野村英語維新塾

今日はアマゾンについての話題です。みなさんもお馴染みでしょう。私でさえ利用しているほどですから。そのアマゾンが大きな岐路に立たされています。それは何なのか、これからの戦略はどうなのか、そしてその戦略は正しいといえるのか、を議論したいと思います。

Amazon is planning to sublease some of its warehouse space now that the pandemic-fueled surge in online shopping, which helped the e-commerce giant rake in soaring profits in the past two years, has eased.

Subleasing allows the company to “relieve the financial obligations associated with an existing building that no longer meets” its needs, Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll said.

Carroll didn’t disclose how much space the company plans to sublet. But citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the retailer would sublease at least 10 million square feet of space and could end more of its leases in states including New York, New Jersey and California.

Seattle-based Amazon doubled the size of its operations during the pandemic, adding more warehouses and workers to keep up with demand from homebound consumers who felt more comfortable buying things online. But as the worst of the pandemic eased, it found itself with too much warehouse space and too many workers.

“Subleasing is something many established corporations do to help manage their real estate portfolio,” Carroll said.

Last month, the company reported its first quarterly loss since 2015, fueled by the e-commerce slowdown and a massive write-down of its investment in the electric-vehicle startup Rivian Automotive. In a statement released last month with its earnings results, CEO Andy Jassy said the company was now focused on improving productivity.

今日も3人ずつグループに分け、リーディングやリスニング、ライティングに取り組んでいただきます。まず明日の文章を各自読んでおくように。

The owner of a rural English pub says he was asked to change the bar’s name by a fashion magazine because of the village where it’s located: Vogue.

Mark Graham, who runs the Star Inn at Vogue, said he received a letter from British Vogue publisher Conde Nast, saying the name could “cause problems” because members of the public might confuse the two businesses.

He said the letter from Sabine Vandenbroucke, chief operating officer of Conde Nast Britain, asked if he would change the name, adding: “Please reply within seven days or we will take remedial action.”

Graham stood his ground.

“There’s always too much a case of the big boys trying to stomp on the little boys, and as soon as I realized what they were trying to do, I went ‘you’re not having me, my handsome,’” he told broadcaster ITV.

He sent a reply noting that the village, in Cornwall county about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of London, is considerably older than the magazine, whose British edition was founded in 1916.

“I presume that at the time when you chose the name Vogue … you didn’t seek permission from the villagers of the real Vogue,” he wrote.

“In answer to your question whether we would change our name, it is a categorical NO.”

Graham said that on Friday he received another letter from Conde Nast saying that it regularly monitors use of the name Vogue but acknowledging that “we did not need to send such a letter on this occasion.”

A Nepali Sherpa broke her own record as the most successful female climber of Mount Everest by reaching the summit of the world’s highest peak Thursday.

Lakpa Sherpa and several other climbers took advantage of favorable weather to reach the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit early in the morning, her brother and expedition organizer Mingma Gelu said. He said she was in good health and was safely descending from the peak.

Sherpa, 48, never got a chance to get a formal education because she had to start earning a living by carrying climbing gear and supplies for trekkers. Thursday’s successful ascent was her 10th — the most times any woman has climbed Everest — and she has always said she wanted to inspire all women so they too can achieve their dreams.

A native of Nepal, Sherpa lives in the U.S. with her three children in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Another Nepalese Sherpa guide, Kami Rita, reached the summit for the 26th time Saturday, breaking his own record for the most climbs of Everest. Rita led a group of Sherpa climbers who fixed ropes along the route so that hundreds of other climbers and guides can make their way to the top of the mountain later this month.

Hundreds of foreign climbers and an equal number of Sherpa guides are set to attempt climbs of Everest in May, the month when weather conditions in the Himalayan peaks are most favorable for climbing.

今週はNHKスペシャル高校生ワーキングプア」の原稿から英作文を演習します。

5月は中学校の修学旅行シーズンだ。旭川市内の中学校はほぼ例外なく函館を旅行する。

わざわざ僕にまでおみやげを買って来てくれる生徒たちがいじらしい。重たかっただろうに、バス移動でかさばっただろうに。

そういえば僕も修学旅行は函館だった。トラピスト修道院、函館山、五稜郭、朝市、見どころいっぱい。

いや待てよ、確か函館市内の中学校と交流会のような催しがあった。そうだフォークダンスを踊ったんだ。オクラホマミキサー。初対面の女の子の手を握る、胸がドキドキしたっけ。大笑

またいつか行こう。函館へ。

Twitter says it will no longer allow advertisers on its site who deny the scientific consensus on climate change, echoing a policy already in place at Google.

“Ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” the company said in a statement outlining its new policy Friday.

There was no indication that the change would affect what users post on the social media site, which along with Facebook has been targeted by groups seeking to promote misleading claims about climate change.

The announcement coinciding with Earth Day came hours before the European Union agreed upon a deal requiring big tech companies to vet their sites more closely for hate speech, disinformation and other harmful content.

Twitter said it would provide more information in the coming months on how it plans to provide “reliable, authoritative context to the climate conversations” its users engage in, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The U.N.-backed science panel’s reports on the causes and effects of climate change provide the basis for international negotiations to curb climate change.

The company already has a dedicated climate topic on its site and offered what it described as “pre-bunks” during last year’s U.N. climate conference to counter misinformation surrounding climate change.

1980年代中頃マニックマンデーと言う曲がヒットした。「月曜の朝は憂鬱。会社へ行きたくない。」みたいな歌詞だった。

There was a big hit song in the mid-1980s called Manic Monday.

The lyrics goes like “just another manic Monday I wish it were Sunday. “

確かに学生時代、そして会社員時代、月曜日朝ほど嫌なものはなかった。

It did resonate with me. There was nothing worse than Monday mornings.

だが個人事業をやっている今、月曜日ほど嬉しいものはない。

But since I’m my own boss, I’ve come to love MONDAYS!

小中学生や高校生の生徒からよく聞かれる。「会社で働くのと個人で働くのとどちらがいいと思いますか。」

My JUKU students (elementary, junior high, senior high) often ask me which is better to work for someone else or on my own.

私は答える。「どっちもいい点悪い点があるよ。」

I tell them that both have merits and demerits.

会社勤めしているときは、一定の給料がもらえる。社会から信用してもらえる。

ストレスやプレッシャーが常につきまとう。

Working for a company, you get stable salary and benefits. Also people trust you.

However, you’ll always be under stress and pressure.

個人事業を始めてからは、ストレス、プレッシャーは皆無。だが売り上げは不安定。

Working for yourself, you’ll feel less stressful. But your income may not be stable.

こう答えると子供たちは考え込む。「どっちがいいのだろう」と。

Children wonder which to follow.

答えはきっと見つかるさ！

Someday you’ll understand.

今日はリーディングは行いません。代わりにTOEICの模擬試験にチャレンジしてみましょう。

問題の回答はLINEで送ってもらいますから各自スマホを忘れずにお持ちください。

以上

学生時代に仲が良かった奴から急に電話がかかってきた。（もうかれこれ10年ぐらい会っていないのでLINE登録もしていなかった。)

話がしたいと言う。

一体何の話だろう?　そう思いながらズームミーティングを行った。

画面を見るなりお互い笑いあう。老けたなぁ。髪は薄くなったしおまけに白髪だらけだし。

そう言いながらも人懐っこい笑顔は昔のままだ。あの頃彼は背が高くバスケが上手だった。それでいて性格は天然。僕のような運動嫌い帰宅部の人間とも付き合ってくれた。

そんな彼からの突然の会談申し入れ。一体何の用件？

驚いたことに、彼は経営コンサルタント会社に長く勤め、研鑽を積んできた。この度その集大成として本を出版し、将来的にはその英語バージョンも出す構想があるという。その翻訳を野村に手伝って欲しいというのだ。

しばらく親交がなかったのに仕事を頼まれるなんて本当に嬉しい。プロ翻訳の経験は無いが、経営学なら学生の頃やっていたし、無縁ではない。出来るかぎりの手伝いをしたいと答えた。

さあ、また忙しくなるぞう。老いぼれてなどいられない！

今週は栄養学科の学生に関係のあるトピックをえらびました。この記事に書かれている問題点と、菓子メーカーが取った対策について話し合います。各自しっかり読んでおく様に。

Food authorities in Denmark and Finland said Thursday that Italian company Ferrero has recalled specific batches of Kinder chocolate products due to suspicions of a connection between the products and an outbreak of salmonella.

They are the latest in a string of countries to announce such recalls, including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the U.K, Sweden and Norway.

On Wednesday, European health officials said they are investigating a “rapidly evolving” outbreak of salmonella in 134 children that appears to be linked to chocolate Easter eggs that normally contain a surprise toy inside. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the chocolate products were identified “as the likely route of infection,” adding that children mainly under 10 years of age were affected. The first case was detected in Britain in January.

Britain’s Health Security Agency said it had identified 63 cases of salmonella linked to the chocolate eggs and that most were children under five. Salmonella typically causes symptoms including diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Most people who get sick do not need any medicine but severe cases that result in hospitalization may require antibiotics or other treatment.

“The presence of salmonella in chocolate is particularly critical, as the high fat content of the chocolate will be a protective factor for salmonella bacteria when passing through the stomach acid,” the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said in a statement. It “is especially critical when it comes to chocolate products marketed directly to children.”

In Finland, the Food Authority said that Ferrero Scandinavia AB has recalled specified Kinder chocolate products sold in the Nordic country for the same reason.

“We are voluntarily recalling select batches of Kinder Surprise as a precautionary step,” the company said, noting there was a “possible link” to the reported salmonella cases.