投稿日:

たった今入った映像。多重衝突スリップ事故

 

つい昨日アメリカで放映された映像です。　

異常気象が続く昨今、これはアメリカだけの問題ではなく、日本でも起こりえます。

北海道以外のみなさん、特に坂道の多い地域のみなさん。気を付けてくださいね。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRkZSP_jq5M

 

The more freezing rain is falling right now that’s on top of the half inch of ice that pretty much coats everything around

And across this part of the country, it is proving to be a big danger for drivers.

 

This SUV is spinning in circles. Barreling out of control, downhill, with just one way to stop. Seconds later, it started all over again.Parked cars were like pinball bumpers to this driver. The brakes, no use. The wild rides continued.

A convoy of collisions on this Pittsburgh street, even as crash　victims like these children, were escaping the mounting wreckage.  In Pittsburgh alone, forty-five crashes choked up to ice.  At least seventy people treated in the E.R.(emergency room) for slips and falls.  

The storm packed with sleet and freezing rain moved further, northeast to near Boston, where instead of driving, cars were skating. 

 

The hills. It’s tough on the hills. In New Haven Conneticut, a backwards approach to drive home.  

Parking lots and streets looked like ice links.

 

We just started sliding and stopped, because I didn’t want to hit the car over here. Dropping rain and dropping temperature is not the only problem for this storm. Another ten ionches of snow could fall in parts of northern new England. And other places are suffering too. In Genessee county, Michigan, a dramatic rescue.

 

Look closely under this semi…  There is a car down there. A driver was pinned inside. He had spun out.

The truck driver tried to avoid him, but instead they both wound up in the ditch. Hard to believe judging from this damage, but somehow the driver escaped unhurt.

 

Back here in Conneticut, some seven hundred emergency calls came pouring in to state police yesterday during the morning rush.

 

Robin ther are hoping for a quieter one today.

Look at the background. All the snow still on the streets and piled up high there in Cheshire.

 

 

 

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”

 
 
 
地産地消をうたった懸賞に私と夫の名前で２通応募しました。あまり期待せずにいたところ、主催者から当選の知らせがあり、希望した魚の一夜干しセットが届きました。大好物のツボダイのほかホッケ、カレイ、など５種類の干物が１０点ほど入っていて夫婦で大喜びです。六日間続けて夕飯でいただきましたが、日頃スーパーで購入している干物とは違い、どれも特上品で大満足でした。久々にうれしい思いを味わいましたよ。（北海道新聞　２０１１年１月１７日号）
 
My husband and I signed for a prize contest whose slogan was “Produce locally, consume locally”. We sent in two applications with our names respectively.
Though not expecting to win, we got a notice from the authority that we won the prize, a set of “Ichiyaboshi ” or overnight dried fish we had wished for.
There were about ten fish of five species, such as my favorite Tsubodai (Japanese armorhead), Hokke (Atka mackerel), Karei (Flatfish).
We were both pleased with the prize.  We ate them for dinner for six consecutive days.  All of them were of high quality and not the kind that you can get at a regular superstore. We never had tasted happy moments like this for a long time.
 
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海外でも報道、タイガーマスクのイイ話。Tiger Mask repaying welfare facilities, spurs outburst of charity

虎だッ、虎だっ、お前は虎になるのだ。　タｱーッツ！　我が世代のヒーロー、タイガーマスク（伊達直人）の名を借りて善行をおこなう男の姿が海外でも報じられています。

暗い世相が渦巻く中、心が温まりますよね。　

ディクテーションのやりがいがありました。　この運動が世界中に広がることを願いたいです。

動画は下をクリックしてください。

 

 

The gifts have been delivered to more than ninety locations across Japan, boxes filled with backpacks, envelopes of cash.  This one came with green onions and five bags of rice. Each are from an anonymous donar who goes by Naoto Date, the name of a super hero in the popular Japanese comic, Tiger Mask.

 

Kikuchi Masatoshi got a box filled with pencils and pencil sharpeners at his orphanage in Yokohama. He says “I knew this man had a big heart.”

 

Tiger mask became popular in the 1960s, the stories about Naoto Date who becomes a professional wrestler and donates his money to the orphanage.

 

Now news of a real life hero helping children has sparked a national gift giving movement. The first gift came Christmas day and an employee at a welfare center outside Tokyo found ten boxes of backpacks. This man found twelve hundred dollars in an envelope at a grocery store. It came with a letter that read “There are tiger masks across Japan. Please use this for promising children.” The super hero has even gone to the police himself and asked them to deliver supplies to orphanages. Nearly two dozen new locations have reported gifts Tuesday alone. All the attention hasn’t convinced the man behind the mask to come forward yet, but there have been sightings. This store owner says an older man came in and bought half a dozen backpacks for an orphanage.

He covered his face with a scarf so I didn’t ask who he was. But I’m pretty sure he was Tiger Mask. Akiko Fujita, ABC news Tokyo.

  

 

投稿日:

宿題出しますよーー。

前回はあまりにも複雑すぎたので、もっと簡易なものにします。

 ＊＊＊＊＊本文ここから

 

「僕はよく地下鉄を利用する。最近気がついたが５，６年前に比べて車内が静かになった気がする。よく観察してみると、原因は携帯電話にあるようだ。」

＊＊＊＊＊ここまで

  
  
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カーリング、プロリーグ化を検討。　Study started for professional curling league foundation

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ハラハラしながらテレビ画面のカーリング選手を見つめたバンクーバーオリンピック。もうあれから一年かあ。さて今、北海道ではプロリーグ化の構想がでているという記事を目にし、英訳してみました。　（だけどこれまで立役者だったチーム青森の立場はどうなるんだろ？　後ろ足で砂をかけることになるのでは？）
  
 
 
バンクーバー五輪で注目を集めたカーリングをさらに盛り上げようと、道内でプロリーグを設立できないか検討する構想が浮上している。道は新年度から、施設設備やチーム運営費用、集客力などを調査し、プロリーグ化の可否を見極める方針だ。
(北海道新聞　２０１１年１月６日） 
 
 
 
The government of Hokkaido is working on the possibility to establish a professional curling league in Hokkaido.
The stone sliding sport gained tremendous attention in Japan during the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics, and a plan is drawn to boost its popularity even higher by organizing a league.
From the new fiscal year, Hokkaido will begin to study various factors such as  facility, team running costs, and expected size of spectators before deciding if the leadue forming is practical or not.
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怒りの乗客、空港ロビー内にテント・・・ Airport Christmas for Europe’s stranded travelers

 

聖夜の寒波、欧州を襲う。空港は大混乱・・・・

せっかくの休暇が降雪と低温で台無し。イブの夜を空港ロビーで過ごした客は数千。

（右の写真は、搭乗をあきらめた乗客が空港ロビー内に建てたテントです。）

動画は下記をクリックしてください。

 
Across the Atlantic, thousands of travelers including  Americans  are in a race against the clock to get home for the  holidays only to be told to get ready to camp out a long wait. NICK WATT reports from London tonight.
The busiest international airport on earth, the busiest travel week  of the year. Thousands of passengers are now  trapped in what they are calling HOTEL HEATHROW. They won’t make it home for the holidays.
My son and I come home,  it’s like a present to my parents.  and I was even going to surprise them a little bit.
  
With London’s worst snow in twenty five years and the coldest in December in hundred years, Heathrow is just not equipped to deal with it.
  
“I’m truly sorry for every spoiled Christmas holiday, every disrupted travel plan.
In Germany today, a thousand flights were cancelled. In Paris a third of all flights grounded.
  
“Our flight coming in was Air France   ? ”  The guy on the left is a French transport minister. “Our flight was cancelled, we weren’t told the the flight was cancelled.”  In Brussels, they just ran out of de-icer  “They are closing the airport now, right?”  Right. Closed until Wednesday, at the earliest.
  
Many roads across  Europe are also a mess, and the railways, well that is a five hour line snaking around  London’s international Train Station. Some passengers are angry, but most are sanguine   “I’ve just stayed in the cold for three hours. I’ve got no blood left actuallly getting excited. So we just sit there and wait.”  “If I have to take a boat, I will.”  “Good. Determination. Good luck. I hope you make it.”  Sadly the news isn’t great tonight. The temperature is gonna plummet again and a lot more snow is forecast.
Nick Watt. ABC News London.
  
 
 
投稿日:

Wiiを使ってリハビリに。Wiihab is the new Rehab

高齢者のリハビリに任天堂wiiを使うところが増えているようです。アメリカではリハビリをもじってwiihabとよばれているとか。　どんな具合なのか見てみましょう。

動画は↓

No longer the stuff of child’s play, the Nintendo™ Wii  has become an exciting tool used by physical and occupational therapists in rehabilitation settings. This new treatment approach is often called “Wii-hab.”

  

At CareOne centers, both our therapists and patients say that one of the best things about Wii-hab is that it’s fun, which means people are more motivated and engaged during their rehab. This motivation is important from a therapy perspective, but there’s another benefit. The Wii enables patients to integrate skills while allowing therapists to see how the person is progressing in a more natural environment. For example, a traditional exercise routine might build muscle strength through a specific strengthening routine. An activity using the Wii not only uses that new strength but also integrates it with balance—it provides a way to practice using strength, balance and weight shifting all within a virtual environment.  For some of our older patients, learning to use the Wii as part of therapy has given them a new link to their children or grandchildren. Once patients return home, they’re motivated to practice newly learned skills with the Wii because it’s something they can do with the entire family.   

Improving function is an important goal for our therapists, and the Wii aids in achieving this goal by helping our patients get moving again.

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”

可燃ごみ収集日に革ブーツとズック靴、プラスチック製踏み台を他のゴミと一緒に袋に入れてステーションにだしました。１時間ほど後に見たら、ブーツとズック靴、踏み台の三つだけが袋から出され、ステーション脇に並べられていました。不燃ごみと思った誰かが袋を開けて出したのでしょうか。市の収集車が来たので聞いたらいずれも可燃ごみでいいとのこと。ごみ袋を勝手に開けて仕分けするなんて不愉快です。おせっかいはやめてください。
 
 (12月１４日）
 
 
On the flammable garbage collection day, I  put a bag of trash out in the garbage station.
In the bag were my leather boots, canvas shoes, plastic stool and other trashes. 
 
I got there again about an hour later. Unbelievably enough, the boots, shoes and stool were out there, lined up next to the garbage station.
Somebody had opened the bag and taken them out, thinking they are not combustible.!
 
Then the municipal garbage collection vehicle arrived and I asked the men if those articles belong to the flammable category or not.  They answered “flammable”.
 
I want to have a word or two with the person who meddled with my bag.
 
“It’s quite annoying. Mind your own business.”
 
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知らなかったあ～。　走行距離では測れないタイヤの安全性

６年前製造の未使用タイヤと今年製造で１万キロ走ったタイヤ、どっちが安全でしょう？　

この記事を読むまでは、私は前者だと思っていました・・・（汗）

たとえ未使用でも製造から６年以上経っているタイヤは要注意、激安ものを買う際は製造年をチェックしましょう。

方法はカンタン！　左写真の白線で囲んだ４けた数字を見ればいいのです。

最初の２ケタは製造週、後ろの２ケタが製造年を表します。　したがって２６１０ならば２０１０年の第２６週目につくられたもの、となるわけです。　　動画は下記をクリック。

 

 

We are going to turn tonight the world news investigation involving something most of us take for granted. The safety of the tires of cars. It was two years ago our Brian Ross first reported that the tires being sold as new were not and then could put your families at risk. So we wanted to know if anything changed.　Here’s Becky Worley.

 

Imagine driving down the highway having your tire disintegrate. In these test videos , even skilled drivers couldn’t keep control. “I think I’m OK. I think I’m OK”

Many experts agree that tires have a short life, even when they are not driven a single mile, air separates the treads. Robert Moore bought  what he thought were new tires for his son’s car. And just five years later, “***** called me to say that Policeman just came to the house and told me Andy had a car accident  And it was so cracked and he told me he died.”

I got my vehicle made ***** together, and I discovered that the tires that I got were new but actually three years old when I bought them.”

 

Crash investigators said the tread had peeled right off one of the then nine -year-old tires.

I would not drive on tires older than six years. And the problem is tires degrade over time.

Tires have a date code, the DOT stamp followed by a four digit number. The first two letters indicate the week it was made, the second two the year. So our goal: Check the date stamp on tires being sold as new.

 

We took our cameras to tire shops outside New York and San Francisco. Of the five New York tire shops, two had old tires – a couple from 2006 and another with a tire dated 1995.  In California, we went to four tire shops and the last one had a entire set made in 2005 and one tire from 2000. Just days ago, a major rubber supplier urged the US government to beef up labeling standards. And five major car companies recommended replacing six year old tires.

 

But the rubber manufacturers association disagrees. “There’s no scientific information that can point to when a tire should be removed because of age” After ABC news investigation in 2008, The National Highway Traffic Safety Association issued a consumer advisory about tire age. But since then, “Unfortunately there have been actually no changes in legislation, and no changes by the tire manufacturers.”  Becky Worley, ABC News, San Francisco.

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.