投稿日:

英作文チャレンジコーナー（はいはい道新） Hokkaido Newspaper “Readers’ voice column”

雪が遅いせいか、今年はやけに枯れ葉が目立ちます。　風の吹き具合によるのでしょうか。　わが家にはそこかしこから枯れ葉が集まってくるのです。先日の強風のときは大変でした。塀や玄関は言うに及ばす、奥まった所にある車庫の前には、多くの枯れ葉に交じって発泡スチロールや空のペットボトルが吹き寄せられていました。枯れ葉は数袋に分け、ゴミ収集にだしましたが、これも有料です。風が相手じゃ、文句も言えませんもんね。
 
  
There are an awful lot of dead leaves seen this winter,  probably because we have less snowfall than usual.
 Many of them , blown from here and there, gather  around my house.  I wonder if this is done by wind-related factos.
 The recent heavy storm was so terrible that it left me drifts of such leaves, styrene foam particles, and empty PET bottles  –  in front of my garage far from the road, as well as my fence and my entrance.
I had to put those leaves in a several bags and place them out for collection service.
Of course it costs me money. But there’s no point in blaming the wind.
 
投稿日:

英作文チャレンジコーナー（はいはい道新） Hokkaido Newspaper “Readers’ voice column”

 

 
朝の通勤電車での出来事です。優先席の前で、つり革につかまっていたら、そこにいたおばあさんが「だんなさん、すわればいいしょ」と言って席を詰めてくれるのです。　優先席にはすでに３人いて余裕は無し。無理をして２０センチほど空けてくれたのですが、大柄な私にはとても座れるスペースではありません。「ご厚意は感謝します」と丁重にお断りしました。　よほどくたびれた顔をしていたのでしょうね。お年寄りに気を使わせてしまって、反省です。（１２月３日）
 
 
 
This is what happened one morning when I was on my  way to work by train.
I was clutching my strap in front of the seats marked for the elderly and/or disabled.
A senior lady sitting there spoke to me “Sir, why not sit down with us?” and tried to make extra room for me.
 
There were already three people sitting there including her, so apparently no seat was available for me to sit in.
She managed to squeeze me in by positioning herself on the seat. But the space thus made was only twenty centimeters wide – not enough for my big body to get in. So I declined politely.  I must have looked very tired.
I regret that I let her worry about me so much.
 
札幌の娘宅を訪ねた帰途、地下鉄駅のホームで手袋をはめるためベンチに置いたショルダーバッグを忘れたまま電車に乗ってしまいました。財布や保険証など貴重品が入っており、車内で気づいた時は頭の中が真っ白。慌てて次の駅で降り、事務室で乗車駅に問い合わせてもらうと、届いているとのこと。　引き返して無事受け取った時は、安ど感から座り込むほどでした。どなたかわかりませんが届けていただきありがとうございました。(12月６日）
 
 
 I was on my way home after visiting my daughter’s in Sapporo.
While in the subway station, I put on my gloves with my shoulder bag on the bench.
It was not until I got on the train that I realized I left the bag behind.
I was stupefied because it contained some precious items such as my wallet, my health insurance card, and so on.
I soon got off at the next station, dashed to the office and asked for their lost and found service.
The staff  contacted my starting station and told me that the bag had been recovered!
When I had it back in my hands, I felt so relieved that I nearly fell on the floor.
Whoever it was that found it, I want to say thank you.
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英作文チャレンジコーナー

「ダムは必要悪だと思っていました」と、今本博健氏は告白する。　河川工学などを専門に、京大教授として約３０年。　定年退官し名誉教授となった２００１年、近畿を流れる淀川水系のダムの必要性を検証する委員会に加わったときも、「必要なダムはつくらせてくれ」と主張した。　だが個別のダムの功罪を吟味するうち考えを改めた。　今は「ダムの時代は終わる」と断言する。　（北海道新聞　２０１０年１１月１４日朝刊）

‘I thought that dams were necessary evils”, he confesses.
  
Mr.Hirotake Imamoto served as a professor at the University of Kyoto for about thirty years, specializing mainly in river engineering.
 
Following his retirement in 2001, he became a professor emeritus and joined a committee whose mission was to verify the necessity of dams built across the Yodogawa riveｒ and its tributaries in Kinki district.
 
During all these years, Imamoto used to advocate “Let us build dams if they are needed.”
But then he altered his idea after examining merits and demerits of each dam already built.
 
Now he asserts “The era of Dams will be over”.