Editorial
In this issue, we shine the spotlight on a serious environmental issue facing the world’s waters.
In the famous poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, written by the English poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), a sailor tells the story of the long sea journey from which he has recently returned. The bestknown lines in this poem are “Water, water every where, nor any drop to drink”. The sailors are surrounded by undrinkable seawater, but have no fresh water to quench their thirst. If Coleridge were relating the sailor’s experiences nowadays, he would no doubt reword his poem to refer to something else entirely — “Plastic, plastic everywhere, and no one stops to think”. The issue of plastic waste, and the ways in which it is polluting rivers and oceans, is the topic of our special Global Business focus (pp. 14–21) and of our Facts & Figures section on pages 22–23.
On a happier note, we are proud to announce the launch of our new audio product, Business Spotlight express, which will help you both to boost your word power and to improve your listening skills. Twice a month, we will present key terms from the world of work in this 15-minute audio vocabulary trainer — focusing on topics such as talking about your job, taking part in meetings, building business relationships or talking about specialist areas such as finance, law or production. You can listen to two issues of Business Spotlight express free of charge by going to www.business-spotlight.de/express-abo. Take the sound of business with you everywhere! We look forward to your feedback.