Siobhan Dowd, The London Eye Mystery

Chapter 1 definition or example German

abacus beads small balls which slide along wires in a frame, used for count-ing

Kügelchen in einem Rechen-brett

to loop From high up you can see how the Thames loops.

sich winden

straight (adj.) On the ground the river looks straight.

gerade

a spoke one of the thin of metal that con-nect the centre of a wheel to its outer edge

Radspeiche

a hawser a thick rope or cable Tau; Trosse

oesophagus the tube through which food passes from the mouth to the stomach Speiseröhre

to seal sth to close a container tightly verschliessen; versiegeln

to appear They waited for him, but he didn’t appear.

erscheinen; auftauchen

Chapter 2

to leave a trail of devastation Dad thinks Auntie Glo leaves a trail of devastation.

eine Spur der Verwüstung hinter-lassen

clumsy (adj.) It was clumsy of me to say such a thing, and I’m sorry for it.

ungeschickt

to upset sb/sth (upset/ upset) She sometimes upsets people. durcheinanderbringen

evil (adj.) He is an evil man, who enjoys harming others.

böse; teuflisch

to be a handful to be a person or an animal that is difficult to control

schwierig sein; jemanden in Trab halten

shreddies

a type of breakfast cereal of thin crisp strips of wheat shaped into larger pieces. It is eaten with milk and sometimes sugar

to complain about sb/sth Dad complained about his socks getting lost in the wash.

sich beklagen über jemand/ etwas

spare (adj.) Mum was looking for a spare sock for him.

überzählig; e

an emblem One of the letters had our school emblem on it.

Logo; Abzeichen; Wappen

to hiss ‘Get stuffed, you creep,’ Kat hissed.

fauchen

to go off the rails to start behaving in a strange or unacceptable manner, for exam-ple, drinking a lot or taking drugs

auf die schiefe Bahn geraten

to skive Kat had been skiving. blaumachen; schwänzen

to bunk off Dad used to bunk off when he was Kat’s age.

a fag He would smoke fags in the park.

Zigarette; Kippe

a tower block Barrington Heights was the tallest tower block in our borough.

Wohnsilo; Hochhaus

a borough Stadtteil; Stadtbezirk

to be socially excluded People who were socially ex-cluded used to live there.

sozial ausgegrenzt werden

to shoplift People took drugs and shoplift-ed there.

Ladendiebstahl begehen; klau-en

in revenge They would do this in revenge for being excluded.

aus Rache

a council The council had decided to blow up the building.

Gemeinderat

edible (adj.) Mum sniffed the envelope as if it was edible.

essbar

an anticyclone There won’t be any rain as we are moving into an anticyclone.

Hockdruckgebiet

a coincidence It is no coincidence that Katrina has the name of a hurricane. Zufall

a common an area of open land in a town or village that anyone may use

Allmend(e)

Chapter 3

to make up (made/ made) I want to make up with you. sich versöhnen

a curator a person whose job is to be in charge of the objects or works of art in a museum or an art gallery

Kurator(in)

elaborate (adj.) Auntie Glo writes with elaborate words.

kompliziert; ausführlich

an ironing board Salim says he can sleep on the ironing board.

Bügelbrett

insane (adj.) Kat said Auntie Glo sounded insane.

wahnsinnig; geisteskrank

the oesophagus A bad feeling went up my oe-sophagus.

Speiseröhre

to be caught out I had been caught out again. hereingelegt werden

to lump it Mum said Kat would have to lump it.

sich damit abfinden

a lilo Salim would sleep on the lilo. Luftmatratze

gleeful (adj.) Dad looked gleeful when he said that.

schadenfroh; hämisch

scalding hot (adj.) In my mind’s eye I saw a scald-ing hot tsunami wave.

siedend heiss

Chapter 4

a bob a style of a woman’s hair in which it is cut the same length all the way around

Bubikopf

can’t help (doing sth) You couldn’t help noticing her dark pink nail polish.

nicht anders können als

a fashion editor She was fashion editor of Elle magazine.

Moderedakteur

to fling (flung/ flung) Mum flung the door open when Auntie Glo arrived.

werfen

to be all the rage School uniforms are all the rage now.

voll im Trend sein

a disguise The formal look is a disguise. It hides the rebel within.

Tarnung

hilarity (n.) Their costumes caused a great deal of hilarity.

Gelächter; Fröhlichkeit

a tumbler Kat had out our best tumblers for drinks.

Trinkglas

a minx a girl who is clever at getting what she wants, and does not show re-spect

kleines Biest; Range

a casserole Mum served out chicken casse-role.

Eintopf

to chuckle Aunt Gloria chuckled when I told her what I thought.

leise lachen

to frown I frowned because I knew that Kat was lying.

die Stirne runzeln

half term a week of holidays in the middle of a school term

kurze Ferien während eines Se-mesters

to embody sth This artist embodied the twenti-eth century.

etwas verkörpern

a weirdo I know I’m a weirdo. Spinner; Kauz

as far as X is concerned As far as I’m concerned, I’d like to be famous, too, one day.

was X betrifft

It’s a deal. We’re going on the London Eye – it’s a deal!

Abgemacht!