 kilometres south-east of Auckland,
the city of Rotorua is a popular tourist destination on
New Zealand’s North Island. Its name means “second
great lake”, a reference to Lake Rotorua, on which the
city lies. Rotorua has 56,000 inhabitants and is a hub
for the Bay of Plenty, a region that is much loved for its
beautiful beaches. It has been popular with visitors for
a long time: the railway began a direct service from
Auckland to Rotorua in 1894. For travel articles with a
North Island focus, see Spotlight 12/10 and 3/13.
beyond reproach
Are you beyond reproach? If so, you are of such ex -
cellent character, or have done something so well,
that you cannot possibly be criticized. In the text, Jen
Murray says that she would like her community’s marae
to provide visitors with hospitality that is “beyond reproach”.
She means that the experience should be so
perfect that no one would have reason to complain.
Practise this expression in the following sentences.
a) Some people think that the president’s actions
___________________.
b) Do you really believe that you ___________________?
c) Daisy’s cake was delicious. Her baking
___________________.
about
To be “about” or “all about” something is an informal
way of saying that a person or organization — or in the
case of Jen Murray, a community —
places great value or focuses on a
specific thing. The expression can
be used to describe situations or
to illustrate a person’s world view,
too; for example, “It’s all about
having fun” or “It’s all about
the money”. In which of the
following sentences is the
expression used in this
sense?
a) His life is all about
music.
b) We’re all about helping
people.
c) The kids are all about
five years old.

WORLD VIEW | News in Brief
A surfer’s paradise:
land of many
beaches
It’s a good month to... surf New Zealand
NEW ZEALAND For Kiwis, summer officially
begins on 1 December. For us, this is the perfect time
for a surfing holiday in the southern hemisphere.
New Zealand’s shape — the nation is made up of two
long, narrow islands — means that there is a lot of coastline.
The surf is varied, with quiet beaches where beginners
take lessons and places like North Island’s Manu Bay, where
experienced surfers can ride a wave for two kilometres.
The coasts are known for having different conditions:
the west has wilder waves, while the east is calmer. But that
is no great problem, because in some parts of New
Zealand, a mere 15-minute drive will take you from one
side of the island to the other.
Visitors shouldn’t miss Surf Highway 45, which follows
the west coast of North Island. This 105-kilometre route
includes wonderful surfing spots, beautiful black-sand
beaches and offbeat cafes. It also takes you past Mount
Taranaki, the dormant volcano that served as a backdrop
in the 2003 film The Last Samurai. For more information,
see www.newzealand.com/int/surfing
backdrop [(bÄkdrQp]
bug [bVg]
cable [(keIb&l]
coastline [(kEUstlaIn]
convey [kEn(veI]
dormant [(dO:mEnt]
Hintergrund, Kulisse
verwanzen
hier: Telegramm
Küste
übertragen
inaktiv, ruhend
hard drive [)hA:d (draIv]
high commission [)haI kE(mIS&n]
mere [mIE]
offbeat [)Qf(bi:t] ifml.
tedious [(ti:diEs]
typewriter [(taIp)raItE]
(comp.) Festplatte
Hochkommissariat
hier: kurz
ausgefallen, ungewöhnlich
lästig, mühsam
Schreibmaschine
New uses for old technology
INDIA If you’re worried about the US National
Security Agency (NSA) spying on you, take a tip from the high commission
of India: buy an old-fashioned typewriter.
According to informant Edward Snowden, the NSA bugged the
Indian embassy in Washington, DC, as well as the country’s mission
to the United Nations in New York. Jaimini Bhagwati, India’s high
commissioner in London, told The Times of India that he doesn’t
know whether his offices were bugged, too, but he would like to
make sure his communications are safe.
“Top-secret communications are never conveyed through the
internet,” he said. “External hard drives with tremendous amounts
of data storage capacity are easy to access. Therefore, top secret
cables are written on the typewriter, which can’t be tracked.”
Bhagwati also
said that officials are
careful not to talk about
secret information inside
the embassy’s
building, but he
added: “It’s very
tedious to step
out into the
garden
every time
something sensitive
has to be discussed.”
An old friend returns:
the trusted typewriter
10 Spotlight 12|13

No, not again!
Toast meets floor
Toast wars
Fotos: Digital Vision; iStock; Mauritius
BRITAIN You take a slice of bread, toast it,
put butter on it, lift it to your mouth to take a big, satisfying
bite, and — oh, no! — it flies from your fingers and
falls to the floor. Naturally, the toast lands upside down
with the butter underneath.
Scientists in England wanted to understand why it always
seems to hit the floor butter-side down. To explore
the phenomenon, Professor Chris Smith of Manchester
Metropolitan University tried an experiment: he allowed
100 pieces of buttered toast to fall from table height. The
buttered side met the floor 81 times. He found that with
a typical breakfast table height of two-and-a-half feet
(76.2 cm), the toast was able to rotate only one and a half
times, practically guaranteeing a butter-side-down result.
“If you want to ensure your toast lands butter-side up,”
Smith told the Daily Mirror, “then you should invest in a
table about eight feet (2.4 metres) high that allows the
toast to rotate a full 360 degrees. Failing that, try not to
drop the toast.”
butter-side down
[)bVtE saId (daUn]
ensure [In(SO:]
mit der gebutterten Seite nach unten
sicherstellen, garantieren
failing that [)feIlIN (DÄt]
rotate [rEU(teIt]
slice [slaIs]
andernfalls
sich drehen
Scheibe
Klasse(n)fahrt
Die junge Schiene der Bahn
Reisen, erleben, wissen
mit Bahn, Bus oder Flug
DB Klassenfahrten & Gruppenreisen
Buchen Sie Ihr individuelles Reiseprogramm:
Kunst, Kultur, Zeitgeschehen, Musicals, Theater,
Museen, Führungen, Rundfahrten, Spaß, Freizeit,
spezielle Bildungsangebote...
Weitere Infos unter:
www.bahn.de/klassenfahrten
Die Bahn macht mobil.

WORLD VIEW | News in Brief
Welcome — or not?
UNITED STATES “The rich are different from you and me.”
The expression is very meaningful for people in Newport, Rhode Island
— at least for those who would like the city’s top attraction to become
more visitor-friendly.
The Breakers, a 70-room vacation home built by the Vanderbilt family
in the 1890s, is among the five most visited historic houses in the country.
The luxurious Gilded Age building has welcomed 20 million visitors since
1948. However, it has only very basic facilities for them.
“I want these people to enjoy themselves and want them to have an
experience they will never forget,” said Trudy Coxe of the local preservation
society. “I don’t know of any museum that makes you go to the bathroom
in a port-o-john or makes you
buy a ticket out of a tent.”
Fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt,
whose grandfather built The
Breakers, told The New York Times that
the house is a reminder of a lost world.
“If the first thing visitors see upon entering
this magical kingdom is a new
building selling plastic shrink-wrapped
sandwiches, it will forever change
their enjoyment of the visit.”
The Breakers: a very popular historic house
ammo = ammunition [(ÄmEU]
chew [tSu:]
digitize [(dIdZItaIz]
facilities [fE(sIlEtiz]
Gilded Age [)gIldId (eIdZ]
pepper [(pepE]
picky [(pIki]
plastic shrink-wrapped
[)plÄstIk (SrINk rÄpt]
port-o-john [US )pO:rt oU (dZA:n] N. Am. ifml.
preservation society
[US )prez&r(veIS&n sE)saIEti]
volunteer [)vQlEn(tIE]
Munition
kauen
digitalisieren
Ausstattung, Einrichtungen
Vergoldetes Zeitalter (Blütezeit der
Wirtschaft in den USA, ca. 1877–1900)
Gemüsepaprika
heikel, wählerisch
in Schrumpffolie eingeschweißt
mobile Toilettenkabine
Stiftung Denkmalschutz
ehrenamtlich arbeiten, sich engagieren
WHAT’S HOT
Helping online
ONLINE The internet is
providing people with new ways to
make the world a better place. One
of these is the growing trend of online
volunteering.
According to the BBC, there are
now opportunities online for people
with all kinds of skills and interests
to help others.
For example, Radha Taralekar, a
doctor in Mumbai, India, helped
write a guide for the Kitega Community
Centre in Uganda on how to
avoid getting HIV. David Clemy, the
volunteer coordinator for the community
centre, commented that
“without the online volunteers, the
project would be 20 years behind
where it is today”.
The UN has a database of organizations
looking for volunteers at
www.onlinevolunteering.org The
website http://helpfromhome.org offers
hundreds of “micro volunteer
actions” that can be completed in
five to 30 minutes — from sending
a card to a child with cancer to helping
to digitize historical records.
Want to help? Go to this UN website
Just eat it
JAPAN If you’ve ever thought it impossible to get
children to enjoy eating vegetables, it’s time to think again. At this
year’s Tokyo Game Show, Takayuki Kosaka
presented a solution for picky eaters
everywhere: the Food Practice Shooter.
Wired explains how it works: kids
play an exciting video game in which they
shoot the giant vegetables that are attacking
a city. When they find they have
no more ammunition, they
have to eat a biscuit. But
these biscuits taste like
carrots, green peppers
or tomatoes. There are
Start eating:
the food shooter
special headphones
with
sensors that can tell when the child is chewing. The more chews,
the more ammunition he or she is given. Then the player has to
smile into a camera.
“You look at the camera, smile, and the food becomes ammo,”
Kosaka said on the gaming website www.joystiq.com The idea is
that smiling after eating will help children to associate
the taste of vegetables with positive feelings.
As Wired explains, the game’s equipment is
far too complicated for it to be sold in stores.
But Kosaka wants to visit schools with his Food
Practice Shooter, spreading the message of
healthy eating through gaming.
Fotos: Daniel Feit/WIRED; Matt H. Wade
12 Spotlight 12|13
By RITA FORBES and CLAUDINE WEBER-HOF

“
Where
will Christmas
lights appear
next?
”
Britain Today | COLIN BEAVEN
Christmas lights
gone mad
Wie soll der Strom für die nächste Weihnachtslichterflut produziert werden?
Nicht mit Windrädern, denn die sind hässlich. Es sei denn...
Foto: iStock
One of the nice things about
December here in Britain is
the lovely long evenings. It’s
like a second summer. For much of
November, we have to accept that
darkness will be forcing us indoors
after lunch, but by the end of the
month, every town and city is lit up
like London’s Piccadilly Circus.
It’s not the Star of Bethlehem that
comes to brighten British skies. It’s the
Christmas lights that decorate every
house and flat. They’re out of control.
It’s long been tradition to put
coloured lights on your Christmas
tree. People would use the same lights
year in year out. They never worked
when you took them out of their box,
but part of each year’s ritual was to
spend hours trying to fix them.
Soon, it was no longer enough to
have one string of lights. You needed
several, and when there was no more
room for new ones inside your house,
you put them outside, too — and not
just strings, either.
There are lights that are pictures
of enthusiastic Father Christmases,
energetic reindeer and enormous
blackout [(blÄkaUt]
Stromausfall
blade [bleId]
hier: Rotorblatt
Christmas stocking [)krIsmEs (stQkIN] Weihnachtsstrumpf
cope with sth. [(kEUp wID]
etw. schaffen
graceful [(greIsf&l]
elegant
grit [grIt]
mit Kies bestreuen
illumination [I)lu:mI(neIS&n]
Beleuchtung
plug into sth. [(plVg )Intu:] (ein)stecken (➝ p. 61)
power supply [(paUE sE)plaI]
Stromversorgung
reindeer [(reIndIE]
Rentier
renewable [ri(nju:Eb&l]
erneuerbar
shaft [SA:ft]
hier: Turm, Säule
socket [(sQkIt]
(Wand)Steckdose
string [strIN]
hier: Kette
twinkle [(twINk&l]
blinken
wind turbine [(wInd )t§:baIn]
Wind(kraft)rad
Christmas stockings, all designed for
your neighbours to fix to their walls
or to hang in their windows.
Many of the lights flash away all
night long. They make you think that
the man who grits the roads when the
weather turns cold has got lost and
keeps driving up and down in
frustration.
What do you do, though, when
the walls are full and you’ve no more
space? If you have a front garden, you
fill that with lights, too. The ones that
twinkle are especially popular.
Lots of them are blue. They’re
pretty, but you keep stopping as you
drive down the road to let the ambulance
pass, only to find that the lights
were actually on a tree
in someone’s front
garden.
With all these
Christmas illuminations,
it’s so light after
dark that December
evenings are a good
time to sit outside and
read the paper.
Where will Christ -
mas lights appear
next? On clothes, I
expect. That’s the only
place left for them to
take over.
There are, of course, already
Christmas hats with flashing lights.
But what we need is a complete collection
of suits and boots, or shirts
and skirts that you can plug into the
socket while you sit at home watching
Christmas television.
The danger is that the power supply
won’t be able to cope, and that in
the blackout that follows, people will
stand up, fall over the cables and
promptly break their legs.
Not to worry: the ambulance is already
here. Sorry, my mistake. It’s the
lights in the neighbours’ garden;
they’ve clearly got their own emergency
power supply, too — yet more
technological progress.
We need to produce more renewable
energy if we’re going to waste so
much electricity on all these illuminations.
Yet there are endless protests
whenever anyone tries to build wind
turbines.
We can’t have wind turbines ruining
the beautiful British landscape.
It’s all right if the streets look like a
cheap imitation of Disneyland at
Christmas, but we don’t want any
turbines.
It’s just a problem of design. At the
moment, wind turbines are beautiful
and graceful, simple but majestic.
What they need are some flashing
lights: coloured lights on the blades,
a flashing Father Christmas in the
middle and a team of reindeer running
up the shaft.
If they made them like that,
there’d soon be one in every British
garden.
Colin Beaven is a freelance writer who lives
and works in Southampton on the south
coast of England.
12|13 Spotlight
13

SOCIETY | India
Journey to
Jhabua
Der Lehrer und Spotlight-Autor
ROBERT PARR nahm sich
kürzlich ein Sabbatjahr und
arbeitete mehrere Monate an
einer Schule in Indien, wo das
Leben oft noch ein Kampf ums
Überleben ist.
A good
rela tionship:
school pupils
with the
author, and
a Christmas
card (below)
With 30 years in education and educational publishing
behind me, I was ready for a change, a
new challenge and a different culture. A TV documentary
about a young man working in a school in
Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, India, was the impulse I needed,
and it led me to contact the German donor organizations
funding that school. Although such organizations usually
work with younger people, mainly students, I was accepted
as a “senior” volunteer the following year.
I arranged unpaid leave from my teaching job, got the
relevant vaccinations and went through the complex procedures
required to obtain a year’s employment visa —
€550 for a British national. After eight months of preparation,
my journey to Jhabua could begin.
donor organization
[(dEUnE O:gEnaI)zeIS&n]
vaccination [)vÄksI(neIS&n]
Spendenorganisation
Impfung
14 Spotlight 12|13

Mark of
respect: pupils
stand when
speaking in class
Alle Fotos: Robert Parr

SOCIETY | India
Volunteer meets school
On an overcast Sunday afternoon in
July 2012, I walked out of the arrivals
hall in Indore, the largest city in
Madhya Pradesh, straight into the
monsoon rain. Within a minute of
starting on our further journey, the
asphalted road had turned into a waterlogged
track full of potholes. The
150 kilometres to Jhabua took four
hours. Every few seconds, it seemed,
the school driver hooted his horn.
The next morning, still struggling
with the four-and-ahalf-hour
time difference
between Germany and
India, the other, much
younger, volunteer and I
went straight to the
school. On the dusty,
windswept playground,
the pupils, all in school
uniform, were lined up
— girls on the left, boys
on the right. Everyone
watched carefully as a
tilak was applied to our
foreheads and brightly coloured
garlands were placed round our
necks. We introduced ourselves.
The pupils sang songs: “Welcome
to India! Welcome to our school!”
The Bhil Academy, a few kilometres
outside Jhabua, is a residential
school for some 350 boys and
girls from the local Bhil tribe.
Aged between five and 18,
most of the pupils come
from poor families — in
some cases, below
poverty level. The impact
of school on the
children and their
families cannot be
underestimated.
Parents are pleased
that their children,
especially if they
are girls, can go to
school. They are
also pleased that
their children get
three meals a day
and medical care
there. With good
16 Spotlight 12|13
School life: assembly in the open
air, and correcting work in class
qualifications and a bit of luck, these young
people can find a well-paid job and start to
shape their future. When they themselves
become parents, they can shape their children’s
futures, too.
Teacher and pupils
With my teaching background, I was keen
to be in the classroom to get to know the
children better. The timetable at the Bhil
Academy is the same every day, Monday to Saturday.
At secondary level, there are six subjects: English,
Hindi, maths, Sanskrit, science and social studies.
The academy is an English-medium school, meaning
that all the lessons, except for Hindi and Sanskrit, are
— or should be — given in English. I was invited to
teach English to years seven and eight.
It took me a few days to adjust to a teacher-pupil
relationship that I’d never experienced before.
Teachers in India are treated with great respect.
Pupils stand up when you enter and leave the
classroom and whenever they say something
during a lesson. They call you by your first
name and your title. I was “Dr Robert”. I
also had to get used to classroom windows
adjust to sth.
[E(dZVst tE]
forehead [(fO:hed]
hoot the horn
[)hu:t DE (hO:n]
overcast [)EUvE(kA:st]
pothole [(pQthEUl]
residential school
[)rezI(denS&l )sku:l]
tilak [(tIlÄk]
tribe [traIb]
waterlogged
[(wO:tElQgd]
sich an etw. gewöhnen
Stirn
hupen
bewölkt
Schlagloch
Internat
(Sanskrit) Tilaka oder
Tika, Segenszeichen
(Volks)Stamm
staunass,
überschwemmt
More than words: dressed in a T-shirt,
this boy also wears a knowing smile

Washing and gardening: there are always jobs to be done at the Bhil Academy
without panes, wooden desks bolted to wooden benches
and a blackboard with crumbly chalk. There were no pictures
or maps on the whitewashed walls and, without a regular
supply of electricity, there was no use for an overhead
projector, a CD player or my laptop. The pupils had nothing
but Madhya Pradesh textbooks, notebooks and pens.
Given the limited resources, the teaching style was for
the most part traditional “chalk and talk” from the front of
the class, combined, in the primary section at least, with
extended phases of rote learning. I decided to stick my neck
out and see if I could involve the pupils more in the lessons.
One day, I introduced a simple word game: Hangman. I
divided the class into teams, worked out a points system
and started with some easy words. The game was amazingly
popular. Some months later, I received the greatest recognition
for my teaching that I could have imagined. During
one break, I was walking past a classroom when I noticed
a group of pupils huddled around the blackboard, talking
animatedly. They were playing Hangman.
Work and play
I soon found out more about the pupils’ routine. They get
up at dawn, have breakfast and clean their rooms. Assembly,
with prayers and the national anthem, is at 8.10 a.m. Lessons
begin at 8.30 and end at 12.50. At 1 p.m., lunch is served,
starting with the smaller children. At 2 p.m., there is selfstudy
for two hours. Then the pupils have other things to
do: washing, sweeping, picking up litter, gardening and so
on. At 5, they can play outside or do sport. Dinner is at 6.
The round-the-clock care and supervision of 350
young people means that the school needs more than
teaching staff: non-teaching carers, called “wardens”,
nurses, kitchen workers, cleaners and so on — 45 in total.
Hiring and keeping qualified, responsible people is not
easy. In my experience, staff often failed to turn up for
work because they had other “important business” or
because they were fasting. There were also a lot of holidays.
Some were one-day public holidays across the whole of
India, such as Independence Day or Gandhi’s birthday.
Others were elaborate and more prolonged festivals, such
as the Festival of Lights, Diwali, or Dussehra.
A CLOSER LOOK
Dussehra [(dVSErE] celebrates a
famous episode in the Hindu epic
Ramayana, when Rama defeats
Ravana and good triumphs over
evil. In Jhabua, the nine-night
festivities reach their climax on
the college sports ground, where
thousands of people gather to
watch an effigy of Ravana being
burned. As night falls, the fireworks
inside the effigy are lit, and
within seconds, the 10-metre
statue collapses to the ground.
The show takes place in an area
cordoned off with long wooden
poles. As the crowds leave, the
villagers run to collect the poles.
It’s said they bring good luck.
animatedly [(ÄnImeItIdli]
assembly [E(sembli]
bolt [bEUlt]
chalk [tSO:k]
climax [(klaImÄks]
cordon off [(kO:d&n Qf]
crumbly [(krVmbli]
dawn [dO:n]
effigy [(efIdZi]
elaborate [i(lÄbErEt]
epic [(epIk]
given [(gIv&n]
lebhaft
hier: Morgenversammlung
festschrauben
Kreide
Höhepunkt
absperren
bröselig
Morgendämmerung
Nachbildung, Puppe
durchorganisiert, aufwändig
Epos
angesichts
huddle [(hVd&l]
zusammendrängen
litter [(lItE]
Müll
national anthem
Nationalhymne
[)nÄS&nEl (ÄnTEm]
pane [peIn]
Glasscheibe
prolonged [prEU(lQNd] länger dauernd
rote learning [(rEUt )l§:nIN] Auswendiglernen
stick one’s neck out
sich vorwagen, etw. riskieren
[)stIk wVnz (nek aUt] ifml. (➝ p. 61)
sweep [swi:p]
fegen, kehren
whitewashed
gekalkt, weiß getüncht
[(waItwQSt]
12|13 Spotlight
17

SOCIETY | India
Flour, fuel and finances
By mid-September, I had taken on a different role at the
school. As the weeks passed, I stopped teaching altogether
and turned all my attention to management issues. The
school’s accounts were one of these. The school had been
finding it increasingly difficult to meet the requirements
of the donor organizations in Germany. I could see why.
Here, in rural, impoverished India, was a school with no
reliable supply of electricity, a paper-and-pen approach to
administrative work and little understanding of the funding
processes. And 9,000 kilometres away in Germany, the
donor organizations required key information and documents
to be sent regularly and digitally.
Armed with my laptop, 3G data card and USB flash
drive, I tried to keep a record of the school’s expenses. The
most difficult task was to document food purchases. Because
the people responsible for buying food could not
read or write, they often presented illegible or incomplete
bills. These had to be checked by someone who could read
ENGLISH IN INDIA
Ceremony: girls in saris
dance at the school
In small towns like Jhabua, English may not be heard so often,
but across India, around 125 million people speak and write
English as their first, second or third language. The cultures of
this huge country with its many local languages are a major influence
on this variety of English, but historical connections
with Britain have left their mark, too.
If an Indian tells you that she has to prepone tiffin, for
example, she means that she will be eating a light meal (or, in
some parts of India, a packed lunch) earlier than planned. If she
says she will avail of your help and promises to revert to
you, you know that she finds your help useful and will reply to
you. If she says she has done something thrice, she has done
the same thing three times. Such words and phrases may seem
formal or old-fashioned to English-speakers outside India, but
for 125 million people, they are everyday English.
Pump problems: solving them will make all the difference
Hindi and be translated into English. Then they had to be
entered carefully into the computer. The result was something
like this: 22 x 50 kg flour @ 990 rupees per 50 kg =
21,780 rupees; 2 kg jeera (cumin) @ 230 rupees per kg =
460 rupees, and so on. The complete lists then had to be
printed, signed, stamped, scanned and e-mailed to Germany.
Invariably, the punctual release of funds for the
school depended on my finding a friendly shop owner in
Jhabua with a functioning scanner.
Utilities were another management challenge. At
home, I had never thought that water might not come out
of a tap when I turned it on. At the Bhil Academy, I did.
It was not long before getting underground water into the
tank on the school roof became one of my highest priorities.
Was there electricity to power the pump? If not, was
there enough diesel to operate the generator? Without
water, the sanitary facilities in the school could not be
used, and the pupils’ hygiene and health would suffer.
Meals and wheels
With water and electricity on my mind, I was constantly
made aware of my own living arrangements in Jhabua. The
pupils slept on stone floors, even in winter, with one blanket
underneath and another on top. Every day, they had
the same food: bulgar, a type of wheat, for breakfast; rice
and dal (lentils) with vegetables for lunch; and in the
evening, chapati (flat, round bread) and dal. And me? By
Western standards, the flat I was sharing was basic. By
Jhabuan standards, it was luxurious. I had a room to myself,
a bed with a proper mattress and, most importantly,
a fan to keep mosquitoes away all night. Running water
was always available, and the kitchen had a cooker with a
large bottle of gas. Not that staying in and cooking was
the only option. Life in Jhabua, including eating out at
cumin [(kVmIn]
fan [fÄn]
flour [(flaUE]
illegible [I(ledZEb&l]
impoverished [Im(pQvErISt]
invariably [In(veEriEbli]
keep a record
[)ki:p E (rekO:d]
lentils [(lentIlz]
release [ri(li:s]
utilities [ju(tIlEtiz]
Kreuzkümmel
Ventilator
Mehl
unleserlich
verarmt
(fast) immer
Aufstellungen machen,
Buch führen
Linsen
hier: Auszahlung
(allgemeine) Versorgung
18
continued on page 21

Eine schöne
Bescherung!
1 Jahr Sprachmagazin verschenken,
6 Monate Audio-Trainer gratis dazu.
Schenken Sie jetzt!
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www.spotlight-verlag.de/weihnachten
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Sprachtraining mit
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um die Businesswelt
kombiniert mit interkulturellen
Tipps.
Einfach
Deutsch lernen.
Sprache trainieren und
den deutschsprachigen
Kulturraum verstehen.
Die schönsten Seiten
auf Italienisch.
Vermittelt das italie nische
Lebensgefühl und
erweitert die Sprachkenntnisse
auf genussvolle
Art und Weise.
Typisch Französisch!
So wird Französischlernen
zum Genuss.
Frankreich und seine
unverwechselbare
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continued from page 18
IF YOU ARE THINKING...
the handful of restaurants, is unbelievably cheap for Europeans,
but not for the teachers at the Bhil Academy, who
earn between €50 and €100 a month.
I also had my own transport. In the first week of my
stay, I had bought a scooter, which I used to get to school
and around Jhabua. When I left India, I donated it to
the school. Negotiating the narrow roads and lanes of the
town without a helmet, I was struck, initially at least, by
the dust, the rubbish, the noise and the cows and bulls.
But I was also struck by the people: on the one hand, the
fuller-faced, well-groomed town people riding their motorbikes
with one or two small children perched on the
petrol tank; and on foot, the rougher, tougher and sometimes
painfully thin village people in their tatty sandals.
And young or old, tribal or non-tribal, everyone seemed
to be on the phone: talking, listening to music, watching
cricket matches.
A look up, a look back
I learned a lot during my eight-month stay — about life
in and around Jhabua and about myself. Despite the widespread
deprivation and squalor, the people I met got on
with their lives just as happily as anyone else in more privileged
and “advanced” parts of the world. It was Gandhi
…of volunteering
You need to be honest with yourself. You may be living
and working in conditions that are very different from
those at home. Here’s a checklist of what you’ll need to
do once you have made contact with a voluntary organization
and decided on the period of time you can give:
• find out as much as you can about the organization;
• check the visa requirements well in advance;
• reach an agreement with your current employer and
get it in writing;
• clarify the terms and conditions of your work;
• find out who pays for travel costs and other
expenses;
• find out which vaccinations you require and who
will pay for them;
• make plans for being without a regular income;
• keep in mind that your co-volunteers could be
young people straight from school;
• remember that volunteering is temporary —
one day, you will return home.
More information
www.freiwilligenarbeit.de
www.aktion-mensch.de
The online platform The Global Journal has a list of its
preferred non-profit-making organizations worldwide:
http://theglobaljournal.net/group/top-100-ngos
At www.spotlight-online.de you can see extracts from
Robert Parr’s blog documenting his time in Jhabua.
who said: “Happiness is when what you think, what you
say and what you do are in harmony.” This became clear
to me one afternoon outside school when a group of pupils
playing a game with a plastic bottle and stick suddenly
stopped, looked up and jumped around excitedly. High in
the sky, they had seen an aeroplane. “They don’t really
know what it is,” a warden explained. “They think it’s a
space rocket.” A minute later, the children had returned
to their game, as contented as before.
Back at home, talking to people about my time away,
the response I usually get is: “Voluntary work in India?
Oh, I wish I could do something like that.” I’m beginning
to realize how fortunate I’ve been.
clarify [(klÄrEfaI]
contented [kEn(tentId]
deprivation [)deprI(veIS&n]
perched on [(p§:tSt Qn]
scooter [(sku:tE]
squalor [(skwQlE]
struck: be ~ [strVk]
tatty [(tÄti] ifml.
well-groomed [)wel (gru:md]
abklären
zufrieden, wunschlos
Mangel
hoch auf ... sitzend
Motorroller
Elend
hier: beeindruckt sein
zerschlissen
gepflegt
Water means work: a girl
fetches water from the pump
12|13 Spotlight
21

INDEX | 2013
The best of Spotlight
Die wichtigsten Artikel des letzten Jahres hier im Überblick zum Nachschlagen und Nachlesen.
COLUMNS
American Life
My presidential ancestor 1/13
“Big-box stores” 2/13
New expressions 3/13
Maple syrup 4/13
“Human” advertising 5/13
The value of kindness 6/13
Lake George’s monster 7/13
Too many geese? 8/13
Home maintenance 9/13
Staying connected 10/13
Local bureaucracy 11/13
Small-town postmaster 12/13
Around Oz
The heat at Christmas 1/13
US military presence 2/13
Canberra, our capital 3/13
Australia is getting older 4/13
Corruption and coal 5/13
A doping scandal without
evidence 6/13
Children’s names 7/13
Transition to recession 8/13
An election gamble 9/13
Honesty 10/13
Wedding duties 11/13
Cricket 12/13
Britain Today
New Year’s Eve in Britain 1/13
007 and imperialism 2/13
Formality in Britain 3/13
Sadness at the death of a
close relative 4/13
New sources of meat 5/13
Ugly new buildings 6/13
Richard III’s bones 7/13
British pub names 8/13
Tattoos 9/13
Calling Big Brother 10/13
Immigration 11/13
Christmas lights 12/13
I Ask Myself
Re-election celebration 1/13
David Petraeus’s affair 2/13
America’s gun debate 3/13
Hillary Clinton 4/13
Kate Middleton 5/13
Judging women by their
looks 6/13
The president’s jokes 7/13
Angelina Jolie’s decision 8/13
Gay marriage in the US 9/13
Jeff Bezos buys
The Washington Post 10/13
Politicians and Botox 11/13
Preventing violence 12/13
My Life in English
Katharina Hagena 1/13
Rainer Strecker 2/13
Leslie Clio 3/13
Götz Otto 4/13
Lale Akgün 5/13
Klaus Wowereit 6/13
Klaus Peter Keller 7/13
Luisa Hartema 8/13
Magdalena Neuner 9/13
Wolfgang Büscher 10/13
Silvia Furtwängler 11/13
Michael Braun Alexander
12/13
ARTICLES
A Day in My Life
Archaeologist (UK) 1/13
Helping mentally ill youth
(Ireland) 2/13
Underwater photographer
(Australia) 3/13
Native-American dance
teacher (US) 4/13
Manager at a language school
(Malta) 5/13
Cartographer (UK) 6/13
Veterinary nurse for wildlife
(Australia) 7/13
Manager at a software firm
(UK) 8/13
Magazine editor (Mauritius)
9/13
Mounted policewoman
(Ireland) 10/13
Cruise director in the
Caribbean (US) 11/13
Tour guide (New Zealand)
12/13
Business
The cost of digital capitalism
5/13
Undersea resources 10/13
Debate
Emigration (Ireland) 1/13
The retirement age
(New Zealand) 2/13
Communication (US) 3/13
Scottish independence (UK)
4/13
New gun laws (US) 5/13
Food labels (UK) 6/13
Abortion (Ireland) 7/13
Citizen’s arrests (Canada)
8/13
Fairness to Aborigines
(Australia) 9/13
LANGUAGE SECTION
English at Work
Interviewing someone for a
job 1/13
Responding to thanks 2/13
Complaining by phone 3/13
Abbreviations 4/13
Embarrassing situations 5/13
Giving negative feedback
to a colleague 6/13
Starting a presentation 7/13
Better listening skills 8/13
Ending a formal letter 9/13
Congratulations 10/13
Using the titles “Dr”
and “PhD” 11/13
Communicating with
government officials 12/13
Everyday English
Personal banking 1/13
Talking about relationships
2/13
Home maintenance 3/13
Spring cleaning 4/13
In the countryside 5/13
Giving directions 6/13
A day at the races 7/13
Having a baby 8/13
A gap year 9/13
Going on a flight 10/13
Bad news 11/13
Buying presents 12/13
The Grammar Page
The past simple passive 1/13
The past continuous versus
the past simple 2/13
The present perfect simple:
experiences 3/13
The present perfect simple:
recent events 4/13
The present perfect simple:
passive 5/13
The present perfect
continuous and simple
with “for” and “since” 6/13
The present perfect
continuous and simple:
recent activities 7/13
The past perfect simple 8/13
The past perfect
continuous 9/13
“Used to” and “would” 10/13
Using “will” and “won’t”
to talk about the future
11/13
Using “be going to” to talk
about plans 12/13
1/13 2/13 3/13 4/13 5/13 6/13
22 Spotlight 12|13

You can also find this index atwww.spotlight-online.de/downloads
Colonizing Mars (US) 10/13
International youth 11/13
Gentlemanly behaviour
(Ireland) 12/13
Food
A New Zealand chef (NZ) 1/13
“Food deserts” (US) 2/13
Isabella Beeton (UK) 3/13
Molecular cuisine (UK) 4/13
Jamie Oliver (UK) 5/13
Seaweed (Ireland) 6/13
Cooking for dogs (US) 7/13
Kettle Chips (UK) 8/13
Restaurant owner
(South Africa) 9/13
Feeding an army (UK) 10/13
Chowder (US) 11/13
Game
Fun with idioms 1/13
Around the UK in 80
questions 3/13
History
The London Underground
(1863) 1/13
Colin Powell and the case
for war (2003) 2/13
Australia’s new capital
(Canberra, 1913) 3/13
The two fathers of
Indian cinema (1913) 4/13
On top of the world
(Mount Everest, 1953) 5/13
South Africa’s years of
apartheid (beginning in
1948) 6/13
The Hundred Years War
(ended 1453) 7/13
Lawrence of Arabia
(born 1888) 8/13
Sex, lies and spies (the
Profumo affair, 1963) 9/13
Roy Lichtenstein (born 1923)
10/13
Who shot JFK? (1963) 11/13
Oliver Cromwell and the
English republic (1653)
12/13
Language
Celebrating Jane Austen 1/13
The IELTS reading test 2/13
Taking an English course
abroad 4/13
Body language 5/13
The changing language of
British monarchs 6/13
Laugh and learn 7/13
New Zealand crime writer
Paul Cleave 8/13
The IELTS listening test 9/13
Expand your vocabulary
11/13
Volunteering in India 12/13
Music
Trumpeter Alison Balsom
2/13
Mick Jagger turns 70 7/13
Press Gallery
A victory for Barack Obama
1/13
A “no” to female bishops 2/13
The true price of cheap food
3/13
The conflict in Mali 4/13
Bankers’ bonuses 5/13
Germany and Europe 6/13
Tax the corporations 7/13
NSA spying 8/13
The National Health Service
turns 65 9/13
Too much sugar 10/13
The tragedy of Syria 11/13
New homes, new families
12/13
Quiz
Big events 12/13
Science
Finding new worlds 1/13
How we age 6/13
Short Story
Summer friends 1/13
Socks for the soul 2/13
The flute 3/13
Safety first 4/13
A wolf at the door 5/13
Summer floods 6/13
Nan’s clothes 7/13
Not your sister 8/13
Dublin noir 9/13
Bay of Biscay 10/13
Hungry 11/13
A mouse in the house 12/13
Society
Hollywood 2013 3/13
The real Andy Warhol 4/13
Examining Islamophobia 8/13
From prisoners to writers
9/13
Traditional Irish sports 11/13
Travel
Oxford and Cambridge 1/13
Malta 2/13
Walking in New Zealand 3/13
London’s top 10 4/13
Manitoba 5/13
Southern Alaska 6/13
Namibia 7/13
Dublin 8/13
India 9/13
A road trip on Route 66 10/13
Badlands: North Dakota 10/13
Romantic London 11/13
Kenya’s Maasai people 12/13
Spoken English
Quantities and numbers 1/13
Reported speech 2/13
Describing distances 3/13
Expressions with “time” 4/13
Using vague language 5/13
Expressing certainty 6/13
The word “would” 7/13
The word “make” 8/13
The word “do” 9/13
Talking about risk
and danger 10/13
Using the words “try” and
“effort” 11/13
Starting a conversation 12/13
Travel Talk
Scuba diving 1/13
US entry requirements 2/13
A trip round the
world 3/13
Blogging about a trip 4/13
Insurance 5/13
Durham Cathedral 6/13
Fishing 7/13
A county fair 8/13
On a cruise 9/13
Going to a wedding 10/13
A wine festival 11/13
An evening in a
casino 12/13
Vocabulary
Party food 1/13
Internal organs 2/13
Facial expressions
3/13
In the living room 4/13
Physical exercise 5/13
Money 6/13
Summer fruits 7/13
Theatre 8/13
Public transport 9/13
Waste disposal 10/13
Bad weather 11/13
Fabrics and
patterns 12/13
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7/13 8/13 9/13 10/13 11/13 12/13
12|13 Spotlight
23

QUIZ | 2013
The big
events
quiz
The year 2013 is almost over. We are all looking forward
to the Christmas and New Year holidays, but
it’s also a time to look back at the events of the past
12 months. We’d like to take you on a fun trip through the
year with the Spotlight 2013 Quiz. Over the next four pages,
you’ll find questions about people, politics, sport, society,
science and language. Test your knowledge of the events of
2013, and send us the answers to the last question in each
section. If you answer all six questions correctly, you’ll have
the chance to win one of five language computers. Hint
(Tipp): looking back through all the 2013 issues of Spotlight
will help you find the answers. See also page 27.
People
Which names and faces were in the news this year, and why were they making headlines?
1. Edward Snowden, who gave secret US
government data to the press, had been
working for...
a) the CIA.
b) the Russian secret services.
c) the FBI.
2. On 14 February, South African athlete Oscar
Pistorius was arrested for...
a) drunk driving.
b) killing his girlfriend.
c) taking illegal drugs.
3. What is the name of the son born in July to
Prince William and the Duchess [(dVtSIs]
(Herzogin) of Cambridge?
a) Prince George
b) Prince Henry
c) Prince Alexander
4. On 18 July, former South African president
Nelson Mandela celebrated his...
a) 85th birthday.
b) 90th birthday.
c) 95th birthday.
5. In February, the actor Daniel Day-Lewis
won an Oscar for his role in the film...
a) Argo.
b) Lincoln.
c) Amour.
6. Malala Yousafzai, a 16-year-old activist for
education and a victim of a Taliban attack in
2012, is originally from...
a) Pakistan.
b) Iraq.
c) Afghanistan.
7. The Canadian writer Alice Munro, who won
the Nobel Prize for literature in October, is
famous for her...
a) historical novels.
b) essays.
c) short stories.
8. The former US soldier and whistleblower
Bradley Manning is currently in...
a) Russia.
b) the Ecuadorian embassy (Botschaft) in London.
c) prison in the United States.
24 Spotlight 12|13
Answers: People 1. a); 2. b); 3. a); 4. c); 5. b); 6. a); 7. c)

Politics
This year, there were general elections in Australia, Kenya, Pakistan — and Germany. There were, of course, a number
of other major political events, some planned, some unplanned.
1. Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, who
left office in June, was PM for...
a) three years. b) five years. c) seven years.
2. Who replaced Hillary Clinton as US secretary of state
(Außenminister(in)) in February?
a) John Kerry
b) David Petraeus
c) Robert Gates
3. Which country did not legalize gay marriage in 2013?
a) France b) Ireland c) South Africa
4. In July, the United
States sent drones
(Drohne) to attack...
a) Yemen.
b) Syria.
c) Iran.
5. The former British prime
minister Margaret Thatcher,
who died on 8 April, was
not known as...
a) Attila the Hen.
b) the Iron Lady.
c) Queen Maggie.
6. Who became prime minister after the general elections in
Pakistan in May?
a) Nawaz Sharif b) Imran Khan c) Pervez Musharraf
7. The health insurance plan that is being introduced by the
US government is also called...
a) Obamacare. b) Obamashare. c) Obamaplan.
8. In March, Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition
leader in Myanmar, was criticized for...
a) kissing Barack Obama.
b) a corruption scandal.
c) supporting the military.
Sport
There were no Olympics and there was no football World Cup in 2013, but there
were still lots of exciting sporting events. Can you remember what happened?
Fotos: action press; Bulls Press; Corbis; dpa/picture alliance; Getty Images; iStock; Reuters
1. This year, Andy Murray
was the first British man
to win Wimbledon since...
a) 1926.
b) 1936.
c) 1946.
2. In March, Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber and
his German colleague Sebastian Vettel were involved in a
controversial episode. Where did it take place?
a) at the Malaysian Grand Prix
b) at the Chinese Grand Prix
c) at the Australian Grand Prix
3. In September, Welsh football player Gareth Bale was
bought for around £80 million by...
a) Barcelona. b) Real Madrid. c) Atlético Madrid.
4. In September, US singer Cher told the press she would not
be performing at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi
Winter Olympics in Russia because...
a) she cannot get a visa.
b) she is not liked in Russia.
c) she is protesting against Russia’s anti-gay laws.
5. Where was British cyclist Bradley Wiggins placed on the
2013 Tour de France?
a) first
b) third
c) he did not take part
6. Qatar was in the headlines for its treatment of immigrant
workers preparing facilities (Einrichtungen) for the football
World Cup. In which year will Qatar be the host?
a) 2022
b) 2026
c) 2030
7. On 31 August, 64-year-old swimmer Diana Nyad swam...
a) the Bering Strait.
b) from Cuba to Florida.
c) the English Channel.
8. Abdul Samad Yussif is a professional football player from
Ghana. This year, he joined a number of other African
footballers playing for teams in...
a) Bangladesh.
b) Japan.
c) Tasmania.
Answers: Politics 1. a); 2. a); 3. b); 4. a); 5. c); 6. a); 7. a); Sport 1. b); 2. a); 3. b); 4. c); 5. c); 6. a); 7. b)
11|1312|13 Spotlight 25

QUIZ | 2013
Society
Which social issues made the headlines in 2013, which scandals came to
light, and which TV series were we all watching?
1. Who starred with actress Claire Danes in the US TV series
Homeland, which is about the CIA?
a) Toby Stephens
b) David Caruso
c) Damian Lewis
2. How much horsemeat was found in some products
marked as beef in British supermarkets in January?
a) up to 50 per cent
b) up to 30 per cent
c) up to 100 per cent
3. In February, the bones of the English
king Richard III (1452–85) were found...
a) under a swimming pool.
b) under a car park.
c) under a supermarket.
4. On 30 July, Ireland passed a law allowing abortion if...
a) the mother’s life is in danger.
b) the mother is not Roman Catholic.
c) the mother is over 25.
5. More than 1,100 people died in April in a factory fire in
Bangladesh. The factory produced...
a) smartphones.
b) clothing.
c) cosmetics.
6. The book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by
Sheryl Sandberg appeared in March. Sandberg works for...
a) Facebook. b) Twitter. c) Apple.
7. In June, a director was chosen to make the film version of
the bestselling novel Fifty Shades of Grey.
The director is...
a) Danny Boyle. b) Guy Ritchie.
c) Sam Taylor-Wood.
8. In March, Justin Welby became the Archbishop of
Canterbury. He once worked in...
a) investment banking.
b) oil.
c) fashion.
Science
For which scientific developments will 2013 be remembered? And what did we find out that we prefer not to know?
1. This year, scientists discovered that there was once water
on Mars by looking at...
a) dirt. b) the atmosphere. c) plants.
26 Spotlight 12|13
2. A US study published in June showed that
babies fed on breast milk had better brain
development than those on formula (Muttermilchersatz)
— by how much?
a) 10–20 per cent
b) 20–30 per cent
c) 30–40 per cent
3. Scientists Peter Higgs from Britain and François Englert
from Belgium were given the Nobel Prize for physics this
year for their work on...
a) an elementary particle.
b) climate change.
c) supernovas.
4. Earlier this year, while he was in space, Canadian
astronaut Chris Hadfield posted a film of himself online...
a) drinking champagne.
b) singing a pop song.
c) playing golf.
5. Fracking is a way of extracting underground natural gas.
In Britain, large gas reserves can be found in...
a) northern England.
b) Wales.
c) Northern Ireland.
6. Sarin is a substance used in some chemical weapons.
It attacks…
a) the lungs. b) the bones. c) the nervous system.
7. In September, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) (Weltklimarat) reported its latest
discoveries. How sure is the panel that humans are
causing global warming?
a) more than 50 per cent
b) more 70 per cent
c) more than 90 per cent
8. This year, scientists discovered the reason why buttered
toast usually falls butter-side down. This is because of...
a) the height of the table.
b) the weight of the butter.
c) the way we hold toast.
Answers: Society 1. c); 2. c); 3. b); 4. a); 5. b); 6. a); 7. c)
Science 1. a); 2. b); 3. a); 4. b); 5. a); 6. c); 7. c)

Language
Language changes year by year. New words are created, old words go out of fashion, and certain phrases make the
headlines. What happened in the English language in 2013?
1. If you take time away from your computer and
smartphone, this is called a...
a) digital diet.
b) digital detox (Entgiftungstherapie).
c) digital discontinuity (Unterbrechung, Diskontinuität).
2. Some companies allow employees to use their own
computers and tablets at work. This is called...
a) BYOD (bring your own device (Gerät)).
b) UYO (use your own).
c) PEA (personal equipment allowed).
3. A flatform is…
a) an ultra-thin computer.
b) a flat shoe with a thick platform.
c) emergency housing.
4. In August, Michelle Obama posted a picture on Twitter
that she had taken of herself with the family dog. This
type of photo is called...
a) a selfie.
b) a me-me.
c) a me-scene.
5. Twitter, the social networking service, is named after...
a) the sound of a bird’s wings.
b) the calling sound a bird makes.
c) a rare Australian bird.
6. This year, author J. K. Rowling published a crime story
under the name Robert Galbraith...
a) “because it was a pleasure to get feedback
under a different name”.
b) “because I’ve always really felt more like a man”.
c) “because my father actually wrote the book
many years ago”.
7. This summer, the British Conservative Party created a
poster addressed to illegal immigrants with the words...
a) “Go home or face arrest”.
b) “Register now and get £100”.
c) “We are watching you”.
8. Which famous singer had a reptile named after him / her
in 2013?
a) Freddie Mercury
b) Jim Morrison
c) Lady Gaga
Fotos: AFP/Getty Images; iStock
Competition
How to take part
If you want to take part in our competition and have
the opportunity of winning one of five Franklin
language computers, you will need to answer the last
question from each of the six sections.
Go to www.spotlight-online.de/events2013, where
you’ll find the six questions listed again, and
choose what you think is the correct
answer for each one. It’s
as simple as that.
The closing date
for the competition is
9 February 2014, and
the winners will be announced
in the March
2014 issue of Spotlight.
Answers: Language 1. b); 2. a); 3. b); 4. a); 5. b); 6. a); 7. a)
WIN
Franklin vereint im Language Master fundierte Inhalte von
PONS, Klett, Oxford, Larousse sowie Duden, und bietet eine
professionelle, umfassende Wortschatzbasis. Fremdwörter
sind in Sekunden nachgeschlagen, intelligente Suchfunktionen,
Grammatiktipps, Rechtschreibhilfen, Verbtabellen
und Vokabeltrainer sorgen für schnelleren und nachhaltigen
Lernerfolg in Schule und Studium. Rund um den Globus
einfach und problemlos verständigen – dafür steht
Franklin seit über 30 Jahren.
one of five
Franklin
language
computers
12|13 Spotlight
27

AMY ARGETSINGER | I Ask Myself
“
We have
experienced
so many mass
shootings
”
Could we have
prevented the violence?
09/11 sitzt noch tief im amerikanischen Bewusstsein.
Zwei kürzliche Vorfälle entfachen erneut Debatten darüber, ob und wie
Terrorattacken verhindert werden können.
Two terrifying bursts of violence
in Washington, DC, this fall left
us asking familiar questions. In
one case, it was: why did we act too
late? In the other: did we act too soon?
On September 16, shots rang out
inside a heavily secured office complex
for divisions of the US Navy. The city
went on high alert. Was this the next
big terrorist attack, which we’d been
expecting for 12 years, ever since 9/11?
In less than an hour, a dozen office
workers were dead, and so was the
gunman, Aaron Alexis, a former sailor
with a history of bizarre behavior.
Two weeks later, on October 3,
police and pedestrians were terrified
by a mysterious car that tried to plow
down security barriers at the White
House and then at the US Capitol.
Was this the terror attack? The car finally
came to a stop when police shot
and killed the driver, who, they later
learned, was an unarmed dental hygienist
named Miriam Carey, a
woman with a history of mental illness
and a baby in her backseat.
The case of Alexis was all too familiar.
We have experienced so many
asylum [E(saIlEm]
bent on: be ~ doing sth. [(bent A:n]
confinement [kEn(faInmEnt]
disturbed [dI(st§:bd]
elusive [i(lu:sIv]
go on high alert [)goU A:n )haI E(l§:t]
indefinitely [In(defEnEtli]
infringe upon: ~ a right
[In(frIndZ E)pA:n]
in hindsight [In (haIndsaIt]
plow down [plaU (daUn] N. Am.
ring out [rIN (aUt]
seek [si:k]
slip through the cracks
[)slIp Tru: DE (krÄks] ifml.
tire [(taI&r]
28 Spotlight 12|13
mass shootings in the US in recent
years — so many that the national
media don’t even pay attention, unless
more than five or six people are
killed. Each time, we have the same
two debates: is it too easy to buy
handguns and automatic weapons
here? Well, of course it is. However,
that’s an argument too many people
in this country resist. They are paranoid
about the government infringing
upon any of their rights, so they’d
rather take the risk that guns fall into
the wrong hands.
The other debate is more elusive:
could we have stopped someone like
Aaron Alexis before he killed anyone?
In hindsight, he was clearly mentally
ill — like the young man who
psychiatrische Klinik
entschlossen sein, etw. zu tun
Zwangsunterbringung
hier: verhaltensgestört, verwirrt
schwer fassbar
in höchste Alarmbereitschaft versetzt werden
auf unbestimmte Zeit
ein Recht verletzen
im Nachhinein
niedermähen, -pflügen
zu hören sein, erschallen
sich bemühen um, anstreben
durch die Maschen schlüpfen
Reifen
Gunman
Aaron Alexis
opened fire in a Connecticut elementary
school last December, or the one
who started shooting in a crowded
movie theater the summer before.
Alexis had a history of bad behavior.
In August, weeks before the shootings,
he had called the police to complain
about hearing voices in his head.
A few generations ago, someone
with Alexis’s illness might have been
locked in an asylum indefinitely.
Today, doctors prefer to seek a cure
and a path back to a normal life.
Confinement is seen as cruel. So they
gave Alexis medication, and he said
he was no longer hearing voices or
thinking bad thoughts. Perhaps that
was all they could do. At the same
time, there is no doubt that government
budget cuts have allowed some
severe cases to slip through the cracks.
What about Miriam Carey,
though? No sooner had her car
stopped and the air cleared, than the
doubts began. Why did police have
to shoot her? Couldn’t they just have
shot out the tires of her car? Did they
overreact? Did she have to die?
I don’t know. But it’s important to
remember that, just as doctors didn’t
realize Aaron Alexis was dangerously
ill, police could not have known that
the speeding car was driven by a disturbed
woman and not a terrorist
bent on killing hundreds. And remember:
when the terrorists came
12 years ago, we couldn’t recognize
them for what they were either. Our
hindsight so rarely helps. We will
make these mistakes again.
Amy Argetsinger is a co-author of “The Reliable
Source,” a column in The Washington
Post about personalities.
Foto: Getty Images

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TRAVEL | Kenya
Maasai
on the move
Fotos: Biosphoto/images.de; Corbis; Mauritius
30 Spotlight 8|13 12|13

EVE LUCAS berichtet über eine Reise durchs Land der halbsesshaften Massai, die
im unwirtlichen Grenzgebiet zwischen Kenia und Tansania leben. Wie lange wird
es diese ungewöhnliche Lebensweise noch geben?
Lions and leopards I’ve seen from the safety of a jeep. But this safari is different. There are just a few
of us — Edwin Kiretu Senteu, our scout, a friend and I. Kiretu Senteu is dressed in green khaki
and is carrying a rifle. When we see elephants — a young bull and an older female — he moves us
quietly over to where we are now standing, out of the wind. The female elephant rubs herself against an
umbrella thorn tree: she’s a big, magnificent animal who’s simply enjoying life. My friend and I are silent.
We’re surprised how close we are to the wildlife.
We move on slowly. Our scout explains everything around us, from butterflies to animal skulls. As
a Maasai, Kiretu Senteu is a walker. He has grown up with his people’s semi-nomadic traditions. He
lives a more settled life now, but some of his fellow tribesmen still walk for days and weeks to find
food and water for their cows, sheep and goats. With no written history, it’s difficult to be certain
where the Maasai first developed this way of life.
Bulle
Ziege
prachtvoll, umwerfend,
herrlich
Gewehr
Pfadfinder, Späher
halb-
sesshaft
Schädel
Stammesangehörige(r)
Schirmakazie
bull [bUl]
goat [gEUt]
magnificent [mÄg(nIfIsEnt]
rifle [(raIf&l]
scout [skaUt]
semi- [(semi]
settled [(set&ld]
skull [skVl]
tribesman [(traIbzmEn]
umbrella thorn tree [Vm)brelE (TO:n tri:]
The beauty of East Africa:
the Maasai and, above,
Mount Kilimanjaro from
Kenya’s Chyulu Hills

TRAVEL | Kenya
Way of life: Maasai move
with their livestock
It is said that they
came from the lower Nile
Valley in the 15th or 16th
century. Moving south,
they passed through
the Great Rift Valley
and now occupy 160,000
square kilometres of
Maasailand, an area
roughly the size of Tunisia
that lies on the Kenya-
Tanzania border. Living
in this dry environment,
the ability and the right
to continue to follow a
pastoral lifestyle was long
considered essential to
Maasai survival. The traditional
moran, or warrior
phase, of a young man’s
life used to involve killing
a lion — a way of proving his ability to care for his family
by making sure the livestock is safe.
According to a recent census, the number of Maasai
living in Kenya more than doubled between 1989 and
2009. Such figures can’t always be trusted, but one thing
is certain: the population increase is a huge strain on the
environment. Overgrazing is one problem. In addition,
climate change may mean less rain. During the drought
of 2008–09, the Maasai lost more than 50 per cent of their
cattle, with tribesmen having to walk greater distances to
find grazing land.
Further strain comes from widespread illegal killing of
animals such as elephants and rhinos. Sadly, poaching pays
well: a kilo of ivory sells for $1,500 in the Far East; the
kilo price of rhino horn is now said to be $65,000, making
it worth more than gold. Yet setting up national parks to
protect wildlife is another problem. They make it difficult
for Maasai to cross into areas they once used for grazing.
In the late 1960s, the Kenyan government tried to
make the Maasai way of life commercially more effective
and ecologically sustainable with group ranches — areas
of land owned collectively by a group of Maasai. The goal
was to continue living in traditional community structures
while helping one another look after livestock. Not all
Maasai trust this model. It reminds some of them of
colonial efforts to limit their territories and way of life.
cattle [(kÄt&l]
census [(sensEs]
drought [draUt]
ecologically sustainable
[i:kE)lQdZIk&li sE(steInEb&l]
Far East [)fA: (i:st]
highland [(haIlEnd]
ivory [(aIvEri]
livestock [(laIvstQk]
magnificent [mÄg(nIfIsEnt]
Ferner Osten
Hochland
Elfenbein
Vieh
prachtvoll, umwerfend,
herrlich
Überweidung
Viehhirten-
Wilderei
Nashorn
hier: Bruchstelle
Quadratkilometer
Belastung
Krieger(in)
overgrazing [)EUvE(greIzIN]
pastoral [(pA:st&rEl]
poaching [pEUtSIN]
rhino = rhinoceros [(raInEU]
seam [si:m]
square kilometre [)skweE kI(lQmItE]
strain [streIn]
warrior [(wQriE]
Vieh, Rinder
Volkszählung
Dürre
umweltverträglich
A CLOSER LOOK
Africa’s dramatic geology is on show in the Great Rift
Valley. Several million years ago, East Africa’s tectonic
plates began to move apart. Rifts opened up along
the seams between the plates. One of these is the East
African Rift, a region of lakes, volcanoes and magnificent
highlands. Within it is the Great Rift Valley (a
name once used for a far larger continental rift),
which runs north to south through Kenya.
32 Spotlight 12|13
Explaining the culture: Edwin Kiretu Senteu, a Maasai guide

Birdwatching in Kenya:
a spectacled weaver
There are also those who say it will lead to individual ownership and singlefamily,
profit-based agriculture — neither of which is compatible with the
Maasai way of life. But on the Mbirikani Group Ranch, where Edwin Kiretu
Senteu and his family live, it is working.
The Mbirikani Group Ranch in south-east Kenya covers about 1,300 square
kilometres — roughly the area of Los Angeles — and is owned by some 4,500
Maasai herdsmen. About 15,000 people and between 60,000 and 90,000 cattle
live on the ranch, which has schools, villages and a clinic supported by American
philanthropists. It is bordered to the east by the Chyulu Hills, an area of
special beauty.
This is where we are staying: at Ol Donyo Lodge, which is on Mbirikani
Group Ranch territory, and it fits into the environment as naturally as an umbrella
thorn tree. We are lucky to be here, not only because of the lodge’s surreal
views of Kilimanjaro rising through the clouds, but also because it’s the headquarters
of lodge founder and co-owner Richard Bonham.
A third-generation white Kenyan and safari operator, Bonham has lived in
the area for decades and knows it like the back of his hand. He was convinced
that the only way forward was to develop tourism in cooperation with the
Maasai, so he co-founded the Maasailand Preservation Trust in 1992. In 2010,
the trust merged with a conservation group called the Big Life Foundation.
In the lodge’s simple, open-sided lounge, we talk with Bonham and three
of the foundation’s Maasai employees. About 200 metres away, six elephants
stand at a watering hole, peaceful in the mid-morning sun. It all seems so natural,
but as Anthony Kasanga, Samar Ntalamia and Daniel Sambu tell me, if
wildlife is to survive in this environment, the Maasai also need to benefit.
benefit [(benIfIt]
conservation group [)kQnsE(veIS&n )gru:p]
endangered species [In)deIndZEd (spi:Si:z]
herdsman [(h§:dzmEn]
know sth. like the back of one’s hand
[)nEU laIk DE )bÄk Ev wVnz (hÄnd]
lodge [lQdZ]
merge [m§:dZ]
Predator Compensation Fund
[)predEtE )kQmpEn(seIS&n fVnd]
safari operator [sE(fA:ri )QpEreItE]
Nutzen ziehen
Umweltorganisation
(vom Aussterben) bedrohte Tierart
Viehhirte
etw. wie seine Westentasche kennen
Unterkunft
fusionieren
Entschädigungsfonds für durch
Raubtiere verursachte Viehverluste
Safariveranstalter(in)
Mbirikani is part of the Amboseli
ecosystem, 8,000 square kilometres of
a resource-linked, natural environment
stretching across the border
with Tanzania to Mount Kilimanjaro.
In this home to many endangered
species, poaching has become a huge
problem. Some experts say that 10
per cent of Africa’s elephant population
is killed every year.
To stop the poaching, Big Life focuses
on environmental education. It
also trains people for anti-poaching
activities. It has 300 Maasai scouts
guarding the ecosystem area (except
for a nearby national park, which is
controlled by the Kenya Wildlife
Service) using jeeps and planes to
track animals and illegal hunters.
Another aspect of its work is the
Predator Compensation Fund.
Founded by Bonham in 2003, it aims
to stop the Maasai from killing lions
by giving money in compensation for
animals lost in lion attacks. Before
2003, some 24 lions a year were
killed at Mbirikani compared to just
four between 2004 and 2012.
Always in danger:
elephants in Kenya;
their tusks are sold
for a fortune
Fotos: Getty Images; Gruppe 28; Birger Meierjohann

TRAVEL | Kenya
“From lion-hunting to trophyhunting”
could be the motto of another
successful project: the Maasai
Olympics. The games encourage
young Maasai warriors to prove their
strength and skill by competing with
each other in five disciplines, including
traditional Maasai high-jumping,
as a way to stop lion-hunting as a rite
of passage. The first games were held
in late 2012, with
winners taking home
livestock or money
for school.
Will it be possible
to change established
tradition with alternatives
to unsustainable
Maasai activities?
Dressed in jeans and
colourful T-shirts, the
young men at Ol
Donyo look thoughtful
and confident, like living examples of how it might work.
Daniel Sambu says: “We are in difficult and tough times,
but we are Maasais in the 21st century, not in the 1900s.”
Another scout tells a more complex story. His parents
did not really want him to go to primary school. He had
to run five kilometres each way. But he waited, and in
time, the Maasailand Preservation Trust sponsored his secondary
education and his driving licence. During the big
drought, he drove to distant markets to buy new animals
with money that he earned as a scout. It was then, he says,
that his family began to understand the value of education.
A little while later, we’re in the jeep, driving over the
plain towards a traditional Maasai compound called a
boma. It’s a wonderful 90-minute drive. Kilimanjaro
watches over us as we pass through grassland and savannah,
looking out for ostrich, the elegant Thomson’s gazelle,
Above: pupils at Enkijape School; below: Richard Bonham with Big Life employees
as well as zebra, warthogs and gnus. More than
this, though, it’s the sight of Maasai with their
cattle that makes a deep impression: tall, redrobed
figures in the distance, appearing from
a cloud of dust with their animals. It looks like
the perfect synthesis of man and nature.
The Maasai are shy, and we’ve been told not
to take photographs. “Just look,” our scout has
told us. It’s a different story at the Osiram Cultural
Boma, which welcomes tourists. First, we
listen to some Maasai songs and enjoy a
demonstration of how to start a fire using only two sticks.
Then we are shown around a typical hut. It’s small and
compound [(kQmpaUnd]
Häusergruppe,
befestigte Gebäude
driving licence [(draIvIN )laIs&ns] UK Führerschein
high-jumping [(haI )dZVmpIN] Hochsprung aus dem Stand
ostrich [(QstrItS]
(Vogel) Strauß
plain [pleIn]
Ebene
primary school [(praImEri sku:l] UK Grundschule
red-robed [(red rEUbd]
in roten Gewändern
rite of passage [)raIt Ev (pÄsIdZ] Initiationsritus
secondary education
höhere, weiterführende
[(sekEndEri edju)keIS&n]
Schulbildung
trophy [(trEUfi] Trophäe; hier: Pokal (➝ p. 61)
unsustainable [)VnsE(steInEb&l] nicht nachhaltig
warthog [(wO:thQg]
Warzenschwein
Moving with the times:
men racing against each
other at the Maasai Olympics

At the compound: a Maasai
shows his drinking gourd
dark, with a sleeping place for men on one side of the central
fireplace. Women and children are on the other side.
In Maasai polygamous culture, it’s the women who build
the huts (from cow dung), gather firewood, cook, raise the
children and make the colourful bead jewellery that we are
shown later. The men are out with the cattle or, in this
case, at the Mbirikani Trading Company, a small, untidy
village with tin-shack shops on the main road and a couple
of cultivated fields. This is also the site of Big Life’s afforestation
project. Trees are grown in the bottom halves
of plastic bottles, then given away free to Maasai willing
to plant and care for them.
At nearby Enkijape Primary School, deputy headmistress
Gladys Gakii shows us into a room full of smiling,
uniformed children. The desks and schoolbooks are old
and in poor condition, but the Maasai children are happy
and interested. They crowd around us to look at photos
on our phones. I show them one of my son. “He very
smart,” says one boy and, pointing happily to the girl next
to him, adds: “He want to marry this girl, maybe!” It’s a
statement, not a question. I have to smile. This is what it
will take for the Maasai to move on and survive: education,
pride, a willingness to change — and some help from
friends. It won’t be easy.
afforestation [E)fQrI(steIS&n]
bead jewellery [bi:d (dZu:Elri]
dung [dVN]
headmistress: deputy ~ [)hed(mIstrEs]
inoculation [I)nQkju(leIS&n]
polygamous [pE(lIgEmEs]
tin shack [tIn (SÄk]
Wiederaufforstung
Perlenschmuck
Viehmist
stellvertretende Direktorin
Impfung
polygam
Blechhütte
IF YOU GO...
Fotos: Interfoto; Birger Meierjohann; Karte: Nic Murphy
Getting there
In the winter, Condor flies five times a week from German
airports (Frankfurt and Munich) direct to Mombasa, the
country’s second-largest city. One of these flights stops in
Nairobi. In Kenya, it is best to travel with reliable tour operators,
such as those listed below.
Lodges and tour operators
Ol Donyo Lodge is part of the programme offered by several
tour operators, including Great Plains Conservation.
See www.greatplainsconservation.com
and Bush and Beyond: www.bush-and-beyond.com
Uganda
Kenya
Lake
Victoria
Mbirikani Group Ranch
Amboseli National Park
Maasailand
Mount Kilimanjaro
(5,895 m)
Tanzania
Nairobi
Africa
Kenya
Tanzania
Ol Donyo Lodge
Chyulu Hills
Indian
Ocean
Mombasa
Ethiopian Rift
East African Rift
0
N
100 km
Severin Safari Camp also works with Maasai guides.
For more information, contact Severin Travel, Rathausplatz
2, 59846 Sundern, Germany; tel. 0049 2933-987
160. www.severin-travel.de
To visit a Maasai village or take a Maasai-led walking safari,
ask at the time of booking or at the lodges themselves.
Preparation
Speak with your doctor about inoculations you should
have before going to Kenya. Kenya does not require any
by law, except against yellow fever — but only if you are
travelling in from a country in which yellow fever is a problem,
such as neighbouring Tanzania. Ask your doctor as
well about medicine you should take to prevent malaria.
Books
The beautiful work of photographer Nick Brandt, who
founded the Big Life Foundation, appears in Across the
Ravaged Land. ISBN 978-1-59-711243-7.
See more moving photos in the book Earth to Sky: Among
Africa’s Elephants, a Species in Crisis by National Geographic
photographer Michael Nichols. ISBN 78-1-59-711243-7.
Wilfred Thesiger’s My Kenya Days describes the English
explorer’s walking expeditions through Kenya over a
period of 30 years. ISBN 978-0-00-638392-5.
More information
See www.magical-kenya.de
For more on Maasailand conservation, see www.biglife.org
12|13 Spotlight
35

PETER FLYNN | Around Oz
The sport that
never stops
Profi-Cricketspieler sind damals wie heute das ganze Jahr über
unterwegs. Bevorzugtes Reisemittel war lange Zeit das Schiff.
“
Professional
cricketers play
all year round,
all over the
world
”
Some good friends left Sydney
last week for a cruise around
New Zealand. This may seem
quite an old-fashioned way to travel.
In the past, everyone came to and left
Australia by boat, including the crick -
et teams that played internationally.
The first official “test match” series
between Australia and England took
place in 1877 after the English had
spent two months travelling to Australia
on a sailing ship. One four-day
game was played at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground, which is still Australia’s
most famous sporting location
today.
For another 75 years, cricketers
travelled by ship to all parts of the
British Empire to play internationally
recognized games. Sometimes, these
test matches were “timeless” events,
meaning that they would continue
for as many days as necessary to get a
result. One of those matches played
in South Africa early in the previous
century was abandoned by the Australians
because their ship had to
leave and sail on to England.
World traveller:
a cricketer with
his bat
Nobody ever died on these voyages,
but there were collisions at sea
as well as some serious injuries and
illnesses.
One of the last of the great cricket
tours by ship was in 1948. It was led
by Australia’s Sir Donald Bradman,
considered — then as now — to be
the greatest batsman of all time.
Bradman took thousands of food
parcels with him as a gift to England,
where food was still rationed after the
war. His team won every one of the
31 games it played over the next five
months and became known as “the
Invincibles”.
Equally colourful, though, were
some of Bradman’s teammates, who
made sure their wardrobe included
tuxedos for the formal dinners and
evening cocktails on board. One such
teammate was Keith Miller, a dashing
fighter pilot in the Second World
War who is thought to have had an
affair with Princess Margaret while
stationed in England.
Miller was a Melbourne hero who
excelled at both cricket
and football. He is still
quoted for his response [E(bÄndEn]
to a younger sportsman’s
complaints about the
pressure of playing highlevel
cricket: “Pressure,
son, is having a Messerschmitt
up your arse, firing
tracer bullets.”
Miller would have
enjoyed the demands
pace [peIs]
placed on modern professional
cricketers, who
play the game all year
round all over the world,
abandon: ~ a game
all-up [)O:l (Vp] Aus.
appealing [E(pi:&lIN]
batsman [(bÄtsmEn]
cruise [kru:z]
dashing [(dÄSIN]
demand [di(mA:nd]
excel [Ik(sel]
food parcel [(fu:d )pA:s&l]
globe [glEUb]
invincible [In(vInsEb&l]
teammate [(ti:mmeIt]
tracer bullet [(treIsE )bUlIt]
tuxedo [tVk(si:dEU] N. Am.
voyage [(vOIIdZ]
Peter Flynn is a public-relations consultant and social commentator who lives in Perth, Western Australia.
for contracts that are worth millions
of dollars.
This year, Australia spent months
playing in England during the European
summer. The return visit,
through to February, will be the highlight
of our summer sporting calendar.
All-up, England and Australia
will play against each other 14 times
in one-day to five-day games.
Australia will then spend one
month touring South Africa before
going on to Bangladesh in April, then
India, followed by a short visit to
Zimbabwe. In the meantime, all the
world’s other cricket nations will be
travelling the globe in a similar neverending
cycle of tours.
None of this would be possible
without modern planes. However,
there’s something appealing and nostalgic
about the slower pace of sea
travel. Maybe that’s why my friends
chose to take a 14-day cruise around
New Zealand, when you can get there
from Sydney by air in less than three
hours.
ein Spiel abbrechen
insgesamt
reizvoll
Schlagmann
Kreuzfahrt
flott, schick
Anforderung
hier: überragend spielen
Lebensmittelpaket, Esspaket
Globus, Erdball
unbesiegbar
Tempo
Mannschaftskamerad
Leuchtspurgeschoss
Smoking
Seereise, weite Reise
Foto: Fuse
36
Spotlight 12|13

GET STARTED NOW!
Spotlight’s easy-English
booklet
Einfaches Englisch
für Alltagssituationen
Green Light

DEBATE | Ireland
Are there any
gentlemen left?
Nach der großen Frauenbewegung hat das ritterliche Verhalten von Männern Frauen gegenüber
abgenommen. Wie hoch wird sein Stellenwert heutzutage noch bewertet?
Chivalry: a concept from the Middle
Ages seen in the Codex Manesse
From fairy tales
to Hollywood
films, it’s a
scene that’s been
played out over and
over again: a damsel
in distress is rescued
by a “knight in
shining armour”.
Together, they ride
off to live happily
ever after. The end.
In today’s world,
this scene presents a
problem: the image
of a helpless woman
being saved by a
powerful man is
viewed as a stereotype
that promotes
gender inequality.
Society now focuses
attention on achieving
equal rights for
all, a goal that conflicts greatly with the once popular concept
of chivalry.
Established during the Middle Ages, chivalry was associated
with the rules of behaviour for knights. These fine
men were to show courage and courtesy, pursue honour
and justice, and always be ready to protect the weak and
defenceless. Over the centuries, the ideals of chivalry
changed to suit the times. Today, when people speak of
chivalry, they usually mean “gentlemanly” behaviour,
which is most clearly seen in the relations between the
sexes. It could mean doing any of the following for
women: opening doors, pulling a chair out to help them
to be seated, giving up one’s seat in a crowded bus or train,
paying for meals, carrying bags and generally being polite.
It wasn’t long ago that this kind of behaviour was considered
the norm. But then the massive inequality between
men and women led to social change, as seen in the second
wave of the feminist movement from the 1960s to 80s and
a third wave in the 1990s. But is chivalry necessarily connected
to sexism? If a man holds a door open for a woman,
does this indicate that he views women as weak, delicate
and unable to do it for themselves?
In recent years, the belief that chivalry is a type of sexism
has led many men and women to reject it as a form of
behaviour. If a man does act in a chivalrous way, he could
now be viewed with suspicion: what does he want? On the
other hand, a man who treats a woman in the same way
as he would treat another man risks being seen as impolite.
This results in much confusion for both men and women
in terms of what is expected.
A 2010 Harris Poll, a study by a US market research
firm, discovered that 81 per cent of those surveyed believe
that women are being treated with less chivalry now than
in the past. Things have certainly changed, but does that
mean chivalry is dead — or, as one commentator wrote,
“on life support”? Perhaps the best result of these changes
would be a system of courtesy for all. To show mutual respect
and good manners to all one’s fellow humans, regardless
of gender, may be the kind of chivalry we all need and
deserve.
armour [(A:mE]
chivalry [(SIv&lri]
courtesy [(k§:tEsi]
damsel [(dÄmz&l] arch.
distress [dI(stres]
fairy tale [(feEri teI&l]
gender inequality
[)dZendE )Ini(kwQlEti]
impolite [)ImpE(laIt]
Rüstung
Ritterlichkeit, galantes Benehmen
Höflichkeit
junges Mädchen
Not, Bedrängnis
Märchen
Ungleichheit der Geschlechter
unhöflich
knight [naIt]
live happily ever after
[lIv (hÄpIli )evE )A:ftE]
mutual [(mju:tSuEl]
on life support: be ~
[Qn (laIf sE)pO:t]
regardless of [ri(gA:dlEs Ev]
survey [sE(veI]
suspicion [sE(spIS&n]
Ritter
und sie lebten glücklich bis
ans Ende ihrer Tage
gegenseitig, einvernehmlich
künstlich am Leben gehalten
werden
unabhängig von
befragen
Misstrauen
Fotos: Colm Flynn
38 Spotlight 12|13

Colm Flynn asked people in Dublin, Ireland:
Is chivalry dead?
Audrey Bracken, 24,
pharmacist
Listen to Audrey, Gerry, John and Taragh
Gerry Norton, 53,
businessman
John Delaney, 45,
salesman
Taragh Walsh, 34,
media worker
Amanda O’Sullivan, 30,
graphic designer
Kevin Burns, 42, writer
John O’Donoghue, 31,
unemployed
Sheila Murray, 47,
accountant
accountant [E(kaUntEnt]
equality [i(kwQlEti]
for instance [fE (InstEns]
generous [(dZen&rEs]
in return [In ri(t§:n]
Buchhalter(in), Steuerberater(in)
Gleichheit
zum Beispiel
edelmütig, großzügig
als Gegenleistung
insult [(InsVlt]
obvious [(QbviEs]
patronizing [(pÄtrEnaIzIN]
salesman [(seI&lzmEn]
stuff [stVf]
Beleidigung
offensichtlich
bevormundend
Verkäufer(in), Vertreter(in)
Sachen
12|13 Spotlight
39

HISTORY | 360 Years Ago
Oliver Cromwell
and the English republic
Der englische Bürgerkrieg setzte der Monarchie ein kurzfristiges Ende und ermöglichte dadurch
politische Reformen. Doch der Aufbau einer Republik erwies sich als überaus schwierig.
Von MIKE PILEWSKI.
Cromwell (right),
around 1649, by
Robert Walker
It’s hard to imagine England without a monarchy. From
King Arthur to William I, Henry VIII and Elizabeth II,
the monarch has played a central role in the country’s history.
The principle of monarchy as the system of government
is even entrenched in the name “United Kingdom”.
Yet this wasn’t always so: for 11 years in the mid-17th century,
England was a republic, without a king or queen.
approval [E(pru:v&l]
back down [)bÄk (daUn]
chief justice [)tSi:f (dZVstIs]
clergy [(kl§:dZi]
customs duty [(kVstEmz )dju:ti]
dissolve [dI(zQlv]
enforce [In(fO:s]
entrench [In(trentS]
expenditure [Ik(spendItSE]
preservation [)prezE(veIS&n]
reign [reIn]
summon [(sVmEn]
40 Spotlight 12|13
Zustimmung, Bestätigung
einlenken, nachgeben
Oberrichter
Klerus
Zollabgaben
auflösen
durchsetzen, erzwingen
verwurzeln
Ausgaben
Aufrechterhaltung, Erhalt
Regierungszeit
einberufen
The reign of Charles I had been troubled from its start
in 1625. Parliament was critical of Charles’s autocratic foreign
policy and expenditure, particularly in relation to an
unnecessary war with Spain that England was losing.
When the war spread to France, Charles tried to pay for it
by establishing a tax without the approval of parliament.
The chief justice, who had declared the tax illegal, was removed
from office by the king, who also had more than
70 individuals arrested for refusing to pay the tax.
When parliament sent Charles a petition reminding
him of certain basic rights, the king backed down. But
soon, his officers were collecting customs duty, something
they were not allowed to do. Parliament passed resolutions
condemning the king’s actions. In response, Charles made
use of one of the rights he did have — to decide when to
summon parliament. He dissolved the representative body
and did not summon another one for 11 years.
In addition to his problems with parliament, Charles
also had his differences with the clergy. As head of the
Church of England, the king wanted continuity and the
preservation of ritual, and he was disturbed by the new Puritan
movement. As head of the Church of Scotland, he
wanted to replace the Presbyterian system with the Anglican
system. This decision was so unpopular that,
when Charles sent troops to Scotland to enforce
it, the conflict turned into a war.
Charles summoned a parliament in 1640
to raise the required funds. Parliament presented
a list of complaints and demands
instead and forced Charles to agree that
most of what he had done since
1629 was illegal.
Fearing that any threats
made by the king
could be carried out
by the army, parliament
recruited its
own soldiers.
In 1645, parliament
established the New
Model Army — “new
model” meaning a new kind
of army. This was no longer a
Since 1899, a statue of Cromwell
has stood outside parliament

Left: Charles I is brought as a prisoner to Carisbrooke Castle in 1647; right: Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Naseby in 1645
regional militia, but a national fighting force made up of
professional soldiers. Led by Thomas Fairfax and Oliver
Cromwell, the New Model Army inflicted one defeat after
another on Charles’s soldiers. The civil war ended in
August 1648; the king, called “the grand author of our
troubles”, was put on trial and executed in January 1649.
The monarchy was no more.
In March, the House of Commons abolished the
House of Lords: “The Commons of England assembled in
Parliament, finding by too long experience that the House
of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England
to be continued, have thought it fit to ordain ... that from
henceforth the House of Lords in Parliament shall be and
is hereby wholly abolished and taken away... [N]o peer of
this land, not being elected, qualified and sitting in Parliament
as aforesaid, shall claim, have, or make use of any
privilege of Parliament...”
In May, the Commonwealth of England was declared:
a republic run by a council of state, parliament and the
New Model Army. The motto of the Commonwealth was
pax quæritur bello (peace through war).
In military matters, the Commonwealth was highly efficient.
In several decisive battles during a brief renewal of
fighting, Cromwell put an end to the remains of the king’s
forces in Ireland as well as to a final attack in Scotland by
forces loyal to Charles’s son, Charles II.
Parliament, meanwhile, discussed the political questions
that had divided the country for a quarter of a century,
but it couldn’t agree on what to do, what rules to
establish or even what form of government to have.
Progress was so slow that it was three years after the establishment
of the Commonwealth that parliament agreed
to hold a new election, but with its existing members as
candidates. For the army, this was too much. The military,
under Cromwell, took control and replaced this parliament
with representatives of its own choosing. However,
these, too, argued among themselves and dissolved their
own parliament after only five months.
It was time for an experiment. Britain’s first constitution,
the Instrument of Government, was written. This established
the English Protectorate. The country was to be
governed by a “lord protector”, a council of state, and a
parliament elected at least every three years.
On 16 December 1653 — 360 years ago this month
— Cromwell was made lord protector. He appointed officials
who went to work on reforming both the civil and
religious realms. Cromwell, a Puritan, made his influence
felt in new laws that encouraged good morals, punished
drunkenness and bad behaviour in public, and restricted
cultural expression. Torn between a desire to serve the people
and to rule them, Cromwell was a disputed figure until
his death in 1658.
Cromwell’s son Richard was given his father’s title, but
was manipulated by Oliver Cromwell’s old opponents in
parliament. The House of Lords was re-established, and
soon it became clear that the only real difference to the old
monarchy was the missing monarch.
Richard stepped down after only months in office, and
in 1660, England held its first election for almost 20 years
— giving the royalists a majority in parliament. With a
promise of amnesty to most of Cromwell’s supporters,
Charles II was invited to return as king on his 30th birthday,
and all the laws passed by the Commonwealth of England
were revoked.
Foto: Elliott Brown
abolish [E(bQlIS]
amnesty [(ÄmnEsti]
as aforesaid [Ez E(fO:sed]
assemble [E(semb&l]
council of state
[)kaUns&l Ev (steIt]
decisive [di(saIsIv]
execute [(eksIkju:t]
fit: think sth. ~ to [fIt]
abschaffen
Straferlass, Begnadigung
wie oben genannt,
wie vorstehend
sich versammeln, zusammenkommen
Staatsrat
entscheidend
hinrichten
etw. für angebracht halten
from henceforth [frEm )hens(fO:T]
hereby [)hIE(baI]
inflict [In(flIkt]
lord protector [)lO:d prE(tektE]
ordain [O:(deIn]
peer [pIE]
realm [relm]
renewal [ri(nju:El]
revoke [ri(vEUk]
von nun an
hiermit
(Niederlage) beibringen
Lordprotektor, Schutzherr
bestimmen, verfügen
Angehörige(r) des britischen
Hochadels
Bereich
Wiederaufnahme
aufheben, widerrufen
12|13 Spotlight
41

PRESS GALLERY | Comment
Positive effect: the former head of this children’s charity is helping more children to be adopted
New homes, new families
In den letzten 12 Monaten ist die Anzahl der erfolgreichen Adoptionen in Großbritannien
gestiegen. Stark dazu beigetragen hat der frühere Leiter eines Wohlfahrtsvereins.
Sweeping reforms to a system previously too encumbered
by red tape have resulted in a surge in the
number of adoptions to a 21-year high, with almost
4,000 children finding permanent homes in the past 12
months. The placements of older children and mixed-race
youngsters have seen a particularly sharp rise and that is
very welcome. Much of the credit for this improvement
must lie with Sir Martin Narey, former head of [British
children’s charity] Barnardo’s, appointed ministerial adviser
on adoption in 2011.
care [keE] UK
concerns [kEn(s§:nz]
credit [(kredIt]
domestic violence
[dE)mestIk (vaIElEns]
encumber [In(kVmbE]
foster family [(fQstE )fÄmli]
gruelling [(gru:ElIN]
m = million
measure [(meZE]
placement [(pleIsmEnt]
red tape [)red (teIp]
surge [s§:dZ]
sweeping [(swi:pIN]
voice sth. [vOIs]
42 Spotlight 12|13
hier: Betreuungs-, Pflegeplatz
Bedenken
hier: Verdienst
häusliche Gewalt
belasten
Pflegefamilie
zermürbend
Maßnahme
Vermittlung
(unnötige) Bürokratie
plötzlicher Anstieg
umfassend, radikal
etw. äußern, aussprechen
His report published in the same year proposed,
among other measures, ... the goal of ensuring that the
placement of a child from care to an appropriate family
should take place within 12 months. The average time
continues to be two years and seven months, during which
period a child sadly may be moved between care homes or
foster families.
Critics of the Narey reforms rightly voiced concerns
that speed may damage the tricky process of matching
child and family... It is estimated that an average of one
in four placements breaks down, rising to one in two for
older children.
Concerns have also been raised that in cases of domestic
violence, for instance, children are too speedily put up
for adoption while grandparents and relatives may be overlooked
in the rush to find alternative suitable “new” parents.
Other challenges remain. Social workers point out
that it is not they who cause the delay, but the courts.
However, a good beginning has been made, not least
in the recently announced £19.3m adoption fund to give
support to families. Adoption involves a gruelling selection
process for would-be parents. It is a small miracle that a
growing number are willing to open their arms and hearts
and give a child the promise of a happier future.
© Guardian News & Media 2013
Foto: Alamy

INFO TO GO
one in...
You can express a proportion of something as a fraction
(one number divided by another), a percentage
(the amount in each 100) or a ratio (the relation of one
number to another). The article states that one in
four (or “one out of every four”) placements of children
with new families does not work out. This expression
can be replaced by the fraction “a quarter of”
(¼) or the percentage “twenty-five per cent of” (25%).
The ratio would be “one to three” or 1:3 — for every
child with a bad experience, there are three who have
had good experiences. The proportion of placements
that fail rises to one in two for older children. This can
be written as “half” (½) or “fifty per cent” (50%).
Rewrite the following proportion in words and
digits, first as a fraction (1), then as a percentage.
One in five
1. ________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
IN THE HEADLINES
Listen to more news
items in Replay
A tale of two sales The Guardian Weekly
This headline is meant to remind us of A Tale of Two Cities,
the 1859 novel by Charles Dickens. The two cities are London
and Paris at the start of, and during, the French Revolution.
Although the two cities are different places in
different countries, they are similar in terms of the miserable
life that their poorest citizens lead. The Guardian’s
article is about the recent flotation of both the Royal Mail
and Twitter, two communications services that could not
be more different. The newspaper argues that they do
have one thing in common, though: the uncertainty that
flotation will benefit either one.
flotation [flEU(teIS&n]
in terms of [In (t§:mz Ev]
Börsengang
hinsichtlich, bezüglich
Answers: 1. a fifth, 1/5; 2. twenty per cent, 20%
The perfect Christmas gift...
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for free [fE (fri:]
insight [(InsaIt]
publication [)pVblI(keIS&n]
throw in [TrEU (In]
unique [ju(ni:k]
up-to-date [)Vp tE (deIt]
gratis
Einblick, Erkenntnis
Druckwerk
gratis dazugeben
einzigartig
aktuell, zeitgemäß
Order now!
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Nach der Bezugszeit endet das Abonnement automatisch. Das Aktionsangebot gilt bis zum 31.12. 2013.

ARTS | What’s New
| Drama
Tuneful:
Oscar Isaac
and Justin
Timberlake
Down and out in New York
For nearly 30 years, American directors Joel and
Ethan Coen have been making movies that are both
commercial and critical successes. Whether in comedies,
action films or social dramas — including Fargo
(1996), The Big Lebowski (1998) and Burn after Reading
(2008) — they often examine the lives of lost characters
chasing their luck. Despite some funny moments, their
new film, Inside Llewyn Davis, is possibly their saddest
exploration of an unfulfilled life. The film follows a folk
singer through the winter streets of New York and Chi -
cago in 1961 as he struggles to make a name for himself.
With no place of his own and not even a coat on his
back, Davis (played by Oscar Isaac) is the mid-20thcentury
version of a hungry artist: irresponsibly charming
and annoyingly honest. He’s also a talented performer, but
with musicians like Bob Dylan waiting in the wings of
Greenwich Village clubs, competition is tough. Supported
by a strong cast that includes Carey Mulligan, John Goodman
and Justin Timberlake, this latest Coen brothers’ film
is filled with a new kind of mellow resignation and the realization
that some journeys don’t end with wisdom —
just old beginnings. Starts 5 December.
| Drama
Roz (Robin Wright) and Lil (Naomi Watts) have been friends
since childhood. As their teenage sons Ian and Tom prepare to
leave home and join the adult world, the
quartet spends a few last weeks together
at their beach homes on the Australian
coast. Left alone, the two older
women and younger men discover mutual
attractions with far-reaching consequences.
Based on a story by Doris
Lessing and directed by Anne Fontaine,
Adore explores forbidden love with
honesty. Here, desire is a compelling but
anti-social force. Starts 28 November.
Mixing friends and family
| Western
The fictional masked rider known as the
Lone Ranger first became popular in
a 1930s American radio show. Later,
books and films made him and his Indian
friend Tonto known around the
world. This new interpretation stars
Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger and
Johnny Depp as Tonto. It puts Tonto at
the forefront of the action, giving Depp
the perfect platform for the kind of dry
acting style he perfected in the Pirates
Classic adventure:
new interpretation
of the Caribbean films. The Lone Ranger is a long film, packed
with action and lots of famous faces, making it ideal for winter
holiday afternoons. Available in Germany from 5 December.
at the forefront: put ~
[Et DE (fO:frVnt]
cast [kA:st]
chase [tSeIs]
compelling [kEm(pelIN]
irresponsibly [)Iri(spQnsEbli]
in den Vordergrund rücken
Besetzung
jagen
unwiderstehlich, verlockend,
fesselnd
unverantwortlich(erweise)
make a name for oneself
[)meIk E (neIm fE wVn)self]
masked [mA:skt]
mellow [(melEU]
mutual [(mju:tSuEl]
wait in the wings [)weIt In DE (wINz]
wisdom [(wIzdEm]
sich einen Namen machen
maskiert
abgeklärt, mild
gegenseitig
auf seine / ihre Chance warten
Weisheit, Lebenserfahrung
Fotos: PR
44 Spotlight 12|13

| Language
| Economics
Wordflex is an interactive dictionary
and thesaurus app developed
with the help of Oxford
University Press specially for tablet
use. Type in a word of your choice, and the app will begin by
providing you with the varieties of spelling and collocation of
that word. There are also a pronunciation function and a tag
option. As soon as you have tapped the version of the word
you want, a mind map with information on the word spreads
across the screen, exploring its different uses. The app also
offers historical background, parts of speech and a syntax
option. Wordflex is not cheap at €10.99, but it makes excellent
use of the tablet medium. With millions of language nodes, it
will keep language lovers busy for a long time. The app is available
from iTunes.
Money matters: economic theories as entertainment
In 2005, Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner published a book
about economics that became a bestseller. Freakonomics is a
collection of articles on different aspects of economic theory.
Sound a bit dry? It’s definitely not. In the book and the podcast
Feakonomics Radio, the authors take a direct and humorous
look at the role economics play in our daily lives.
“Would a Big Bucket of Cash Really Change Your Life?” and “Why
Family and Business Don’t Mix” are just two of the topics covered
in recent podcasts. In general, most of the free weekly
podcasts are around 30 minutes long. The language is not easy,
but every podcast comes with a complete transcript. You can
download the podcast and read the transcript on the Freakonomics
website:
http://freakonomics.com/radio
| Theatre
Words wherever you look: advanced vocabulary fun
Man and monster:
Miller and
Cumberbatch in
Frankenstein
Based on Mary Shelley’s novel of the same name, Nick
Dear’s stage version of Frankenstein was a huge success
for London’s National Theatre. Under the direction of
Danny Boyle, actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee
Miller took turns playing Victor Frankenstein and his creation,
the ugly monster called “the Creature”, in this morality
tale about man’s ambition to play God — and outplay
death. Both men won Olivier Best Actor Awards for their
performances. Celebrating this success and the National Theatre’s 50th anniversary,
the National Theatre Live returns to German cinemas in December
with screenings of its Frankenstein production. For a Gothic alternative
to the traditional Christmas story, check http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk
gängige Wortverbindung
gruselig, Grufti-
Geschichte mit moralischer Botschaft
Knoten, Verknüpfung
Roman
übertreffen, übertrumpfen
collocation [)kQlE(keIS&n]
Gothic [(gQTIk]
morality tale
[mE(rÄlEti teI&l]
node [nEUd]
novel [(nQv&l]
outplay [)aUt(pleI]
part of speech
[)pA:t Ev (spi:tS]
screening [(skri:nIN]
tag option [(tÄg )QpS&n]
take turns
[teIk (t§:nz]
tap [tÄp]
Wortart
Filmvorführung
(comp.) hier: Markierungsfunktion
sich abwechseln
antippen
Reviews by EVE LUCAS
12|13 Spotlight
45

ARTS | Short Story and Books
A mouse in the house
Wie Weihnachten die angespannten Beziehungen zwischen einer Hausmaus und den
Hausbewohnern verändern kann, erzählt CHARLOTTE RAE STOUT.
The mouse ran quietly next to the wall. His pink nose
had smelled something delicious, and he was hungry.
In some ways, the Petersons’ house was perfect:
it was warm and dry, and there were no cats. But Mrs. Peterson
was a very good housekeeper, and the mouse had
to spend hours every night searching for some dinner.
Staying in the shadows and not making a sound, he
moved towards the dark kitchen. The smell was getting
stronger. He stopped and listened. All was quiet.
The mouse ran underneath the refrigerator and paused,
his heart beating faster. He had been right: half a sandwich
was lying on the table. He sniffed the air. Cheese! He
darted toward the table and quickly climbed up the leg.
He could almost taste the cheese and bread.
As the mouse hurried toward the sandwich, though,
the quiet was broken. The two little Peterson boys threw
open the back door and rushed into the kitchen, both
holding Nerf guns. Michael and David had spent most of
their Christmas vacation doing target practice, and even
though the mouse started running for cover the moment
the door opened, the boys nearly hit him. He felt a foam
dart fly by, missing him by a whisker.
“Good one!” he heard Michael shout.
“Almost got him!” David yelled back. “Quick! Reload!”
The mouse got back to the refrigerator before the boys
had a chance to reload their guns. His heart beating wildly,
he held very still in his hiding place.
“You may have escaped from us this
time,” Michael shouted, “but we’re going
to get you!” He added in a lower voice to
his brother: “We’ll make a trap tomorrow.”
The mouse didn’t move for a long
time. When he was sure it was safe, he
looked out from underneath the refrigerator.
The floor was covered in Nerf darts. But
the table was clean. The boys had put that de-
licious sandwich into the trash can — the one with the
lid, the one that he had never found a way to get into. The
mouse went sadly back to his little nest. He curled up and
tried to sleep. But his empty stomach kept him awake.
And then, he had an idea.
The next morning at breakfast, Michael looked at his
brother angrily. “Have you seen my $20 bill? It was on my
desk when I went to sleep last night. And now it’s gone.”
“No idea,” David answered. “You probably lost it.”
Michael snorted and went back to his cornflakes. From
underneath the refrigerator, the mouse was listening
closely.
That afternoon, David walked up to Michael and hit
him on the arm. “Give me back the key to my treasure
box!” he said. “I didn’t take your stupid money.”
“Yes, you did!” Michael said. “Who else could it have
been? But I sure didn’t take your stupid key. Why would I
want a key? Get out of here! Leave me alone!”
The boys didn’t do any target practice that day. And
they didn’t make a mousetrap, either. They stayed in their
own rooms, playing video games.
That evening, the mouse ran down to the kitchen to
see what he could find to eat. The family was still awake.
bill [bIl] N. Am.
hier: Geldschein
by a whisker [)baI E (wIsk&r] um Haaresbreite
cover: run for ~ [(kVv&r] schnell Deckung suchen
curl up [k§:&l (Vp]
sich zusammenrollen
dart [dA:rt]
sausen
foam dart [(foUm dA:rt] hier: Schaumstoffpfeil
lid [lId] Deckel (➝ p. 61)
Nerf gun [(n§:f gVn]
Spielzeuggewehr mit
Schaumstoffgeschossen
reload [)ri:(loUd]
sniff [snIf]
snort [snO:rt]
target practice
[(tA:rgEt )prÄktIs]
trap [trÄp]
trash can [(trÄS kÄn] N. Am.
treasure box [(treZ&r bA:ks]
yell [jel]
nachladen
schnuppern
schnauben
Schießübungen
Falle
Mülleimer
Schatztruhe
schreien
Fotos: Hemera; iStock; PR
46 Spotlight 12|13

Short Story
They were sitting in the living room, reading from a big
book. The mouse stopped and listened. “...On earth peace,
goodwill toward men,” Mr. Peterson read out loud. There
wasn’t much peace in the living room, though. Michael
and David were glaring at each other from opposite ends
of the couch.
The mouse wrinkled his nose and ran toward the
kitchen. Maybe he could at least find a cornflake on the
floor. But then he stopped in surprise. There was deliciouslooking
food on the table — a plate with lots of cookies,
a glass of milk, and a beautiful orange carrot with a card
attached to it: “For Rudolph. Merry Christmas.” The
mouse looked around carefully. It didn’t seem to be a trap.
And from the living room, he could hear the family
singing the words “Silent night...”
He’d never had a name before. Rudolph. He liked it.
He turned away from the food and ran back to his nest.
The next morning, Michael and David hurried into the
kitchen. “Did Santa come?” they shouted. “Did he eat the
cookies? Did he give Rudolph the carrot?”
Their mother was standing at the table, looking
thoughtful. “Do you think we have a mouse in the house?”
she asked. The carrot had tiny tooth marks in it, and there
were bits of cookie all over the table.
Next to the card that read “Merry Christmas” was a
$20 bill and a small key.
Novel
Since Ian Fleming died in
1964, many other writers
have tried to recreate the
glamorous and dangerous
world of James
Bond. The latest of
these is British
writer William Boyd.
Solo: A James Bond Novel
starts on Bond’s 45th birthday in 1969. 007 is feeling
his age, but there’s no time for self-pity when M contacts
him and tells him he is going to Africa to end a civil war in a
small country situated on a large oil field. Boyd knows his way
around Africa and the spy game, slipping smoothly into a world
ruled by greed and confused morals in which 007 shines as a
straightforward man with certain skills and basic instincts: sex
and cars, revenge and Martini — plus the oldest instinct of all,
survival. Jonathan Cape, ISBN 978-0-224-09747-5, €19.99.
Easy reader
Love — and the joy, unhappiness and
confusion it creates — is the theme
of the North American short stories
in the collection The Kiss. In a
story by the writer O. Henry (1862–
1910), a young man tries to win back
the girl he has disappointed. For this,
he asks the help of a small boy who
runs between the unhappy couple
taking messages. The boy — poor and uneducated — is happy
to have the money the young man pays him for his courier
services and delivers the messages in his very own and entertaining
manner. Also featured in this collection is the Canadian
writer L. M. Montgomery, who became famous for the series of
novels around the character Anne of Green Gables. All the stories
in The Kiss have been simplified from the original versions.
The book includes a list of translated words, information on
the authors, two CDs and before-and-after reading activities.
OUP, ISBN 978-0-194-78615-7, €11.99.
feature [(fi:tS&r]
eingeschlossen sein, dabei sein
glare at sb. [(gle&r Et] jmdn. zornig anstarren
greed [gri:d]
Gier
on earth peace, goodwill auf Erden ist Friede den Menschen
toward men [A:n )§:T (pi:s seiner Gnade (Evangelium nach
gUd(wIl tO:rd )men] Lukas, Kap. 2)
revenge [ri(vendZ]
Rache
Rudolph (the red-nosed
reindeer) [(ru:dA:lf]
situated [(sItSueItEd]
straightforward
[)streIt(fO:rw&rd]
wrinkle: ~ one’s nose [(rINk&l]
Rentier am Schlitten von
Santa Claus (nach dem
gleichnamigen Weihnachtslied)
gelegen
geradlinig, direkt
die Nase rümpfen
Reviews by EVE LUCAS
12|13 Spotlight
47

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LANGUAGE | Vocabulary
Fabrics and patterns
Cotton, linen or wool? Plain, striped or spotted? ANNA HOCHSIEDER presents language to talk
about fabrics and patterns.
1 2
3
4
5
9
8
7
6
11
12
13
14
10
1. plain
2. patterned
3. checked,
checkered (US)
4. striped, stripy (UK)
5. floral, flowery
6. polka-dot
7. spotted
8. pinstriped [(pInstraIpt]
9. tartan [(tA:t&n]
10. tie-dyed [(taI daId]
11. paisley
12. herringbone
13. tweed
14. lace
In a fabric shop
Diane: Oh, look, Claire! Isn’t this lovely?
Claire: Is it synthetic?
Diane: No. It’s pure silk. Feel how smooth it is.
Claire: Mmh! Yes, that’s wonderful! I just love the feel
of silk next to my skin.
Diane: Me, too. I have really sensitive skin. I’ve got a
lovely lambswool jumper hand-knitted by my
grandma, but I’ve hardly ever worn it, because
it’s just too scratchy.
Claire: I like wearing cashmere in winter.
Diane: Yes, or mohair. Anything that’s soft and fluffy.
Claire: I’m looking for something more hard-wearing,
though. I’m planning to sew a dress for my little
niece for Christmas.
Diane: You mean like denim or corduroy — or linen?
Claire: No. They’re too coarse. I was thinking of something
softer, like velvet, maybe with a bright,
floral pattern. You know what little girls are like.
Diane: There are bales of printed cloth over there. Let’s
go and have a look.
Illustration: Bernhard Förth
50
Spotlight 12|13

Möchten Sie noch mehr Tipps und Übungen? Abonnieren Sie Spotlight plus! www.spotlight-online.de/ueben
Practice
Now try some exercises to practise talking about fabrics and patterns.
1. Search the opposite page for...
a) ...four different materials that come from animals: c__________, l__________, m__________, s__________
b) ...four adjectives to describe how something feels: co_________, fl_________, sc_________, sm________
c) ...four patterns that contain straight lines: c___________, p__________, t__________, s___________
2. Match the terms on the left to their definitions on the right.
a) A synthetic fabric...
b) A bale of cloth...
c) A hard-wearing material...
d) A hand-knitted jumper...
e) A tie-dyed T-shirt...
f) Lace...
a ➯
b ➯
c ➯
d ➯
e ➯
f ➯
1. is a very fine cloth with patterns of many small holes.
2. is strong and lasts a long time.
3. is cloth made from chemical substances.
4. gets its pattern by tying the cloth before putting it in coloured liquid.
5. is a long length of material rolled up tightly.
6. is made using long needles and wool.
3. Complete these sentences with the words in bold from the opposite page.
a) Greg looks like a country gentleman in his herringbone / paisley / spotted jacket.
b) I don’t like patterned clothes. I usually just wear jeans and a checked / plain / pure T-shirt.
c) She has very sensitive skin, so she never wears cotton / silk / wool.
d) The bride was wearing a floating white denim / silk / tweed dress.
e) Her face was covered with a veil made of real Brussels cloth / lace / mohair.
f) The blouse had been hand-knitted / printed / sewn by her grandmother.
4. Underline the correct answers to the following questions about fabrics and patterns.
a) Which is more expensive: cotton or lace?
b) Which is coarser: silk or tweed?
c) Which is fluffier: corduroy or mohair?
d) Which is softer: denim or velvet?
e) Which is typical of business suits: pinstriped or tie-dyed?
f) Which is typical of girls’ dresses: herringbone or polka-dot?
The words cloth, fabric and material are all used for the product
created when synthetic or natural fibres (Faser) are woven together.
The word cloth can be used in relation to buying and selling:
• We import fine Indian silk cloth.
Fabric is the collective word for what clothes are made of:
• Fleece is a popular fabric for sports clothing.
The word material is more general. It can also be used to mean the
substance from which something is made:
• The soles of shoes are made from a hard-wearing material.
Note the different pronunciation of cloth [klQT] and clothes [klEUDz].
Tips
Answers
1. a) cashmere, lambswool, mohair, silk;
b) coarse (grob, rau), fluffy (flauschig), scratchy
(kratzig), smooth;
c) checked / checkered, pinstriped, tartan,
striped / stripy
2. a–3; b–5 (bale of cloth: Stoffballen);
c–2 (hard-wearing: strapazierfähig, unempfindlich);
d–6 (jumper (UK): Pullover);
e–4 (tie: binden, verschnüren);
f–1 (cloth: Stoff, Tuch)
3. a) herringbone; b) plain; c) wool (sensitive: empfindlich);
d) silk (bride: Braut; floating: wallend ); e) lace
(veil: Schleier); f) sewn [sEUn]
4. a) lace; b) tweed; c) mohair (corduroy: Cordsamt);
d) velvet (Samt); e) pinstriped; f) polka-dot
12|13 Spotlight
51

LANGUAGE | Travel Talk
At a casino
Spend an evening making a fortune with
RITA FORBES.
Taking chances
Let’s start at the slot machines.
You mean the one-armed bandits? OK, but remember
they have a big house edge.
You never know. We might have a winning streak
and make a fortune.
Just make sure you decide what your limit is before
you start.
I want to have some fun, that’s all. Five bucks, and
then we can check out the table games.
Playing cards
It’s been years since I last played blackjack. Can
you remind me of the rules?
You’re dealt two cards to start with. If you want another
card, you ask the dealer to “hit” you. If you
like your hand and don’t want any more cards, you
can “stand.”
And I shouldn’t go over 21 points, right?
Right. That’s called “busting.” The face cards
count as 10 points each, and an ace can be either
one point or 11 points. The suit doesn’t matter.
OK. Let’s go get some chips and win some money.
People watching at the bar
I think those guys were counting cards. They’re
being escorted out.
I wish somebody would ask that bachelor party to
leave, too.
Yeah. They’re really loud. What’s printed on their
shirts?
“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
Of course. Hey! Look! Another Elvis impersonator.
Ha, ha! Oh, look over there! Somebody must have
hit the jackpot at the slot machines.
check out [tSek (aUt]
deal [di:&l]
escort [I(skO:rt]
hit [hIt]
impersonator [Im(p§:sEneIt&r]
matter: sth. doesn’t ~ [(mÄt&r]
stand [stÄnd]
52 Spotlight 12|13
ausprobieren, austesten
hier: Spielkarten austeilen
begleiten
hier: noch eine Karte geben
Imitator(in), Parodist(in)
etw. ist egal
hier: keine Karte geben lassen
• Slot machines are used for games of chance
(Glücksspiel). To play, you put coins into a narrow
opening or “slot.” In the past, slot machines had a
lever (Hebel) on the side that you pulled to play.
Because of this, and because most people lose money
when they “play slots,” the machines are informally
known as one-armed bandits.
• The house edge is the advantage that the casino has
over the players. In games that require a high level of
skill, the house edge is lower.
• A winning streak is a period of time when one is lucky.
• To make a fortune is to make a very large amount
of money.
• Bucks (N. Am.) is an informal word for “dollars.”
• A casino’s table games might include blackjack,
poker, baccarat, craps, and roulette.
• Blackjack (or “Twenty-One”) is a popular casino card
game. In the past, American casinos paid out more to
players who had in their hand the ace of spades
(Pik-Ass) and a black jack (Bube) (either spades or clubs
(Kreuz)), so the game became known as “blackjack.”
• Your hand is the group of cards you are holding.
• Face cards are the jack, queen, and king.
• The ace, which has just one symbol, is a special card
in many games.
• A card’s suit refers to which of the four groups it
belongs to: hearts, diamonds (Karo), spades, or clubs.
• Chips are small, round pieces of plastic used instead
of money in gambling.
• Skilled players may try a strategy called counting
cards in some games. This increases a player’s
chances of winning, so casinos try to identify and
stop card counters.
• A bachelor party (UK: stag party) is a group of men
who are celebrating before one of them gets married.
Many bachelor parties are held in Las Vegas.
• What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas is a
common saying. If you’re in Las Vegas and do things
you wouldn’t normally do, your friends will not tell
anyone about it — it “stays in Vegas.”
• To hit the jackpot means to win a lot of money.
The phrase can also be used in other
situations when someone is very
lucky or successful.
Tips
Fotos: Creatas; iStock

Cards | LANGUAGE
laymanize
NEW WORDS
I’ve been asked to laymanize the instructions
for our new smartphone app.
GLOBAL ENGLISH
What would a speaker of standard
British English say?
Scottish speaker: “Are you OK? You look a bit
peely-wally.”
Spotlight 12|13
Spotlight 12|13
(IN)FORMAL ENGLISH
Replace the idiomatic phrases below
with their standard meaning:
1. He received the bad news without batting
an eyelid.
2. When he looked back at her, she batted her
eyelashes at him.
Translate:
TRANSLATION
1. Karl der Große wurde am Weihnachtstag
800 n. Chr. zum römischen Kaiser gekrönt.
2. Wir trafen uns auf der Karlsbrücke in Prag.
Spotlight 12|13 Spotlight 12|13
PRONUNCIATION
IDIOM MAGIC
Read the following words aloud as
they would be pronounced in British
and North American English:
Ching Yee Smithback
aesthetic
authoritative
methane
python
zebra
flat as a pancake
Spotlight 12|13 Spotlight 12|13
FALSE FRIENDS
engaged / engagiert
Translate the following sentences:
1. Tom and Mary are engaged.
2. Unsere Sozialarbeiter sind alle sehr engagiert.
GRAMMAR
Translate the short answers to these
questions:
1. Who’s going with you? ________ (Er.)
2. Who can help me tomorrow? ________ (Wir.)
3. Who broke that plate? ________ (Ich.)
Spotlight 12|13 Spotlight 12|13

LANGUAGE | Cards
GLOBAL ENGLISH
Speaker of standard British English: “Are you OK?
You look a bit pale.”
The adjective peely-wally (also peelie-wallie)
describes a person who has pale (blass) skin or
who looks thin, unhealthy or ill. The origins of this
expression may be found in the sound of a
whining (wimmernd, wehleidig) voice.
NEW WORDS
This new word was created by adding the
verb-forming suffix “-ize” to the noun “layman”
(Laie). When you laymanize technical
information, you simplify it so that an ordinary
person — a “layman” or “layperson” — can
understand it.
Spotlight 12|13
Spotlight 12|13
TRANSLATION
1. Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman
emperor on Christmas Day, AD 800.
2. We met on (the) Charles Bridge in Prague.
German rulers named Karl are called Charles in
English — from the French. Charlemagne
[(SA:lEmeIn] is the French version of Latin
Carolus Magnus. Charlemagne is also known as
Charles the Great.
(IN)FORMAL ENGLISH
1. ...without showing the least bit of
surprise / concern.
2. ...she gave him a flirtatious look.
In this context, the verb “bat” means to move
your eyelids (Augenlider) or eyelashes (Wimpern)
quickly up and down. North Americans say “eye”
or “eyelash” instead of “eyelid” — a direct equiv -
alent of the German — in the first expression.
Spotlight 12|13 Spotlight 12|13
IDIOM MAGIC
If something — for example, a landscape — is
extremely flat or level, you can say that it is as
flat as a pancake (flach wie ein Brett).
“I love the mountains — probably because I grew
up in a region that is as flat as a pancake.”
BRITISH
PRONUNCIATION
[i:s(TetIk]
[O:(TQrItEtIv]
[(mi:TeIn]
[(paIT&n]
[(zebrE]
NORTH
AMERICAN
[es(TetIk]
[E(TO:rEteItIv]
[(meTeIn]
[(paITA:n]
[(zi:brE]
Vowel (Vokal) quality can differ (abweichen) in
British and North American English in both
stressed (betonte) and unstressed syllables.
Spotlight 12|13 Spotlight 12|13
GRAMMAR
1. Who’s going with you? He is.
2. Who can help me tomorrow? We can.
3. Who broke that plate? I did.
Short answers to subject questions are formed
with an auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb). In informal
spoken English, object pronouns are sometimes
used. In this case, the answer to (3) would be:
“Me.”
FALSE FRIENDS
1. Tom und Mary sind verlobt.
2. Our social workers are all highly committed.
The adjective “engaged” can also mean
beschäftigt (a person) and besetzt (a telephone
line or number).
Spotlight 12|13 Spotlight 12|13

Fotos: iStock; Photodisc
Buying presents
DAGMAR TAYLOR focuses on the words and
phrases people use when they talk about
buying and giving presents.
1. Christmas is coming
Brenda is talking to her husband, Gary, about the
Christmas shopping.
Brenda: What do you want for Christmas, Gary?
Gary: I don’t know — a surprise?
Brenda: Is there nothing at all that you want?
Gary: I’ve got everything I could possibly wish for.
Brenda: How about a pair of pyjamas?
Gary: Oh, no! Really? Pyjamas? I don’t wear pyjamas.
Brenda: I know. That’s because you haven’t got any.
By the way, I’m going shopping with Ruby
tomorrow. Shall I get something for your
mum, or is your sister organizing things?
Gary: I don’t know. I’ll give her a call later and see
what she says.
Brenda: If you’re stuck for a present for me, I could
give you a few pointers.
Gary: Oh, I’ve already got your present. I got it
weeks ago. You’re going to love it.
• In English, people give each other presents for
Christmas not “to Christmas”.
• Often, people ask for a surprise, because they think
it’s impolite (unhöflich) to ask for something specific.
• I’ve got everything I could possibly wish for is a
fixed, rather formal expression that is used here ironically.
“Wish” is used in a different way to the verb wünschen.
People ask: “What do you want for Christmas?”
• Pyjamas are always plural in English. They are seen to
be a typical, unimaginative (fantasielos) present, like
socks or a tie.
• When you go shopping, you spend time in shops
looking for things to buy. When you go to the
supermarket to buy food and other everyday items
(Gegenstand, Artikel), you “do the shopping”.
• Here, get means “buy”.
• When more people are involved in buying a present
for someone, they talk about organizing a present.
• To be stuck for something is an informal way of
saying you don’t have it and need an idea.
by the way [)baI DE (weI] übrigens (➝ p. 61)
give sb. a call [)gIv E (kO:l] jmdn. anrufen
pointer [(pOIntE]
Tipp, Hinweis
Listen to dialogues 2 and 4
Tips
2. Shopping
Everyday English | LANGUAGE
Brenda and her friend Ruby are looking for
presents to buy.
Ruby: I’ve ordered most of my
presents online.
Brenda: Have you? I don’t like
shopping
online. I
want to see and
touch things.
Ruby: I know what
you mean,
but if I get
something I’m not
happy with, I just send it back.
Brenda: What do you think of these
pyjamas?
Ruby: Are they for your dad?
Brenda: No, for Gary.
Ruby:
You’re giving him pyjamas?
He’ll be thrilled.
Brenda: I’ll get him something else as well, of
Ruby:
course. What are you getting Dave?
Well, you know how much he loves
cars, right?
Brenda: Yeah, same as Gary.
Ruby:
I’ve got him a voucher for a driving
experience at Silverstone. Cool, eh?
Brenda: Wow! Not bad.
• When you shop online, the vocabulary is the same
as when you shop in the “real world”. You put items
into a “shopping cart” (Einkaufswagen) or “basket”
(Warenkorb), and afterwards, you go to the “checkout”
(Kasse).
• When you return (zurückschicken) something by post,
you send it back. When you return something to a
shop personally, you “take it back”.
• In English, you give people presents. There is no
English equivalent to the German verb schenken.
• If someone is thrilled, he or she is very excited and
happy. Here, Ruby is being sarcastic.
• To ask what a person is giving someone else as a
present, you can say: What are you getting...?
• Here, a voucher (UK) is a piece of paper showing that
something has already been paid for.
• Silverstone is a British motor-racing circuit
(Rennstrecke) and the current home of the British
Grand Prix.
Tips
12|13 Spotlight
55

LANGUAGE | Everyday English
3. Paying 4. No pyjamas?
Brenda and Ruby are about to pay for what they
have chosen in the department store.
It’s the next day. Brenda calls
Ruby to ask her something.
Ruby: I haven’t found anything. It’s bedlam in
here. I want to go. Are you ready to pay?
Brenda: Yes. Let’s get out of here. Where are the tills?
Ruby: They’re over there on the right.
Sales assistant: Next, please! Hello! Just the pyjamas?
Brenda: Yes.
Sales assistant: They look warm, don’t they? Great
for winter. I think I’ll get some for my
granddad.
Brenda: Oh! Right.
Sales assistant: That’ll be £27.50, please. Would you
like them gift-wrapped?
Brenda: No, thanks.
Sales assistant: OK. Shall I put your receipt in the
bag?
Brenda: Yes, that’s great. Thank you.
Ruby: Hello?
Brenda: Hi, Ruby! It’s me, Brenda. Listen, I just
wanted to say I hope you don’t mind, but I
told Gary about the Silverstone experience
you’re getting for Dave.
Ruby: Oh, that’s fine, really. As long as he doesn’t
give the game away.
Brenda: He won’t. The thing is, I’ve never seen him
so excited. Can you tell me where you got it?
Ruby: I booked it online. I can send you the link.
Brenda: And do they send you a gift certificate?
Ruby: Yes, or you can print it out yourself.
Brenda: Ooh, I can’t wait to see his face!
Ruby: And what about the pyjamas?
Brenda: (laughs) I think I’ll let him open those first.
• A scene that is noisy and confusing can be
described as bedlam. This is the popular name for the
old psychiatric hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem
founded in London in 1247. (See Peggy’s Place, p. 58.)
• The tills (or till) (UK ifml.) is the place in a shop where
you go to pay.
• Cashiers (Kassierer(in)) tell you the overall price by
saying: “That’s...” or That’ll be... (That will be...).
• When you have something wrapped [rÄpt] (einpacken)
as a present in a shop or a store, you have it
gift-wrapped. “Gift” is a synonym for present.
• A receipt [ri(si:t] — with a silent “p” — is the piece of
paper you receive after paying for something.
Tips
• Hello? is a common way to answer the telephone.
• I hope you don’t mind, but… is used to check that a
person doesn’t object to something (gegen etw. sein)
you want to do, or something you have already done.
• If someone gives the game away, he or she tells a
secret, usually without intending to.
• You can book a trip, a hotel, a car, etc. Be sure to “get
your booking (Buchung) confirmed”. If you change
your mind (seine Meinung ändern), you can “change” or
“cancel your booking”.
• Another word for “gift voucher” is gift certificate.
• When someone is looking forward to seeing another
person’s reaction to a surprise, he or she might say:
I can’t wait to see his face!
Tips
department store [di(pA:tmEnt stO:]
Kaufhaus
what about...? [)wQt E(baUt]
was ist mit...?
EXERCISES
1. Add the missing word.
a) What do you want ________ Christmas?
b) What do you think ________ these pyjamas?
c) Let’s get out ________ here.
d) You can print it ________, if you like.
2. What do the words in bold refer to in the
dialogues?
a) That’s because you haven’t got any. ___________
b) I just send it back. ___________
c) They’re over there. ___________
d) I booked it online. ___________
3. What did they say? Replace the words in bold.
a) If you can’t think of a present for me... ____________
b) What are you giving Dave?______________
c) It’s very crowded in here. ______________
d) As long as he doesn’t let the cat out of the bag.
______________
4. Add words from the scenes.
a) I don’t know — a s _ _ _ _ _ _ _?
b) I’ve got him a v _ _ _ _ _ _ for a driving experience.
c) Would you like them g _ _ _ -w _ _ _ _ _ _ ?
d) I’ve never seen him so e _ _ _ _ _ _ .
56 Spotlight 12|13
Answers: 1. a) for; b) of; c) of; d) out; 2. a) pyjamas; b) something she has ordered online but is
not happy with; c) the tills; d) a voucher for a driving experience for Dave; 3. a) you‘re stuck for;
b) getting; c) bedlam; d) give the game away; 4. a) surprise; b) voucher; c) gift-wrapped; d) excited

The Grammar Page | LANGUAGE
Using “be going to” to talk
about plans
ADRIAN DOFF explains how to talk about
planned actions.
Linda is talking to her friend Ed about a new rail link.
Linda: Have you heard? They’re going to 1 build an express
rail link to the airport.
Ed: Definitely? I thought they were just discussing it.
When are they going to 2 start?
Linda: I heard it on the news. They aren’t going to 3 start
until next spring, but it’s definitely going to be 4
built. They’re planning to 5 finish it by the end of
2015.
Ed: I’m sure it’ll 6 take longer than that. Who’s going
to pay for it?
Linda: They’re hoping to 5 get some money from the EU.
The rest’ll 6 come out of our taxes, I guess.
Ed: Well, I don’t see why I should pay for it. I don’t
even use the airport. Aren’t people going to 7
protest?
Linda: Yes. There’s a big demonstration planned for this
weekend. Why don’t you come?
Ed: Good idea. When is it exactly?
Linda: Some time on Saturday afternoon.
Ed: Oh, then maybe not. I’m thinking of going 8 to a
football match then. Sorry!
Remember!
Be going to is used to talk about plans that have already
been made at the time of speaking:
• She’s going to study chemistry.
• We aren’t going to have a holiday this year.
• When are you going to get married?
Be going to can be used with the verb “go”, although the
“to go” is often left out. This is easier to say and write:
• I’m going (to go) skiing this winter.
1 To talk about intentions or plans, the form be going to +
infinitive is used. “They’re going to...” means they’ve decided
to do it. (Here, “they” refers to the government.)
2 To form a question, the subject and the verb are changed
round. (They’re going to... ...are they going to...?
3 To form the negative, not (or n’t) is added. Linda could also
say “They’re not going to...”.
4 You can also use “going to” with passive verbs: be going
to be + past participle.
5 To talk about plans and hopes, be planning to... and be
hoping to... can be used instead of “be going to”.
6 Here, Ed uses will for the future. He’s not talking about a
plan; he’s making a prediction (Vorhersage).
(See The Grammar Page, Spotlight 11/13.)
7 This is a negative question with “be going to”. It means:
“Surely, they’re going to protest.”
8 I’m thinking of... + ing means that Ed is planning to go to
a match, but he’s not sure yet.
Beyond the basics
Other verbs that are used to talk about intentions
and plans have the same form as “be going to”:
• We’re planning to arrive at about six o’clock.
• They’re expecting to finish the project next month.
• I’m intending to speak to her about the problem.
• She’s hoping to be present at the meeting.
These verbs can also be used in the simple form (this
sounds slightly more formal or official):
• We plan to arrive at about six o’clock.
• She hopes to be present at the meeting.
Complete the sentences below with the words in bold in their correct form.
a) I _________________ a cake for tea today. (going / bake) e) I _______________ Spanish this summer. (think / learn)
b) What film __________ you ______________? (going / see) f) _______ you ___________ thank you? (not / going / say)
c) He _______________ a day off next week. (hope / have) g) What _______ you ______________ next? (planning / do)
d) They _______________________ long. (not / going / stay) h) Fifty trees ________________in the park. (going / plant)
EXERCISES
Answers
a) ‘m going to bake; b) are you going to see; c) ’s hoping to have / hopes to have; d) aren’t going to stay / ‘re not going to stay;
e) ’m thinking of learning; f) Aren’t you going to say; g) are you planning to do; h) are going to be planted
12|13 Spotlight
57

LANGUAGE | The Soap
Helen
Phil
Peggy
Christmas chaos
Join us at Peggy’s Place — Spotlight ’s very
own London pub. By INEZ SHARP
George
Sean
FOCUS
Peggy: (singing quietly) We wish you a Merry Christmas,
we wish you a...
George: There’s someone in a festive mood.
Peggy: Don’t get me started on that topic.
George: Oh, dear! Someone else who is dreading Christmas.
Peggy: I’m not dreading it, exactly. I’m just not looking
forward to it much either.
George: I know exactly what you mean. It’s mayhem at
work — people rushing around buying food like there’s
no tomorrow: bedlam in the mince-pie section, pandemonium
in the turkey corner of frozen foods.
Phil: At least you don’t always have to put on a happy face.
George: Of course I do. As head of customer care at a
major supermarket, I’m expected to be smiling and
positive all the time.
Peggy: Sometimes I think if one more person comes in
expecting a cheerful Christmas face, I’ll go mad.
George: It’s enough to give you a serious depression.
Sean: Who’s depressed?
Phil: No one. We’re just having a pre-Christmas gripe.
Sean: Personally, I love Christmas. I love cooking Christmas
dinner. I love looking at the kids’ faces in church
when they take part in the Nativity.
Phil: I didn’t know you were religious, Sean.
Sean: My mum was — more Catholic than a rosary — so
I go out of respect for her memory.
Peggy: Funny, people always talk about the birth of Christ,
but a lot of Christmas seems to be about death, too.
George: How do you mean?
Peggy: Well, I always seem to spend Christmas thinking
about family members who have died.
Phil: I think that might be an age thing, Peg.
Sean: Speaking of age, has anyone heard how Eddy’s doing?
Helen: She’s doing disgracefully well.
Peggy: Hello, Helen! Good to see you.
Phil: What can I get you, love?
Helen: Do you still have that hot-cider drink?
Phil: Certainly do.
Sean: So, tell us about Eddy. Were you at the hospital?
A number of synonyms for chaos occur in the dialogue.
George uses the words mayhem, bedlam and pandemonium
to talk about the situation at work, and Helen says
Eddy created havoc in the hospital. Mayhem and havoc
come to us from French and pandemonium from Latin.
Bedlam is from the informal pronunciation of “Hospital of
St Mary of Bethlehem” in London, which was known for its
chaotic conditions (see also Everyday English, page 56).
Eddy
“ ”
I’m just not looking forward to it
Jane
Helen: Yes. I went this morning. Did you hear about the
Martini episode, Sean?
Sean: Martini?
Helen: George was the one who saw it all, but basically,
this is what happened: Eddy was recovering from her
heart attack...
Sean: I knew about that.
Peggy: It was only a small one, but at her age...
Helen: So she’s lying there, feeling bored, and decides to
have some fun. She slips one of the cleaners a couple
of tenners and asks her to get two bottles of Martini.
Sean: Where’d she get the money from?
Phil: Oh, Eddy’s got cash hidden everywhere.
Peggy: So as soon as she gets the Martini, she starts on the
one bottle, and passes the other one round the ward.
George: When I went in to see her, it was hangover central.
Eddy was singing, but the others were either being
sick or snoring off their drunken binge.
Sean: And how is she today?
Helen: Better than she should be for someone who has
created havoc. In fact, she was almost peaceful.
Phil: Well, I’ll drink to that. Here’s to a merry and peaceful
Christmas, not just for Eddy, but for us all.
Everyone: A merry and peaceful Christmas!
binge [bIndZ] ifml.
(Sauf)Gelage
customer care [)kVstEmE (keE] Kundenbetreuung
disgracefully [dIs(greIsf&li] schandhaft
don’t get me started on... bring mich bloß nicht auf ...
[)dEUnt get mi (stA:tId Qn] ifml.
dread sth. [dred]
sich vor etw. grauen
gripe [graIp] ifml.
Meckerei, Beschwerde
hangover central
allgemeine Katerstimmung
[)hÄNEUvE (sentrEl] ifml.
mince pie [)mIns (paI] UK mit kleingehackter Fruchtmischung
gefülltes
(Weihnachts)Gebäck
Nativity [nE(tIvEti]
Krippenspiel, Geburt Christi
pre-Christmas [)pri: (krIsmEs] vorweihnachtlich
rosary [(rEUzEri]
Rosenkranz
sick: be ~ [sIk]
sich übergeben, krank sein
slip [slIp]
hier: zustecken
snore [snO:]
schnarchen
tenner [(tenE] UK ifml.
Zehnpfundschein
ward [wO:d]
(Klinik)Station
58 Spotlight 12|13
Have a look at all the characters from Peggy’s Place at
www.spotlight-online.de/peggy

English at Work | LANGUAGE
Dear Ken: Please don’t
hesitate to call me
Dear Ken
I’m starting a new job in state government. I would like
to know if there is any specific language I need to use with
English-speaking ministers and government officials,
either when I’m talking to them — on the phone, for
example — or in e-mail correspondence.
Can you help?
With best regards
Manuela S.
Send your questions
about business English
by e-mail with “Dear
Ken” in the subject line to
language@spotlight-verlag.de
Each month, I answer two questions
Spotlight readers have sent in. If one of
them is your question, you’ll receive a
copy of my book: Fifty Ways to Improve
Your Business English. So don’t forget
to add your mailing address!
Dear Manuela
There are different ways of dealing with these situations,
depending on the culture. Some require more formality
than others. Your organization may have guidelines for
protocol and correspondence, which you will need to
follow, of course.
Here is some advice on how to deal with government officials
in speech and in writing.
1. Face-to-face and telephone conversations
If you want to be formal, you could use the title of the
person you are addressing; for example: “Could I speak to
the minister of transport, please?”, or “Chief secretary, let
me introduce you to my colleagues.”
In some cultures, however, politicians and civil servants
may prefer you to use their names, so you would say:
“Could I speak to Mr Jones, please?”, or “Mrs Green, let
me introduce you to my colleagues.”
You need to be sensitive to the situation. In international
meetings, listen to the way people address each other, and
follow their examples. If you need to make initial contact
on the phone, my advice is to use the person’s title to start
with and then change over to using his or her name if this
seems appropriate.
2. E-mails
In formal e-mails that have to do with work matters, you
could use the person’s title in the greeting, for example:
“Dear Minister” and end with the phrase “Sincerely” or
“Yours sincerely”.
When writing to colleagues or civil servants in other government
departments, use their names rather than their
titles. You may find that people in the UK, the US and Scandinavia
tend to use first names once initial contact has
been established, so you would write: “Dear Sandra” and
then end with something like “Regards” or “Best wishes”.
I hope this helps.
Ken
Ken Taylor is an international communication skills consultant
based in London. Follow his “Hot Tips” on Twitter @DearKen101.
Dear Ken
A colleague of mine has told me I should not end a phone
call or an e-mail with the phrase “Please do not hesitate to
call me if you have any problems”.
Is she right?
Regards
Anja B.
Dear Anja
The phrase you’ve mentioned is used so often these days
in correspondence between business partners that people
might not realize what effect the words have.
Let’s look at this sentence in more detail:
• Please do not hesitate...
Apart from using the full verb form “do not”, which
sounds like an order, why even mention the possibility that
your partner might hesitate before calling?
• ...if you have any problems.
The recipient may wonder if it is OK to contact you only
when there are problems. The word “problems” can also
sound quite negative.
I prefer to say or write a phrase that sounds less formal and
is friendlier, more positive and — most importantly —
simpler, like this: “Please (feel free to) give me a call if you
have any questions.”
All the best
Ken
address [E(dres]
appropriate [E(prEUpriEt]
civil servant [)sIv&l (s§:v&nt]
guideline [(gaIdlaIn]
initial contact [I)nIS&l (kQntÄkt]
official [E(fIS&l]
protocol [(prEUtEUkQl]
recipient [ri(sIpiEnt]
sensitive [(sensEtIv]
anreden, ansprechen
angemessen
(Regierungs-, Verwaltungs-)
Beamte(r)
Richtlinie
Erstkontakt
Beamte(r)
hier: Etikette
Empfänger(in)
einfühlsam, aufmerksam
12|13 Spotlight
59

LANGUAGE | Spoken English
60
Time for a chat?
ADRIAN DOFF looks at ways to start
a conversation in English.
• To a friend: “Hi, Sue! How are things?”
• To a stranger at a party: “Hello! I don’t think we’ve
met. I’m Paul.”
• To a stranger in a cafe or on a train: “Excuse me! Is
anyone sitting here?”
• Boss to an employee: “Could we talk for a moment?”
Opening a conversation
As you can see from the examples above, there are different
ways to start a conversation, depending on the situation.
To be successful, two things are important:
• to sound polite and friendly
• to encourage the other person to speak
Let’s look at some common ways of starting conversations
in spoken English.
Greetings
Hi!, Hi, there! or Hello! can be used to greet people (including
strangers). More formal greetings are Good morning!,
Good afternoon! and Good evening!.
An employee in a bank, for example, might use a greeting
to signal to a customer that he or she is ready to talk:
• Good morning! Can I help you?
A speaker or presenter might say to his or her audience:
• Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!
However, if you have just woken up, you might also greet
your partner with the same words:
• (Good) morning! (Did you) sleep well?
In the first example in the box, the speaker follows his
greeting with the phrase How are things?. This means the
same as How are you?. Standard answers are Fine, thanks
and Not too bad. Other common expressions include:
• How are you doing? — Fine, thanks.
• Hi! How’s it going? — Oh, OK, thanks.
If you haven’t seen someone you know for a long time, you
might say:
• I haven’t seen you for / in ages.
• What are you doing these days?
• What have you been up to? (= How have you been
spending your time?)
Talking to strangers
At a party, you can walk up to a person and say: “Hi! I’m
Paul.” But this may be seen as too direct. Look at the second
example in the box. Here, the speaker begins by saying:
Spotlight 12|13
I don’t think we’ve met, which sounds “softer” and less direct.
He could also say:
• I don’t think we know each other. My name’s Paul.
Another way to start a conversation is to use a negative
question. This also sounds softer and more careful:
• Don’t I know you from somewhere?
• Excuse me! Haven’t we met before?
• Excuse me! Weren’t we at school together?
These all mean: “I think I know you, but I’m not sure.”
Approaching people
The third example in the box shows a way to approach
someone in a cafe or on a train. Alternatives include:
• Excuse me! Is this seat free?
• Excuse me! Do you mind if I sit here?
(Haben Sie etwas dagegen, wenn…?)
If you want to join a group of people, you could say:
• Do you mind if I join you? (= sit with you)
• Is it OK if I join you?
Let’s have a chat
If you have something important to say or to ask, you may
want to arrange a conversation with a person. The last
example in the box shows how to do this. Expressions such
as for a moment, for a second, just, have a word or
have a chat make the request sound more casual
(ungezwungen) and less formal:
• Could I just speak to you for a second?
• Could we just have a quick word?
• Have you got time for a short chat?
• There’s something I just wanted to ask you.
Choose the correct word or phrase in the
greetings below.
a) Excuse me! Didn’t I / Don’t I know you from
somewhere?
b) What are you doing in the last time / these days?
c) What have you been up / down to lately?
d) I think we don’t / I don’t think we know each other.
e) Excuse me! Do you mind if / that I sit here?
f) Have you got time for a small / quick chat?
g) Hi! How does it go? / ’s it going?
h) Could I only / just speak to you for a moment?
Answers: a) Don’t I; b) these days; c) up; d) I don’t think we;
e) if; f) quick; g) ’s it going; h) just
EXERCISE
Foto: iStockphoto

Word Builder | LANGUAGE
Build your vocabulary
JOANNA WESTCOMBE presents useful words and phrases from this issue of Spotlight and their
collocations. The words may also have other meanings that are not listed here.
lid [lId] noun p. 46
trophy [(trEUfi] noun p. 34
a cover for a container
Deckel
Do you put the lid on the pot when you
cook pasta?
a large silver or gold cup or other object given as a
prize to the winner of a (sporting) competition
Trophäe; hier: Pokal
He lifted the trophy, and the crowd went wild.
To shut your eyes, you close your eyelids.
A trophy wife (ifml.) is a woman whose beauty and youth
are used by her husband as a status symbol.
owe [EU] verb p. 67
the need to give money to a person from whom you
have borrowed some or bought something
schulden
Thanks very much for selling me these stamps.
How much do I owe you?
See the extra notes below on how to use owe.
plug into sth. [)plVg (Intu:] verb p. 13
connect sth. to an electricity supply
(ein)stecken
When it stops working, I just try unplugging it
and plugging it in again.
A plug fits into an (electrical) socket.
by the way [baI DE (weI] phrase p. 55
used to add extra information that may not be
relevant to the main topic of conversation
stick one’s neck out phrase p. 17
[)stIk wVnz (nek aUt] ifml.
say or do sth. that might cause a negative reaction
übrigens
sich vorwagen, etw. riskieren
Oh, and by the way, we´ve won £500,000 in
the lottery!
Without sticking my neck out too far, I think
we’ve got a real chance of winning.
In e-mails and texts, this is often shortened to BTW.
Do something too often, and you might risk your neck.
Foto: iStock
How to use the verb owe
Let’s get to know owe. In terms of money, this verb is
used in different ways:
She owes her brother £100.
How much do I owe you for the red wine?
I’m still owed three days’ pay.
You can give an IOU (note) (= I owe you) to show that
you have borrowed money from a person.
Things that should be said or done can be owed:
I owe you an apology and an explanation.
I owe you a drink, and I owe mum a phone call.
Informally, if you owe somebody a favour, you can say:
Thanks! I owe you one.
Here are some other uses of owe:
He owes his success to his difficult childhood.
We owe you so much for all you have done for us.
You owe it to yourself to have a holiday.
Complete the following sentences with words
from this page in their correct form.
a) In Britain, you can’t ____________ your hairdryer into
a bathroom socket as there aren’t any.
b) If we play another few good games, boys, the
____________ is ours.
c) I’m going to stick ____________ neck out and ask for a
day off.
d) That’s a great photo of you, ____________ the way.
e) Have I paid you back, or do I still ____________ you
something?
f) I’ve found the big saucepan, but I can’t find a
____________ that fits.
g) To what do I ____________ the pleasure of your
company this evening?
OVER TO YOU!
Answers: a) plug; b) trophy; c) my; d) by; e) owe; f) lid; g) owe
12|13 Spotlight
61

LANGUAGE | Perfectionists Only!
Did Paul McCartney
really mean what he sang in his
1979 classic “Wonderful Christmas
time”? In the refrain, “Simply having
a wonderful Christmas time”, the adverb
“simply” modifies the verb “having”.
In this role, “simply” has a
slightly negative meaning: “nothing
more than”. In other words, Sir Paul
and his friends seem to be celebrating
Christmas, but without a great deal of
enthusiasm. When “simply” modifies
an adverb, however, it means “absolutely,
totally”. Surely, Sir Paul
wanted to express “Having a simply
wonderful Christmas time”, but that
word order wouldn’t fit the metre
(Metrik) of the song. As a result, we as
listeners have the choice of accepting
the rather distant, cool attitude implied
by the statement or of mentally
rearranging its syntax.
Back to the roots
The Latinate word-building suffix
“-(i)an” (e.g. “republican”, “Parisian”)
is attached to adjectives and nouns to
form adjectives that can also function
as nouns. Except with proper names
(such as Darwinian), this suffix is not
generally used to form new words.
When the financial crisis put the
word “austerity” into the mouths of
economists and politicians, however,
a need was felt for a corresponding
adjective. The word “austerian” was
coined for collocations like “austerian
policies”, “be an austerian”, etc.
Insiders enjoy the wordplay on
“Austrian”, with reference to
the Austrian school of
(neo-)liberal economic
thought, as exemplified
by the economists
Friedrich Hayek and
Ludwig von Mises.
62 Spotlight 12|13
WILL O’RYAN explains developments in the English language and examines some of the
finer points of grammar.
Is Christmas
special?
“...would have liked to...”
Grammar
How would you translate Ich hätte gern Jane Austen getroffen into English?
There are three possibilities:
a) I would like to have met Jane Austen.
b) I would have liked to meet Jane Austen.
c) I would have liked to have met Jane Austen.
The traditional viewpoint is that (a) and (b) are both correct, and that (c) is
non-standard. There are, however, countless examples of the tense structure
of (c) being used by respected authors — both living and dead. The
three sentences in (d) are from Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway,
respectively:
d) “I would have liked to have asked the driver what this all meant...”
“She would have liked to have continued the scene on the same
emotional scale...”
“Frances was a little drunk and would have liked to have kept it up...”
It could be argued that (a), (b) and (c) all mean different things, and that
the “liking” situation has present time reference only in (a). The difference,
though, between an unfulfilled wish with past reference that you have
now and one that you had in the past is subtle (ganz fein) and seldom of
relevance. Some people might also see a difference between (b) and (c),
For them, (b) means that at some point in the past, when Jane Austen was
still alive, the speaker had the wish to meet her at some point in the future.
Sentence (c) would then mean that at some point in the past, for example,
after Austen’s death, the speaker had the wish to have met Austen before
she died. This rather hair-splitting analysis might be used in careful writing
to decide between (b) and (c) about highly time-specific unfulfilled wishes,
but few people would do this when actually speaking or interpreting someone
else’s speech.
Many native speakers simply prefer one structure to another. People who
prefer the sound of (b) will argue that in (c), one of the “haves” is redundant
— which indeed it is, unless it expresses a second level of anteriority
(Vorzeitigkeit). And those who prefer (c) feel that (b) sounds somehow
“bare”, as if the unreal past needed more support. In that case, the sentiment
is: “You’ve forgotten to mark the past reference in terms of the
‘meeting’ situation.”
The choice between the infinitive and the past infinitive in the complement
of an unreal past comes up most commonly with “would have liked”,
but we see it elsewhere as well:
e) He would have been the first to discover that.
He would have been the first to have discovered that.
Here, too, differences could be found between the two — although this
rarely happens in practice.
Translate this sentence in three different ways:
Sie wäre gern eine große Künstlerin gewesen.
Answer: She would like to have been / She would have liked to be /
She would have liked to have been a great artist.
Illustration. iStock

Crossword | LANGUAGE
1 2 3 4
5 6 7
17
10 11 12
13
8
14 15 16
18 19
20 21 22 23
24
The words in this puzzle have been taken from our travel article about
the Maasai people. You may wish to refer to the text on pages 30–35.
Competition!
Form a single word from the letters in the coloured squares.
Send that word on a postcard to: Redaktion Spotlight, Kennwort
“December Prize Puzzle”, Postfach 1565, 82144 Pla negg,
Deutsch land. Two winners will be chosen from the entries we
receive by 9 December 2013.
Each winner will be sent Spotlight’s new
board game, Are You Joking?, by courtesy
of Spotlight Verlag and Grubbe Media.
Learn vocabulary from 400 jokes, tonguetwisters
and funny lines.
The answer to the puzzle in the October
magazine was exhibit. Congratulations to
Ursulina Caviezel (Pitasch, Switzerland)
and Antonie Heider (Koblenz). Both have
won the game Are You Joking?
9
Mike Pilewski
Life in Kenya
Across
1. The quality of being pleasant to look at;
attractiveness.
3. Similar to.
5. A female animal that is usually kept to produce
milk.
7. A fraction of a whole.
8. A line drawn between two countries.
10. Protection of the environment.
14. To comprehend.
17. Far inside something; ______ down.
18. An expedition into the savannah to look at or hunt
wild animals.
20. A small kind of house that has not been properly
built.
22. A male child.
24. Appears to be.
Down
1. Not the front of something; the other side.
2. Male members of a group of native people.
3. Territory.
4. If you are ______ someone, you are together.
6. My friends and I.
7. To prevent someone or something from being
harmed.
9. Changing one’s location.
11. Belonging to.
12. A ceremony.
13. Robust, open cars used to drive across the
savannah.
14. “She’s grown ______: she’s an adult now.”
15. Small tables at which children sit at school.
16. A long weapon that shoots bullets.
19. Third-person present-tense form of “to be”.
21. That man.
23. A negative answer.
Solution to
puzzle 11/13:
DETECTIVE
H A L F V I S A
I I C F G B
S E E N A M O N E
G R P F
A R R E S T E D O N T O
I R R I S R
G P I D E S I R E
H R D I E
T H I N G S B Q
N E L U P
S E A T S I N C E E
A S T S O
W H O H A S F A C T
Jetzt erhältlich!
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Schön, wenn endlich alles komplett ist!
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THE LIGHTER SIDE | Wit and Wisdom
“
I stopped believing in Santa Claus
when I was six. Mother took me to see
him in a department store, and he asked
for my autograph.
”
Shirley Temple
(born 1928), American actress
© Bulls
It depends
Grandson: “How long is a minute, Granddad?”
Grandfather: “Well, my boy, that really depends on which side
of the bathroom door you’re on.”
autograph [(O:tEgrA:f]
character [(kÄrEktE]
department store [di(pA:tmEnt stO:]
polar bear [)pEUlE (beE]
toenail [(tEUneI&l]
THE ARGYLE SWEATER
Size difference
Q: What’s the difference between The Lord of the Rings
and Twitter?
A: With Twitter, you have only 140 characters.
Autogramm
Buchstabe, Zeichen;
aber auch: Filmfigur
Kaufhaus
Eisbär
Zehennagel
New job
Bob starts a new job as a security guard in a factory. It’s his
first evening, and he sees a man walk out of the factory carrying
a box. “Hey, stop!” Bob says. “What’s in that box?” He
looks inside, but it’s empty. Ten minutes later, another man
walks out with a larger box. Bob checks this box, too, but it’s
also empty. This continues for the next few hours, but Bob
never finds anything in the boxes. The next day, he arrives at
work, and his boss says to him: “What happened last night?
Lots of our products are missing.” Bob replies: “Well, it was
very strange. I saw all these people going in and out, but they
were just carrying empty boxes.” The boss stares at him and
shouts: “You idiot! This is a box factory!”
Red and white
Q: What’s the best thing about Switzerland?
A: I’m not sure, but the flag’s a big plus.
Funny logic
Why do elephants paint their toenails red?
So they can hide in cherry trees.
Have you ever seen an elephant hiding in a cherry tree?
They’re good, huh?
A little lost
Q: What is the most stupid animal in the jungle?
A: A polar bear.
PEANUTS
66 Spotlight 12|13

“
Our
postmaster
doesn’t deal
well with
change
”
American Life | GINGER KUENZEL
Keeping the
postmaster happy
Eine gute Poststellenleiterin ist Gold wert, auch wenn sie leicht aus der
Fassung gerät. Gerne erspart man ihr unnötigen Kummer.
Foto: iStock
When I moved to the small
village where I now live, I
had a choice about how my
mail should be delivered. I could put
up a mailbox at the end of my driveway
or rent a box at the post office.
For me, it was an easy choice. I
love going to the post office to get my
mail. For one thing, it’s a great place
to hear the latest gossip, and in this
village of 750 souls, everyone always
has a story to tell.
Even if they don’t have a story to
tell, they’re not beyond simply inventing
one. I also knew that having
to go to the post office every day
would force me to get dressed and
leave the house. Anyone who works
at home will tell you that there is a
great danger of finding oneself still in
pajamas at dinnertime.
Most of all, I love going to the
post office because of Jackie, our
postmaster. She’s extremely lovable.
Unfortunately, she is also easily flustered.
She doesn’t deal well with
change or transactions that are out of
the ordinary. On the other hand, we
can always count on her to go above
and beyond the call of duty, especially
during the holidays.
For example, if she notices that a
letter has been dropped in the mailbox
without enough postage, she puts
the extra stamps on it rather than returning
it to the sender. Then she
simply lets you know how much you
owe her the next time you come in.
She once called me to let me know
there was a package waiting for me
that was so large, it probably wouldn’t
fit in my car. How many postmasters
know what kind of car you drive?
And how many care whether your car
can accommodate your package?
Then there was the time when my
friends Judy and Tom asked Jackie to
hold their mail because they were
going to be out of town for several
days. What they didn’t realize was
that the chicks they had ordered
would arrive while they were away.
Jackie had no choice but to take the
chicks home with her over the weekend
and look after them. Did I mention
that she becomes easily flustered?
This was one of those times. But
more importantly, it was another of
accommodate [E(kA:mEdeIt]
genügend Platz bieten
beyond: not be ~ sth. [bi(A:nd]
nicht gegen etw. gefeit sein
chick [tSIk]
Küken
counter [(kaUnt&r]
Theke, Schalter
coupon [(ku:pA:n]
Gutschein
driveway [(draIvweI]
Auffahrt
fluster [(flVst&r]
aus der Fassung bringen
go above and beyond the call of duty über die Pflicht hinausgehen
[goU E)bVv End bi)A:nd DE kO:l Ev (du:ti]
gossip [(gA:sEp]
Klatsch
holidays [(hA:lEdeIz] N. Am.
hier: Weihnachtsfeiertage
like hotcakes [laIk (hA:tkeIks] ifml. wie warme Semmeln
out of the ordinary [)aUt Ev Di (O:rd&neri] ungewöhnlich
owe [oU] schulden (➝ p. 61)
postage [(poUstIdZ]
Porto
postmaster [(poUst)mÄst&r]
Leiter(in) einer Poststelle
those occasions when she went above
and beyond the call of duty.
One day, when I arrived at the
post office to get my mail, Jackie
stopped me with an unusual question.
“Do you know what’s going
on?” she asked. “I have the feeling
that everyone is moving away.” Since
I hadn’t heard that anyone was making
plans to leave, I was perplexed.
“What makes you think that?” I
asked. “Well,” she said, “I keep having
to put out more change-ofaddress
packets in the lobby. They’re
disappearing like hotcakes.”
To be honest, I knew exactly what
was going on. My friends and I were
at least partly to blame. We had discovered
that the packets included
coupons from shops and restaurants,
and so we had begun to take them.
We hadn’t thought about the consequences
for Jackie, though.
I didn’t want to tell her that I had
played a role in creating the problem,
but I did have a solution: I suggested
that she keep the packets behind the
counter and make people ask for
them. This meant that there would be
no more discounts for us, but it kept
Jackie from getting flustered. Considering
all that she does for this town,
it was a very small price to pay.
Ginger Kuenzel is a freelance writer who
lived in Munich for 20 years. She now calls
a small town in upstate New York home.
12|13 Spotlight
67

FEEDBACK | Readers’ Views
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mehr über diese Tierschutzbewegung zu erfahren.
Tamara Schmitt, Berlin
Thank you for this suggestion, which we shall pass on to our
columnist.
The Editor
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68 Spotlight 12|13

January 2014 | NEXT MONTH
Features
Ten top tips for im -
proving your English
Get your English off to a great start
this year with our ten tips for im -
provement. We highlight some
special areas in which — with just a
small amount of effort — you can
make your English shine.
New York
for the
holiday season
New York is wonderful
any time of the year,
but never is it more
beautiful than during
the Christmas holidays.
NYC expert Claudia
Hellmann takes you
to see the seasonal
highlights.
A new kind of
marathon:
extreme fitness
events
Are you fit enough to
compete in the next
Tough Guy race? Alexis
Petridis reports from
England on a growing
trend in extreme sport
that leaves some
athletes inspired and
others badly hurt.
Language
Vocabulary
What’s in your bag? Learn the
names of all those little things
that you carry around with you
every day.
Travel Talk
Spotlight takes you on a trip
with a difference: to a yoga
retreat. We present the language
of peace and relaxation.
English at Work
When British business people say
“That’s good”, do they really mean
it? Ken Taylor looks at the hidden
meanings of simple comments.
Fotos: AbleStock; Alamy; iStock
Spotlight 1/14 is on sale from
18 December
12|13 Spotlight
69

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | My Life in English
Michael Braun
Alexander
Michael Braun Alexander ist einer der
bekann testen Wirtschaftsjournalisten in
Deutschland und Autor zahlreicher Bücher.
Zuletzt erschien der Roman Madame
Jakublonskis Monstrositäten-Cabinet.
As a writer, what makes English important to you?
It is the most important language in today’s world
— and the transmitter of most ideas.
When was your first English lesson, and what can you
remember about it?
In the late summer of 1978, I guess, at school. I was ten
years old. I don’t remember it.
Who is your favourite English-language author?
An eclectic mix of ten, each chosen for a different
reason: Karen Blixen (better known as Isak Dinesen),
Paul Bowles, Bruce Chatwin, Agatha Christie,
E. M. Forster, Ernest Hemingway, Barbara Kingsolver,
Patrick O’Brian, Annie Proulx and Evelyn Waugh.
Which song could you sing a few lines of in English?
The one that comes to mind is an old English madrigal:
“Now Is the Month of Maying”.
What food from the English-speaking world do you enjoy?
A nice, succulent cheese-and-pickle sandwich, toasted.
Not terribly elegant, I admit.
access [(Äkses]
Zugang, Zugriff
admire [Ed(maIE]
bewundern
cheese-and-pickle sandwich Sandwich mit Käse und
[)tSi:z End )pIk&l (sÄnwIdZ] Essiggurken
desert island [)dezEt (aIlEnd] einsame Insel
eclectic [I(klektIk]
vielseitig
foreign correspondent Auslandskorrespondent(in)
[)fQrEn kQrE(spQndEnt]
lox bagel [(lQks )beIg&l] Bagel (ringförmiges Hefe-
N. Am. brötchen) mit Räucherlachs
mind: come to ~ [maInd] in den Sinn kommen
serendipity [)serEn(dIpEti] Zufallsfund, Glücksfall,
unerwartete Entdeckung
succulent [(sVkjUlEnt]
saftig
transmitter [trÄnz(mItE] Übermittler
unbeatable [Vn(bi:tEb&l] unschlagbar
volunteer [)vQlEn(tIE]
Volontär(in), angehende(r)
Journalist(in)
If you could be any place in the English-speaking world
right now, where would it be?
The Western Cape, on the coast of South Africa.
Which person from the English-speaking world
(living or dead) would you most like to meet?
The cool American movie directors of our time:
Wes Anderson, the Coen brothers, Quentin Tarantino.
I admire the way they create worlds and tell stories.
Which is your favourite city in the English-speaking
world, and what tip would you give a friend who was
going to visit this city?
This year: London. Take a bag full of money. Don’t take
your family.
Have you worked in an English-speaking environment?
Yes, for a couple of years as a foreign correspondent in
New York and for shorter periods on various jobs as a
volunteer, a student and later a journalist.
What is your favourite English word?
“Serendipity”, perhaps? I love its history and meaning.
Which person from the English-speaking world would
you choose to be alone with on a desert island?
Warren Buffett. He is smart, pragmatic and fun-loving
in an unbeatable way. Also, he has access to private air
transport.
If you suddenly found yourself with a free afternoon in
London or New York, what would you do?
Meet old friends and have a coffee and a lox bagel (in
New York) or afternoon tea (in London).
Is there anything in your home from the Englishspeaking
world?
Lots of stuff. The most useful
is my bed, a monster from
an antique dealer’s in the
West Village, New York.
What’s your motto in English?
I have many. One favourite:
“Sleep remained for
me the richest
pleasure in the
world.” – T. E.
Lawrence
Foto: Privat
70 Spotlight 12|13

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verstehen – und nebenbei die Sprache
lernen. Jeden Monat neu.
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Green Light
12 2013
ENGLISCH LEICHT GEMACHT!
Learn the
words you need
to talk about
Christmas
Read all
about punk
rock
Practise
making
suggestions

GREEN LIGHT | News
This month…
Was beschäftigt die englischsprachige
Welt im Dezember? VANESSA CLARK
spürt die heißen Storys für Sie auf.
Another hit for Lloyd Webber?
Theatre After his massive global hits like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats and The Phantom
of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber has a new show — Stephen Ward, the Musical, which
opens in London this month.
This new musical is about a political scandal that shook Britain in 1963. The scandal had
many elements of a good story: a government minister, a call girl, a Soviet spy, a lord and a
fashionable doctor (Stephen Ward) who organized parties for the rich and famous. The show
is sure to be a hit in London, but will its very English story please international audiences?
Happy Christmas, Jacob
Cinema Sixteen-year-old Jacob Latimore from Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
comes from a musical family. His father and uncles sing together as The
Latimore Brothers. But now it’s young Jacob who is the star.
This month, he plays a leading role in Black Nativity, the big new
Christmas musical film with Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett. Jacob
can be seen as Langston, a streetwise teenager from Baltimore who
travels to New York to spend Christmas with relatives and who, with a
little help from above, finds new meaning in his life.
1913
100 years ago
New York The first crossword puzzle was seen on 21 December
1913 in the New York World newspaper. It was created by Arthur Wynne,
a British-born puzzle-maker, who called it a “word-cross puzzle”.
audience [(O:diEns]
crossword puzzle [(krQsw§:d )pVz&l]
fashionable [(fÄS&nEb&l]
government [(gVv&nmEnt]
leading role [)li:dIN (rEUl]
relative [(relEtIv]
shake (shook, shaken) [SeIk]
spy [spaI]
streetwise [(stri:twaIz] ifml.
Publikum
Kreuzworträtsel
modisch; hier: mondän
Regierung
Hauptrolle
Verwandte(r)
schütteln; hier: erschüttern
Spion(in)
gewieft
2
Spotlight 12|13

Christmas
8 pictures | GREEN LIGHT
STEPHANIE SHELLABEAR presents the things we see around us at
Christmas time.
1
8
2
7
3
Titel: iStock; Fotos Doppelseite: PR; Illustrationen: B. Förth
6
Write the words below
next to the pictures.
1. present, gift
2. Christmas card
3. Christmas tree
4. decorations
5. Christmas stocking
6. Christmas cracker
7. Father Christmas (UK),
Santa Claus (US)
8. nativity scene
Write the English words next to their German
translations.
a) Weihnachtskarte _______________________________
b) Knallbonbon ___________________________________
c) Weihnachtsbaum _______________________________
d) Geschenk ______________________________________
e) der Weihnachtsmann ___________________________
Nativity is a word meaning “birth” (Geburt) — usually the birth of Jesus Christ.
At Christmas time in the UK, pupils in many schools act in a nativity play, a theatrical
performance for their parents.
Answers: a) Christmas card; b) Christmas cracker; c) Christmas tree; d) present / gift; e) Father Christmas / Santa Claus
5
4
Tips
12|13 Spotlight
3

GREEN LIGHT | Grammar elements
Making suggestions
STEPHANIE SHELLABEAR explains basic grammar.
This month: how to suggest (vorschlagen) something to somebody.
Let’s is a shortened form of “let us”. It means: “I think it’s a good idea for us to...”
and is used to make suggestions. Here are some examples:
• Let’s stay at home this evening and watch a DVD.
• Let’s buy Emma some flowers for her birthday.
• Let’s talk about our holiday plans at the weekend.
The opposite of let’s — in other words the negative form — is let’s not.
It means: “I don’t think it is a good idea for us to...”. For example:
• Let’s not tell Mum that her vase is broken.
• Let’s not talk about this now.
• Let’s not have our meeting in London. It will cost too much.
Another way to make a suggestion in question form is to ask Shall we... ?
• Shall we visit Grandma on Saturday?
• Shall we discuss this later?
• Shall we all go to the theatre to see Romeo and Juliet?
The correct question tag to use after a suggestion with let’s is shall we?
• Let’s go home now, shall we?
• Let’s ask how much the house costs, shall we?
• Let’s get a drink, shall we?
You might hear speakers of British English say Don’t let’s... It means the same as “let’s
not”, but it is used less often: “Don’t let’s go out today. It’s too cold.”
Tips
“Let’s” or “let’s not”? Add the correct expression to the sentences below.
a) I’m really tired. ___________________________ go to bed, shall we?
b) ___________________________ plan an exotic holiday. We haven’t got enough money.
c) The water’s only 14 degrees. ___________________________ go swimming.
d) Anna and Paul are really nice. ___________________________ invite them to our party.
e) ___________________________ go to a concert. I love live music.
f) ___________________________ tell the children. I want it to be a surprise for them.
Fotos: iStockphoto
4
Spotlight 12|13
Answers: a) Let’s; b) Let’s not; c) Let’s not; d) Let’s; e) Let’s; f) Let’s not

Christmas plans
The Greens | GREEN LIGHT
Andrew and Donna are talking in the kitchen when their
daughter, Paula, calls. By DAGMAR TAYLOR
Andrew: (singing) Jingle bells, jingle bells,
jingle all the way...
Donna: Someone’s happy!
Andrew: I love Christmas. Time with the
family, good food... presents!
Donna: (phone rings) Is that the phone?
Can you get it? My hands are covered in
flour.
Andrew: Hello?
Paula: Hi, Dad! What are you doing?
Andrew: Hello, love! Your Mum’s making
mince pies, and I’m... helping her.
Paula: Listen, would it be OK if Matt came
to our house on Christmas Day?
Andrew: Of course! The more the merrier.
Paula: Oh, fantastic! I’ve got to go. I’ll call
you later. Love you!
Donna: That was quick. Who was it?
Andrew: It was Paula. She’s bringing Matt
home for Christmas.
• “Jingle Bells” is one of the best-known Christmas songs in the world. When small bells
(Glöckchen) make a nice, soft sound, they jingle.
• To ask someone else to answer the phone, you might say: Can you get it?
• A mince pie (UK) is a Christmas treat (Leckerei) made with pastry (Mürbeteig) and mincemeat
(süße Pastetenfüllung). Mincemeat consists of dried fruit, sugar and spices (Gewürze).
• You can ask someone’s permission (Erlaubnis) to do something by asking: Would it
be OK if...
• Christmas Day is on 25 December. The 24 December is Christmas Eve.
• The more the merrier is a saying that means the more people there are, the more fun we
shall all have. “Merrier” is the comparative of “merry”, meaning happy.
• When you tell someone that you need to end a phone call,
you can say: I’ve (I have) got to go.
Tips
What do the following short forms
(contractions) stand for?
Andrew
a) Someone’s happy! ________________
b) I’m helping. ________________
c) I’ve got to go. ________________
d) I’ll call you later. ________________
Donna
covered in [(kVvEd In] bedeckt mit; hier: voller
flour [(flaUE] Mehl
Listen to the dialogue at
www.spotlight-online.de/products/green-light
Answers: a) is; b) am; c) have; d) will

GREEN LIGHT | Get writing
Asking about an
order that hasn’t arrived
VANESSA CLARK helps you to write letters, e-mails
and more in English. This month: how to ask about a late delivery.
Order number 7298
To:
Cc:
Subject:
info@alliwantforxmas.co.uk
Order number 7298
Dear Customer Services
I ordered an item by phone on 27. 11. 13, and it hasn’t arrived yet:
Order number: 7298
Product number: CHR/397 (set of Christmas-cake decorations)
On your website, it says that delivery takes three to five days. Please can you confirm that
you have sent this item. When can I expect to receive it? I need it as soon as possible, please.
Thanks for your help.
Regards
Margaret Hodges
delivery [di(lIvEri]
expect sth. [Ik(spekt]
item [(aItEm]
order [(O:dE]
order number
[(O:dE )nVmbE]
regards [ri(gA:dz]
Use
it!
Lieferung
hier: mit etw. rechnen
Artikel, Gegenstand
bestellen
Auftragsnummer,
Bestellnummer
mit freundlichen Grüßen
Highlight the key words and
phrases that you would use if you wanted to
write an e-mail like this yourself.
• Give as much information as you
can to help find a missing item;
for example, the date you ordered it,
the order number and the product
number. Say if you ordered it online
or by phone.
• If the item is only a few days late, you
can ask customer services to confirm
that the item is coming or to send
another one: “Please resend.”
• If the item is very late, you might want
to cancel (stornieren) the order:
“Please cancel this order and refund
(zurückerstatten) my money.”
• If you need the item very quickly, say
that you need it as soon as possible
or that it is “urgent”.
Tips
Fotos: iStock; V. Turbett/Getty Images
6 Spotlight 12|13

Culture corner | GREEN LIGHT
I like…
punk rock
Jeden Monat stellt ein Redakteur
etwas Besonderes aus der
englischsprachigen Welt vor.
Diesen Monat präsentiert
Audioredakteur OWEN CONNORS
seine Lieblingsmusik.
What it is
Punk is a fast, loud and angry kind of rock
music. The songs are short and uncomplicated
and often have social or political
themes. Punk first became popular in the
1970s with bands like The Sex Pistols, The
Clash and The Ramones. Because of the
crazy clothes, wild hair and rebellious attitude
of punks, some people thought they
were dangerous. Punk soon split into different
subgenres, the most popular of which
are hardcore — an even faster and harder
kind of punk — and pop punk, which is
more melodic and sells a lot more records.
Punks follow many different ideologies:
from the “straight-edge” lifestyle of no alcohol,
no drugs and no nicotine, to belief in
anarchism, socialism or even Hare Krishna.
area [(eEriE]
attitude [(ÄtItju:d]
audience [(O:diEns]
crazy [(kreIzi]
each other [i:tS (VDE]
equal [(i:kwEl]
hardcore [)hA:d(kO:]
issue [(ISu:]
pogo stick [(pEUgEU stIk]
record [(rekO:d]
serious [(sIEriEs]
split [splIt]
stage [steIdZ]
Bereich
Einstellung
Publikum
verrückt
(sich) gegenseitig
gleich
richtig hart, extrem
Thema, Problem
Springstock
Schallplatte, CD
ernst
hier: sich aufteilen
Bühne
Why I like it
If you look at my picture, you’ll see I’m not
a punk. I do play guitar, however, and punk
is really fun and easy to play. It’s music for
everyone, no matter how well a person can
play an instrument. There is also no real distance
between the band and the fans —
everyone is equal, and there are no rock
stars. Punk bands sing (or shout) about serious,
real-life issues. It’s great to listen to
music that is actually saying something.
Most importantly, punk is full of life and energy,
the right kind of music for me.
At a punk concert, some people
jump up and down. This is called
pogo dancing — like using a pogo stick.
Others run around pushing or hitting off
each other. This is called moshing. The
area near the stage where people mosh
is called a pit. People in the
audience sometimes get on
stage and jump into the
crowd — this is called
stage diving. When
the audience catches
a stage diver and
passes him or her
around above their
heads, it’s called crowd
surfing.
Fun
facts

GREEN LIGHT | Notes and numbers
Shoe size
Different shoe-size systems are used around
the world. The Continental European system,
for example, is also used in Brazil and
Hong Kong. In the table below, you can see
some shoe-size equivalents (Entsprechung)
for the UK and the US.
• I’m a size seven.
• Can I try these in a size 4, please?
Your notes
Use this space for your own notes.
UK 3 4 5 6 7 8
US 5 6 7 8 9 10
Eur 35½ 37 38 39½ 41 42
Write the following shoe sizes as
you would say them.
size seven
a) size 7 _______________________________
b) size 4 _______________________________
c) size 3½ ______________________________
d) size 6 _______________________________
e) size 10½ _____________________________
Act your age...
If someone thinks you’re being childish or
behaving (sich benehmen) too young for
your age, they may say to you: Act your
age, not your shoe size. This saying
(Redensart) works only for British and
American sizes.
Answers: b) size four; c) size three and a half;
d) size six; e) size ten and a half
Fotos: iStockphoto; Monkey Business
IMPRESSUM
Herausgeber und Verlagsleiter: Dr. Wolfgang Stock
Chefredakteurin: Inez Sharp
Stellvertretende Chefredakteurin: Claudine Weber-Hof
Chefin vom Dienst: Susanne Pfeifer
Autoren: Vanessa Clark, Stephanie Shellabear,
Dagmar Taylor
Redaktion: Owen Connors, Elisabeth Erpf, Anja Giese,
Peter Green, Reinhild Luk, Michael Pilewski (Online),
Michele Tilgner, Joanna Westcombe
Bildredaktion: Sarah Gough (Leitung), Thorsten Mansch
Gestaltung: Marion Sauer/Johannes Reiner
www.vor-zeichen.de
Anzeigenleitung: Axel Zettler
Marketingleitung: Holger Hofmann
Produktionsleitung: Ingrid Sturm
Vertriebsleitung: Monika Wohlgemuth
Verlag und Redaktion: Spotlight Verlag GmbH
Postanschrift: Postfach 1565, 82144 Planegg, Deutschland
Telefon +49(0)89/8 56 81-0, Fax +49(0)89/8 56 81-105
Internet: www.spotlight-online.de
Litho: HWM GmbH, 82152 Planegg
Druck: Medienhaus Ortmeier, 48369 Saerbeck
© 2013 Spotlight Verlag, auch für alle genannten Autoren,
Fotografen und Mitarbeiter.
UNSER SPRACHNIVEAU: Das Sprachniveau in Green Light entspricht ungefähr Stufe A2 des
Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmens für Sprachen.