Zoo

Do you call that friends?

簡単な日本語訳

今回は長年日本に住んでいる外人の個人の意見を取り上げます。
数多くのヨーロッパ人やアメリカ人も同じ意思を持っていると思います。
どちらが正しいかというのは問題ではありません。
「思いやり」という同じ意図とはいえ、子どもの頃から仕組まれた習慣や風習は、気が付くと、除去できないほど絡み合ったライフスタイルや文化の一部になっています。
大人の何気ない行為は若者へ恐るべき影響を与えていますね。

The other day I asked my daughter Mai, who is counting down her last days at high school, what her other classmates were going to study from April on.
She told me that she had no idea, which really surprised me.
She went on to explain that it would be rude or at least an act of sheer impoliteness to even inquire.

To be honest, this sounded as a surprise to me, her gaijin father.
"Why wouldn't you even ask the other girls about what they have in mind? Isn't that unmannerly, disrespectful or even insulting to your classmates? You've known some of them for six years, you know! Or maybe you have no friends at all?" was my reply, when my wife joined our conversation and jumped in to help ... guess who? Yes, my daughter Mai!
She claimed I lacked basic knowledge of Japanese common sense, and made it clear that it would be inconsiderate of someone to inquire about someone's situation if you were not sure that everything was all right.
I replied, "Why on earth would you double-check?" but I soon realized that it would be a lot wiser to change the subject ― the sooner the better.

This reminds me of a similar, more tragic story one of my students told me.
Her friend, a woman in her late fifties, had a traffic accident when she made a right turn at a big intersection and a scooter coming from the opposite side hit her (or maybe she hit the scooter), thereby unwillingly inflicting serious physical harm to the rider.
My student said she heard about the misadventure from another friend who had read about the accident in the newspaper. They decided not to call her, and even discussed refraining from sending her a New Year's card.
I think that, in the latter case, a mere call might resolve a lot of stress.
The caller would know for sure how the friend is doing, well or not, and might even provide some suggestions.
The person who had already suffered from the shock of causing a traffic accident would at least become aware of the fact that her friends were still on her side. On the other hand, it is much harder for the person in stress to contact an acquaintance and say, "Listen to what happened to me! I just had a terrible accident."

As I see it, not calling her or otherwise not getting in touch with her would constitute an act of mistaken reserve or friendliness.
I discussed the matter with some other foreigners, which proved that I am not a lone freak ― at least from a foreigner's point of view!

高３の娘は同級生の近い将来の予定を知らないのに驚く外人パパ。
外人の目で見て、思いやりとは友達の様子や計画を伺うことだが、
自分の家族（全員日本人）はそう思わない。
「遠慮」して、決まったら向こうから言ってくるだろうというスタンス。
どちが親切なのか、私には分からない。

TOEIC 第１４３回公開テスト

　　Form 4 EIC25

Listening section の Part 3 で、
男性は女性に仕事帰りに駅まで送ってほしい
との設定。朝は奥さんに仕事場まで送ってもらった
と言いました。
設問は

で選択肢は

�@　by walking
�A　by car
�B　by bus
�C　by train

正解は �A　by car ですが、
�@　のような言い方はありますか？

「歩いて」は英語で「on foot」 くらい
かと思いました。
当然
I walked to work.
なども考えられますが、
単独で 「by walking」 は初耳。

「単独で」というと、
例えば次のような節とは違った使い方：
The lost person finally reached the village
by walking through a dense forest.
　I lost weight by walking and cycling.
いずれも「歩くことによって」（助かった・やせた）

で、
The lost person finally reached the village on foot.
だけでしたら OKですが、
... on foot through the dense forest は考えにくいですね。
I lost weight on foot.
も「足の上でやせた」

Nature can be cruel.

Some people have certainly encountered problems with animals.
When birds flock together in the hundreds or thousands,
they leave behind unwanted presents.
A noisy cat or a barking dog can reduce much wanted hours of sleep.

アッ！ 　　　間違えたと思うだろう？ NO, no, no! Much は wanted を強調していて、 「待ちに待った」 という意味。 「ほしかった多くの睡眠時間」なら、 ... can reduce the many hours of sleep you wanted. や ... can reduce the many hours of sleep you were looking forward to. “of...” と “(that) you wanted” で限定されるため、 定冠詞 the が必要になる。

Sometimes there are limits to what one can stand. (=bear)
This sign I saw this morning goes a bit too far,
as far as I see it.

Are dogs no longer allowed to answer the call of nature?
Or has the writer of this sign unwittingly forgotten to add

　 　 　 　

　

encounter a (big / slight) problem = have a problem
flock together = gather, 群れがってくる
leave behind = forget, go away without taking something with you
reduce = shorten, shrink, axe, cut down [back]
go too far = やりすぎだ
as far as I see it = I think
answer the call of nature = go to the toilet
unwittingly = without knowing, accidentally, unintentionally

Black ( 　5 　) a neutral color implies nothing directly.
�@　is a
�A　, one
�B　one is a
�C　being

It is, ( 　6 　), very often used for the "open" button.

�@　although
�A　however
�B　even
�C　but

At least one woman I know seems to have trouble with the triangles for open and close.

They can be confusing!

ちなみに、三角の上の点字 (=Braille)　は、
（左側）　アケ　　（右側）　シメ　

　
And the majority of people is right-handed, so why not switch the buttons (　 7　 )?
�@　neither
�A　either
�B　too
�C　on

In case of an emergency, a right hand is likely to press the right side first.






































5-1　　is a

NO, NO, NO!
　
　Black �@　is a neutral color
　　　　　�A　implies nothing directly.

動詞２つ持つ主語 black に conjunction （接続詞）が必要。
例　Black is ... AND implies...

　　[back]

































5-2 　　, one
　X
　one a neutral color の組み合わせはない。
どちらかにすればOK.

例　Black, a neutral color, implies ...
　　 Black, one neutral color, implies ...

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5-3　　 one is a

　　ブッブー

色を表す語は冠詞が付かない。
Blue, green and red are basic colors.
それに対して、「黒いもの」なら、
a [the] black one
I'll have the blue one. 青い方にします。（青い方を買います）

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5-4　　being

正解

NICE！
Black ... implies nothing in itself.
　　┗ being a neutral color

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6-1　although

８０

文頭や節の頭に置かれる。

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6-2　however

正解

コンマとコンマの間に however

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6-3　even

文頭の（節の頭にくる） although, even though や
though の代わりに　even だけ持ってくることは
不可。

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6-4　but
Hmmm...
文頭ならOK:
But it is very often used for the open button.

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7-1　neither
Oh no!
Why not ... や　Why don't you [we] ... は否定ではなく、提案で、
「〜しましょう」、「行きましょう」などの意味を表す。

同じ文章に not も　neither も考えにくい。
neither の　n と　t は否定を表すので、
not と組み合わせると二重否定に？

備考　　否定だと、　not ... either を用いる：
A: I don't like snakes.
B: I don't like snakes either. (または Neither do I. や　Me neither.)

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7-2　either
ちょっとしたミス、かな？
Why not ... や　Why don't you [we] ... は否定ではなく、提案で、
「〜しましょう」、「行きましょう」などの意味を表す。

　[back]

































7-3　too

正解

Why not ... や　Why don't you [we] ... は否定ではなく、提案で、
「〜しましょう」、「行きましょう」などの意味を表す。

＊　単独で使う場合も可：
A: Let's go to the movies after school.
B: Why not?
「放課後映画を観よう」　「いいね、行こう！」

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7-4　on

誤解！
switch on / off や　turn on / off （電源などを入れる）だが、
「ボタンを入れる」、「ボタンをつける」ということになる。
Hmmm...

　[back]

　　Tricky elevators

Because of their similarities,
the kanji 開 and 閉 can make elevators tricky.
Many a foreigner must have been taken by surprise.
Which kanji stands for "open" and which for "close"?

To make things worse,
many manufacturers add a second hurdle: color.

Green

In my eyes, green is equivalent to "safe, go."
Just take a traffic light: not many people stop in front of a green light, ( 　3 　)

�@　will they?
�A　are they?
�B　do they?
�C　don't they?


If green means "safe",
why choose it for a button producing the opposite result?
Why ( 　4 　) red instead?

�@　not to make it
�A　not make it
�B　it makes not
�C　doesn't it make

Red implies danger, stop, do not go, wait, keep the doors open.































3-1 will they

stop は一般動詞なので will は合わない！
残念ながら、

ブブー

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3-2 　are they

stop は一般動詞なので are は合わない！
残念ながら、
< align="center">ブブー They are stopping, aren't they?
They aren't stopping, are they?
なら OK.


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3-3 　do they
正解

NICE！　　WOW!!　　

Not many people は否定文なので、
付加疑問文 (= tag question) は肯定で　do they になる。



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3-4 don't they:

　 Not many people は否定文なので、
付加疑問文 (= tag question) は　don't they にならない。


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4-1 not to make it
　　　　困った
　　　　　　　困った
　　　　　　　困った

確かに不定詞の否定は
not to make で、
to not make は間違い
だが、 why との組み合わせでは．．．NG!

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4-2 :-) Why not make it...?
正解

NICE！　　WOW!!　　

「色を変えれば良いのに」


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4-3 it makes not 「Why doesn't it make...」なら文法的にOKだが、
意味は？
　　:(

　　　　　　　Try again!

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4-4 Why doesn't it make...? 文法的にOKだが、
意味は？
　　　:-[

　　　[back]

　　Tricky elevators

Because of their similarities,
the kanji 開 and 閉 can make elevators tricky.

( 　1 　) foreigner must have been taken by surprise.

�@　Many a
�A　Many
�B　A lot of
�C　Much

Which kanji ( 　2 　) "open" and which for "close"?

�@　regards
�A　is standing for
�B　stands for
�C　will

To make things worse,
many manufacturers add a second hurdle:

color.

[ continue ]