Reblog for my English Lesson

Last updated at 17:17 BST, Monday, 11 April 2011

Japanese garbage island moves towards US

Entire houses, bodies, car parts, tractors and many upturned（ひっくり返った） boats have amassed off the east coast of Japan on an epic scale.

The floating objects have been declared a maritime hazard by the American Navy, which warned they could pierce the body of a boat, or destroy engines in the Pacific’s shipping lanes.

The island of debris of most concern, 110 kilometres long, is being closely monitored by the US Navy’s seventh fleet, as experts predict it could hit Hawaii’s shores in two years and the American west coast a year later.

Hawaiian scientists put it bluntly. They warned that a vast mess that originated in a few moments of destruction in Japan, could eventually foul beaches and reefs off the Eastern North Pacific and kill marine life.

The American Navy’s working with civilian construction companies from the earthquake-hit country, as huge cranes and boats are deployed to clear the seas of this vast bobbing mass of wreckage of household furniture, wood, tyres, fishing equipment and other garbage, sweeping eastwards.

Mark Lobel, BBC News

Vocabulary

amassed（蓄積された）

gathered or collected a large amount

an epic scale（途方も無い規模）

a big or impressive size

a maritime hazard（臨海の危険）

a danger, encountered while at sea

pierce（～を刺し通す）

puncture or damage the outer layer of

shipping lanes（海上交通路）

routes travelled by ships and boats at sea

island of debris（瓦礫の島）

here, large mound of wreckage or garbage

bluntly（ぶっきらぼうに、不作法に）

honestly or directly

foul（汚染した）

here, make a dirty mess on

deployed（配備した）

sent or assigned

bobbing（素早く上下している）

Last updated at 16:59 BST, Wednesday, 06 April 2011

Japanese disasters hit UK car production

Honda says it’s cutting production at its Swindon plant, in southern England, by 50% from next week, as it grapples with shortages of key components from Japan.

Wide swathes of Japanese industry are working at well below full capacity due to power shortages, following the nuclear accident at Fukushima. The earthquake and tsunami devastated a region that’s home to some key parts suppliers to the motor and electronics industries. The effect is being felt in the supply chains of many companies around the world, not just Japanese ones, that rely on Japanese made components.

The problem’s been exacerbated by the prevalence of so-called ‘just-in-time’ production systems, where manufacturers don’t keep large stockpiles of parts on-site. Instead, they rely on timely deliveries made just before the parts are needed, more efficient when things are going well, but prone to disruption if the parts don’t arrive on time.

Mark Gregory, BBC News

Vocabulary

production（産出量）

here, the number of cars made

grapples with（～に取り組む）

struggles to deal with

key components（主要な要素）

crucial or important parts

wide swathes（幅広い）

here, large parts

devastated（打撃を受けた）

wrecked or ravaged

the supply chains（供給プロセス）

the systems used to get parts or materials for production

rely on（〜を頼りにする）

depend on

exacerbated（悪化する）

made worse

prevalence of（〜の普及）

common use or regular occurrence of

prone to（〜する傾向にある）

Last updated at 17:31 GMT, Monday, 28 February 2011

Learning English - Words in the News - King’s Speech crowned at Oscars
The words every filmmaker wants to hear:

Spielberg: And the Oscar goes to…

Bowes: came from the legendary Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg: The King’s Speech…

Bowes: The film tells the story of how George VI employed an unconventional speech therapist from Australia to help him overcome his problem with stammering（吃音）. Funded in part by the UK Film Council, a body which is being disbanded by the government, the film also won the award for best original screenplay and best director. Colin Firth, who plays the King, joked that his award for best actor meant his career had peaked.

Firth: I’m afraid I have to warn you, that I am experiencing stirrings, somewhere in the upper abdominals, which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves.

Bowes: David Seidler, who wrote the screenplay, said he hoped the award would inspire people who are trying to overcome speech impediments:

Seidler: I accept this on behalf of all the stutterers throughout the world. We have a voice. We have been heard, thanks to you, the Academy.

Bowes: It wasn’t a clean sweep for The King’s Speech, out of 12 nominations it won in four categories, but Oscar glory is bound to boost the film’s takings at the box office.

Peter Bowes, BBC News

Vocabulary

unconventional（異例の）

here, alternative, quirky or not following well-known or established methods

funded（資金供給された） 

financed or given money to be made

disbanded（解体された）

taken apart or discontinued

peaked（頂点になった）

reached the top, or become as good as it’s likely to get

stirrings（〔感情などが〕湧き起こること）

strong feelings that make you want to act in a particular way

upper abdominals（上腹部）

muscles around your belly or stomach

to form themselves into（一緒になって〜になる）

to come together and become

speech impediments（発話障害）

medical conditions causing people to suffer difficulties with speaking

a clean sweep（完勝）

here, winning every award it was nominated for

takings（売り上げ）

Last updated at 12:24 GMT, Friday, 25 February 2011

Learning English - Words in the News - Owls in Finland changing colour, scientists say

Despite their name, tawny owls actually come in two colours. And in Finland, the freezing, snowy winters give pale grey birds a camouflage advantage over their darker brown-feathered counterparts. But as the Finnish winters get milder, the grey owls are disappearing.

The University of Helsinki team gathered 30 years’ worth of genetic（遺伝子） and population data on tawny owls. They found that the birds inherited their plumage colour from their parents. The grey tawnys, as well being better hidden from predators in the snow, seem to be endowed with other genetic advantages that make them healthier and stronger. But despite this, the brown owl population is now overtaking that of the greys, because the warmer winters have improved the brown owls’ chances of survival.

The lead researcher, Dr Patrik Karell, said that this showed that the birds were evolving in response to climate change, so the tawny owl gene pool is actually getting browner. This is the first evidence of climate change having such an effect in the animal kingdom.

Victoria Gill, BBC News

Vocabulary

tawny owls（モリフクロウ）

a kind of owl, which is either brown or grey (although the colour tawny on its own usually means yellowish-brown)

a camouflage advantage（カモフラージュに有利な）

a better disguise or way of hiding

counterparts（一方）

here, other tawny owls

milder（より暖かい）

warmer

plumage colour（羽衣色彩）

feather colour

predators（捕食者）

hunting animals

endowed with（～に恵まれている）

supplied with

in response to（～に応えて）

in reaction to

gene pool（遺伝子プール）

set of genes or genetic code (for a species)

the animal kingdom（動物界）

Last updated at 17:50 GMT, Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Learning English - Words in the News - Credit card boss has unusual email rule

Curwen: Let me ask you a question about your management technique. I understand you’ve got a rule: if an employee sends you an email asking permission to do something, then there’s a very specific reaction to that. If you don’t get a reply to the email, what happens then?

Banga: Well, that’s all about urgency. Basically, my approach is that if you don’t get an answer within a specified period of time（特定期間）, and the specified period of time differs a little bit, depending on how serious the matter is.

Then it means that you are approved to go ahead. So what happens is, it shifts the burden of response to the individual who has been asked for permission, as against to the individual who is asking, who then has to keep chasing up into a, let’s say, a black hole.

Curwen: How well does it work? Do you ever find that mistakes have been made because of this?

Banga: Yeah, you have to be careful and that’s why you’ve got to set the right time limit for different kinds of things. But you know, leadership is about change. And change is about driving people into places to do things they wouldn’t normally have done. And then you’ve got to get out of the way. You’ve got to empower people to take some of these thoughtful risks with a sense of urgency.

That’s the way that you’ve got to drive a company of thousands of people, because you can’t be everywhere yourself. And centralising everything is certainly not the right way for a decentralised（非集中的） company to work.

Vocabulary

management technique（経営技術）

way of organising and managing staff

shifts the burden（責任を動かす）

moves the responsibility or worry

as against（～に対して）

instead of, rather than

keep chasing up（ここでは、何度も答えを求める）

here, asking for an answer again and again

a black hole（ブラックホール）

here, a place where things disappear and can’t be found

driving（強く働きかける）

strongly encouraging or pushing

empower（～に力を与える）

support, encourage and inspire others to take action

a sense of urgency（切迫感）

a feeling that things must be done quickly

to drive a company（会社を運営する）

organise and push for the success of a business

centralising（中央集権化する）