Context 21 USA – Dreams and Struggles: Active Vocabulary

Lead-In
(to be) ashamed of sb./sth. I’m so ~ed of my criminal record. sich für jdn./etwas schämen
(language help)
insight My work experience at the hospital gave me a Einblick;
(task 2c) real ~ into the medical profession. Verständnis

Words in Context

American Dream The American ~ is based on the idea that der amerikanische Traum
(l. 1) anybody can achieve anything in life.
hard work H~ work is a requirement to make the harte Arbeit
(l. 3) American Dream come true.
from rags to riches = from being extremely poor to being very rich vom Tellerwäscher zum
(l. 4) Millionär
Founding Fathers The ~ Fathers were the political leaders who Gründungsväter
(l. 6) signed the Declaration of Independence.
personal liberty ‘You have the ~ liberty to choose any persönliche Freiheit
(l. 8) profession you want.’
individual rights In socialist regimes the citizens’ ~ rights are individuelle Freiheit
often restricted.
© 2010 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

(l. 8)
Declaration of The ~ of Independence is a statement which Unabhängigkeitserklärung
Independence announced that the thirteen American colonies
(l. 9) were from then on independent from the
British Empire.
inalienable rights = rights that cannot be taken away from you unabdingbare Rechte

(l. 10)
liberty = freedom Freiheit
(l. 10)
pursuit of happiness The ~ of happiness is one of the inalienable das Streben nach Glück
rights of each American citizen.
(l. 10)
US Constitution The US ~ was drafted by the Founding die Verfassung der USA
Fathers.
(l. 12)
separate and independent = each political branch is an independent unit einzelne und unabhängige
branches by itself Staatsgewalten
(l. 13)
system of checks and The system of ~ and ~ ensures that the gegenseitige Kontrolle der
balances political branches watch over one another. Gewalten; Gewaltenteilung
(l. 14)
(to) abuse one’s power Dictators tend to abuse their ~. seine Macht missbrauchen

(l. 16)
Bill of Rights The ~ of Rights states the first ten basic Grundrechte der
(l. 19) rights of each American citizen. amerikanischen Bürger

Page 1 of 5
 Context 21 USA – Dreams and Struggles: Active Vocabulary

freedom ‘As long as you live under my roof, you do not Freiheit
(l. 20) have the ~ to do whatever you want.’
citizen Many illegal immigrants dream of becoming Bürger
(l. 20) US ~s one day.
(to) limit the power of the The US constitution is designed to ~ the die Macht der Regierung
government power of the ~. einschränken
(l. 20)
the separation of church In the Middle Ages, the ~ of church and die Trennung von Kirche
and state state was unimaginable. und Staat
(l. 21)
(to) achieve full legal In the 1960s many African-Americans die volle juristische
equality protested in order to ~ full legal ~. Gleichberechtigung
(l. 27) erreichen
Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King was one of the great die amerikanische
(l. 27) leaders in the ~ Rights Movement. Bürgerrechtsbewegung
post-racial society In a ~ society people would no longer be eine Gesellschaft, in der die
(l. 29) discriminated against because of their skin Zugehörigkeit zu einer
colour. ethnischen Gruppe keine
Rolle mehr spielt
© 2010 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

election Barack Obama won the American ~ in 2008. Wahl

(l. 29)
discrimination D~ is an unacceptable practice and can be Diskriminierung
(l. 30) based on race, gender or sexual orientation.
sole remaining superpower Since the end of the Cold War, the USA have die einzige, noch erhaltene
(l. 32) been the sole remaining ~. Supermacht
Anti-American sentiment Some Europeans feel an Anti-American ~. antiamerikanische
(l. 34) Stimmung
American way of life The American ~ of life is admired by many die amerikanische Art zu
(l. 36) people all over the world. leben

Fact File

delegate (n) A ~ represents an organization at a Delegierte(r)

(l. 2) conference or a meeting.
(to) adopt sth. After the 9/11 bombings in the USA new laws etwas verabschieden,
(l. 4) were ~ed to protect the citizens. etwas einführen
self-evident ‘It is ~ that you are bored. I can tell by the look offensichtlich,
(l. 5) on your face.’ offenkundig
(to) abolish sth. Although slavery has been ~ed a long time etwas abschaffen
(l. 11) ago, many African-Americans still feel
discriminated against.
regardless of sth. R~ of the fact that airplanes emit lots of CO2, ungeachtet;
(l. 20) many people favour flying over other forms of ohne Rücksicht auf
travel.
underdog FC Chelsea will play against Leicester City Unterlegene(r);
(l. 22) next Sunday. Leicester is definitely the ~. Schwächere(r)

A1 What Are They Scared of?

(to) be fine with sb. ‘Can we go to the cinema on Friday instead of einverstanden sein mit
(l. 2) Thursday?’ – ‘Yes, that’s ~ with me.’

Page 2 of 5
 Context 21 USA – Dreams and Struggles: Active Vocabulary

season It’s Beckham’s third ~ with Real Madrid. hier: ein bestimmter
(l. 4) Zeitraum; Saison
(to) wrap sth. (in sth.) I ~ my sandwiches in foil to keep them fresh. etwas einwickeln (in etwas)
(l. 16)
(to) aim to do sth. I’ll ~ to do that before lunchtime, but I can’t beabsichtigen, etwas zu tun
(l. 18) promise anything.
(to) have the law on one’s It may not sound fair but he has ~ on his side das Gesetz auf seiner Seite
side so he’ll probably win the case. haben
(l. 23)
(to) be determined to do sth. Despite my injury, I am ~ to run the marathon. fest entschlossen sein,
(l. 25) etwas zu tun
(to) keep sb. from sth. Sorry, I don’t want to ~ you from your work, jdn. von etwas abhalten
(l. 25) but I have another quick question.

A2 Strange Fruit

(to) bear (bore, borne) sth. = grow sth. etwas hervorbringen

(l. 1)
root The hurricane was so strong, it pulled the tree Wurzel
© 2010 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

(l. 2) out of the ground – ~s and all.

twisted His face was ~ in pain. verzerrt
(l. 6)
flesh The smell of rotting ~ lingered in the aftermath Fleisch
(l. 8) of the battle.
crop The ~s will be harvested in September. Getreide,
(l. 12) Feldfrucht

B1 Fundamentalism in America

harm (n) ‘It won’t do you any ~ to rewrite your essay. Schaden
(l. 1) After all, you want to get a better mark.’
sin All religions regard murder as a ~. Sünde
(l. 2)
against all evidence He still claims, against all ~, that Santa exists. entgegen aller Beweise
(l. 5)
(to) follow a course The Prime Minister urged the people not to ~ a einem Kurs folgen,
(l. 7) course of revenge. eine Richtung einschlagen
(to) deny sth. ‘I saw you stealing the T-shirt, so don’t try to ~ etwas abstreiten,
(l. 11) it.’ etwas leugnen
contemporary (n) On average Asian students perform better Zeitgenosse
than their European ~ies.
(l. 14)
mainstream (adj) Mp3 players and laptops have become ~ hier: etabliert;
(l. 29) gadgets among most people. anerkannt
creator One way of interpreting God is as an almighty Schöpfer
(l. 32) ~.

Page 3 of 5
 Context 21 USA – Dreams and Struggles: Active Vocabulary

B2 How Religious Are Young Americans?

questionnaire It would be great if I could just have a few Fragebogen

(introductory text) minutes of your time to fill out this ~.
religious service There will be a ~ service to remember those Gottesdienst
(l. 5) who died in the tragedy.
somewhat It is ~ unusual to see owls in a city centre but ziemlich
(l. 15) one has been spotted from the town hall.
major Our generation has seen some ~ advances in bedeutend,
(l. 17) technology. wichtig

B3 Americans’ Religious Affiliations

Orthodox (adj) If you go to Russia you should visit the orthodox

beautiful ~ churches.
(chart)

C1 The First Amendment

controversy C~ surrounds the government’s plan to Auseinandersetzung,

(introductory text) introduce compulsory identity cards. Meinungsstreit
(to) prohibit sth. Smoking is ~ed inside the terminal area. etwas verbieten
© 2010 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

(l. 3)

C3 Social Studies Lesson

circumstance Due to unforeseen ~s, the performance will Umstand

(l. 8) not go ahead.
(to) conduct a search The police are ~ing a search for the escaped eine Suche leiten
(l. 14) convict.
(to) endanger sb./sth. Driving under the influence of alcohol ~s not jdn./etwas in Gefahr bringen
(l. 26) only your own life, but also other people’s
lives.
optional Maths and English are compulsory subjects optional, fakultativ, freiwillig
(l. 36) but music is ~.
policy I voted for the Green Party because I like their hier: politische Linie;
(l. 45) environmental ~ies. politischer Kurs
(to) secure sth. It’s a bodyguard’s job to ~ their employer’s etwas sicherstellen,
(l. 65) safety. etwas gewährleisten
(to) threaten sb./sth. He was ~ed by the mafia for not paying the jdn./etwas bedrohen
(l. 79) money.
(to) claim to do sth. He ~s to have married her out of love but we behaupten, etwas zu tun
(l. 112) all know it was because of her money.

C5 The Gun Control Debate – A Group Puzzle

control (n) Strict ~s on alcohol sales have been hier: gesetzliche Regelung
(bumper sticker) introduced.
law-abiding I can’t believe that Felix has to go to court. As gesetzestreu
(bumper sticker) far as I know, he has always been a ~ citizen.
(to) be in place The rules are in ~ for your own safety. vorhanden sein
(T-shirt slogan)

Page 4 of 5
 Context 21 USA – Dreams and Struggles: Active Vocabulary

(to) ignore sth. She ~d the warnings and went travelling sich über etwas
(T-shirt slogan) alone. hinwegsetzen, etwas
ignorieren

D2 American Patriots

patriot She’d do anything for her country – she’s a Patriot

(title) true ~.
nationalism N~ is rising in working-class areas with high Nationalismus
(l. 1) unemployment.
(to) live up to sth. I’ll never ~ up to his expectations. etwas erfüllen
(l. 14)
essentially The play is ~ a love story but it also deals with im Grunde
(l. 22) the theme of justice.
principle Killing animals to make food or clothing is Grundsatz
(l. 26) against my ~s.

D3 Smalltown Americans

(to) leap I tried to ~ over the stream instead of using the springen
(l. 3) bridge, but I landed in the water.
(to) insist (on sth.) No, let me pay- I ~! auf etwas bestehen
© 2010 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

(l. 11)
evident Somebody has ~ly been stealing my work. offenbar, offensichtlich
(l. 14)
essentials I don’t have room to pack anything else – just Grundlebensmittel
(l. 20) the ~.
(to) go to waste Tonnes of food go to ~ every week if verfallen
(l. 35) supermarkets can’t sell their produce.

D4 Contradictory Americans

contradictory (adj) The Internet is full of ~ information. widersprüchlich

(heading)
reverse (n) I didn’t mean to get you into trouble – quite the Gegenteil
(l. 8) ~. I wanted to help.

D5 What America means to me

tremendous America’s nature is ~ with its huge open enorm;

(l. 3) spaces. gewaltig
vast We have a ~ collection of books in our library. unermäßlich
(l. 3)
widespread (adj) The earthquake has caused ~ devastation weitverbreitet
(l. 10) across Chile.
attorney (AE) Looking through the old case notes, the ~ Anwalt
(l. 24) discovered a mistake in procedures.
miracle It was a ~ that the boy was found alive. Wunder
(l. 41)

Page 5 of 5