Zoo

　
　
　

Nessie touring Japan

Starfish News, Tokyo

Nessie, the reclusive star that shot to fame after being spotted in Loch Ness, NW Scotland, in 565, was photographed in 1934 and has been the subject of various unfruitful scientific expeditions, is currently vacationing in Lake Hamana, Japan.
Photographic evidence of the solitary, dragon-like creature was produced not by the paparazzi but by a startled cyclist who managed to take out his cellphone and snap her before she disappeared. The photo shows what looks like a large neck, head and tail emerging from the lake. News of the celebrity’s arrival, mainly by word of mouth, attracted journalists and crowds of onlookers monitoring the lakeside stretches.

The sighting of painfully shy Nessie is likely to draw attention nationwide.


Loch Ness, a deep freshwater lake (known in Scotland as a loch) near the city of Inverness, notorious for its frigid waters and depths of up to 230 m, is well known for its underwater tunnels and caves, most of which remain unmapped as of today. Whereas geographers have long presumed that Nessie had discovered an exit leading to the open sea, marine biologists are indecisive about Nessie’s ability to withstand the relatively high salinity and strong currents of the ocean.





tour V 　vacation, travel
reclusive A 　alone, liking to avoid people, isolated, reclusive
shoot to fame 　become famous, rise to stardom
spot V 　see, notice, identify
be the subject of 　be the topic [theme,] of,
unfruitful A 　in vain, ineffective, unproductive,
expedition N 　exploration, trip, tour
currently Adv 　recently, these days, nowadays
evidence N 　proof, confirmation
solitary A 　reclusive, isolated
creature N 　animal
produce V 　provide, offer, present
paparazzi N 　photographer who follows famous people
startled A 　surprised, scared, frightened
snap V 　take a picture [photo] of
emerge from V 　come out of, appear
by word of mouth 　because people talk about it
attract V 　draw, lure,
crowds of … 　many, a lot of
onlooker N 　witness, observer, bystander
monitor V 　watch, observe, keep an eye on
stretch N 　area

sighting N 　seeing something unusual
painfully (shy) 　very, extremely

freshwater A 　having water that is NOT salty
notorious A 　famous, well known
frigid A 　cold
cave N 　underground chamber, cavern
unmapped A 　not on a map
geographer N 　expert in geography （地理学者）
presume V 　guess, believe, suppose, imagine
marine biologist N 　ocean [sea, saltwater] scientist （海洋生物学者）
indecisive A 　undecided, unclear, ambiguous
relatively Adv 　quite, reasonably, comparatively
salinity N 　the degree [level, amount] of salt in water
current N 　flow, stream, tide


ネッシーって、本当に存在しているのかな？



■　最初の文は長いけど、それだけ。言いたいのは、
Nessie is vacationing (=on vacation) in Japan.
Nessie = the reclusive star
the star を修飾するのは
that
�@ shot to fame …
�A was photographed …
�B has been the subject of…

■　2つ目の文も同様、長いだけ。
[A] Photo… was produced
�@ not by the paparazzi
�A but by a …cyclist
The cyclist managed to take out his cellphone and snap [take a photo of] her before she disappeared.
この her はNessie。

■　The photo shows […] a large neck ...and head なら、確実に大きな（長い）首と頭、確かじゃないので、 what looks like　〜のようなもの（を見せる）
その首や頭はemerging from the lake　湖から出てくる

■　News … attracted journalists 無生物主語　「そのニュースを聞いて、新聞記者や野次馬が飛びついてきた」

■　Part 2　は Loch Ness などの背景情報
意外と深い、冷水の湖。
地理学者にとっても奥深い未知の世界。海までの出口はある・無いは別問題、多くのトンネルや洞窟を発見した。
一方、海洋生物学者は、海に通じる出口があったとしても、塩分の高い海水や海の強い流れに対応できないかも、と意見を述べる。
（この「記事」は作り話で、実際トンネルや洞窟はないらしい。　ご安心ください！）

　　

with or without "the"

冠詞は英作文の永遠の難点。

定冠詞なのか不定冠詞？

付けなくて良いの？

今日、この文は目についた。

Can you tell me where to buy tickets for the play?

play は「芝居」、「劇」、「演劇」で、tickets を

限定（修飾）するのに、なぜ定冠詞はないの？

「芝居のチケットをどこで買えるの？」

「（特定の、決まった）芝居の（何枚かの）チケットを

どこで売っているの？」

という意味。

電車やバスではなく、

決まった、特定の劇であっても、

チケットをまだ手に入れてない。

（席は空いているかどうか分からないけど）

「その芝居のチケットを手に入れたい。」

特定の「そのチケット」とは話題になっていない。



　じゃ、the を付けたらどうなる？

Can you tell me where to buy the tickets for the play?

変に聞こえます。

「もう既に持っているチケットをどこで売っているの？」

みたいなもの。

持っているなら、再び買う必要ないよね。



　参考に、

Do you know where the tickets for the play are?

この文だと、

（話し手同士には分かっている数枚の、決まった、買ってある）

「チケットをどこに置いたの？」

「先日買ったチケットはどこ？」

なので、定冠詞は必要になる。

文章の主旨が明らかに違うよね。

　　

　James (5)

“James”, I said, “I realize it’s a personal matter, but we need to talk.”
“What about?”
“That woman.”
“Oooooooooooooooooh...”
“Is she still the same?”
“Pretty much. She’s just rude. She waits in the field for me to come home, smiles as if nothing were happening, and says, ‘Go home!’”
“Incredible!”
“Does she say that in English?”
“Of course not. She won’t speak any English. She must hate us foreigners.”
“What exactly does she say?”
“’Okaerinasai.’-with a broad smile.”

Needless to say I have never seen James any happier

　

　James (4)

Time passed.
About 2 weeks, to be precise.
James showed no signs of improvement.
On the contrary, he seemed to suffer from his ordeal ever more.
I felt sorry for him.
This was affecting him and his job adversely.
This mishap was on the verge of turning into a major disaster.

ever more (=more than ever)


　　

　　

　James (3)

There was this old woman who bothered him.
“An old woman bothering you?”
“Yes”, he said, and he explained that she seemed to dislike him. “Maybe because I’m black, or because I’m not Japanese”, he added.
I didn’t feel like causing any problems or making them more serious than they actually were, so I advised him not to worry about it, and to try to avoid that particular woman.


　

　　

　James (2)

James had just started to work as a part-time English teacher at our school, when, one day, he looked different to me.
I had the impression that something was wrong.
He was not the cheerful, joyful person I had known for the last month or so.
He no longer smiled, wasn’t very talkative, and you could tell from a distance of 100 meters that he was sad, unhappy, gloomy, depressed.
Fearing something was wrong with the new teaching job, I decided to bring up the topic.
He answered there was nothing wrong with his job or family, except for this one thing...

bring up = 話題を持ち出す、言い出す　
ここでは「育てる」(raise (a child))という意味ではない

　　



　

Michiko (2)

■　the very thought… 無生物主語は訳しがたいが、ちょっと言い換えて見るだけで解決できるときもある。When I think of opening the envelope「封筒を開けなければならないことを考えるだけで．．．」

■　the words I had awaited 待ちに待ったその(合格の)言葉。”wait” で入れ換えると、”wait for the words”に”for more than a month”, 合わせて”the words I had waited for for more than…”　２回連続 for が必要

■ I had passed: 合否が不安だったが、はい、確かに、間違いなく合格した。斜体は強調した言い方を表す。

■ I just had to tell 言いたくて仕方ない

■ They must have been in class きっと授業中だったでしょう

■ The first French words…　文になっていない、思い出したかのように、「ああ、最初に習った単語（発音は難しかった、その単語を今でも覚えているなど）」

■ Why do you have to learn…　どうしてワザワザフランス語？

■ You’ll pay… 柔らかな言い方、「自分のお小遣いから払ってくれるよね？」

■ What progress なんて進歩した、すごく進歩した。続くのは肯定文。疑問文なら、What progress have I made?、主語と動詞が倒置される



■ The sky threatening [to] rain 空は脅すのではなく、「あの空では今にも雨になりそう」

■ what one has to study 面接のため、みんな何を勉強すべきか（すればいいか）

■ It must be there　間違いない、あそこだ。

■ She must have thought きっと(可哀相な美智子と)考えたでしょう

■ It has to be there より強調して、「（今度こそ）ここでなくちゃ！」、「（今回は）（この場所で）合っているでしょう！」、「今度違っていれば、間に合わない！」



■ I had to wait 待たなければならなかった

■ You had to feel tense あの場所で、あの気温で、あの雰囲気で、だれだって緊張するよ！

■ She simply lacked まるでスタイルを欠いてる

■ Neither … could have been どちらも学生のはずはない

■ Why on earth いったいなぜ．．．？無生物主語にもよく見かける：

What on earth made her look down on me like that?

■ did she have to look down on me どうしてああいう目で私を見下ろしていたの？

■ R.I.P. <latin Requiescat in pace =(May she) Rest In Peace （墓標に）安らかに眠れ



■ he must have been きっと５４−５だったでしょう

■ he had me read 読ませた、私に読むように言った

■ I just had no problems まったく問題なかった

■ i.e. <id est (ラテン語)　“meaning…”, “this is…”

■ They just seem to have この just で、「他人の問題」「まあ、そんなもんでしょう」

■ I don’t care なら、「私には関係ない」。多少自分の(今後やりたい)仕事と関係あるので、I don’t really care　「大して気にしていない」、否定の意味を和らげる「マイナス強調」