14 News & Topics
14 News & Topics February 2 2022 | World and Press Honeybees survived for weeks under volcano ash VOLCANIC ERUPTION For roughly 50 days, thousands of honeybees sealed themselves in their hives, away from deadly gas, and feasted on honey. mit -Vokabeltrainer By Maria Cramer 1 ABOUT 50 DAYSafter the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands erupted in September, unleashing lava flows and destroying homes, churches, and stores, a beekeeper returned to one of the devastated villages to see what the volcano had done to his hives. What he found shocked beekeepers and delighted scientists: Inside five hives that had been covered in volcanic ash were tens of thousands of bees, still alive and buzzing away. 2 Not only had the bees managed to survive the heat and noxious gases of the volcano, but they also had avoided starvation by feeding off stores of honey inside the hive, said Antonio Quesada, a Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. beekeeper in the Canary Islands and a spokesperson for the Gran Canaria Beekeepers Association. 3 Their survival provided a glimmer of good news for La Palma – a resort island in the Canary archipelago of Spain – which was devastated by the eruption, which continues to spew lava. The island of about 80,000 people employs more than 100 beekeepers who manage hives that hold millions of honeybees and who are vital workers in the local ecosystem and key economic players for those who sell honey throughout the region. 4 The bees’ ability to stay alive in such dire conditions was also a reminder of their toughness, a characteristic that is often overlooked amid news stories about the very real threats they face from pesticides, parasites, and the loss of habitat. 5 The bees, known in the region as the Canary black bee, Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. | Photo: Getty Images used propolis, a resinlike mixture sometimes known as bee glue, to seal themselves inside the hive, he said. “They protected themselves from the gases” of the volcano, Quesada said. The bees also made sure to leave open a tiny pathway to the outside that they could later use to get out, he said. 6 That behavior is typical of honeybees, who use propolis, which they produce from substances they collect from plants and buds, to plug tiny gaps in the hive to protect it from rainwater and drafts, said Nathalie Steinhauer, a researcher in the department of entomology at the University of Maryland. 7 Still, the fact that the bees on the island managed to spend weeks inside the hive insulating themselves from such oppressive conditions was surprising – and even inspirational, Steinhauer said. “It is a very empowering story,” she said. “It tells a lot about the resilience of honeybees.” © 2021 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 0 – 1 VOLCANIC ERUPTION “vÅlÆkœnIk I"røpS´n‘ Vul kanausbruch — to seal o.s. in s.th. s. in etw. ein schließen — hive Bienenstock — to feast on s.th. s. an etw. laben — to erupt “I"røpt‘ ausbrechen — to unleash “øn"li…S‘ ausstoßen — lava flow Lavastrom — beekeeper Imker(in) — devastated “"dev´steItId‘ verwüstet — to buzz away vor s. hin summen 2 – 3 noxious “"nÅkS´s‘ schädlich — starvation Hungertod — stores Vorräte — spokesperson Sprecher(in) — association “´Æs´USi"eIS´n‘ Verband — glimmer (fig) Lichtblick — resort island Ferieninsel — archipelago “ÆA…kI"pel´g´U‘ Archipel — to spew speien — vital “"vaIt´l‘ unverzichtbar — economic player wirtschaftl. Akteur 4 – 5 dire schrecklich — amid “´"mId‘ angesichts — loss of habitat Lebensraumverlust — Canary black bee Schwarze Kanarische Biene — propolis “"prÅp´lIs‘; s.w.u. bee glue Bienenharz (glue Kleber) — resinlike “"rezIn-‘ harzähnlich — pathway Weg 6 – 7 bud Knospe — to plug zustopfen — draft Zugluft — entomology “Æent´"mÅl´dZi‘ Insektenkunde — to insulate o.s. “"Insj´leIt‘ s. schützen — oppressive “´"presIv‘ bedrückend; h.: schwierig — inspirational inspirierend — empowering ermutigend — resilience “rI"zIli´ns‘ Widerstandskraft Get the vocabulary trainer! Can you say ‘Squid Game’ in Korean? LANGUAGES A TV show fuels demand for East Asian language learning. mit -Vokabeltrainer By James Tapper 1 WHETHER IT’Sdown to ‘Squid Game’ or kawaii culture, fascination with Korea and Japan is fuelling a boom in learning East Asian languages. Japanese is the fastest growing language to be learned in the UK this year on the online platform Duolingo, and Korean is the fourth fastest. 2 Most of the interest is driven by cultural issues, the firm said in its 2021 Duolingo Language Report, which will be published tomorrow and analyses how the 20 million downloads of its platform are used. Established elements of Japanese popular culture, such as ‘Pokémon’ and video games, have been joined by a global surge in the popularity of anime such as Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. ‘Dragon Ball’ and ‘My Hero Academia’. 3 Duolingo said that 26% of language learners had been influenced by key cultural moments, A replica of the animated doll from the Netflix series ‘Squid Game’ installed at Sydney Harbour. | Photo: Getty Images such as the Tokyo Olympics and Euro 2020, and by TV shows such as ‘Squid Game’, which saw a 76% rise in Korean learners after it launched in September. A third of learners said they had chosen to watch a film or TV programme in another language. Globally, Japanese overtook Italian to become the fifth most popular language in 2021. 4 Jun Jinushi, executive director of the Japan National Tourism Organisation’s London office, said that the numbers of people travelling from the UK to Japan had been at an all-time high before the pandemic hit. “We have certainly felt the growing interest in Japan and Japanese culture over the past few years,” he said, citing the Rugby World Cup in 2019, and TV shows such as ‘Joanna Lumley’s Japan’, ‘James May: Our Man in Japan’, and ‘Tom Daley Goes Global’. 5 “There may also be something to be said for the ubiquity of Japanese food on UK menus, and a generation of children who fell www.phase6.de/wp/0422 Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. in love with Japanese pop culture now coming of age and reappreciating the country and language that gave them the likes of ‘Pokémon’, ‘Super Mario’, and ‘Studio Ghibli’.” 6 Spanish, French, German, English, and Italian are the most popular languages on Duolingo in the UK, followed by Japanese and Welsh, the fastest growing language last year. Welsh remains popular, according to Colin Watkins, UK country manager at the firm. “We’re almost at two million learners, which I expect we will pass before Christmas,” he said. “The increasing popularity of Asian languages, driven by the interest in Asian culture, point to a fundamental change in learner motivations and a real shift in what the UK wants to learn.” © 2021 Guardian News and Media Ltd 0 – 4 TO FUEL(fig) befeuern — to be down to s.th. an etw. liegen — kawaii culture Konzept der Niedlichkeit in der japanischen Kultur — surge “s‰…dZ‘ plötzlicher Anstieg — all-time high Rekordhoch — to cite nennen 5 – 6 there may also be something to be said for … h.: … könnte dazu beitragen — ubiquity “ju…"bIkw´ti‘ Allgegenwart — to come of age erwachsen werden — to reappreciate “Æri…´"pri… SieIt‘ wieder zu schätzen wissen — the likes of … Dinge wie … — Welsh Walisisch — shift Verlagerung
World and Press | February 2 2022 Literature 15 By Bethanne Patrick 1 IF YOUhaven’t read ‘The Stepford Wives,’ Ira Levin’s 1972 satiric novel, adapted to film in 1975, about a Connecticut town where all the women are perfect helpmeets, no spoilers. The thing to know about ‘The Husbands,’ Chandler Baker’s smart inversion of Levin’s plot, is that in Dynasty Ranch, Texas, the carefully planned “enclave community” outside of Austin where Nora Spangler wants to move with her husband, Hayden, and their preschool daughter, Liv, it’s the male spouses who seem a bit too good to be true. 2 About to make partner at her large personal-injury law firm, Nora has not yet revealed to her old-fashioned boss, Gary, that she’s pregnant with a second child. Groomed by our culture book world ‘The Husbands’ by Chandler Baker to balance family with an ambitious career, Nora feels alienated by Beachbody-workout devotee preschool moms who stay at home, and after a first visit to Dynasty Ranch with a real estate agent and resident named Isla Wong, finds herself drawn to the dynamic, accomplished women who live there, including Alexis Foster-Ross, head of a tech startup and president of the Dynasty Ranch Homeowners Association; Donna Hedges, just elected to the state senate; and Dr. Cornelia White, who provides counseling services for a number of the local couples. 3 Hayden has reservations about the move, but he gets a taste of the place after Nora accepts Dr. White’s offer to represent a neighbor whose husband died in a suspicious fire. Soon the Spanglers are taking part in Dynasty Ranch activities, including a lavish Mother’s Day party and regular sessions with Dr. White. Initially, those sessions involve talk therapy and – to Nora – a somewhat annoying flood of compliments for Hayden. So far, so benign. 4 However, things start to get more intrusive, leading Nora to scrutinize the other husbands. Max Foster-Ross keeps on a tight housekeeping schedule so that his wife can socialize and manage the HOA. When Asher White, Cornelia’s husband, gets an unexpected visitor with a house that’s “an absolute volcano of a mess,” he isn’t flustered. “You’ve caught me mid-Marie Kondo,” he explains. “Don’t you just love an organized closet?” What’s up with the treadmill stress tests, the electromagnetic treatments, and the elegant gold pens each Dynasty Ranch wife seems to keep close? 5 What’s really going on at Dynasty Ranch? As Nora starts to put the pieces together, seeing that the marriage dynamics there are set up for a particular kind of woman, her questions lead her to think about what she really wants for her own marriage and her own life. 6 Baker dedicates her book to “the millions of women who are struggling to be caregivers, mothers, co-workers, and spouses all at once,” and she adds, “women can do anything, but they can’t do everything.” Her novel implies that no easy answers exist, but she’s written a fun, fast-paced book that at least asks the hard questions. Because something needs to change, drastically, if women are expected to continue combining careers with raising families. © 2021 The Washington Post ‘The Husbands’ by Chandler Baker, 352 pages, is published by Sphere, ISBN 978-0751575163. Englisch für die Kleinsten My first English book ¤ 9,90 [D] ISBN 978-3-7961-1069-6 www.sprachzeitungen.de 0 – 1 THE STEPFORDWives dt. Titel: Die Frauen von Stepford — Connecticut “k´"netIk´t‘ — helpmeet Gefährte(-in); h.: Ehefrau — inversion “In"v‰…S´n‘ Umkehrung — enclave community “"enkleIv‘ Siedlung — preschool … … im Vorschulalter — spouse “spaUs‘ Ehepartner(in) 2 to make partner Partner(in) werden — personal-injury law firm Anwaltskanzlei für Personenschäden — to be groomed to do dazu erzogen sein zu tun — to feel alienated “"eIli´neItId‘ s. nicht zugehörig fühlen — devotee “Ædev´U"ti…‘ Fan — real estate agent Immobilienmakler(in) — accomplished “´"kømplISt‘ erfolgreich — homeowners association “´Æs´USi"eIS´n‘ Hauseigentümergemeinschaft — counseling services “"kaUns´lIN‘ Beratung; Therapie 3 – 4 to have reservations about s.th. gegen etw. Vorbehalte haben — to get a taste of s.th. (fig) e-n Vorgeschmack auf etw. bekommen — to represent vertreten — lavish “"lœvIS‘ rauschend — benign “bI"naIn‘ harmlos — intrusive “In"tru…sIv‘ aufdringlich — to scrutinize s.o. “"skru…tInaIz‘ jdn. genauer unter die Lupe nehmen — housekeeping schedule Hausarbeitsplan — to socialize Kontakte pflegen — to not be flustered s. nicht aus der Ruhe bringen lassen — treadmill stress test “"tredmIl‘ Belastungs-EKG 5 – 6 to put the pieces together (fig) ein Puzzle zus.fügen — to dedicate s.th. to s.o. “"dedIkeIt‘ jdm. etw. widmen — caregiver Betreuungsperson — to imply “Im"plaI‘ andeuten — fast-paced temporeich crossword puzzle | By Katrin Günther All the words are in the articles on pages 14 and 15. Solution on page 16. Across 1 Completely destroyed (Honeybees) 6 Harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant (Honeybees) 7 To partcipate in social activities; to mix socially with others (Book world) 9 The ability to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness (Honeybees) 11 A sudden and great increase (Squid Game) 15 To cover and surround s.th. in order to stop heat, sound, or electricity from escaping or entering (Honeybees) 17 To communicate an idea or feeling without saying it directly (Book world) 19 The fact of appearing everywhere or of being very common (Squid Game) 20 S.o. who keeps bees in order to produce honey (Honeybees) Down 2 To cite or to nominate as being issued or performed in s.o.’s honour (Book world) 3 A structure where bees live (Honeybees) 4 Turning upside down (Book world) 5 The state or condition of being liked, admired, or supported by many people (Squid Game) 8 To examine carefully (Book world) 10 Suffering or death caused by lack of food (Honeybees) 12 Opulent (Book world) 13 A fan (Book world) 14 A helpful companion or partner (Book world) 16 A change in position, direction, or tendency (Squid Game) 18 To boost (Squid Game) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
