2009/04/05
クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 ＜第７３号＞
============================================================================= クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 第７３号： ０９年０４月０５日 Official Site: http://www.chrisbelton.com/ ============================================================================= ------------------------------------ 目次 ------------------------------------ ☆ What's New? ☆ Belton's Blog ☆ ワン・ポイント英語 − ＜Useful Phrases: Requirements＞ ☆ Potluck − ＜Blonde Jokes＞ ☆ オンライン英字小説 − ＜The Stoning of Hazelbury: Part XXXII＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ What's New? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ 「新TOEICテスト スーパー・トレーニング／文法・語彙問題編」の第５刷の 増刷が決定しました。 http://www.chrisbelton.com/book_col.html ☆ 4月から、毎月第４週目の日曜日に「多読」をテーマにした連載記事が Asahi Weeklyに載ることになりました。 第１回目(４月２６日）のテーマは[Overcoming the Hurdles to Reading English Literature]です。 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ Belton's Blog ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- My home is in a state of uproar as I write this. The living room is littered with toys, pens, paper cups and countless small ornaments. A noise louder than an airplane taking off is echoing off the walls. The dog has evacuated to the bedroom and is hiding under the bed. Yes, my grandchildren are in the house...! Their dad is very busy today, so we were asked to take care of them for the day. It's wonderful having them near, but boy, are they demanding! My wife is currently engaged in making a merry-go-round out of a rice cracker box, old chopsticks, string and cardboard, but the kids seem to be more interested in the final product than the actual process of creation and are running around screaming at the tops of their voices. But, it really is nice to have the kids in the house. It makes the place seem more alive and vibrant, and I'm sure even the walls seem happier than when all they have to look at is boring old me. Of course, certain sacrifices must be made in order to enjoy this additional sense of vibrancy: No afternoon nap...:-) ---------------------------------------- I finished writing another book this week and sent the final manu- script to the publisher at about 17:00 on Tuesday afternoon. The deadline was Tuesday, so I only just managed to finish it in time. The book will probably be published at the end of May or at the beginning of June, and it is a study book for people taking Level 2 of the Eiken examination. I have a co-author who is writing the main explanations, and my job was just to write the sample sentences, dialogues and announcements using a predetermined list of vocabulary. I have written similar books for the TOEIC examination several times before, but for some reason the words and phrases used in the Eiken exam have less relationship with each other than TOEIC, so it was very difficult to fit the sentences together in a natural way. It therefore took me more than double the time to finish the job than usual, and I was extremely relieved when I put the final period to the final sentence. Now I have to start work on the next book... Phew! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ ワン・ポイント英語 ＜Useful Phrases: Requirements＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★ Requirements 多くの場合、requirementsという語はneedsという語に置き換えることが できます。 - The flat is too small for their requirements --> The flat is too small for their needs. そのフラットには彼らが必要とするだけの広さがない。 - This car is too large for my requirements --> This car is too large for my needs. この車は私が必要とする以上に大きい。 - The book is too difficult for my requirements --> The book is too difficult for my needs. この本は私の要求以上に難しい。 これらの文は、さらに〈than + 主格代名詞 + want（またはneed）〉という形で 言い換えることができます。この場合、形容詞は原級から比較級に変え なければなりません。つまり、tooを取り、形容詞に -er をつけ加えるか moreという語をつけるのです。 - The flat is too small for their requirements --> The flat is smaller than they want. - This car is too large for my requirements --> This car is larger than I need. - The book is too difficult for my requirements --> The book is more difficult than I want. また、〈for＋所有格代名詞＋名詞（ここではrequirements）〉の部分は、 下記のように、〈for＋目的格代名詞〉の形に書き換えることができます。 - The flat is too small for their requirements --> The flat is too small for them. そのフラットは彼らには狭すぎる。 - This car is too large for my requirements --> This car is too large for me. この車は私には大きすぎる。 - The book is too difficult for my requirements --> The book is too difficult for me. その本は私には難しすぎる。 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ Potluck − ＜Blonde Jokes＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★ Blonde Jokes ブロンド・ジョークが元来イギリスのものなのか、アメリカのものなのかは 定かでありません。けれども一般に、1930年代ハリウッドのギャング映画 に由来するのではないかと考えられています。有能なギャングには必ず、 おそろしく美人だが頭が空っぽのブロンドの「女」がいるからです。 Blonde Jokesを理解するために欠かせない前提として、天然のブロンド 女性はみな、他の色の髪をした女性に比べて頭が足りないということに なっています。 Q: How do you make a blonde's eyes light up? A: Shine a torch in her ear. 問：ブロンド娘の目を輝かせるには？ 答：懐中電灯で耳の中を照らす。 Q: Why should blondes not be given coffee breaks? A: It takes too long to retrain them. 問：なぜブロンド娘には休憩時間を与えないほうがいいのか。 答：再教育するのに時間がかかりすぎるから。 Q: How can you tell if a blonde's been using the computer? A: There's white-out on the screen. 問：ブロンド娘がコンピュータを使っていたことはなぜわかる？ 答：モニター画面に修正液が塗ってある。 Q: What's the difference between a blonde and a computer? A: You only have to enter information into a computer once. 問：ブロンド娘とコンピュータの違いは？ 答：コンピュータには情報を一度入力するだけですむ。 Q: Why do blondes drive BMWs? A: Because they can spell it. 問：ブロンド娘はなぜＢＭＷを運転するのか？ 答：その綴りが書けるから。 Q: What do you do when a blonde throws a hand grenade at you? A: Pull the pin out and throw it back. 問：ブロンド娘が手榴弾を投げてきたらどうする？ 答：安全ピンを抜いて投げ返す。 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ オンライン英字小説 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★★★★ The Stoning of Hazelbury (by Christopher Belton) ★★★★ メルマガ限定オリジナル作品の「オンライン英字小説」の 連載を毎週提供します！ The Stoning of Hazelburyは出版されていないオリジナル小説です。 毎週ワン・チャプターづつ発行しますので、是非是非最後まで読んでみて ください。 途中からの方はバック・ナンバーでキャッチアップできます。 Part Iはこちらへ： http://archive.mag2.com/0000251837/20080831060000000.html ----- The Stoning of Hazelbury: Part XXXII ----- His wanderings took him over to the left wing, and stopping to survey the position of the field, he caught sight of Goofy Pond unmarked and away from the main group--who seemed to have little inclination to part company and were rolling towards him like a multi-colored snowball--and lofted the ball over to him. Goofy chested the ball to the ground and settled down to wait for two of the opposition to enter the penalty area, for he erroneously believed that to continue straight on would be to infringe the rule of offside. He didn’t have to wait long. The snowball, which had followed the trajectory of the ball, broke open and every member of the Greenhurst team, thinking Goofy might need a hand in the goal mouth, rushed to his aid. Before the ball had bounced three times at Goofy’s feet, there were enough of the opposition in the area, he thought, to prevent the linesman from waving his flag, and Goofy set off determinedly. It therefore came as a great surprise to feel the horny shoulder of some motherless son ramming into his back, causing him to plow a small rut in the turf with his nose. It came as an even greater surprise to discover that the motherless son in question was none other than Arnie Dobbs--a member of his own team. Arnie Dobbs had been an original member of the snowball, but understanding the rule of offside and seeing Goofy trap the ball and then stand around gormlessly while the goal mouth filled up with the opposition had occasioned him to veer off and take matters into his own hands. After all, the continuation of the soccer club with Wendhurst as the leader was dear to his heart, and if things were left to Goofy, Hazelbury would not secure the needed victory. So, he applied his shoulder to Goofy’s back with zeal. Goofy was displeased. He took this affront on his person as Dobbs’ revenge at being knocked on the noodle by the Jerk’s cane some days earlier, and the blood boiled in his veins. Didn’t the nincompoop know that there were times for revenge and times to bite the bullet? Didn’t the ignoramus understand the importance of this match? Obviously not, but two can play at the same game. With a roar that might have been emitted by a lion who had inadvertently inserted his testicles in a mincing machine, Goofy jumped to his feet and bounded after his attacker, who was now meeting half-hearted opposition in the goal mouth. Having reached the zenith of his speed one yard behind Dobbs, he launched himself into the air and placed a cleated boot between his shoulder blades. ＜Part XXXIII は来週につづく＞ (C) Christopher Belton, all rights reserved ============================================================================= 発行者の紹介 ------------ 発行者はイギリス人作家クリストファー・ベルトンです。『「ハリーポッター」が 英語で楽しく読める本』シリーズをはじめ、TOEIC、英検、英会話、多読、 ライティングなどの数多くの英語教材を出版する傍ら、海外では小説家として 知られているプロ・ライターです。 オフィシャル・サイトは下記のURLにて、是非アクセスしてみてください。 http://www.chrisbelton.com/ ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 発行者： クリストファー・ベルトン オフィシャル・サイト： http://www.chrisbelton.com/ 発行システム： 『まぐまぐ！』 http://www.mag2.com/ 配信中止はこちら： http://www.mag2.com/m/0000251837.html -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
