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12 /

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12 —17

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EINFACH BESSER ENGLISCH

DEVON: Das Land, das einst Agatha Christie und Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle inspirierte

AuthenticEngland

15 PAGES

OF LANGUAGETIPS AND

EXERCISES

Perfekte Ergänzung zum SprachmagazinBegleit-Booklet zum Mitlesen und mit zusätzlichen ÜbungenAls CD oder als digitale Ausgabe

spotlight-online.de/2ausgaben

Der Audio-Trainer von Spotlight.

Jetzt kennenlernen!

2 Ausgaben ab 17,20 €

document8814581758639446400.indd 1 08.11.17 17:17

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EDITORIAL

FROM THE EDITOR

Devon: the English landscape that inspires stories

INEZ SHARP, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF i.sharp@spotlight-verlag.de

Reclam

Reclams Rote ReiheEnglische und amerikanische

Literatur im Original, mit prakti-schen Übersetzungshilfen. Über 180 Bände lieferbar!

www.reclam.de

306 S. · ISBN 978-3-15-019913-8 · € 8,80Niveau B2 - C1 (GER)

Gestrandet auf einer einsamen Insel hält Robinson Crusoe Kultur und Christentum

hoch – besonders, als er auf die »Wilden« trifft. Ein Abenteuerroman und zugleich

eindrückliches Dokument kolonialis-tischen Denkens. Die gekürzte Fassung ent-hält alle wesentlichen Passagen im Original, verbunden durch englische Überleitungen.

Englisch lernen – einfach

beim Lesen!

187 S. · € 6,80 · ISBN 978-3-15-19930-5

Was bedeutet es, heute als Schwarzer in den USA zu leben? Der vielfach aus-gezeichnete Journalist und Buch autor Ta-Nehisi Coates schreibt über seine

persönlichen Erfahrungen und die schwie-rige Suche nach der eigenen Identität.

Ein authentisches und aktuelles Porträt einer Gesellschaft, deren Geschichte des

Rassismus bis heute nachwirkt.

Niveau C1

NEU

Reclams Rote Reihe

Englische und amerikanische Literatur im Original.

Mit praktischen Übersetzungshilfen. Über 180 Bände lieferbar!

e all have attachments to certain landscapes — usually those of our early years or first loves. And so it is for me with the English county of Devon. My parents met there in the 1950s, and stories from Devon were included in every chap-ter of my childhood. Mostly these were set on or around the rolling hills of Exmoor in the north of the county. But the picturesque coves and beaches in the south are just as lovely. The whole of Devon is famous for having inspired writers and film-makers, from Agatha Christie to Steven Spielberg. In search of these literary connections, I visited Devon earlier this year. Join me on my journey of discovery. It begins on page 18.

To do Devon justice, we asked the Devon-based artist Becky Bettesworth to allow us to use one of her images on the cover — you may remember her Cornwall cover in August 2016. Once again, we are delighted with the results. Find out more about her work at: beckybettesworth.co.uk

Did you notice that when you picked up this is-sue of Spotlight it felt a little heavier than usual? That’s because we have an interesting extra this month. On pages 59–67, you can find out more about our sister publication Business Spotlight. Editor-in-chief Ian McMaster presents elements from the magazine that focus on business and in-tercultural skills, technology and management. Take a look, and find out why Business Spotlight is the perfect learning complement to Spotlight.

W

Spotlight 12/2017

Contents December 2017 6 World Map M

Move it or lose it: a global look at the levels of physical activity of people in various nations

8 In the Spotlight E M A News and views from around the world

13 Living Language A Why translation software is just not enough

14 Peggy’s Place M Visit Spotlight’s very own London pub

15 Britain Today E Colin Beaven on a Lego Christmas

16 A Day in My Life M + A wedding planner in the

marriage capital of Britain

29 American Life M US + Ginger Kuenzel on living a good life

30 Food A A visit to an important seed bank in England

34 History M US The day 30 years ago when the Soviets and the Americans agreed on arms control

43 I Ask Myself A US Amy Argetsinger on football and race

68 Index E M A Your guide to the year 2017 in Spotlight

70 Artisans M US Meet David Esterly, who carves delicate works of art from wood

72 The US in Germany M US Texas-born Gregory Prade and his light design studio near Lake Starnberg

76 Short Story M “The queen’s wish”

80 Arts M Films and an exhibition

81 Around Oz A Peter Flynn on the dangers of sitting

82 Press Gallery A + Comment from the English-speaking world

84 Feedback & Next Month E M A Your letters to Spotlight

and upcoming topics

86 My Life in English E Actor Daniel Rodic

15 Sprachseiten 44 Vocabulary M +

A nativity play

46 Everyday English M + Decorating for Christmas

48 The Basics E

Easy English

50 Spoken English M +

Using the word “on” in conversation

51 English at Work M + Ken Taylor answers your questions

52 The Grammar Page M + “Always” and the present continuous

53 Language Cards E M A Pull out and practise

55 Lost in Translation A A fun look at interesting words

56 Words that Go Together E + Play and learn: the collocation game

58 Crossword E M A Find the words and win a prize

4 

36

Your Christmas reading list

M

Treat yourself, friends and family to the gift of books in English this holiday season. The

Spotlight team review 10 selections, from thrillers to fascinating works of non-fiction.

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For more information and exercises, see:www.spotlight-online.de

www.facebook.com/spotlightmagazine

ABOUT THE LANGUAGE LEVELSThe levels of difficulty in Spotlight magazine correspond roughly to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:

EASY MEDIUM ADVANCEDA2 B1–B2 C1–C2

Spotlight plusPractise the language and grammar of Spotlight with the exercise booklet plus. For the pages in the magazine marked with this symbol PLUS there are additional exercises in plus.

Spotlight AudioEnjoy interviews and travel stories and try the exercises on the monthly 60-minute CD/download. Look for this symbol AUDIO in the magazine.

Spotlight in the classroomTeachers: this six-page supplement will provide great ideas for classroom activities based on the magazine. Free for all teachers who subscribe to Spotlight.

12/2017 Spotlight 5 

18

Devon storiesM + Join us on a literary journey through the county of Devon in beautful south-west England. Editor-in-chief Inez Sharp introduces the places that inspired such authors as Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Improve your English

CONTENTS

A +

If you haven’t discovered Business Spotlight, this is your chance: included in this issue of Spotlight are several pages from our sister publication that focus on the importance of business English.

Try Business Spotlight59

LESEPROBE

You can read the full article in Business Spotlight 6/2017

WORLD MAP

Get moving! Mithilfe einer App lassen sich die körperlichen Aktivitäten der Menschen auf der ganzen Welt vergleichen. Das Ergebnis? Etwas mehr Bewegung täte uns allen gut.

MEDIUM

Maybe it’s time to ask Father Christmas for a cross-trainer or a treadmill. No? Not a priori-ty? You may reconsider once you have asked yourself the following question: how many steps do I walk each day?

One popular goal is 10,000, though the Na-tional Obesity Forum in the UK considers this to be typical of a “moderately active” life-style. Ten thousand steps correspond roughly to 90 minutes of walking in addition to what you do in your home and in the office.

Researchers at Stanford University in Cali-fornia published a study in Nature that reveals the worldwide average to be 4,961 steps per day. Using data submitted via a smartphone app, the scientists analysed step-count infor-mation from people in 46 countries — from places where at least 1,000 people use the Argus activity app. Hong Kong topped the average daily step-count ranking, with 6,880 steps per day. Indonesia came last, with 3,513. The map shows a selection of countries from the top, middle and bottom of the list.

For more on this topic, see the Around Oz column entitled “Is sitting the new smoking?” on page 81.

Source: Stanford University. Research by Claudine Weber-Hof Foto

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WORLD MAPSpotlight 12/20176 

Brazil 4,289 steps

United States 4,774 steps

moderately [(mQdErEtli]

, mäßig

obesity [EU(bi:sEti]

, Fettleibigkeit, Adopositas-

reconsider [)ri:kEn(sIdE]

, nochmals überlegen

reveal [ri(vi:&l]

, offenlegen, zeigen

source [sO:s]

, Quelle

submit [sEb(mIt]

, übermitteln

treadmill [(tredmIl]

, Laufband

12/2017 SpotlightWORLD MAP 7 

UK5,444 steps

Germany 5,205 steps

India 4,297 steps

Russia 5,969 steps

Turkey 5,057 steps

South Africa 4,105 steps

Japan 6,010 steps

Hong Kong 6,880 steps

Ranked best in the world

Indonesia3,513 steps

Ranked last in the world

Malaysia3,963 steps

Saudi Arabia3,807 steps

China 6,189 steps

8  Spotlight 12/2017 IN THE SPOTLIGHT

IN THE SPOTLIGHTNEWS AND VIEWS

What happens when a child is born too soon? In humans, if a birth takes place at its earliest viable point — 22 to 23 weeks into the 40-week pregnancy — the baby may have only a 50 percent chance of liv-ing, often because the lungs are still devel-oping and are too weak.

An invention described recently in Na-ture Communications offers some hope for future medical solutions. As National Geo-graphic reports, doctors at Children’s Hos-pital Philadelphia have developed an arti-ficial womb. This is a bag filled with a kind of amniotic fluid plus a pump attached to the umbilical cord which sends to the fe-tus the “food” that is usually provided by

Not too small to survive: new hope for babies who are born too early

amniotic fluid [Ämni)A:tIk (flu:Id]

, Fruchtwasser

artificial [)A:rtI(fIS&l]

, künstlich

lamb [lÄm]

, Lamm

preemie [(pri:mi] N. Am. ifml.

, Frühchen-, frühge-boren

pregnancy [(pregnEnsi]

, Schwangerschaft

umbilical cord [Vm(bIlIk&l kO:rd]

, Nabelschnur

viable [(vaIEb&l]

, hier: lebensfähig

womb [wu:m]

, Gebärmutter

the placenta. Researchers have rescued eight preemie lambs in this fashion. All have been born and have since been de-veloping normally.

UNITED STATES

Early may not be too lateEASY US

9  12/2017 SpotlightIN THE SPOTLIGHT

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ISRAEL

Shalom, NetflixMEDIUM AUDIO

In the world of television production, small budgets are an extremely lim-iting factor — but not so in Israel, TV critic Einav Schiff told The Economist.

Instead, the country has gone from strength to strength in a TV- hungry market, says Schiff, with “complex series created in frugal conditions — making the most of them”. The result has been a num-ber of TV shows that have done well inter-nationally. Examples include the short-lived series Prisoners of War, which was reimagined as the US mega-hit Homeland. An entertain-ing Israeli quiz show called Still Standing — its highlight, a trap door that opens to “disappear” unspec-tacular contestants — has exported 5,000 episodes to 15 countries.

“Producers here work much hard-er at adapting to the world,” said Tel Aviv-based TV producer Avi Armoza, who manages the show.

If Netflix is any measure of the global potential of a series, then Israel seems to be doing all right,

even in Hebrew. The shows, which are all subtitled, tend to lean heavily on this small country’s reputation for riveting spy thrillers.

ANTARCTIC

Fruit cake foreverMEDIUM

Does anyone really like fruit cake? Let’s be honest: this wintry confection does not have too many fans. Explorers are a notable exception.

The recent discovery of a 106-year-old piece of fruit cake provides evidence to sup-port this rule of thumb, reports The New York Times. According to the New Zealand based Antarctic Heritage Trust, the cake was found in its original Huntley & Palmers’ tin in Antarctica’s oldest building, a structure erected in 1899 and used a decade later by British explorer Sir Robert Falcon Scott.

“It’s an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions,” Lizzie Meek of the trust told the Times, and it’s still a favourite item on “modern-day trips to the ice.”

The cake, described as “almost” edible, was one of 1,500 artefacts collected on the site since May of last year. It is thought to have belonged to Scott, a captain in the British Royal Navy who led his second expedition to the icy wastes from 1910 to 1912.

All I could think of was ‘I’m going to die for no other

reason than I am black and my skin color is somehow a threat.’

artefact [(A:tIfÄkt]

, Gegenstand

edible [(edEb&l]

, essbar, genießbar

erect [I(rekt]

, errichten

fruit cake [(fru:t keIk]

, Früchtekuchen, -brot

item [(aItEm]

, Artikel, Element

notable [(nEUtEb&l]

, bemerkenswert

rule of thumb [)ru:l Ev (TVm]

, Faustregel

tin [tIn]

, Dose

adapt [E(dÄpt]

, sich anpassen

contestant [kEn(testEnt]

, Mitbewerber(in), Kandidat(in)

frugal [(fru:g&l]

, bescheiden

Hebrew [(hi:bru:]

, Hebräisch

reputation [)repju(teIS&n]

, Ruf

riveting [(rIvItIN]

, fesselnd

strength: go from ~ to strength [streNT]

, sich immer stärker entwickeln

trap door [)trÄp (dO:]

, Falltür

US football player Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks in a letter posted on Twitter about a racial

profiling incident with the police.