あまりにも惨い犯行。人間じゃないよこいつは。

ある朝5時、開店準備をしていたドーナツ屋の店員に残虐な運命が待ち受けていました。現金強奪だけでなく、犯人は液体石鹸を2本も飲ませたのです。目的は金庫の場所やダイヤル番号を白状させることでした。あまりのむごさに言葉が見つかりません。
 
  
  
  
The donut shop on the Miramer road has been across the street from the Marine base for more than thirty years. (ミラマー通りのドーナツショップは、30年以上にわたり海軍基地の向かい側に在った。)
  
Just after five a.m. a man  in a hooded sweatshirt walked in the back door as the lone employee had emptied the  trash.(午前5時を過ぎたころ、フード付きのトレーナーを着た男が裏口から侵入、そのとき店員はひとりしかおらず、ゴミ箱を空にしたところだった。)
 
 The gunman and the employee head for the register where the gunman orders the employee to empty it, even the coins.(銃を持った男と店員は現金機のところへ行き、中にあるものすべて渡すように命令。 コインさえもすべて。)
 
Then he makes the employee to take out his wallet and give him everything in it as well.
(それから店員が所持する財布をださせ、同じように中身を渡せと強要。)
 
 Now both head to the back of the store, where the gunman points a weapon at the victim’s head and makes him drink liquid sorp in an effort to reveal the combination to the store safe.(さて二人は店の裏側へまわり、被害者の頭に銃を突きつけ、液体石鹸を無理やり飲ませた。金庫の番号を白状させるためだった。)
 
 
 Watch as he repeated, puts the weapon at his head and forced him to drink the liquid soap.
(犯人は再度同じことを繰り返す。)
 
Finally convinced he didn’t know the combination or that there is even was a safe, the gunman leaves, as the employee locks the door behind him, calls his employer, who then called the police.(店員はダイヤル番号を本当に知らない、いやそもそも金庫があるのかどうかさえも知らない、ということにやっと気付いた犯人は、店をでる。店員はすぐにドアに施錠し、知らせを受けた店主が警察へ通報した。
 
The man taken in the robbery was not revealed,  the gunman is desctibed as a black man of 5.7 and 160 pounds.(強盗に係わった男の正体はわかっていないが、身長約5.7フィート、体重約160ポンドと言われている。

アメリカのTV CMでリスニングにチャレンジしよう!(便秘薬編)

ひさびさにTV CMを聞き取りしたのでUPLOADしました。
 
商品名はDULCOLEX STOOL SOFTENER. お通じの薬です。

まずはCM動画をどうぞ。

 
 

 

 

Sometimes life can be, well, a little uncomfortable.

(ときどき、不快になることってありますよね)

But when it’s hard or hurts to go to the bathroom, there’s Dulcolax Softener.

(トイレに行くのがつらかったり、痛くなったりした時は、ダルコラックスソフナー)

Dulcolax Stool Softener doesn’t make you go.

(ダルコラックスソフナーは、出す薬ではありません)

It jusrt makes it easier to go.

(出しやすくするためのお薬です)

Dulcolaxs Stool Softener. Make yourself comfortable.

 (ダルコラックスソフナーで、快適な暮らしを)

*******************

ほうー、なるほど。 make yourself go (あなたを行かせる)で「お通じがある」。

 makes it easier to go(行きやすくする)で「出しやすくする」。という意味に使えるのか。

何かの機会に使えるかも。

  

ところでこのCM、不快感をネット投稿するアメリカ人が多いようです。たとえば・・・

  

I hate the recent ad in which the guy sitting by the window on the plane squeezes over the center and aisle people to get to the aisle! Reminds me of how hard flying is nowdays!  (窓側の座席の男が苦心して通路に出るCMがいやだ。飛行機に乗る時の苦労を思い出すから)

I am just tired of hearing about  people’s piss and poop problems.  If you have trouble sh**ing, see your doctor.  Why do I need to hear about it? (オシッコとかOOOとかの話題をテレビで聴かされるのはもうウンザリ。そんなにつらいのなら医者に行けよ。何でこの俺が聴かされなきゃならないんだ。)
  
Now, these ads are upfront with the issue, and they have people exclaim (with enthusiasm) that  their poop is watery/etc. like it is an acceptable conversation among friends.こういうCMを流すから、堂々と大声で(中には熱意をもって)便が柔らかいだの何だのと話す奴らが出てくるんだ。友達どうしの会話なら、普通の話題になってる。)
 
まあまあ、そう怒りなさんな。 人間だれしも腹の調子が悪い時はあるんだし、こういう会話は時間つぶしにもってこいなんだよ。

女優エリザベステイラー、79年の生涯に幕

映画好きだった父からよく聞いた名前でした。

今回、この特集追悼番組をディクテーションして、彼女の偉大さ、破天荒さにあらためて敬意を表したい気分です。

聞き取った文章は、いつものとおり下に載せますが、全訳はやめときます。(体力が続かないので。) 

その前に、気になった表現などを2,3紹介させてください。

1.the woman who broke the rules and the pay barriers for women in film. ルールをぶち破り、映画女優の報酬の上限をもぶち破った女性。

2.I’ve had a lot of tragedy in my life. I’ve had the lowest valleys, the highest highs. 私の人生、多くの悲劇があった。どん底も最高も経験した。

3.She was the first actress to earn a million dollars for a movie (一本の映画で百万ドルを稼ぎ出した最初の女優だった)

4.But Elizabeth,the actress was often eclipsed by Elizabeth, the woman.女優としてのエリザベスが、一人の女としてのエリザベスによって侵されることがしばしばあった。

5.She married eight times to seven men, 7人の男性と8度の結婚。(つまり2度結婚した男がいた。)

  

いやはや読めば読むほどすごい人だ・・・・では本編をどうぞ。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3MLgGdVDCY

The last of the legendary superstars has died. A superstar from an era when American movies were so powerful, the whole globe feasted on our celluloid dreams and her face. Elizabeth Taylor died of heart failure today at 79 and every generation of Americans knew her and followed her turbulent life. The girl with the violet eyes, the woman who broke the rules and the pay barriers for women in film. And in some ways, she created this frenzy of tabloid celebrity we all live amidst still today. But she was also a woman who was never tougher than when looking at her own choices.

 

I’ve had a lot of tragedy in my life. I’ve had the lowest valleys, the highest highs. I’ve had extreme happiness. I’ve had addictions. I’m like a living example of what people can go through and survive.

 

Have you ever thought of what you wanted on your tombstone?  Here lies Elizabeth.

She hated being called Liz. But she lived.

 

And boy. Did Elizabeth Taylor live. The last icon and first global superstar. She once told me that she couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t famous.

Famous for her acting, illnesses, jewelry, friends, marriages and divorces.

Above all, for her stunning beauty , whether glamorously thin, or later unhappily heavy, time never dimmed her legendary violet eyes. She was born with a double set of lashes.

And she was so rapturously beautiful little girl that you couldn’t believe it and full of composure.

 Every day, I pray to God to give me horses. Pushed by her mother, Elizabeth was a movie star at 12 years old.  How do you do?  Her career spanned 70 years of more than fifty films.  I feel all the time like a cat on a hot tin roof.

 

Opposite the screen’s greatest leading men.

 I love you.

She was the first actress to earn a million dollars for a movie.  Elizabeth Taylor.

And won two oscars, her last for this sheering 1966  performance.,  Maybe George  Bowie  didn’t have the stuff. That maybe he didn’t have it in him.

But Elizabeth,the actress was often eclipsed by Elizabeth, the woman.

Married eight times to seven men, she married Richard Burton twice, the public and paparazzi  consumed her every romance. She said there were two great loves in her life.

Director Mike Todd, who tragically died after one year of marriage, and Richard Burton, who in 1962, she met on the set a Cleopatra.   We both tried very hard to resist, it was just like, boom!

And the rest, as they say is –  is  in  history. Both were married at the time.

And their very public affair, condemned by the Vatican, became an international scandal. Unquestionably, their torrid relationship was one of the last century’s great romances. Richard Burton was a great actor.

 And also a hunk.

Throughout the ’60s, The Burtons were the most celebrated couple on the planet , superstars before there was such a word.

Lovers and friends all showered her with jewelry, a collection considered one of the finest in the world.

 Don’t get your fingerprints on it. Look at that.

In later years, Taylor successfully transformed herself into a businesswoman, selling perfume.

But her humanitarian work may be her greatest legacy.

Using her fame, she raised millions for aids research, bravely standing by actor Rock Hudson, one of its first victims, when others shunned him.

To the public, she may have been the last great movie star.

But for those who knew her, she was also a loving mother and loyal friend.

 There have been so many lessons, life and death lessons, emotional lessons.  I don’t believe in regrets.

And I have no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow, no one does.

 And Barbara Walters is here now.

We were saying earlier, we don’t think of her as a pioneer, but her sheer fearlessness about her own choices in life changed things in this country.

Absolutely.

By the way, she never wrote her autobiography.

This, all the different clips that people will see, that’s her autobiography.

She was gutsy and salty and funny.

And look at the things we’ve talked about , married eight times. She wanted to get married, she married them. She wanted to divorce them, she divorced them.

She championed aids when nobody did.

She stood by people who were rejected.

Michael Jackson adored her. Rock Hudson.

And everything she did was bigger, maybe not better, but pronounced and different.

 

 

おかしくね? このニュース。

 
 
 
 
 
ディクテーションをしていて、これほど不可解かつ不愉快な気持ちになったことはありません。
①なぜこのお父さんたちは、日本にいる子供たちに会えなくなったのか?
⇒どうせ家庭内暴力とか、アルコールとか、ギャンブルとか、浮気が原因なんでしょ?
 
②なぜTV局は、拉致(abducted)という言葉を用いるのか?⇒ 根拠も無しにこんな極端な言葉を使うのは、視聴率を稼ぎたいからなんでしょ、ABCさん?
 
 
子供と会えなくなった原因については何も触れず、ただ一方的に日本を悪者に仕立て上げているこの番組、納得できないよ、どう考えても。
 
動画は下記クリック↓。 
 
 
 
If I get to see my kids again, then I’ll definitely want to give my heart, kiss and say I love you very much. And I’ll also say that this is not your fault. What’s happened to my kids is just wrong.
And it was unforunate that they’ve been separated from me, from her loving father in their lives. I really can’t wait to be a part of their life again and
I can’t wait to be reunited with my children so I can hold them and love them and hug them again
jus like I used to right before the abduction.
 
I’d say Keisuke,  I love you and miss you so very much. Everyday is so hard just to get through. Your granma Joan misses you. Cousins,McKenzie and Reily, your uncle Rod and Daina. I haven’t forgotten you. We are gonna stop fighting for you.
I can’t wait to  see you again. I just… I miss you so much. I pray everyday tha  today is the day that I’ll see your ?????? again. I love you.
 
All I can say is I’m not gonna give up.
I want my daughter home. I’ll continue to fight. And my daughter knows this. Hopefully the Japanese knows this. The state department knows this. My daughter is coming home, she’s an American.
 
Erika was abducted when she was night months old. So she’s been a part of my life for a nine,tenth of her life. I was only a life of her for the first one tenth of this. So she won’t remember me. So what I really want to say to her is “Erika. I do want to get to know you. I do want you to be my daughter, I want to be your father. I want you to meet… You have  many relatives who love you here in the states. Much a great deal of family , aunts, uncles and cousins and your grandparents who are hanging on to life, waiting for the chance to meet you, and to get to know you. So we are all waiting for you here with our arms wide open for a big hug when you come. I just can’t  wait to get to know you someday. I love you. 

たった2セント不足しただけなのに・・・

 

その事件は、コロラド州デンバーの夫婦に突然起こった。 

夫がガンで入院。 

莫大な治療費が重くのしかかる。 

こんな時のためにと入っていたガン保険。 奥さんは請求手続きを取った。 

しかしなんと保険金支払いは途中で中断。 原因は奥さんが当月の保険金を誤って少なく振り込んだこと。その差額たったの2セント。(日本円で1円66銭)  

「ひどい、あんまりだ。」絶望感に打ちひしがれる夫婦。 

やってられないなあ、こんな目にあったら。 せめて定期引き落としだったらこんなことにはならなかっただろうに。 

だが、救いの神はちゃんといた。 TV局側が徹底追求した結果、保険会社側が折れたのである。

おかげで保険金支払いは再開され、夫は移植手術を受けられることに。

めでたしめでたし。

それにしてもこの保険会社のしらばっくれた応対には腹が立つ。このようなケースは今回が初めてではなく、過去にもあったものと感じさせる。泣き寝入りした顧客もいたのではないか? そう思うとやるせなさに襲われる。

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

本文

Imagine this. A vietnam veteran has cancer and is awaiting  a stemcell transplant, when suddenly the insurance company revoked his coverage, revoked because his premium payment was two cents, two cents short. We learned of  this story from our Denver station KMGH.
David Muir picked up a phone to get answers and got results.
It’s doctor’s appointment they’ll never forget. Ronald Flanagan,fighting cancer, multiple myeloma,  was just moments away from getting a bone biopsy when his wife, in the lobby, heard this.
They told me, well, you know, you don’t have no insurance.
The couple was stunned. Especially because Ron was soon to get a stem cell transplant. Doctors had found a match. But their Cobra insurance coverage they were paying for after his wife was laid off, had suddenly been cut off. All because of a two-cent discrepancy. The last bill, $328.69, Francis paid $328.67.- two cents less by accident. Everybody is very surprised that two cents is enough to do this. And now we’re just pulling teeth and trying to figure out what’s the next step.  Today,we called up that Cobra provider, Ceridian.
It’s David Muir at ABC world news in New York. First put on hold,then told by another worker we’d get a call back. And this afternoon, we heard from Ceridian. Could this possibly be true that they wdre dropped over two cents? WE’ve reviewed the situation throughly and to establish facts and we’re pleased to say that we’ve been able to work with the employer and Mr. Flanagan’s Cobra coverage was reinstated. I just got off the phone with his wife and they have not been told that yet.  We are n the process of communicating with them. The Flanagan’s confirmed after so much worry over that two-cent error. It’s finally over. What would you say to mr. Flanagan tonight? Would you offer an apology?  For what, specifically?
Knowing that ,they were dropped because of a two-cent discrepancy as he waits for a stem cell transplant? We followed the normal processes, which are in complete compliance with the law and the regulations. Mr.Flanagan tells us he’s already been back on the phone with the transplant coordinator telling him he has his insurance back now, trying to get back on that schedule. Diane?

アメリカのテレビCMでリスニングに挑戦!(その2)

 
 

フロリダオレンジジュースのCM第2弾をお届けします。今回は、中学生の男の子がメイン。

この朝食のテーブルに座っている人たちは、この日主人公に降りかかる災難に関係する人々。 どうやらバスの運転手と数学の教師のようですね。動画サイトは下記をクリック。

 

****
 
 
(主人公) :GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA?
 
 
(バス運転手)AT 7:30, YOU’RE GONNA MISS YOUR BUS AND YOU’LL HAVE TO WALK ALL THE WAY TO SCHOOL.
 
 
(主人公) GREAT. 
 
 
(数学教師) AT 9:15, I’M GONNA SPRING A POP QUIZ ON YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT, MATH.
 
 
(主人公)WELL, GOOD THING I HAVE MY ORANGE JUICE.
 
***********
 
 
翻訳は次のとおり。
 
(主人公) : みんなおはよう。今日の予定はどうなってる?
 
 
(バス運転手) 朝7時半のスクールバスに乗り遅れ、学校まで歩いて行かねばならないことになっています。
 
 
(主人公) よろしい。
 
 
(数学教師) 9時15分にあなたの一番嫌いな数学の抜き打ちテストをおこないます。
 
(主人公) オレンジジュース飲んどこうっと。
 
******
 
 
least favorite の部分は何度トライしても聴き取れなかったので近所のマイクさんの世話になりました。
 
ちなみにpop quizとは、抜き打ちの小テストを意味するんだそうです。面白い表現ですね。

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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 childs 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 its fun, which means people are more motivated and engaged during their rehab. This motivation is important from a therapy perspective, but theres 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 balanceit 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, theyre motivated to practice newly learned skills with the Wii because its 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.

海老蔵関連ニュースを英語で!

いま一番ホットな話題と言えばこれですね。 ヒアリングの練習に使っちゃいましょう。
動画は下記をクリックしてください。
本文
Japan’s Kabuki prince apologized Tuesday for embarrassing the country’s most viewed theater. Ebizo Ichikawa faced the
swarm of reporters.
His eyes still blood shot  from a drunken brawl a few weeks ago. Ichikawa said “I thought I was going to die.” when the man was beating me. The incident in  Tokyo rich neighborhood came on the same day Ichikawa skipped his media events, citing health reasons. The actor admits  drinking heavily that night but maintains that he was a victim. That sounded a little to quite the media frenzy.
Ichikawa comes from one of the Japan’s most famous Kabuki families. He’s considered the future of the traditional all male theater.
This woman says it’s an embarrassment for a actor considered a face of Kabuki.  Theater operator, Shochiku has already suspended
Ichikawa and cancelled the New Year’s program starring the actor. At least three major companies have halt TV ads featuring the actor. The cancelled shows could cost organizers up to two million dollars .
Akiko Fujita, ABC news Tokyo.

さっぱり聴き取れねえ・・・オレはまだまだだな~

ウィリアム王子の婚約発表の冒頭部分、リスニングに挑戦してみたところ、さっぱりできなかった。(悲)

かろうじて聞き取れたのは、friends, for a while, surpriseのみ。 今までオレはなにをやってきたのだろう? と自責の念に駆られてしまう。

Kenya の部分など Canyon に聞こえてしまった。

米語ばかりやっていると、イギリスの英語はまったく異なものに聴こえてくるから不思議です。 英語学習者のみなさん、気をつけましょう。

参考までに、動画と文章を記しておきます。 

 
It was about three weeks ago on holiday in Kenya.
We had a little private time away together with some friends and I just decided that it was the right time really.
We had been talking about marriage for a while so it wasn’t a massively big surprise.
 I took her up somewhere nice in Kenya and I proposed.