ANSWERS

1. We’re on the first floor

UK US A. ground floor first floor

B. (in the) city centre downtown C. underground subway D. single ticket one-way ticket E. toilets restrooms F. lift elevator G. car park parking lot H. lorries trucks I. petrol station gas station J. motorway freeway

2. Could you spell that, please?

A. catalogue

B. programme (In an IT context, “program” is used in British English.) C. theatre D. organised ( Note: Business Spotlight follows the Oxford English Dictionary in using the “z” endings -ize and -ization for many words that are typically spelled -ise and -isation in British English, for example “organise” and “organisation”.) E. cheque; F. favour; G. licence H. practise (practise sth. ( UK) = etw. üben; practice = Praxis, Übung)

3. What does that mean?

(These terms are in US English.)

A. income statement = Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung B. sales tax = Umsatz-, Mehrwertsteuer C. raise = Gehalts-, Lohnerhöhung D. expiration date = Ablaufdatum E. labor union = Gewerkschaft F. fine print (the fine print = das Kleingedruckte) G. inventory = Bestände H. checking account = Girokonto

4. Getting down to business

(These idioms and phrases are in US English.)

A. barrelhead (cash on the barrel(head) = bar auf die Hand) B. horn (blow one’s own horn = sich selbst loben; auf die Pauke hauen) C. wrench (throw a (monkey) wrench in(to) the works = Sand ins Getriebe streuen, behindern, stören) D. stone (be stone broke = total blank sein) E. ride (give sb. a ride = jmdn. im Auto mitnehmen) F. shoe (If the shoe fits, wear it. = Jeder zieht sich den Schuh an, der ihm passt.)

5. What do they want to say?

A– 2 What’s up? = Hi!, Hallo! ( US: used when you greet someone) / Wo liegt das Problem? ( UK: What’s the problem?)

B– 1 It was a real bomb! = Das war der Hammer! ( UK: positive statement) / ( US: negative statement) C– 1 be in the same ballpark US = von derselben Größenordnung sprechen; this expression comes from US English, but it is also now common in UK English.

D– 2 feel sick = sich krank fühlen ( US: you are ill) / einem übel sein ( UK: you are about to vomit) E– 2 have a lot on one’s plate UK = viel um die Ohren haben; this originally British idiom is also used in US English now. F– 1 table an issue = ein Thema verschieben ( US: postpone an issue to a later date) / ein Thema vorbringen ( UK: put an issue on the agenda)

6. An email from Boston

A. Mr. (In US English, words such as “Mr.”, “Ms.”, “Dr.” are written with a full stop.) B. 6/4/2019 (In US English, the order of dates is month/day/year.) C. on Park Street (In US English, it is “on” not “in”.)

D. Monday through Friday (This means “from Monday to and including Friday”.) E. 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (In US English, a colon is used with digital times; in UK English, a full stop is used.)

F. Don’t (In US English, a word following a colon is written with a capital letter if the statement is a complete sentence.) G. Sincerely (This is how you would close a letter in US English. It is also common to write “Kind/Best regards”, unless the letter is very formal. “Yours faithfully” is also wrong in British English, as this is only used when there is no name in the salutation but just “Dear Sirs” or “Dear Sir or Madam”. Otherwise, it is “Sincerely (yours)” or “Kind/ Best regards”.

Note: In US English, a comma is always used after the salutation (Dear Mr. Fowler,) and closing (Kind regards,). In UK English, the comma is often omitted.

7. It’s grammar time!

A. has got

B. at the weekend (different preposition) C. needn’t (In UK English, “needn’t” is often used, but “don’t need to” may also be used; in US English, “needn’t” is unusual.) D. are (is) (In US English, a singular verb follows a collective noun; in UK English, a singular and a plural verb may be used, depending on whether the group or the individual is being referred to.) E. Have you seen (In UK English, you use the present perfect here with “yet”.)