World and Press December
December 2021 • No 23 | 24 • 73rd Year of Publication • Original Pressetexte aus britischen und US-amerikanischen Medien € 5,00 [d] Sprachtraining • Landeskunde • Vokabelhilfen • Übungsmaterial IN FOCUS • Opinion: The Queen deserves better from her family • In Focus: Post-Merkel era needs radical new direction, says study Pages 2/3 USA • Reparations: Charleston seeks to atone for sins of slavery • Lifestyle: The era of beach driving may be coming to a close Pages 4/5 BRITAIN • COVID-19: Britons weigh their ‘price of freedom’ • Monarchy: The queen and the 13 presidents Pages 7/19 B2–C2 OTHER TOPICS • Ireland: Goats return to County Dublin to protect hills from wildfires • Business: What can companies do to retain staff? • Upcycling: Will consumers find upcycled foods appetizing? • Science: NASA wants to harvest water on moon and Mars Pages 9/10/17/22 Get the vocabulary trainer! www.phase6.de/wp/2421 Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. €5,60 [a] CHF9,00 [ch] | Photo: NYT Emma Raducanu galvanized the British public with her triumph in the U.S. Open. The 18-year-old tennis star showcases the diversity of a more complex Britain. Read more on page 12 0 – 2 TO RENAMEumbenennen — bet Wette — frontier “frøn"tI´‘ Grenze; h.: (fig) Dimension — to rise to prominence “"prÅmIn´ns‘ Berühmtheit erlangen — recognizable “"rek´gnaIz´b´l‘ erkennbar — unmistakable “ÆønmI"steIk´b´l‘ eindeutig; untrüglich — overhaul “"--hO…l‘ Generalüberholung — to de-emphasize s.th. h.: den Schwerpunkt von etw. wegnehmen — corporate logo Firmenlogo — infinity-shaped “In"fIn´ti‘ in Form e-s Unendlichkeitssymbols — askew “´"skju…‘ schief 3 – 5 to punctuate “"pøNktSueIt‘ (fig) unterstreichen — to refocus neu ausrichten — unification Many restaurants claim to be the birthplace of the hamburger. But it seems chopped meat served between or inside bread is nearly as ancient as civilization. Read more on page 18 Facebook renames itself Meta TECHNOLOGY The social network said the change was part of its bet on a next digital frontier called the metaverse. By Mike Isaac 1 FACEBOOKrose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognizable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F. No longer. 2 On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, deemphasizing Facebook’s name and rebranding itself as Meta. The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain, but under the Meta umbrella. 3 The move punctuates how CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the metaverse. At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the many social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to spread hate speech and misinformation. 4 “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, Zuckerberg said, speaking Thursday at a virtual event to showcase Facebook’s technological bets of the future. “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.” 5 With the change, Zuckerberg telegraphed that his company was going beyond today’s social networking, which Facebook has been built on since it was founded 17 years ago. Having Facebook as the corporate name when the company now owned many apps and was fundamentally about connecting people was no longer tenable, he said. 6 That was especially the case, Zuckerberg said, as Facebook has committed to building a composite universe melding online, virtual, and augmented worlds that people can seamlessly traverse. He has said that this concept, known as the metaverse, can be the next major social platform and that several tech companies will build it over the next 10-plus years. On Monday, Facebook had signaled its intent to be a big player when it separated its virtual reality and augmented reality business into a division known as Facebook Reality Labs. 7 But evolving Facebook into a metaverse company will take time since the concept is theoretical and may take years to achieve. Facebook and its sister apps also remain a giant business, generating more than billion in annual revenue and serving more than 3.5 billion people globally. 8 The timing of the name Vereinigung — disparate “"dIsp´r´t‘ grundverschieden — to distance s.th. from s.th. e-e S. von etw. abgrenzen — to showcase präsentieren — to telegraph signalisieren — fundamentally im Wesentlichen — tenable “"ten´b´l‘ vertretbar 6 to commit to h.: s. konzentrieren auf — composite “"kÅmp´zIt‘ umfassend — to meld kombinieren — augmented “O…g"mentId‘ erweitert — seamlessly nahtlos — to traverse “tr´"v‰…s‘ durchqueren — intent Absicht — player Akteur — division Geschäftsbereich 7 – 9 to evolve into s.th. zu etw. weiterentwickeln | Photo: Unsplash | Photo: Getty Images change has a double advantage. Facebook has grappled with some of the most intense scrutiny in its history in recent weeks. Lawmakers and the public have criticized its Instagram photo-sharing app for hurting some teenagers’ selfesteem, and the company has faced questions for its role in amplifying misinformation and stirring unrest with inflammatory content. 9 The outcry reached a fever pitch after Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, leaked internal documents that showed how much the company knew about the harmful effects it was Continued on page 12 — billion Milliarde — annual revenue “"rev´nju…‘ Jahresumsatz — to grapple with s.th. mit etw. zu kämpfen haben — scrutiny “"skru…tIni‘ Untersuchung; Kontrolle — lawmaker Abgeordnete(r) — self-esteem Selbstwertgefühl — to amplify “"œmplIfaI‘ verstärken; hervorheben — to stir unrest zu Unruhen aufstacheln — inflammatory “In"flœm´t´ri‘ hetzerisch — outcry “"--‘ Aufschrei — fever pitch (fig) Siedepunkt; große Aufregung — to leak enthüllen — harmful schädlich
