英文ライティング―金融、会計、経済、法律専門

The articles rightly pointed out that Japan's society continues to be a generally lively one. Life expectancy here is one of the highest in the world, and large cities are as bustling and vibrant as ever. Japanese culture continues to produce more than its share of exportable movies, manga and fads, and restaurants draw plenty of review stars. On the other side, Japan's suicide rate is one of the world's highest, a sign of widespread depression and alienation. Other social problems such as hikikomori social recluses and bullying at school reveal that affluence does not translate into mental well-being.

translate

「翻訳する」という意味だけではありません。この文脈では以下のHAPPEN AS RESULTが当てはまりそうです。

HAPPEN AS RESULT

A small increase in local spending will translate into a big rise in property tax.

HAVE SAME MEANING

These rates translate into a return of 8.5% for dollar investors.

CHANGE FORMS

Jokes often don’t translate well into print.

USE IN NEW SITUATION

It’s amazing how well the play has been translated to film.

• 
• 
• ツイート

Although Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says he will do his best to prevent continued use of the air station, he has not said that he has given up on the Henoko plan. The joint statement says it is "the only viable way" to realize a transfer of Futenma functions. The government should realize that as long as it sticks with the Henoko plan, it cannot resolve the Futenma issue.

continued use

意味を考えると continuing use とすべきではないかと考えて google してみたが、prevent の目的語としては continued use の方が圧倒的に支配的である。進行形ではこれからも続いていくとニュアンスが強く出るので、prevent したいようなことには用いない方がよいという意識の現われかもしれない。考えすぎかな。

この場合、of 以下は use の目的語になるので定冠詞の有無は任意。

prevent continued use of: 34,300 hits
prevent the continue use of: 78,300 hits

prevent continuing use of: 787 hits
prevent the continuing use of: 2,480 hits

prevent continuation of: 62,200 hits
prevent the continuation of: 256,000 hits

• 
• 
• ツイート

As Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said in his policy speech before the Diet on Jan. 24, Japan should change its social security system from one that is preoccupied with supporting elderly citizens to one that strengthens support for working people, including child-rearing families, and meets the need of all generations.

「社会保障制度に様々な制度が有り、現行の特に高齢支援に主眼を置いた制度から、今後は家族を扶養している勤労家庭を含めた全世代を対象とする制度に移行すべきである。」

関係代名詞thatによって、不定代名詞oneの内容が明確になっている。この文を読んでいると、thatには非限定用法（継続用法）がないのも頷ける

• 
• 
• ツイート

Credit rating agencies were not initially responsible for the European sovereign debts crises. For example, it was Greece's hiding of its debts at the time it applied to join the eurozone that led to the crisis. The problem is that each time a rating agency downgrades a country, short-term speculative funds cause a disturbance in markets.

強調構文です。強調構文を見抜くのは、なかなか骨の折れる作業です。itとthatには色々な用法があるので……。

「こんな金融危機に陥ったというのも、ユーロ圏加盟申請時にギリシャが借金を隠したからじゃないか」と論説委員は主張しています。

イタリアが格付け会社の過去の失態―エンロン等の巨大企業の粉飾決算を見抜けなかった―を非難したところで、イタリア国債の格付けが変わらないと思うのですが、続きがあれば読んでみたい社説です。

• 
• 
• ツイート

Mr. Koga stressed the importance of raising wages, which he said would increase consumer spending, thus helping to end deflation. He said that priority should be given to nurturing human resources. Keidanren should not forget that the age-linked automatic raise system helped build trustful relationship between labor and management.

年功序列とか企業忠誠心とか、上場企業には一部その名残が有るかもしれないが、会社人として私からは10年以上前に消え去った。「背に腹は代えられない」と経営陣から一蹴されそうな理論武装では、何とも心もとない春闘である。

• 
• 
• ツイート

The 2009 manifesto called for unifying existing pension schemes and having all people participate in the same pension scheme. Everyone would be entitled to a minimum monthly pension of ¥70,000 or more, which would be funded by the consumption tax. People would pay premiums based on their income, and those who have paid greater amounts would receive proportionally more than the minimum pension. The institutionalization of this scheme would help stabilize the lives of those who receive no pension or less than ¥70,000 a month.

be entitled to の to は前置詞の場合もあれば、to不定詞の場合もあります。

The consul is entitled to request other documents from the applicant

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

Each subordinate worker in Italy who gets married is entitled to marriage leave.

Who is entitled to the husbands pension the former wife or new wife?

entitled とよく似た意味を持つ単語に eligible が有ります。用例をいくつか読んでみましたが、違いをうまく説明できません。

The government and the DPJ must realize that this is one of the major factors that have contributed to the erosion of public trust in the pension system. They should not forget the long-term goal while they work to resolve short-term issues such as expanding pension coverage for irregular workers, shortening the minimum period of premium payments to be eligible for pensions and funding half of the basic pension benefits through tax money.

The Japan times の論説委員も少なくとのこの社説では違いを意識していないようです。

• 
• 
• ツイート

The decision to halt the research is temporary: A meeting of global health experts will be convened to decide how the work should proceed. It is a critical debate for which there are no easy answers. But agreeing on a process is essential given the magnitude of the risks in both directions.

受動態と勘違いしそうですが、この場合のgiven (= taking something into account)は前置詞として使われています。

Given the circumstance, you’ve done really well.

Given that the patients have some disabilities, we still try to enable them to be independent as possible.

• 
• 
• ツイート

Scientists working on ways to detect and prevent the spread of the avian flu virus have suspended their work out of concern that it could either be used for bioterrorism or that it might escape the lab; either development could create a global pandemic and cost thousands, perhaps millions, of lives.

ここでの二つのthatはconcernと同格。either A or B は相関関係を表し、AとBとは文法的に同じ要素であることが望ましいと思うのだが、ここではその原則が守られていない。eitherは無い方がいいと思うのだがいかがなものだろうか。

• 
• 
• ツイート

For fiscal 2011 ending at the end of March 2012, the government has a budget large enough to cover 126,000 unemployed people in this system. It has so far officially recognized job-training courses for some 45,000 people as suitable for the system. The system is aimed at helping unemployed people who were never covered by unemployment insurance, unemployed people whose unemployment insurance coverage has expired, self-employed people who were forced to shutter their businesses and recent school graduates who have been unable to find work.

be aimed at

aimをわざわざ過去分詞で用いなくてもよさそうなものだが、と長年思っていたが、どうも過去分詞で用いないと具合が悪いようだ。「武器で獲物や敵を狙う」という意味の場合には過去分詞にせずに用いている。本当のところは依然として謎のままではあるが……

3. to choose the place, person etc that you want to hit or reach and point a weapon or another object towards them:

Denver aimed his gun but did not shoot.

The pilot was aiming at/for the runway but came down in a nearby field.

1. to try or intend to achieve something

We aim to finish by Friday.

an initiative aimed at reducing road accident

The machine is a compact, yet powerful, media player, which is aimed at budget sensitive users.

He is aimed at creating a comprehensive theory of cognitive agency.

We’re aiming for a big improvement.

• 
• 
• ツイート