14 News & Topics
14 News & Topics August 1 2022 | World and Press Brexit study reveals impact on UK citizens in EU SOCIETY • BREXIT A survey of Britons on the Continent shows ‘deep transformations’, shame, and disappointment. By Jon Henley 1 THE FIRSTmajor study since Brexit of UK citizens living in the EU has revealed its profound impact on their lives, with many expressing serious concerns over their loss of free movement and voting rights – and a very different perception of Britain. 2 The survey, of 1,328 British nationals across the continent, showed that if “the public narrative suggests Brexit is done and dusted, it has brought deep transformations to the lives of British citizens in the EU and EEA”, the study’s co- A pro-EU campaigner waves the EU flag outside Parliament in London this past February. | Photo: Picture Alliance/EPA lead, Michaela Benson, said. “The long tail of Brexit is evident in its continuing impacts both on the way they live their lives, and in its lasting significance for their sense of identity and belonging,” said Benson, a sociology professor at Lancaster University. 3 The survey, conducted between December 2021 and January 2022, a year after the end of the Brexit transition period, and part of a wider project by Lancaster and Birmingham universities, found 59% of respondents had lived in their country of residence for at least five years and most intended to stay. But many were angered by their loss of free movement, meaning they can no longer move within the EU for work, or retire to another EU country, and especially worried about being unable to return to the UK with non-British family members in future. 4 Asked whether their past or future migration plans had been affected by Brexit, 27% of respondents said it had affected them a great deal, and 14% a lot. “Where does one even start?” was the response of one British citizen living in Belgium. “Loss of rights like freedom of movement around the EU and to the UK. With a wife who is an EU citizen, I had to decide whether to move to the relevant EU country or stay in the UK. Family now cannot move back to Britain. Uncertainty.” Another said: “I moved to France in 2020 in order to protect my right to live and work in France post- Brexit. My migration is 100% a result of Brexit.” 5 Brexit, and the British government’s handling of the COVID pandemic, strongly affected 80% of respondents’ feelings towards the UK, with responses including “deep shame”, “disappointment”, “a shit show”, “embarrassed to be British”, “shambolic”, and “like watching a house on fire”. 6 Just over 30% still felt very or extremely emotionally attached to the UK, compared with 75% who said they felt a very or extreme emotional attachment to the EU, and 59% who felt the same in relation to their country of residence. 7 “For me, one of the most interesting things the survey reveals is this sense of disappointment, shame, and anguish over Brexit and the pandemic – and a really quite pronounced expression of European identity,” Benson said. … © 2022 Guardian News and Media Ltd 0 – 1 TO REVEALzeigen — transformation Veränderung — shame Scham — free movement Freizügigkeit — perception “p´"sepS´n‘ Wahrnehmung 2 national Staatsangehörige(r) — done and dusted (fig) abgeschlossen — EEA = European Economic Area Europ. Wirtschaftsraum — co-lead mitverantwortl. Leiter(in) — long tail (fig) Langzeitfolgen — lasting nachhaltig — significance “sIg"nIfIk´ns‘ Bedeutung — sense of belonging Zugehörigkeitsgefühl 3 – 4 transition period “trœn"zIS´n‘ Übergangsphase — respondent “rI"spÅnd´nt‘ Befragte(r) — country of residence “"rezId´ns‘ Land des ständigen Wohnsitzes — migration plan “maI"greIS´n‘ Umzugsplan — a great deal sehr stark — relevant “"rel´v´nt‘ entsprechend 5 – 7 shit show (slang) Desaster — shambolic “Sœm"bÅlIk‘ (coll) chaotisch — to feel attached to s.th. s. etw. verbunden fühlen; s.w.u. attachment Verbundenheit — anguish “"œNgwIS‘ Schmerz — pronounced ausgeprägt In a massive Chinese sinkhole, scientists find a secret forest GEOLOGY Researchers say the hole could be home to previously unidentified plant and animal species. By Marisa Iati 1 AT THE BOTTOMof a sinkhole, ancient trees stretch nearly 130 feet high. Dense plants cover the ground, and a rare type of bamboo grows. 2 Cave explorers discovered the hidden forest this month when they descended into a previously unexplored massive sinkhole in south China’s Guangxi region. Researchers say the hole, which is roughly 630 feet deep and spans more than 176 million cubic feet, could be home to previously unidentified plant and animal species. The sinkhole Dashiwei Tiankeng, located in the same region of China as Shenying Tiankeng. | Photo: Picture Alliance 3 The finding is less surprising than people might expect, said George Veni, executive director of the New Mexico-based National Cave and Karst Research Institute. “It’s not unusual to have trees growing out of cave entrances,” said Veni, who was not involved in the new research. “It’s just that this [sinkhole] is particularly large and particularly deep, so it’s not the sort of thing that most people would expect.” 4 Giant sinkholes are common in this part of China, a UNESCO World Heritage site. They are a feature of some karst landscapes and form when groundwater dissolves bedrock, causing the ceiling of a cave chamber to collapse. Large sinkholes are known in Chinese as “tiankeng,” or “heavenly pits.” 5 The sinkhole near Ping’e village is known to local residents as Shenying Tiankeng, or “the bottomless pit.” From a distance, the cliff looks like a pair of soaring wings, the ‘Guangxi Daily’ newspaper reported. 6 The researchers arrived at the sinkhole May 6 and saw dense trees blocking the bottom of the pit, the newspaper reported. They used drones to explore the area and then rappelled and hiked to the bottom for several hours, passing dense thorns and fig plants. They found three caves in the wall that may have formed early in the sinkhole’s evolution, Zhang Yuanhai, senior engineer at the Institute of Karst Geology at the China Geological Survey, told Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. 7 While trees exist in other sinkholes, Veni said they can only grow if the hole is shallow enough and has a big enough opening to let in sunlight. The newly explored sinkhole is almost definitely home to small animals, such as insects, that are currently unknown to scientists, he said. … © 2022 The Washington Post 0 – 3 SINKHOLEDoline — unidentified “ÆønaI"dentIfaId‘ unbekannt — to stretch reichen — bamboo Bambus — cave explorer Höhlenforscher(in) — to descend into “dI"send‘ hinabsteigen in — to span umfassen — 176 million cubic feet ca. 5 Mio. m 3 — executive director “Ig"zekj´tIv‘ Geschäftsführer(in) — karst Karst 4 – 5 giant “"dZaI´nt‘ riesig — World Heritage Site “"herItIdZ‘ Welt(natur)erbe — to dissolve lösen — bedrock Grundgestein — pit Grube — soaring hochragend 6 – 7 to rappel “rœp"el‘ (AE) s. abseilen — to hike wandern — thorn Dorn — fig plant Feigenpflanze — state-run staatlich — shallow flach — currently “"kør´ntli‘ derzeit
World and Press | August 1 2022 Literature 15 By Malcolm Forbes 1 IN 2014,Audrey Magee announced her arrival on the literary scene with ‘The Undertaking,’ a powerful and perceptive debut that illuminated some of the calamities of World War II through the separate ordeals of a German husband and wife – hers domestic on the home front, his militaristic on the Eastern Front. Eight years on from that debut, the Irish author returns with a follow-up. ‘The Colony’ plays out in a smaller space to that of its predecessor, but it proves fertile ground for exploring big ideas, widespread tensions, and fatal consequences. book world ‘The Colony’ by Audrey Magee 2 The book opens with Mr. Lloyd, an English artist, heading out to sea in a fragile hand-rowed currach. His destination is a remote island of only 92 inhabitants off the west coast of Ireland. His aim is to spend the summer of 1979 painting cliffs. “I like being on the edge,” he tells 15-year-old James, one of the few islanders who speaks English and isn’t put out by his presence. 3 Just as Lloyd is adapting to the rhythms of island life, along comes another outsider. Jean- Pierre Masson, a French linguist who specializes in “languages threatened with extinction,” has been visiting the island for the past five years as part of a project to write a history of Gaelic. Unlike Lloyd, he can communicate with the locals and has earned their trust. 4 When Masson moves into the cottage next to Lloyd’s, each man accuses the other of encroaching upon his turf and causing a disruption: Lloyd needs solitude and silence to paint; Masson needs full immersion in the Irish language and no proximity to an English speaker. 5 As their rivalry intensifies – and as Lloyd works away at his “Irish version of a Gauguin painting” – the people on whose land they have briefly settled slide into sharper focus. Mairéad, a young widow, starts to pose for Lloyd in secret as a nude life model; her hot-headed brother-in-law Francis unleashes his jealousy and displays his political colors; and James, her son, discovers his artistic potential, turns his back on a career as a fisherman, and decides to follow Lloyd to London. 6 Magee skillfully traces the disintegration of old certainties and best-laid plans on the island. Interspersed with this main narrative are snapshots of a bigger, more devastating picture, that of Northern Ireland engulfed by sectarian violence. Short, sobering reportage of tit-for-tat atrocities read like a catalog of brutality. Killings become so frequent that it isn’t long before news of them radiates down to the island in a series of shock waves that infuse conversations and inform opinions. 7 Magee tells her tale in other interesting ways. Her characters’ dialogue is terse and direct. Some inner thoughts are relayed as streams of consciousness, others as snatches of verse: “isolated beauty / continent’s outpost / empire’s edge.” From this patchwork prose, Magee weaves a vivid, thought-provoking novel about language, art, colonialism, and the Troubles. © 2022 Star Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ‘The Colony’ by Audrey Magee, 384 pages, is published by Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0571367597. 0 – 1 PERCEPTIVE“p´"septIv‘ scharfsinnig; einfühlsam — calamity “k´"lœm´ti‘ Katastrophe — ordeal Qual — follow-up Nachfolger; h.: neuer Roman — to play out s. abspielen — predecessor “"pri…dIÆses´‘ Vorgänger — fertile ground “"f‰…taIl‘ fruchtbarer Boden — widespread weitverbreitet — tensions “"tenS´nz‘ Spannungen 2 – 4 fragile “"frœdZaIl‘ instabil — currach “"kør´‘ traditionelles irisches Boot — to be on the edge am Rande stehen; (fig) ein exzentrisches Leben führen — put out verärgert — threatened with extinction “Ik"stINkS´n‘ vom Aussterben bedroht — Gaelic Gälisch — to earn s.o.’s trust jds. Vertrauen gewinnen — to encroach upon s.o.’s turf “In"kr´UtS‘ (fig, coll) in jds. Revier eindringen — disruption “dIs"røpS´n‘ Störung — solitude “"sÅlItju…d‘ Einsamkeit — immersion “I"m‰…S´n‘ Eintauchen — proximity “prÅk"sIm´ti‘ Nähe 5 rivalry “"raIv´lri‘ Rivalität — to intensify s. verschärfen — to slide into sharper focus (fig) genauer in den Blickpunkt rücken — nude life model Aktmodell — hot-headed hitzköpfig — to unleash “øn"li…S‘ entfesseln — to display one’s political colors seine politische Gesinnung zeigen — to turn one’s back on s.th. (fig) etw. den Rücken zukehren 6 skillfully geschickt — to trace nachzeichnen — disintegration “dIÆsIntI"greIS´n‘ Zerfall — best-laid sorgfältig durchdacht — to intersperse “ÆInt´"sp‰…s‘ einstreuen — snapshot Momentaufnahme — devastating “"dev´steItIN‘ erschütternd — to engulf erfassen — sectarian violence “"vaI´l´ns‘ religiös motivierte Gewalt — sobering ernüchternd — tit-for-tat Rache- — atrocity “´"trÅs´ti‘ Gräueltat — to radiate “"reIdieIt‘ ausstrahlen — to infuse durchdringen — to inform prägen 7 terse “t‰…s‘ knapp — to relay wiedergeben — stream of consciousness “"kÅnS´sn´s‘ Bewusstseinsstrom — snatch Fetzen — prose Prosa — to weave (fig) weben — vivid lebendig; anschaulich — thought-provoking zum Nachdenken anregend — the Troubles Nordirlandkonflikt Englisch für die Kleinsten My first English book Animals ¤ 9,90 [D] ISBN 978-3-7961-1070-2 www.sprachzeitungen.de crossword puzzle | By Katrin Günther All the words are in the articles on pages 14 and 15. Solution on page 16. Across Down 1 4 (of a liquid) To absorb a solid (Sinkhole) 5 A very unpleasant and prolonged experience (Book world) 1 A person who answers a request for information (Brexit) 2 Having or showing sensitive insight (Book world) 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 A marked change in form, nature, or appearance (Brexit) 9 Closeness (Book world) 10 To go or come down (Sinkhole) 16 Connected with what is happening or being discussed (Brexit) 3 A catastrophe (Book world) 6 Flying or rising high in the air (Sinkhole) 8 The hard area of rock in the ground that holds up the loose soil above (Sinkhole) 11 The state or situation of being alone (Book world) 16 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 8 17 Enduring (Brexit) 12 Of little depth (Sinkhole) 18 Making you feel serious or think about serious matters (Book world) 19 Importance (Brexit) 13 Distress (Brexit) 14 To repeat s.th. you have heard (Book world) 15 Chaotic (Brexit) 17 18 16 To go down a very steep slope by holding on to a rope that is fastened to the top of the slope (Sinkhole) 19
