Spotlight_Audio_2011-03_Booklet.pdf

Spotlight Audio

Das Hörmagazin für Englisch

Testing your

English

Who killed

Mrs Sutton?

3/11 www.spotlight-online.de

LANGUAGE

MYSTERY

Spotlight Audio 3/2011

Introduction

[1] David: Welcome to the March 2011 edition

of Spotlight Audio. I’m David Creedon from

Britain...

Anne: ...and I’m Anne Alexander Sieder from

the United States. Join us now for a 60-minute

expedition around the English-speaking world

— with stories, language tips and exercises.

David: We’re talking about testing in our Lan-

guage Focus. You can test your knowledge of

English verb tenses and prepositions on tracks

8 and 9.

Anne: We have a mystery story for you, too.

What happened to Margaret Sutton? Find out in

“Missing in March”, on tracks 14 to 19.

David: You can read along with the texts and

interviews in your audio booklet, which now

contains the entire transcript. If you’ve

received Spotlight Audio as a download, you’ll

find the booklet as a PDF file which you can

either print or read on screen.

People

[2] Ozzy Osbourne

So finden Sie sich in jeder Metropole zurecht.

Anne: Ozzy Osbourne is known for his strange

and shocking behaviour. The 62-year-old

British rocker was recently in the news for

something else, though: making a contribution

to science. David will tell us more, as he reads a

short text from Spotlight ’s People section.

Schnell und einfach fit

in Englisch!

Scientific American reports that rock star Ozzy

Osbourne has had his genome sequenced.

Ozzy said he wanted to know why he is still

alive and healthy despite all the drink and

drugs. Knome, the company that analysed his

DNA, found an unusual gene variant affecting

alcohol consumption. They also discovered a

segment of Osbourne’s chromosome that may

indicate a Neanderthal ancestor.

Source: Spotlight 3/2011, page 6

Mit dem Sprachmagazin Spotlight

verbessern Sie Ihr Englisch für

Urlaub, Alltag oder Job.

Testen Sie jetzt die aktuelle

Ausgabe kostenlos!

www.spotlight-online.de/probe

affect

betreffen

ancestor

Vorfahr(in)

genome: have one’s

sein Erbgut entschlüsseln

~ sequenced

lassen

make a contribution

einen Beitrag leisten

mystery story

Kriminalgeschichte

A Day in My Life

[3] Businessman Neeraj Kanwar

I’m going to fight it out and I’m going to get

this company to where it is.”

When I went to South Africa when we took over

their company, I saw a very cold environment:

various walls between different cultures and

different colours of skin. To me that was, in liv-

ing in the 21st century, just a do-or-die kind of a

situation — that these walls had to be broken.

And literally we went on the shop floor. We pat-

ted people on the back. We started speaking to

workmen — to blue-collar, to white-collar —

and there were walls that we broke.

See: Spotlight 3/2011, pages 8–9

We’ve bought a new telephone. It was time for

an upgrade. If we had a better phone, we

thought, we might get better phone calls.

The phone we chose was German, which is no

doubt why there’s something about “Reiner

Sprachklang” written on the box it came in.

He’s a famous German actor, I believe; I’m sure

I’ve seen him in various old Bond movies. Does

that mean we now get a real live film star ring-

ing us up?

More realistically, it’s probably one of those

voices that make your satnav sound like some-

body famous. Drivers like to hear Marilyn Mon-

roe or Margaret Thatcher telling them which

way to turn. From there, it’s a small step to

answering the phone to Angelina Jolie or

Angela Merkel.

If you think this all sounds desperate, you’re

right. Our old telephone had become such a

nuisance that we’re relying on help from the

latest German technology.

All the calls we get are from people trying to

sell us things. In fact, most of them are lying to

sell us things. They tell us we filled in one of

their surveys or asked them for a quotation —

all completely untrue. Since they seem to

behave like Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter

movies, they might at least sound like him.

With Ralph Fiennes on the phone, we might

actually listen.

Actually, since all the people who ring us are

clearly reading a script, they could easily offer a

choice of voices, with a list of options like the

ones you get when you ring up the bank.

You can imagine the sort of thing: “To help us

improve our service, please listen carefully to

the following options. If you want to pretend to

buy double glazing from George Clooney, press

1. For Audrey Hepburn, press 2. To hear some-

one with a really funny voice, continue to hold.

David Beckham will be with you shortly.”

None of this would really be an improvement,

of course. When you’re on the phone, you just

want to talk to a human being. A list of mecha-

nized options is the last thing you need.

David: Our A Day in My Life section takes us to

India this month. Correspondent Douglas

Bolduc spoke with Neeraj Kanwar, who is the

managing director of a tyre manufacturing

company in New Delhi. In our excerpt from the

interview, Kanwar talks about his business phi-

losophy and the kind of working environment

he tries to create.

Neeraj Kanwar:

We say that we are one family. We all are in it

together, and success will be first shared inter-

nally and then externally. We’ve done that a

number of times, and we’ve run it by example.

I think communication between two individu-

als becomes very important: open communica-

tion in the open environment.

If I create an environment where it’s a very cold

environment, then the guy comes to work at

9.30, he leaves at 5.30, and he has no emotion-

al bond with the brand or with the company.

You know, he... It’s his duty, because he needs

to make money for his family. He needs [his]

daily bread and butter, so he comes in, he

punches his card, does his work; out he goes.

I don’t want that. I want people emotionally

encouraged to come to work, to say that “No,

David: A white-collar worker is one who works in

an office. Blue-collar workers, on the other

hand, do physical labour — perhaps in a factory.

bond Bindung

brand Marke(nname)

bread and butter Brotverdienst

do-or-die alles oder nichts

double glazing UK Isolierverglasung

fight it out sich durchbeißen

hold dranbleiben

literally im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes

managing director Geschäftsführer(in)

nuisance Ärgernis, Störung

pat sb. on the back jmdm. auf die Schulter

klopfen

punch one’s card seine Lochkarte einlesen

quotation Kostenvoranschlag

ring (up) UK anrufen

run sth. by example etw. beispielhaft vormachen

satnav

Britain Today

[4] Famous phone friends

Anne: There are so many ways to communicate

today: e-mail, chat, text messaging, or social

networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Is

there any reason to use a telephone any more?

Our British columnist, Colin Beaven, has some

ideas that could make telephoning more fun.

Navi(gationsgerät)

script

Drehbuch, Manuskript

shop floor

Fabrikhalle

shortly

in Kürze

text messaging

SMS

upgrade

Aufrüstung, Verbesserung

But when you’re the one who’s making the call,

that’s exactly what you get. Whether it’s the

bank or the credit-card company, you just have

to be very, very patient, in the hope that you’ll

eventually get through to a real human being.

Three cheers for people who work in call

centres!

They’re often criticized, but why? They general-

ly do their best to help, and you speak to a dif-

ferent person every time you ring up, so it can

be a wonderful way to make friends from all

over the world. You often get a Scots or an Asian

accent — in fact, I recently found myself listen-

ing to a lovely American accent. None of these

people were able to do anything to help, but

they were all perfectly charming, and it’s nice to

feel part of the global English community.

So, the best way to reduce the stress of owning

a telephone might be to spend all day ringing

up different call centres. It’s a great idea. I’ll get

on the phone quick before someone else calls

to try and sell me something. Oh, too late.

“Hello, Herr Sprachklang! Listen! I loved your

last film. I’m really sorry, but we don’t need any

double glazing. Marlene Dietrich called us yes-

terday, and we bought from her. We shouldn’t

have, but when Marlene wants me to do some-

thing, what am I to do? I can’t help myself.”

Source: Spotlight 3/2011, page 13

Debate

[5] Should prisoners be able to vote?

think. Freedom involves all sorts of things, and

if you’re takin’ away their freedom, you’re

takin’ away their freedom to go where they

want and do what they want. And one of the

things that you should take away is their free-

dom to vote, I think.

in prison for four years or less will be able to

vote in future elections.

David: Should murderers be allowed to vote?

What about people who have committed lesser

crimes, like stealing or using drugs? In Britain,

it doesn’t matter what you’ve done: if you are

in prison, you are not allowed to vote. A man

named John Hirst recently brought a case to

the European Court of Human Rights. He had

killed a woman with an axe 25 years earlier, but

he argued that he should still be allowed to par-

ticipate in Britain’s political process.

Anne: For our Debate section, correspondent

Julian Earwaker asked people on the streets of

Ipswich, England, if they believe that prisoners

should have the right to vote. Here’s what four

of the respondents had to say.

Focus: Test-taking

[6] Testing, testing

Emily Jenkins:

I don’t think so, no — because they’ve given

up their right. They’ve committed a crime and

they’ve been imprisoned for it, so perhaps

they shouldn’t be involved in the changes in

society.

Anne: How do you feel about tests? It seems

that some people are natural-born test-takers,

while others get so nervous they can barely

think.

David: I remember I was relieved to be done

with exams when I finished school.

Anne: Me, too. But are you ever really com-

pletely done with exams? There are lots of

situations where an adult might need to take a

test.

Matt Sayles:

They’re part of the country, regardless of

whether they’re in prison or not. I’m presuming

that someday they will be out of prison. And if

they’re out of prison next year and they’re vot-

ing in the government for next year, then per-

haps they should have a right. Mind you, if

they’re inside, then their terms in prison are

determined by who the government is. So,

yeah, either way, I think they should probably

have the right to vote.

See: Spotlight 3/2011, pages 36–37

Cheryl Wilkinson:

I think they should, yes. They’re in prison and

they’re serving their time, so to speak, for the

crime they’ve committed. But they’re still [citi-

zens], so I think they should have citizens’

rights. If they feel excluded when they’re

inside, they’re not going to probably feel very

good when they come out.

axe

Axt

barely

kaum

commit

begehen

determine

bestimmen

eventually

irgendwann, schließlich

forfeit

verlieren, verwirken

mind you

also, wohlgemerkt

presume

annehmen

regardless of

unabhängig davon

David: Remember the axe murderer John

Hirst? The European Court of Human Rights

agreed with him, saying that Britain must allow

at least some prisoners to vote. The govern-

ment has now announced that people who are

relieved

erleichtert

respondent

Befragte(r)

serve one’s time

eine Haftstrafe absitzen

Dick Underwood:

I think they forfeit that right when they go into

prison. It should be part of the punishment, I

term

Haftzeit

three cheers for ...

ein dreifaches Hurra auf ...

What am I to do?

Was soll ich tun?

●

David: That’s true — especially when learning a

language. You take a placement test before

starting a new language course, to find out

what level to start at. And having an official

language qualification can help when you’re

looking for a new job.

Anne: Testing is the topic of our Language

Focus. In the March issue of Spotlight maga-

zine, you’ll find sections of a real test from the

not-for-profit testing organization telc, which

stands for “The European Language Certifi-

cates”. telc offers more than 50 different exam-

inations in nine European languages.

David: Here are a few tips to help you do well

on language tests. First, prepare as much as

you can for the specific test you’ll be taking.

Look for books and online materials, and con-

sider taking a course.

Anne: Be familiar with the format of the test

beforehand, so you don’t have to use valuable

time trying to figure out how it works. But do

take time to read the instructions!

David: If you don’t know an answer, don’t

waste time on it. Move on to another question

and then come back later.

Anne: And if you still don’t know the answer,

making a guess is better than leaving a ques-

tion blank.

[7] Interview with Lynn Brincks

students who wanted to show, oh, maybe they

didn’t do as well in school as they had liked,

and they’d like to show that, yeah, they actual-

ly can use the language.

So I think there are different motivating factors

for people in that regard. Yeah. Maybe it’s just

what they need to help them get past their fear

of speaking a language, or their fear of using a

language, or, yeah, to prove to themselves that

“Hey, maybe I can do this! This maybe isn’t

quite as bad as I thought it might be.”

It’s very gratifying to know that you have suc-

cessfully completed a test after having worked

towards it for some time.

David: 2. Frank was very ill last week, but he is

getting better now. ...

Anne: Right! “Is getting better” is in the present

continuous form, which you use when talking

about things that are happening at the

moment — and for things which are changing

and developing, like Frank’s health.

David: We’ll hear from a specialist on testing

now. Lynn Brincks, from the state of Iowa in the

US, is a test developer with telc. She talks here

about the importance and benefits of testing.

Lynn Brincks:

I think language qualifications are really impor-

tant. You could probably say that maybe every-

one needs one, especially in Europe, because

there’s such an emphasis on being able to use

different languages, et cetera. I think adults

definitely can take advantage of language

tests, especially if they haven’t used different

language skills for some time. They can show

that their foreign-language skills are what they

need for their job; they can show that they

have specific language skills. So I think testing

in general is very helpful, because it shows in

an objective way that you do have the skills or

the language that you need to be able to do

what it is that you want or need to do.

I used to work as a teacher, and so — actually,

yeah — I met quite a few people who were

interested in taking language tests. Many of

them wanted to prove that they were able to

do certain things — maybe to show that they

had the language skills to apply for a certain

job, maybe to show either themselves or their

employer that they were able to meet the

requirements that are needed. [Some were]

David: 3. Diane has learned to speak Spanish. ...

Anne: Right! The present perfect is correct

here, because Diane learned to speak Spanish

in the past and can still speak it today.

David: 4. Lori is my oldest friend. I knew her all

my life. ...

Anne: Wrong! Since you’re still alive, and Lori is

still your friend, you should use the present

perfect here, too: “Lori is my oldest friend. I

have known her all my life.”

[8] Test on verb tenses

Anne: Now try a test on some important areas

of grammar which you might find on a stan-

dardized language test. We’ll start with verb

tenses. You’ll hear four sentences. After the

tone, decide if the sentence was correct or

incorrect. Then I’ll tell you the answer and

explain why it’s right or wrong.

beforehand

im Voraus

benefit

Vorteil, Vorzug

David: 1. I have enjoyed the movie last night. ...

Anne: That’s wrong! You watched the movie in

the past, and this event is over, so you use the

past simple to talk about it: “I enjoyed the

movie last night.”

blank

leer; hier: unbeantwortet

figure out

herausfinden

format

Aufmachung, Ausführung

get past

überwinden

gratifying

befriedigend, erfreulich

not-for-profit

gemeinnützig

placement test

Einstufungstest

regard

Hinsicht

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