英検1級合格ブログ

英検1級リスニング対策

リスニング対策にはBBCでも聞きましょう。特に、Global Newsがお薦めです。他には、Newshour、World Business Report、Business Daily、World Updateもあります。合計4つもPodcastを聞けば、イギリス英語もちゃんと聞き取れるようになるでしょう。アメリカ英語から始めたい方は、CNNのAC360と言う番組をお薦めします。アンダーソンと言うイケメンアナウンサーが様々なニュースを議論しています。最近では、「Birther」等についても話していました。もちろん、CNN News Updateも良いです。どうしてもビジネス系が聞きたいという人は、Business WeekやWall Street Journalを聞くと良いです。ただ、BBCのビジネスレポートでもアメリカの内容は十分です。日本国内の内容は、NHK Worldで入手してください。時間が無い時は、Global NewsとこのNHK Worldで十分だと思います。無料でこれだけのニュースが聞けるのは本当に便利だと思います。前に、AFNやVOAのニュースフラッシュを買ったことがありますが、慣れてくれば、必要はないと思います。あと、英語学習者必須のNHKラジオ講座は毎日聞いてください。私は、実践ビジネス英語、入門ビジネス英語、攻略！英語リスニングを聞いています。

時事問題対策

時事問題対策が不足していたので。英字新聞を読んで読解力を強化しましょう。NATO and the Arab SpringBy ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSENhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/opinion/01iht-edrasmussen01.htmlHands Off Our HousesBy MATIAS ECHANOVE and RAHUL SRIVASTAVAhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/opinion/01srivastava.htmlNon Means NonBy MAUREEN DOWDhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/opinion/01dowd.htmlThe Bin Laden DecadeBy THOMAS L. FRIEDMANhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/opinion/01friedman.htmlCutting Out Sugar and SpiceBy RANJANI IYER MOHANTYhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/opinion/02iht-edmohanty02.html

ココ出る特集2

ココ出るかも！コンピュータ系単語cripplerungwhiz kidself-replicatingwell-meaningunleashnew twistwage war againstchange hands科学・テクノロジー系単語cachemacho combatconfer an advantagelifelong homesteadingoverbearingcome to blowscome to termsnebulousdusty cocoonspruce upperchretinablood vesselparochialbasaltinorganic machinewin convertsfigure intofeatfire upsnagaforementionedappendagecatch preyfilamentArchaeopteryxonce and for allto datechart a courseleapfrog経済・ビジネス系単語go awryold-fangledbequeathchapinvariablyoutrightbaronelixirswankytoutchip away atspell doom自然・環境の単語eat awayfungusphosphorusdig into one's pocketearmarkland-conservation trustaquaculturehere to staymake it intoground-uparable landin tattersbreadbasketensueledgerhydrological effect文化・社会の単語concentric circlecontouraptlyroadblocksprawlbriskdebilitategulliblesoothsayerturpitudewould-be seerjump through the hoopsconsagechutzpahespousepositshy oflargesseoverindulgentin a bid to doconstabularykeep in checkkeep one on the straight and narrowhemlinespurnwild goose chasepredispositionrear one's head

ココ出る特集！

出そうな単語をあつめました。litterlividbystandernotaryon the ballon the carpetpass the buckperfunctoryperniciouscallowpesterpigeonholepilferprongquipreprehensibleretrogradationrevereriftsalientscamperscuttleseetheservilelay it onskewsleekslogsmearsnidesnubsordidsparselyspitespurtstaggerstowawaysubsidesubversivesumptuouslurktactlesstaunttetherboltthreadsthwarttide overaffronttransposetriteunabasheduncouthundauntedundulateunrulyunscathedunseemlyvacillatevagrantvaliantlyvauntedvenerableventverbosevergevicariouslyvievilevivaciousvolitionvoluptuousvulgarwaddlewhirwhite elephantwieldwincewistfullywrathwreathwrenchchronic conditionmucusinflammatorybronchodilatorbone marrowmenstrual cyclegerontologistwear and teararteryregimentyphoid fevermaladysatirizetonsilsadenoidsflutteranemicclogged artery英検文で覚える単熟語1級より出題

英検1級語彙直前練習！

英検1級に出そうな単語を集めてみました！peccadilloesrecedesolacebloodlettingsurrealsalaciousscrabblevertiginousstrolluprootbolsternoxiousimperceptibletrebledacarbazinegaitdunesnafumumbo jumbo jihadistfoiegraspenumbramarksmanasphyxiationtrillheathenendemicpariahgenuflectcronylargessefrayidolatrycowerbuckshtickburlylinchpinどうですか？全部わかりましたか？英検1級の語彙は難しいですが、頑張りましょう！

トピック5:E.coliきゅうりの恐怖（ドイツが発生源を探している）

E.coli cucumber scare: Germany seeks source of outbreak Suspicion has fallen on cucumbers from Spain Germans have been warned not to eat cucumbers until tests identify the source of a deadly E.coli outbreak which local officials say has killed 13 people.It is thought contaminated cucumbers were imported from Spain, but further tests are being carried out. Germany has registered 1,200 confirmed or suspected E.coli cases so far.With cases reported in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK, Germany is set to hold crisis talks later.In many of the reported cases, the gastrointestinal infection has led to Hemolytic-uremic Syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney problems and is potentially fatal. Export chain One woman was taken to hospital in Poland on Monday. She was said to be in a serious condition after returning from a trip to the northern German city of Hamburg, which has seen the majority of infections.Authorities in the Czech Republic, Austria and France have taken some Spanish-grown cucumbers off shop shelves amid contamination fears.Czech officials said contaminated cucumbers may also have been exported to Hungary and Luxembourg.Suspicion has fallen on organic cucumbers from Spain imported by Germany but then re-exported to other European countries, or exported directly by Spain. Austria has banned the sale of cucumbers, tomatoes and aubergines imported via Germany, while Russia has banned the import of some vegetables from Germany and Spain. "If the situation does not change, then we will ban all European vegetable products," Gennady Onishchenko, the head of Russia's consumer protection agency, was quoted as saying by Interfax.Two Spanish greenhouses identified as sources for the outbreak have been closed and are currently under investigation to see whether the outbreak originated there or elsewhere, said an EU spokesman.Spanish officials have said Europe should not be so quick to blame Spanish produce, and said they would seek a response from the EU for damages incurred by the claim."You can't attribute the origin of this sickness to Spain," said Diego Lopez Garrido, Spain's Secretary of State for European Affairs. "There is no proof and that's why we are going to demand accountability from those who have blamed Spain for this matter," he told reporters in Brussels.Contagious cucumbers? The Sweden-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has called the outbreak "one of the largest described of HUS worldwide and the largest ever reported in Germany".Twelve of the outbreak's 13 fatalities have been women. All but one of those deaths were recorded in northern Germany, but fears that the outbreak was spreading increased when a 91-year-old woman died in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.Continue reading the main story Hemolytic-uremic Syndrome? Usually occurs when digestive system infection produces toxic substances ? Toxic substances destroy red blood cells and can cause kidney failure ? Severe cases can cause failure of nervous system The head of Hamburg University's Eppendorf Clinic, Joerg Debatin, said more deaths were expected, as 30 people infected with HUS had lost kidney function. German authorities have warned the outbreak may get worse as its source may still be active.As German media reported the number of people infected had risen to 1,200, Health Minister Daniel Bahr was preparing to hold emergency talks with Consumer Affairs Minister Ilse Aigner and regional state representatives to discuss the outbreak, officials said.Meanwhile, the authorities in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony expect the number of seriously ill patients to rise, because it can take up to 10 days for symptoms of infection to appear, the news website Spiegel reported.Doctors are pinning their hopes on Eculizumab, an antibody treatment that has worked in the past against HUS, correspondents say.The head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's national disease institute, has warned people to avoid eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce.But RKI President Reinhard Burger said the source of the contamination had not yet been clearly identified, AFP reported.The outbreak has baffled scientists because whereas HUS normally affects children under the age of five, in this instance nearly 90% are adults and two-thirds are women, says the BBC's Stephen Evans in Berlin.One possibility is that they became infected after eating food for what they thought were health reasons, adds our correspondent. The DNA of the bacterium is to be analysed later to try to find ways of catching it early in people infected by it.The sickness is not directly contagious but it can be transferred between people if an infected person prepares food for others.食に関するニュースは日本でも大きく取り上げられていたので、使えるニュースだと思います。

トピック４：イギリス君主制に対する民主主義ケース

Friday, Apr. 29, 2011Royal Pain: The Republican Case Against Britain's MonarchyBy Nick CohenDuring one of the royal pageants that periodically choke the streets of London, a conservatively dressed American approached me."You must be so proud," she trilled, and she became quite truculent when I told her I felt nothing but shame. "How can you hate your country?" she snapped. "What's the matter with you?" "I don't hate my country," I replied, "and there's nothing the matter with me. Like you, I am a republican."Foreigners rarely realize that British republicans have always opposed monarchy because they love their country and want to end the humiliation of a Hanoverian state's smothering our best democratic impulses. When the 18th century English dissenter Richard Price, friend of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, warned that fawning before royalty produced "idolatry as gross and stupid as that of the ancient heathens," he aptly titled his denunciation "A Discourse on the Love of Our Country." (See pictures of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding day.)If you doubt the patriotism of british republicanism, consider trying to explain to an American why the U.S. should import the British constitution. "You must make someone President for life," you begin. "It might as well be Barack Obama, as he's in power now, and all dynasties start with someone's seizing the throne. His heirs will succeed him, however haughty, deluded, infirm or otherwise unsuited for high office they may be. They will be the official heads of state, and the armed forces will swear loyalty to them rather than to the American Constitution." I don't believe you would strengthen your pitch if you concluded, "Tourists will love the American monarchy. Think of the profits for Washington hoteliers!"Outside the tourist trade, it is hard to judge how brightly monarchical feeling burns in Britain as we witness yet another "fairy-tale wedding" and try to stifle the expectation that "Kate and Wills" will follow three of the Queen's four children into the divorce courts. About 20% of the British call themselves republicans ? a cheeringly large number considering that none of our politicians dare question the Crown's existence. In 2005 a parliamentarian proposed to end the system of male primogeniture and allow daughters to succeed to the throne ahead of their younger brothers. The then Labour government, nit-pickingly p.c. in all things except matters royal, slapped down this minor reform. A fine example to ambitious young women, I thought at the time. Beyond Westminster, however, the paralyzing deference to the past is long gone. The mood in Britain today is one not of classic republicanism but of mild interest tinged with boredom. As of late April, about 5,500 applications to hold street parties to celebrate the nuptials had been received. There were tens of thousands of parties, by contrast, to mark the arranged marriage of Charles Windsor and Diana Spencer in 1981. The apparent waning of royalty's magic may be the result of communities' being not as tight-knit as they were 30 years ago. But whatever the complicating factors, only royal propagandists doubt that the marriage of this bland couple is failing to excite the nation. (Watch a video on the Royals through history.)The Charles and Di fiasco explains much of today's indifference. When they wed, it seemed that Britain was in the grip of a monarchical mania every bit as intense as the cult around Emperor Hirohito. But for women in particular, the discovery that the Prince never loved his wife and expected to carry on servicing his mistress represented the moment when they realized that the Crown had taken them for fools. They have neither forgiven nor forgotten.The trouble with monarchy, however, is that, by definition, no one can stop the Prince from becoming King Charles III, because the British are not allowed to vote for their head of state. Charles Windsor constantly interferes in politics and promotes every variety of reactionary superstition and new-age quackery. He sounded like the leader of a messianic cult when he announced in a recent book, "I would be failing in my duty to future generations and to the Earth itself if I did not attempt to ... indicate possible ways we can heal the world." Yet whatever his personal failings, he will be King because he was born to the right mother.On the "big day," the courtier journalists of television news showed cheering crowds outside Westminster Abbey. I don't doubt that millions of Britons celebrated with them. But if the media had taken their cameras to the beaches, parks and pubs of Britain, they would have found millions of others who no longer cared for the spectacle and maybe, just maybe, were beginning to agree with Price, Paine, Jefferson and Franklin that their country deserved something better.Cohen is a columnist for the Observer ロイヤルファミリーに関しては出る可能性が高そうです。（みんなもそう思ってるので、あまり変わらないと思いますが。）

トピック3:イギリスのゴミ輸出

The UK's new rubbish dump: ChinaTomorrow The hi-tech plague that is hurting Africa. John Vidal explores the trade in waste electronicsJohn Vidal The Guardian, Monday 20 September 2004 13.28 BST More than a third of the waste paper and plastic collected by British local authorities, supermarkets and businesses for recycling is being sent 8,000 miles to China without any knowledge of the environmental or social costs - and to the complete surprise of most consumers. New government figures suggest that exports to China are running at 200,000 tonnes of plastic rubbish and 500,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard a year - a huge increase on just three years ago.Much of the plastic sent to China is packaging but a Guardian investigation has found that agents for Chinese companies are now buying up and exporting thousands of tonnes of unwashed bottles, containers, and other household waste."China is buying up everything it can. It is sucking in material from all over the world and it doesn't give two noodles what it takes," said one plastics recycler who asked not to be identified. "I know of 300 firms, mostly in China, offering to buy my plastics. I have three or four companies cold-calling me every day from China requesting material. They have very cheap labour to sort the material but the shame is that it is being done there and not here. They don't care about the quality, or the contamination. No one checks what is sent or what arrives."The British plastics industry admits that the global trade is starving some local recycling initiatives of materials and putting established firms out of business or at risk. According to UK plastic recyclers, agents for Chinese companies areoffering ￡120 a tonne for mixed plastic bottles, far more than British companies can pay. "The industry here can only support ￡50 a tonne. We believe that 10-15,000 tonnes of old bottles are going to China. Yet only about 25,000 tonnes were collected last year", said Stephen Chase of Chase Plastics."The Chinese put me out of business," said Edward Clack, a plastics recycler who invested in two recycling plants in Britain. "Everyone has lost supplies to China. The local market is being starved of materials. Hundreds of brokers are buying up the plastic and shipping it out. It's cheaper to send a container to China than to Scotland."China drives the global waste trade, importing more than 3m tonnes of waste plastic and 15m tonnes of paper and board a year. But the trade is being driven equally by tough EU legislation forcing local authorities and businesses to recycle more. Landfill charges are rising steeply, making it relatively cheaper to send the waste abroad. Meanwhile, major companies have moved in, offering to collect and dispose of large quantities.The trade is made possible by the vast numbers of shipping containers arriving in Britain with Chinese exports. One of Britain's largest freight forwarding companies confirmed that the return waste trade to China is accelerating rapidly."We are shipping a phenomenal amount of waste, maybe 15,000 tonnes a week to China," said a spokesman for Warrant freight forwarders of Liverpool. The current price for sending a standard 26-tonne container of waste plastic to China, he said, is about ￡500.The Tanjin Songzi Import and Export Trade company based in the huge port of Tianjin Xingang is typical of the growing trade. "We are specilize [sic] in import the scrap plastic bottle, waste plastic, waste paper. Europe origin. Please show me your offer," says its advertisement on an international plastics exchange website brimming with traders wanting the raw material for the Chinese industrial revolution.Most Chinese plastic waste importers want pictures of what they are buying, but some are are not fussy. "We buy all types, such as the mineral water bottles, pure water bottles and plastic bottles of other drink. Any specifications will be fine. If you can supply, please email," says Mr Lee of a Shanghai company on the same site.Western plastic companies are setting up in China, but some of the poorest people are employed to sort and recycle the plastic. "Plastic is now one of the biggest industries in Guangdong province, but much of the work is being done by migrant labour earning a pittance," said Martin Baker, of Greenpeace China."I would say that Britain is dumping its rubbish in the name of recycling. It is not responsible recycling that is being done. It is reprocessing, but the methods being used are still mostly rudimentary. There are some good factories, but on the whole it is small scale, done in backstreets with little environmental standards. People are burning plastic, sorting it by hand, the water gets polluted and it goes back into the rivers," he said.UK supermarket chains, some of the largest generators of plastic packaging waste in Britain, are all getting their recycling done in China, said a spokesman for Sainsbury's. "We send 5,000 tonnes of plastic there a year. We used to send it to a firm in Nottinghamshire, but it has closed down," he said. "We looked for others in Britain but no one could match the Chinese option for quantity or price. We would love to see it being recycled here, but it's not possible at present."But Ian Bowles, a spokesman for Asda, said he did not know where the company's plastic recycling was being done. "UK companies pick it up. As far as we know it's being reprocessed here. It could be that excess quantities are going abroad." Other retailers known to be generating large quantities of plastic waste, including Tesco, did not respond to questions about where their recycling was being done.No detailed studies have been done of the environmental costs of shipping vast quantities of waste from Britain to China, but environment groups and MPs were yesterday shocked at the scale of the trade. "Exporting lightweight packaging waste to China makes little sense environmentally," said Liberal Democrat MP Sue Doughty. "It is a failure of the UK recycling market which allows the UK to export plastic for recycling. We have no control over environmental standards in China. Instead of solving the problem we are exporting it. Much more needs to be done to stimulate the markets in the UK so that waste is handled as close as possible to the point of generation."Clare Wilton, wastes spokeswoman for Friends of the Earth, said: "People will be shocked that some of the newspapers and empty drinks bottles they put out for recycling can end up in China. It's an environmental disgrace. The solution is to expand the UK's own recycling industry. This would be good for the environment, create local jobs and help Britain become a leader in green technology."Sending plastic bottles to China is "barmy", said Mike Croxford, manager of Newport Wastesavers, which collects 50 tonnes a month of plastic from 50,000 homes in south Wales. "We should be dealing with the stuff here, but the reality now is that most plastic in Britain is going abroad. I don't think the public knows where some of it goes. If they knew it was going right round the world, they might not encourage it."But other recyclers said it was better to send rubbish to China to be recycled than to put it in landfill in Britain. Andrew Simmons of the Peterborough-based waste charity Recoup buys millions of plastic bottles from UK councils, bales them up, and sells them to a reprocessor who then sells them on to Europe or, increasingly, to China. He rejected claims that Britain was dumping its rubbish on China and said that the environmental cost of sending bottles thousands of miles was negligible compared with making "virgin" plastic bottles from oil.China is increasingly aware that countries are exporting their pollution to them and have imposed strict laws governing what can be exported. Large amounts of German household waste have been found and all waste exports from Japan have recently been halted after electronic and contaminated household waste was found. However, the Chinese authorities, plagued by corruption, are unable to check the contents of all the waste containers that arrive in Chinese ports every year.British plastic bottles are mostly sent to Hong Kong where they are sorted and "flaked" before being sent to factories on the mainland. "One type of plastic bottle goes on to make soft furnishings and clothes, another is made into pellets which are sold back to European manufacturers to make things like plastic bags," said Mr Simmons.This insatiable demand for the world's rubbish, he said, has actually boosted the British market for plastic recyclers, raising the price and making it far more worthwhile for councils to collect and not dump it in landfill. Partly because of this, more than half of all British local authorities now offer plastic recycling.More and more British plastic is likely to go to China, said Tim Frier of Valpac, whose subsidiary, Valiant, collects waste from more than 5,000 businesses in Britain, including supermarkets, pubs and clubs, and sends up to 15,000 tonnes of plastic to China a year. Valpac has just opened an office in China."We will be sending more there. But they have strict rules. The problem was that a lot of waste going to China was contaminated, and not being sorted properly. There were concerns about British waste, too," he said.The government insists that companies have export licences but few if any checks are made in British ports. The Environment Agency admits that it is unable to check what is being exported."There is a legitimate trade in waste exports for recovery involving materials such as paper, ferrous metals, plastics and card. These wastes are classed as 'green list' and are not subject to the same level of control as wastes classed as hazardous," said a spokesman.

トピック2：メラノマに効き目のある薬の発見

トピック2：メラノマに効き目のある薬の発見Drugs Show Promise Slowing Advanced MelanomaDr. Paul B. Chapman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center was a leader in the clinical trial of vemurafenib, which attacks a specific genetic mutation that accelerates tumor growth. By ANDREW POLLACKPublished: June 5, 2011 CHICAGO ? Two new drugs have been found to prolong the lives of people with advanced melanoma, representing what researchers say is notable progress against the deadly skin cancer after decades of futility. Graphic The drugs represent success in two new approaches to combating cancer: one by attacking a specific genetic mutation that accelerates tumor growth; the other by unleashing the body’s immune system to fight the disease “This is an unprecedented time of celebration for our patients,” Dr. Lynn M. Schuchter, a melanoma specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, told reporters Sunday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where the results were presented. The drugs do not cure melanoma, except perhaps in rare cases. But experts said they might add two to several months to the expected lifespans of people with advanced melanoma. Right now people with metastatic melanoma ? meaning it has spread to distant organs ? typically live 6 to 10 months. In one trial, 84 percent of patients taking the experimental drug vemurafenib (pronounced vem-yoo-RAF-en-ib) were still alive after six months, compared with 64 percent of those getting an older chemotherapy drug, dacarbazine. Using another statistical measure, the risk of dying was reduced 63 percent. The effect was so marked that the trial was stopped early for ethical reasons, so that patients in the control group could be offered the new drug. Because of that, researchers do not yet know the median survival. “You don’t need to wait for 50 percent of 675 patients to die to conclude that one drug is much better than the other,” said Dr. Antoni Ribas of the University of California, Los Angeles, who was an investigator in the trial and has been a consultant to the developer of the drug. The other new drug, ipilimumab (pronounced ip-ee-LIM-yoo-mab), when combined with dacarbazine, extended median survival to 11.2 months compared with 9.1 months for those who received dacarbazine alone. After three years, 20.8 percent of those who got that new drug were alive, compared with 12.2 percent of those in the control group. The results of both trials were published online by The New England Journal of Medicine in addition to being presented here. To be sure, more than half of patients with metastatic melanoma would not be helped all that much by either drug. Experts say more needs to be done, especially since melanoma affects more young adults than many other types of cancer. Even if the new drugs allow patients with metastatic melanoma to live two years, “Two years is nothing when you’re 30,” said Dr. Anna C. Pavlick, head of the melanoma program at New York University. Still, doctors and patient groups welcomed the progress because until now treatment of melanoma that had spread beyond the skin to distant organs “was terrible even by routine cancer standards,” said Dr. Vernon K. Sondak, chairman of cutaneous oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Also, the number of melanoma cases has been rising, unlike for many other types of cancer. Doctors say that is because of unprotected sun exposure years ago, the proliferation of tanning salons and perhaps more attention to detecting the disease. There were about 68,000 new cases of melanoma and about 8,700 deaths last year in the United States, up from 48,000 cases and 7,700 deaths in 2000, according to the American Cancer Society. Particularly fast increases have occurred among people older than 65 and among women 15 to 39 years old. Vemurafenib is the latest so-called targeted therapy, which inhibits the effects of genetic mutations that spur tumor growth and spread. In particular, the drug counters the effect of a mutation in a gene called B-RAF that was discovered in 2002 to be common in melanomas. (The drug’s name comes from V600E mutation in RAF.) The drug, which is taken orally twice a day, would be used only by the roughly half of melanoma patients whose tumors have this mutation. The drug significantly shrinks tumors in about half of these patients ? or about a quarter of all melanoma patients. It was developed by Roche and Plexxikon, a biotechnology company in Berkeley, Calif., that was recently acquired by Daiichi Sankyo of Japan. The drug is expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration within a few months. Ipilimumab, the other new drug, releases a brake on the body’s immune system, allowing it to more effectively attack the tumor. Developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, it was approved in March and is sold under the name Yervoy. A series of articles in The New York Times last year followed the development of vemurafenib, then known as PLX4032, and recounted how some patients close to death seemed to make miraculous recoveries. The effect, however, typically lasts only about seven months before the cancer starts to grow again, though some patients benefit for more than two years. S. Taylor Chance, a 67-year-old real estate agent in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has been taking vemurafenib in a clinical trial since March 2010. “If it weren’t for the trial I wouldn’t be here,” she said. It has not been all good. Ms. Chance said the drug caused such extreme pain at one point that “I called in the children and said, ‘I’m done, I can’t do this any more.’ ” But she had her dose reduced and took other medications for the pain. In the trial, sponsored by Roche and led by Dr. Paul B. Chapman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, 38 percent of participants had to stop taking the drug or lower the dose because of side effects, including rash and joint pain. Many patients get minor skin cancers that can be removed by dermatologists. The trial of ipilimumab, paid for by Bristol-Myers, involved 502 patients with late-stage melanoma. Last year at this conference, researchers presented results of a trial showing a survival advantage for patients who had undergone a previous treatment. The new trial of this drug, by contrast, involved patients who were getting treated for the first time. While the extension of median survival of two months, from about 9 months to about 11 months, was less than some experts expected, researchers said the real benefit was that a small number of patients, perhaps 10 to 20 percent, could live a long time. Because it unleashes the immune system, ipilimumab can have serious side effects. In the latest trial, a big one was liver damage. A course of treatment of ipilimumab costs $120,000. The price of vemurafenib has not been announced, but is expected to be at least tens of thousands of dollars per year. Doctors are eager to try the two drugs together. Roche and Bristol-Myers said Thursday that they would conduct such tests. A version of this article appeared in print on June 6, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Two New Drugs Show Promise In Slowing Advanced Melanoma.

読解に出そうな分野はこれ！

トピック1：HIV発見から30年30 years with HIV: 3 men reflectBy Saundra Young, CNN "In 1996, the advent of the protease inhibitor and the so-called cocktail changed the prognosis for HIV, and that therapy has required considerable refinement, because even that therapy had complications from the drugs themselves that caused a lot of damage -- lasting damage -- and many of those long-term survivors suffered and continue to suffer the complications of the earlier medication."Jim Chud is one of those long-term survivors. The 53-year-old AIDS activist says he was a 20-year old bisexual athlete at Yale University when he contracted the virus. Chud thinks it was 1977 when he got sick. He was leading a double life: He had a steady girlfriend, but took weekend visits to the bathhouses in New York.By 1985, Chud was living in Washington. Having watched many of his friends get sick and die, Chud was at the head of the line when the new HIV test arrived. By 1989 he had full-blown AIDS -- the most advanced stages of HIV. "I thought I was going to die," he says. "I didn't think I would see 30."He started volunteering for drug trials. One, a National Institutes of Health study looking at the combination of drugs AZT and DDC, left him paralyzed for four months. He has had more than 30 surgeries on his spine and neck.World economic woes imperil AIDS advancesIn 1999, Chud contracted a fungal infection in his sinuses that spread to his brain. There were more toxic drugs and six more surgeries. Over the years he's been on 12 different HIV drugs. Today he's disabled and along with HIV medications takes prescriptions to battle pain, infections and depression.His concern? That HIV has vanished from the spotlight. "People are still dying, and to think that doesn't happen anymore and isn't newsworthy is a problem. Kids aren't getting the message today that we got many years ago that this is a fatal disease and it's not to be taken lightly."Cleve Jones has never taken the disease lightly. The 55-year-old human rights activist and founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt thinks he contracted the virus in the winter of 1978-79. Jones was living in San Francisco, California, and was working for pioneer gay rights leader and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. AIDS was already exacting a heavy toll on the community. After the HIV test became available in spring 1985, Jones received his official diagnosis."I was living with the virus in my body for a full 10 years before treatment became available," he says.He participated in the first clinical trial looking at multiple drugs, now called combination therapy. But back then the drugs didn't work for very long. "The science was pretty primitive then," he says. "I was always looking a year ahead, two to three years ahead into the research pipeline, knowing that whatever combination was working for me at any particular moment -- the odds were good it wouldn't be working a few months later."Bush led on AIDS funding; will Obama?Today, the prognosis is much better. While other countries continue to struggle to manage the disease, in the United States a diagnosis is no longer an automatic death sentence. But Jones says there aren't many long-term survivors left. "It's bittersweet for us. There is nobody left in my life today that knew me when I was young."When he looks back over the last 30-plus years, Jones can acknowledge how far the fight has come. "I still hope for an outright cure. I still hope for a vaccine. But it took a very long time and there were many dark periods where I felt the world had waited too long to respond."Phill Wilson has devoted his life to stopping the AIDS pandemic in the black community. His diagnosis in 1985 spurred him to help found a number of AIDS service organizations. The 53-year-old was living in Los Angeles, California, with his partner and believes he was infected in 1980 at age 24. Like Chud and Jones, Wilson says he was also one of the first tested and diagnosed and among the first in Los Angeles put on AZT, the first antiviral drug approved for treating HIV.Straight poor at higher risk of AIDS"It was not a question of if you were going to die, it was a question of when you were going to die," he says. "We knew that AZT was not good enough and so the goal was to stay alive until there was another option."Wilson says he no longer remembers what it's like not to live with HIV."When I was diagnosed, a long-term survivor was someone who lived 12 months, and most people were dead in six months. And so there was no expectation that someone would live as long as I have lived."The disease and the drugs took a heavy toll on Wilson. There were three near-death experiences. Once, doctors gave him less than 48 hours to live. "It's hard to describe what it was like living in the middle of the storm during the worst of the plague years. But one of the things that I think happens is when you witness firsthand that kind of death and devastation, I don't think that you are so afraid."In 1999, Wilson founded the Black AIDS Institute, the only national HIV/AIDS think tank that focuses solely on black people. In February, he was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. He is driven and has no plans to slow down.This week Wilson has been in Vienna, Austria, at the 18th International AIDS Conference, keeping his finger on the pulse of the disease. But in the shadow of these new advances, he can't help looking to the past."It's bittersweet, because while it is incredibly inspiring to know that there are going to be people who won't get infected and there are going to be people who get infected and won't get sick and there are people who'll get sick and won't die and that is inspirational, and I can celebrate the life I have to live, but I can never forget all the advances in the world came too late for my first partner and the literally hundreds of people that I know who have died from this disease."

明日は英検1級受験日です！

英検1級を受けてきます！私が考えた予想問題は以下の通りです。エッセイはこれが出るかも。「How can we protect natural resources and culture that include World Heritage by technology, such as surveillance cameras and should companies take their social responsibility more seriously? We should also consider how to use natural energy, robots, bicycles to make our lives better.For political issues, what is the importance of voting and should Japan spend less money on defence?」単語、語彙はこれが出ると良いな。sally,tourniquet,jive,ostracism,autism,gynecologist,jolly along, diuretic, constipation, confetti,hedonism,読解問題、リスニングに出そうなトピックも予想してみます。

April 12

Dialogue1Davis: How effective is this tool?Kubo: Normally, you can improve the rate of production by 10 to 15 %.Dialogue2Turner: We brought you these samples for your next campaign. Sasaki: I like these, but do you think you can improve the quality of paper?Dialogue3Harris: Don’t you think we should consider investing in new machines?Yoshimura: Let’s revisit that option when the market improves. Harris: Okay. Before that, I will see if we can streamline the workflow. Improve one’s working conditionsMake an effort to improveHave plenty of room for improvementTo improve is to enhance in value or quality; make better; to advance or make progress in what is desirable. Foster: I heard that we might have to ship the orders late.Eguchi: This is a serious problem. I’ve arranged a meeting this afternoon to discuss how to solve it. The problem was easily solved.The problem was never solved.

Topic from the Writers' Workshop

Finnish men are drunkards. There are people who can not drink or do not drink. However, being drunkards is the ethnic tendency that they admit. About what they drink, Finnish men drink vodka (votka in Finnish). Especially, it is really strong one. It is Russian cultural sphere about alcohol. After all, they drink vodka on Fridays. If they have their jobs on the next day, they can not drink without anxiety. They drink from six to ten. However, it is from six o’clock in the evening on Friday to ten o’clock in the morning on Saturday. It is a full-course meal to drink until it gets bright by staying up all night. Therefore, the police conduct the alcohol inspection at daytime on Saturday. If it is not the period of time, they can not catch “hard-core drunk drivers.” It is the manner to drink up extremely chilled vodka. If they continue drinking up, the drunkards could fall down. Japanese drunkards do not come back after falling down, but Finnish drunkards sleep about an hour and suddenly get up and continue drinking again. The quality and quantity of their alcohol degrading enzyme must be different. If you want to get along with Finnish men, drink the full-course meal of vodka. It is from the evening on Friday to noon on Saturday. Even though you do not tell anything, if you stay up all night continue drinking, you could be one of lifelong friends. However, you need to be resolutely prepared.

Should the mandatory retirement system be abolished?

The mandatory retirement system should be abolished. It is because there are two reasons to support the statement. One of these reasons is that elderly workers had to be retired by the age of sixty so that it is age discrimination. The other reason is companies loose labor forces by the mandatory retirement system. Since elderly workers have a lot of skills and knowledge, it is better for them not to retire at the age of sixty. It is age discrimination to state that all workers who reach sixty need to retire. Many workers who are sixty can still continue working. Therefore, Japan should change the mandatory retirement system. The corporate workers should request to work after they reach sixty by extending their labor contracts. In this case, it is good for the workers, because they could work after the retirement age. Some jobs, such as artists, politicians, and lawyers do not have the retirement age so they could work until the time they want to retire. It could be difficult for the corporate workers to set the retirement age as people who do not have the retirement age. However, the corporate workers should negotiate with their companies about their retirement age so that the workers could keep working until they wish to retire. The companies loose precious labor forces if there is the mandatory retirement system. So, it costs companies a wealth of experience that elderly workers have accumulated. In order to train young people to do the same level of work that elderly workforce can do, companies have to start from scratch in job training. In conclusion, the mandatory retirement system should be abolished, because it is age discrimination and elderly workers have skills and experience that young workers do not have.

The advantages and / or disadvantages of public transportation

Environmental effects, Traffic conditions, Independence, Costs, Safety, AccessibilityThere are more advantages of public transportation than disadvantages of it. It is because there are three reasons to support the statement. These reasons are that environmental effects of using public transportation, cost of public transportation, and accessibility of public transportation. Firstly, we can save our environment more by using the public transportation. We could take trains, buses, airplanes to travel most parts in the world. Therefore, we should use the public transportation than private transportation, such as private cars, motorbikes, private jets, and so on. We need to reduce the gas that is emitted by the private transportations. If we do not make effort for the environment issue, the earth could be dirty and we might not feel comfortable to live on it. Therefore, we should use public transportation, such as trains and buses to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide. It could be a small step for us, but it would make a big difference in the future. Secondly, we should focus on the cost of using the public transportation. It is much cheaper than the cost of private transportation. It would cost a lot to buy gasoline if we want to drive own cars. Also, there are other expenses, such as parking license, registration fee, inspection fee, and so on to own cars. Therefore, if you want to save money, it is wise not to own private cars and use the public transportation instead. By saving the cost of transportation, we could enjoy better meal, accommodation, or other services. If we have a choice between public transportation and private transportation, we should choose public transportation, because the cost is very different. We should spend least money for transportation. Thirdly, accessibility of public transportation is good in large cities so that we would not worry about waiting for long hours. It could save time by using public transportation, because private transportation, such as cars need time to find a parking space. Comparing with the cars, trains, buses, and airplanes usually have the better accessibility in major cities in the world. Therefore, we should use the public transportation if we want to have good accessibility. In conclusion, we should use public transportation, because it is good for environment, it is cheap, and it has better accessibility. We might spend for other things, such as gifts or services by saving the cost of transportation.

Do professional athletes have a duty to serve as positive role models?

Professional athletes have a duty to serve as positive role models. It is because athletes of Japanese traditional sports, such as sumo are expected to behave well as a positive role model. For example, Asasyoryu needed to behave as yokoduna, the highest rank of sumo competition, but he did not behave nicely so that sumo association had to retire him. Japanese traditional sports, such as sumo and judo require the athletes to serve as positive role models. It is because these sports are national sports and Japanese people wish the athletes to have the high status. Therefore, when Asashoryu caused a social problem of beating a man, the sumo association had to make him quit sumo. This decision was based on the rules of sumo association. Since long time ago, in Japanese society, professional athletes of sacred sports needed to behave well as positive role models. However, Asashoryu did not behave the way that people expected. He was a strong sumo player, but he repeatedly caused problems and his news was on TV. It was because he was a foreign wrestler, he did not follow former customs of sumo. In conclusion, professional athletes have a duty to serve as positive role models. It is because people expect the athletes to behave well as positive role models. When these athletes do not follow the tradition of the sports, it causes problems.

Are books in danger of becoming obsolete?

Books are not in danger of becoming obsolete, because we still read books even though there are electrical books now. One of the issues about books is that they are changing to electrical books. iPad and other products are introduced to read the books electrically. However, people would still feel more comfortable reading paper books. Digital books could be efficient, because of the size and weight, but it would still need time to spread the technology. Most people still read paper books and they are happy by the situation. Some people might use the public library to borrow the books and they are free. It would be more expensive to buy the products for digital books now so that the customers are waiting for the price to go down. The digital books can be useful, because they can download the books for iPad or other products to read, but we still do not feel it is natural to read the books digitally. Some people prefer paper books, because they like the smell of paper. In conclusion, paper books will not be obsolete soon, because people still prefer reading the paper books than digital books. If the prices of digital books become cheaper, the customers might change their attitude and start reading the electrical books.

Should large companies in Japan make English their official language?

I think that the large companies in Japan should make English their official language. There are two reasons to support my argument. One of these reasons is that English is a global language in business situation and workers should speak it fluently to conduct better business. The other reason is that English should be used more in society so that Japanese people’s English ability would be improved. Some Japanese companies, such as Rakuten and First Retailing introduced that English is their official language. It is a good idea for Japanese business, because in a global business situation, English is commonly used so that Japanese workers should also use English. Most multinational companies, such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft are American or Western companies and their official language is English. Therefore, English should be spoken to conduct their jobs at the companies. Some workers might feel that it is not natural to speak English at the corporate meetings, because they used to speak only Japanese, but they will soon adjust to the English environment. For many people, it is better to use English than the local languages, because English is the global language and it is widely spoken. One of the obstacles that people might have by introducing English as the official language of companies is that they might loose the sense of Japanese. In some cases, it is important to keep Japanese tradition. For example, Japanese people take off their shoes when they enter their houses. These small differences in society should not be taken too carefully, but some Japanese people still care about them. In conclusion, Japanese employees should use English as the official language. It is because English is a global language that is universally spoken and most multinational companies use it. Many people will get used to with using English sooner or later so that it will not be a big issue in Japanese companies.

Diary on March 28, 2011

I studied hard yesterday by solving problems for the correspondence course. Also, I sent back a reply to the trial exam for the company. That exam was the translation exam that would test me and decide whether they hire me at a translator or not. So I was a little nervous and took the exam seriously. The exam was about translating the IT related documents and I thought I did pretty well. I used an on-line dictionary to translate it. Today, I listened to the radio English programs for both practical business English and introductory business English. In the program of practical business English, the topic was about April fool’s day again. I think office environment sometimes need to relax so that they need time to say some jokes. However, these jokes should not confuse the works that employees do. In the program of introductory business English, they used two words, such as alliance and align to talk about the business situation. They said that using words other than “communication” would be useful in the business setting.

Diary on March 27, 2011

As I wrote before, I started to study at Fellow Academy’s correspondence course. I have submitted one of the tasks already. I thought the problems were more difficult than I expected, but I will try to continue the course. I listened to NHK radio program. It is going to be a new program from today. It is a start season in Japan so there will be many new programs. The radio program talked about April fool’s day. It is the day that people tell innocent lies and have fun about it. In the radio program, jokes sounded a little surprising for other people. It was because the joke included some kind of nonsense. For example, the office will start from 5 o’clock in the morning. If it was not a joke for April fool’s day, it would be troublesome. New books have arrived at home again. I bought a writing book for TOEFL test. I do not take TOEFL test anymore, but I would use this book to improve my writing skill. I briefly read this book and found out that there were words and phrases that I should use to make my writing better. I used to study abroad to the U.S. so that I have taken TOEFL test before. I used the test to enter the university in the U.S.

Diary on March 25, 2011

Yesterday, I read The Da Vinci Code and now I am reading page 161. The other Dan Brown’s book has arrived at my house, because I bought it in this week. It is “Angels & Demons.” I will read it after I read The Da Vinch Code. The setting of “Angels & Demons” is in Italy. Today, textbooks for the translation school have arrived. I will study translation from now. Also, I received an e-mail that includes translation problems for the lesson at the translation school. I am supposed to solve the translation problems until the class date. This class is an experimental class for students who just want to know what kind of lessons the school is teaching. So, it is only once. I will take the translation course by correspondence. So, I will study at home most of the time and send answers to the problem either online or mails. There are skills when translators effectively translate the sentences so I will try to learn these tips. First, I need to know the basic patterns of translation. First pattern is to get the intension of writers. Second pattern is to use the background information. Third pattern is to keep promises for the expressions.

Diary March 24, 2011

I used SNS site called Lang-8. This site let me post English writings and some people make corrections of writings. Languages are limitless and there are people who are studying various types of languages at the site. I read newspaper. Today, there is a article about the earthquake in Japan. Water in Tokyo was contaminated by radioactive of Fukushima. Some people are worried about drinking tap water. I learned English vocabularies by using Eiken Pass Tanjukugo. I memorize about 20 words. I think it is important to increase my vocabularies. I also used Eiken 1st Grade Vocabulary/Idiom Problems 500. Yesterday, I solved problems of vocabulary so that I will practice reading or listening today. First, I will listen to Jissen Business Eigo, Radio English Program. Second, I will listen to BBC. In the NHK radio program, there is a question. What strikes you as typically American? In the program, popped corn, hot dogs, the backyard barbecue, and apple pies are raise for the discussion. For me, hamburgers and sandwiches are really American. It is because they are fast food and easy to eat. I also like American music, such as jazz, blues, and rock. I often listen to jazz, because trumpet and piano sounds are good to listen.

Now I have a Wells Fargo account

Now I have a Wells Fargo account One of the banks that use has been merged with another bank recently. Wachovia was merged with Wells Fargo. Since Lehman Shock, I heard that Wells Fargo is doing well so that they are trying to expand. I knew this change, because I received a mail that included various document in it. Since I opened my checking account with Wachovia in Philadelphia in 2000, I did not get in touch with Wachovia very much. I was a little worried so that I made a phone call to Wachovia. It was convenient that their customer service center is open for 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. When I told the operater my account number and social security number, I could know my account balance. I asked that the check card will be changed or not. In my case, it will not be changed and the current check card is used to make transaction at ATM machines. My impression about the merger of banks was that I wanted to have a checking account at Wells Fargo that has not been badly damaged by the financial crisis. So, this change looked a good change. I have a bank account of Citibank, but since the Lehman shock, I moved most of my money to Japanese banks that seem safer than Citibank. These Japanese banks are Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Postal Saving. Here in Japan, Postal Saving is quite popular, especially in rural area. It is because post office used to deal with many business and helped rural community. However, post office has been privatized by Koizumi cabinet and they are divided by the businesses, such as a bank, a post office, insurance, and so on. Japanese financial industry is quite different from the one of America or Western countries. This could have been influenced by Japanese people's lifestyle. We carry a lot of cash compared with Americans. Japanese often do not use credit cards when the price of merchandise is low. So, it can be said that Japan is a still cash oriented country. Therefore, you might feel it is less convenient when you go shopping in Japan. It is because you need to withdraw money at ATM before shopping. Another thing about Japanese people's financial philosophy is that they tend to save more than other nationalities. One of the possible reasons for this is that we are sometimes worried about future events that could cost us. For example, when you had a traffic accident, when you lost a lot by gambling, or when the value of your property was significantly dropped by the economic situation.

Diary March 23, 2011

Diary March 23, 2011Today, I started using CNN English Express. This magazine is a monthly magazine that has CNN articles and other useful information about English learning. It included two CDs so that I could listen to CNN articles. Some of the articles were spoken slowly for beginners of English. I practiced writing English by this magazine. I felt this magazine has a lot of problems to practice English so that it is useful. I bought two books that were Matilda and Someone like you. Both books were written by Roald Dahl. I read The Da Vinci Code and looked up words by a dictionary. Now I am reading page 145. Reading paperbacks is time taking, but it helps to improve my reading skill. I will listen to NHK radio program and BBC news. Also, I will read the Economist, Time, and Newsweek. If I had time, I would International Herald Tribune. If I had more time, I would study for Eiken or TOEIC.

Diary on March 22, 2011

Diary on March 22, 2011I read article about failure on Harvard Business Review. It said that the organizations need to deal with staff’s failures. It is important to know how to react with other people’s failures. For my English practice, I read the Economist, McKinsey Review, Time, and Newsweek. Also, I listened to English program of NHK radio. I found that it is very expensive to buy imported magazines in Tokyo. Harvard Business Review costs 3,150 yen. I would rather read it online than buy it. However, there are websites that do not let viewers to read all the contents. The Economist’s site only allows me to read 10 articles. For podcasting, it is the same thing and Harvard Business Review charges me when I try to download the contents. I read The Da Vinci Code a lot yesterday night and now I am reading on page 125. Langdon escapes from the police at museum, because Fache, one of the police officers is suspicious that Langdon killed the museum staff. I will start reading another book from today. It is “Paths of Glory” by Jeffrey Archer. I will read it in Japanese first then I will read it in English.

Diary on March 21, 2011

Diary on March 21, 2011I have read International Herald Tribune and the Economist. I read that the website of the New York Times will charge the fee again for non-subscribers. On the Economist, I read two articles. One was about manufacturing industry in the U.S. and the other was about patent. It said that the U.S. manufacturing industry is on decline. Also, it said the new inventions were prevented by former patents that inventors could be sued easily. Then I solved problems for TOEIC exam. I used an official textbook volume 4. It has two practice exams and I studied one of the practice exams. Since I studied one of the exams yesterday I finished solving all the problems on this book. I thought that the next practice would be the practice by using the Nintendo DS software that I bought before. I listened to NHK radio program as usual and also listened to BBC World News. I took some time to read some articles from Time and Newsweek. I read article about reforming the Wall Street. It has been several years since the financial crisis in the U.S. so that the Wall Street is active by investors who frequently trade their stocks. I bought books from amazon.com. I bought Red October by Tom Clancy, The Firm, Time to Kill, and The Pelican Brief by John Grisham, and Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer. These books were recommended by the website that encourages practicing English. I am currently reading two books. One is The Da Vinci Code and the other is Master of the Game. Now I am on page 73 of The Da Vinci Code, because I read about 20 pages yesterday.

A passage from The Great Gatsby

A passage from The Great Gatsby“I made the pleasure of his acquaintance just after the war. As soon as I’d talked with him for an hour, I said to myself, ‘There’s the kind of man you’d like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister.’ Gatsby’s very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend’s wife.”People talk about Gatsby at his party. Gatsby knows how to socialize with other people. It was the time when the U.S. had a prosperous era. Gatsby enjoyed his life in New York.

The part from The Da Vinci Code

This is the part from The Da Vinci Code and I used it for my English practice. “Langdon could not help but feel a deep sense of loss at the curator’s death. Despite Sauniere’s reputation for being reclusive, his recognition for dedication to the arts made him an easy man to revere.” (Dan p.27) Langdon is a professor at Harvard and polices in France are suspicious on Langdon about murdering Sauniere.

Diary 2 on March 19, 2011

Diary 2 on March 19, 2011I had soba with tempura at the restaurant at Roppongi hills.Then I rented DVDs at Tsutaya, rental DVD shop. One of the DVDs was “precious.”I borrowed books at Takanawa library, the closest library from my house.I borrowed one issue of Time and Newsweek and paperbacks. The books I borrowed were “The Great Gatsby”, “Forest Gump”, “A two year’s vacation”, “The lord of the rings”, “The adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”I have read “The Great Gatsby”, “Forest Gump” in Japanese before.So it would not take long to read them in English. I bought two books that were “50 great short stories” and “The Da Vinch Code.”I will write about these books in the future diary after reading them. I have read “The Da Vinch Code” in Japanese before. I will start reading the paperbacks from “The Da Vinch Code.”I hope to improve my English by reading paperbacks.

Diary on March 19, 2011

Diary on March 19, 2011I will go to the rental DVD shop at Roppongi hills today. As usual, I rent some DVDs there. My favorite genre is drama, non-fiction,Love romance, and action. After that, I will eat lunch. Then I will go to the Takanawa library to borrow books. I will borrow paperbacks to practice my English skill. I will order the textbook and CD of NHK radio English program.I am listening to the program that is called Practical Business English.Since the new program will be started from April, I am looking forward to do it. I think it is one the best ways to practice English is to listen to the program many times.I have been listening to the radio programs of NHK since I was a junior high school student. So, it has been for a long time that I listen to the programs. I started to read paperback of Master of the game and I am reading around page 30.It will be a long way to finish reading this book since this book has 488 pages. However, I will try to read it till the end for English practice. I will focus more on speed rather than understanding the contents.

Diary on March 18, 2010

Diary on March 18, 2010It has been a week since a huge earthquake hit Japan. I will write about what I studied today. The paperback I ordered has arrived today. It is Master of the game by Sidney Sheldon. This book is very famous, because as a paperback, it was a bestseller. I want to read as many paperbacks as possible (around 50 books) to practice my reading skill. I still feel my reading is slow so that I try to read fast. I might try to read without checking words that I do not know. I like reading books so that it will not be painful to continue reading. Also, the English-English dictionary that I ordered has arrived. It is Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 5th edition. I chose this dictionary, because it was very cheap and it was only 350 yen. It was cheap because it was a secondhand book and it is the 5th edition. Normally, people buy the 8th edition that is the latest, but I thought there will not be big changes for this dictionary. I will look up more words by using this dictionary and improve my vocabulary. Other than these things, I listened to BBC’s Biz Daily by podcast. Podcast is useful, because I can listen to the programs by registering to the podcast programs. I have registered for BBC related programs, such as BBC World Update, Business Daily, Business Weekly, Global News, and so on. I have iPod so that I can listen to the programs outside of my house. I use iTune for listening to music that I rented from rental CD shop. I watched the movie, Cove again, because I did not watch it carefully before. It was the story of killing dolphins in the town of Taiji, Japan. American activists claim that dolphins are the same as whales and they should be protected. However, Japanese fishermen do not stop fishing dolphins, because it is for the research purpose. There is an organization by U.N. about whaling, but their help seems to be not enough. This movie helped my English practice so that I would watch other movies.

Diary on March 17th, 2010

I would like to write about what I did today.I walked to the Tokyo Metropolitan Library at Arisugawanomiya Park with my mother. On the way to the library, we walked the route that was a shortcut so that it took about 19 minutes to get there. After arriving at the library, we read books about the earthquakes. Also, I read English-English dictionary. They had Longman, Oxford Word Power Dictionary, and Cobuild dictionary. When it was lunch time we had lunch at the cafeteria. I ordered Ramen. It was tasty, but it was not very good compared with the one at really good Chinese restaurants. For English practice, I did not study much today. I looked up Eiken related websites and I found an English school for Eiken preparation. I read the contents and tried to do the same things as the former students of the school. I knew that shadowing of the Listening section part 2 was effective so that I tried to do it. The book of Eiken has arrived at my house today. They have problems of Eiken from 2003 to 2005. I think it is effective to repeatedly solve former problems of Eiken. Especially, I thought I should write essays followed by the topics of former years so that my writing skill will be improved.

Writing Practice on March 16 No.2

I have been studying English for many hours these days. I used Scientific American and Nature to read and listen to scientific articles.For listening practice, I use BBC and CNBC. I am getting used to with British accent now. Today’s dinner was curry.I am still watching the movie, Mammoth. This movie is O.K. , it was because the man meets with a girl in Philippine. He has a wife in the U.S. and his child is sick. The wife has a baby sitter who is a Pilipino. The man first thought that he can not have a good time with a girl, because he has a wife and not want to cheat her. However, he cheats with a girl. I will study at a translation school from April, but I have not decided yet.As I wrote before, I was supposed to take a level check last Sunday, but it was postponed because of the earthquake. I will need to do better on the test. I heard that I need to be higher than level 4 to take a translation course.

Writing Practice on March 16

Things I studied to progress my English.Since yesterday, I have been reading the website of Newsweek. As I imagined, most articles are about the earthquakes in Japan. Also, I have read Time and looked up words by English-English dictionary on the website. I found that there are differences among Longman, Oxford, Cambridge, and other dictionaries. I have solved listening problems last night and I have done reading questions today. I used the text that is Eiken 1 Grade Reading Problems 120. I felt that there are some science topics in Eiken so that I need to read science magazines. Therefore, I decided to read Scientific Magazine online. On Scientific American, there are also articles about the earthquake and problems of nuclear facilities. I have been watching movies by DVD now. I watched Cove and Mammoth. In Cove, the small town in Japan is focused, because of the killing of dolphins. People are strongly against fishing the dolphins on the movie. They want Japanese to stop eating dolphins (in this case, they are whales), but it is our costume that has been continuing for a long time. Young Japanese who were born after WWII would not eat whales, but people who were born before have eaten whales, it was because whales were served at school lunch. In Mammoth, the man works at company that creates the social community site. The man travels to Thailand and buys souvenirs. IT companies make a lot of money if their businesses do well so that many people would try to work for the industry. I think I am not suited for IT industry, because of weakness in math. I can make programs, but the level is not good enough for professionals. One of the reasons that I do not like working for IT industry is that they have long overtime work. It is famous that IT engineers work endlessly and they are often burn out. It is also true that when IT engineers get older they can not catch up with the new technology. So, IT technology is good for young people, but not for older people. Apple Corporation began to sell iPad2 and some people are interested. One day, I went to Apple shop at Tokyo Midtown and touched iPad. It looked interesting and I thought that I wanted to read digital books by iPad. I like reading books so that in the future, most books will be digitalized and people read books by iPad or other things that are similar to iPad.

英作文の練習2(About situation after the earthquake)

I have watched TV, internet, and listened to radio about the post-earthquake situation since yesterday. It was because the electricity will stop. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has announced that there is going to be planned blackout in Kanto region. They also announced that most of the areas in central Tokyo will not be affected by this blackout. However, surrounding areas, such as Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma will be influenced. They had announced the schedule of the blackout, but they have corrected the schedule several times. Today, the planned blackout of group 1 that was supposed to be conducted from 6:30 has been changed not to do it. I heard that there was confusion about this, because it was too quick for most people to know about the information of the blackout. TEPCO announced about the blackout last night (around 9 o’clock) and it was not early enough for many people. As long as I know, there was an accident at nuclear facilities in Fukushima prefecture. This accident has caused the huge panic of society since this week so that most TV programs have been only taking about this. TEPCO has said the planed blackout will be conducted by 5 groups and we need to know which area we live in. My hometown is Yachiyo, Chiba and it is group 1 and 2. I am not sure why the city is categorized for two groups, but TEPCO said that no city would be selected for more than 1 group so that it is going to be one of the groups. I have been studying for Eiken today. I have done some problems on the reading section. In that section, there are passages to be read and questions to be chosen. Science, internet, and social science are the contents of passages. There are some words that need to be looked up in the passages to understand. I would need to read the descriptions of answers carefully to understand the problems that I could not get points.

英作文の練習1 (Tohoku earthquake and schedule change)

英検のライティングの練習を兼ねて、英作文をやってみようと思います。We had a big earthquake in Japan and we would still need to be careful about other earthquakes to happen. Most trains and buses started to run again, but some people are worried about not being able to get in touch with people in Tohoku region, Northern part of Japan. Most TV channels focus on the topics about the earthquake today. They tell us about the number of people who died by the earthquake and the information to evacuate from Tsunami. Also, they give us the information of people who are O.K. and they want to look for their family members who live in Tohoku regions. Today, my plan has been changed, because of the earthquake that occurred on March 11th. I was supposed to go to English school to take a level check and take a test for translation, but the schedule has been canceled. I knew this information by looking at the website of the school. I was little disappointed about not being able to take the tests today. The tests will be rescheduled on the next week. So, I would study for Eiken exam at home today. I am listening to the English programs that are produced by NHK radio. I am listening to two programs. One is Practical Business English and the other is Introductory Business English. One the advantage of listening to the programs is that my listening skill could be improved. Since I have not been studying English at English conversation school for many months, my listening and speaking abilities are gradually weakened everyday. (260 words)

英検1級までの道のり

英検1級に向けて再度頑張ってみようと思い、勉強を再開した。部屋に置いてあった、英検教本等のテキストを探し出し、さらに単語集や過去問を購入した。英検のサイトからは、過去3回分のテストがダウンロードできるため、ダウンロードしておいた。これは役に立つと思う。実は、過去に2回1級を受験しているが、どちらも1次試験で点数が足りなかった。前回は特に、1点差で不合格だった。普段行っている勉強を書き出すと、・Newsweek、Timeを読む。New York Timesのサイトを閲覧。・英字新聞（ヘラルドトリビューン）を読む。・VOA、BBC、CNN、NHK WORLDのサイトを視聴する。・英検教本をやる。・実践ビジネス英語、入門ビジネス英語を聞く。この中で、特に好きな勉強は、NHK英語講座の実践ビジネス英語だ。去年から入門ビジネス英語を聞いており、このおかげで、特に何もしなくても英語力はある程度保てていると思う。去年受験したTOEICでは、900点を下回ったが、検討したと思う。アメリカの州立大学を卒業してからは、東京外大で勉強していたとはいえ、生活で英語を使う機会が減ったため、英語力の維持に苦労している。今回、英検の勉強をきっかけにして、再度TOEIC900点を目指したいとも思っている。（本当は950点くらいあっても良いのだが･･･）さまざまな英検関連のサイトを参考に、書籍を購入したり、勉強方法を考えていこうと思う。どの人も、NHKラジオ講座は効果的だといっているので、これからも継続していくつもりだ。特に、発音やリスニング能力が下ってきているので、音読をしたり、シャドウイングと呼ばれる、後に続いて発音する練習方法を行っている。気付いたことだが、英字新聞やTIME、ペーパーバックなどの難解な内容を続けていても、実際は英語力が向上するとは限らないと言うことだ。和訳や英単語の知識が不足すると、わからないままで、英語を学ぶことになり、効率が良くないらしい。気をつけて、NHKラジオ講座を繰り返し聞くことにしようと思う。明日は、サイマルアカデミーと呼ばれる翻訳通訳の専門学校の体験レッスンに参加する予定だ。4月から、翻訳コースを受講しようと考えている。翻訳コースを受講するためには、レベルチェックと翻訳コース受講の為のテストを受ける必要がある。どちらも頑張って、希望のコースが受講できるようにしたい。また、体験レッスンでは、授業の内容がどんなものかを理解できるようにしたいと思っている。そのために、ノートに内容を書いてこようと思う。英検は6月12日に1次試験があるため、5月後半にTOEICを受験して、試験に慣れておこうと思っている。TOEICの最高点は925点だが、最近はあまり英語に力を入れていなかったので、また900点台が取れるように努力したい。考えてみれば、東京外大では英語のクラスをいくつか受講したが、あまりレベルが高くは無かったように思えた。それでも、積極的にネイティブが指導するクラスを受講し、英語能力の向上に努めていた。特に、印象に残ったのは、アメリカ人講師が指導した法律関係の内容を英語で説明し、ディスカッションを行ったクラスだ。3人のグループをつくり、クラスに発表したのだが、内容は「日本女性は、離婚後に6ヶ月待たないと再婚出来ないと言う法律」についてだった。その他に、興味深かったのは、イギリス人講師が指導した、異文化理解のクラスで、日本における外国文化について何度かスピーチを行った。その中の一つは、横浜中華街について話をした。このように、東京外大では、興味があった科目が法律や経済だったために、英語のクラスでもその様な科目に影響された内容を選んでいた。英文学や言語学にはあまり興味が持てなかった。それでも、シェイクスピアや英国文学、語用論、言語学などの講義も受講した。

5日の日記

入院二日目。健康状態は良い。6階の部屋からは、白金地域が見渡せる。朝食後、薬を飲んでテレビを観る。

お薦めMUSIC

家庭教師にいってきました。

前に話した、フィリピン人のハーフの子に漢字を教えてきました。1時間半ですが、時給は良いので良い仕事でした。一部、英語で説明をしてあげました。漢字の説明を英語でするのって、なんだか新鮮です。普段、当たり前のように使っている言葉を、英語でわかりやすく説明するために、頭を使いました。日本文化に根ざしている漢字ですが、外国人が習得する際には、違った手法を用いた方がいいかもしれません。

この秋読んだイチオシ本・漫画

悪人（上）価格：567円（税込、送料別）

後期初日

後期の授業が始まり、今日は前期の成績表を受け取り、集中講義の課題を提出した後、2つクラスを受けました。前期に履修したクラスのほとんどは取れており、今後は教職関連の単位を中心に履修していくつもりです。集中講義の課題は、英国のクラス社会についてでした。教務課に履修単位について確認をしたところ、以外にも丁寧な対応でびっくりしました。まあ、学期の始めくらいはちゃんと対応してもらいたいです。学費を払っているので・・・金曜の授業は、英語表現演習と英語音声学にしようと思います。表現演習のクラスでは、アメリカ人講師が教えています。初回から、英語で小グループを作り、話しました。僕とペア（ほかは3人だったのですが・・・）になった子は、歯科助手のバイトをしている九州出身の子でした。話した内容は、環境問題、経済政策、就職活動、帰省などについてでした。消費税の話になったので、住民税、法人税などについて話した後、タバコ税の話になり、スモーカーについて話しました。話の展開を発展させるため、ここでお酒は飲むのか？という質問に切り替え、どんなお酒が好きなのかをたずねました。どうやら、ビールや日本酒が好きみたいです。最近、六本木に飲みに行った話をすると、興味を持ってもらえたみたいでした。アメリカ留学について話そうとしたら、10分間のディスカッションが終わっていました。なかなか、10分で初対面の子と話すのは難しいなと思いました。次のクラスは、英語音声学でした。母音と子音について英語の文献を用いて説明していました。真ん中の前に、その前の授業で話した子が座っていて、眠そうにふらふらしていました。英語関連の授業なので、いるかな？と思っていたら、一番前の席にいたので、真面目なんだなと思いました。今学期もがんばります。

集中講義最終日

集中講義最終日昨日は慶應高生に英語を教えていました。テキストは、クラウンを使っています。内容は、７章のSeed Bank（種子バンク）の話でした。DNAやイギリスの研究機関の話が出てきており、生物学に関連した内容でした。最近の科学では、以前の植物の種子から、過去に絶滅した種の植物を復活させることができるそうです。また、その手法を動物にも応用し、恐竜などの過去に絶滅した動物を復活させることができるかも知れないという内容でした。今日は、これから集中講義を受けてきます。イギリスのクラス社会についての話を英語で講義していく内容です。外大なので、英語で行われる授業に興味がある生徒が多いみたいです。自分としては、英語の内容の方が慣れているので、そういったクラスを今後も履修したいと思っています。また、昨日はITベンチャー企業の面接に行ってきました。面接と英語の試験があり、面接では、「お金持ちになりたいか？」などと聞かれ、具体的な金額まで言わされました。（100億と言っておきました。）英語の試験は、日本語の内容を英文に直すもので、タイピングの様子をほかのパソコンで見られているようでした。（最近は、そういうことができるらしいです。）どうやら、採用とのことで、細かい契約内容は後で連絡するとのことでした。家庭教師並の時給なので、かなりの高待遇です。青山のITベンチャーは、1ヶ月近く夏休みに通っていましたが、ビジネスプランがいまいちなので、ほかのITベンチャーで働くことにしました。しかも、今回は、海外とのやり取りがあるので、英語を使う仕事です。では、これから講義に出てきます。

DJ Kawasakiの新曲です。

雨の日にはこんな曲はいかがですか？昨日は、自宅でアロママッサージをしてもらいました。部屋がとてもよい匂いになりました。今日は、フロリダの大学出身のTちゃんと食事です。楽しみです。

オーネット結婚チャンステスト

オーネット結婚チャンステスト

楽パックのご紹介です。

楽天のご紹介です。

エステキャンペーンのご紹介です。

お薦め結婚相談所です。

お薦め結婚相談所です。 オーネット結婚チャンステスト

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