課題文_71_「ウーバーイーツ」
課題文_71_「ウーバーイーツ」
ウーバーイーツ配送員に手当を 防護用品や危険手当を配送員労組が求める
Japan's Uber Eats delivery people want hazard pay, protective equipment
With many restaurants closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, more people are getting their meals delivered. However, that puts delivery people at risk, and now Uber Eats delivery people want hazard pay and protection.
Kento Suzuki, vice chairman of a labor union for about 30 workers at Uber Technologies Inc., said Uber Eats workers run the risk of being infected or spreading the virus while they come and go between restaurants and customers.
“We are putting our health on the line for the company's food delivery business,” Suzuki said at a news conference in Tokyo on April 10. He said the Japan unit of the U.S. ride-hailing company does not provide face masks and disinfectant, so workers have to buy their own.
The union wants the company to provide protective equipment, and also wants workers to be paid an additional \300 hazard pay per order. (Kyodo)
(157 words) 47秒で200英単語/分
(The Japan Times alpha: Easy Reading、初級、April 24, 2020)
(The Japan Times alpha: Easy Reading、初級、April 24, 2020)
課題文_70_「スカイツリー頂上」
【今週の英文記事】
課題文_70_「スカイツリー頂上」
東京スカイツリーの頂上では地上よりも速く時間が過ぎると証明
Time passes faster at top of Tokyo Skytree than on ground: Japanese study
Time flies when you’re having fun. Now there is scientific proof this saying is right.
A team led by physicist Hidetoshi Katori found that time passes faster at the Tokyo Skytree tower’s observatory around 450 meters above sea level - than on the ground.
How much faster? Around four nanoseconds, according to the study released on April 6 in the journal Science Photonics. The team’s scientists came from institutions including the University of Tokyo and the Quantum Metrology Laboratory at government-backed research institute Riken.
The team used extremely precise “optical lattice clocks.” These go out of sync by one second in 16 billion years.
The finding supports Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. The theory predicts that clocks in a strong gravitational field will tick slower than those in a weaker gravitational field. (Kyodo)
(146 words) 43秒で200英単語/分
(The Japan Times alpha: Easy Reading、初級、May 1, 2020)
(The Japan Times alpha: Easy Reading、初級、May 1, 2020)
課題文_69_今週の英英辞典クイズ
【英英辞典クイズ from 課題文_69_「休業補償」_語彙】
英英辞典で以下の説明文が表示される単語／熟語は、何でしょう？
1. to suddenly move very quickly in a particular direction
2. to officially stop something from continuing, especially for a short time
3. someone who answers questions, especially in a survey
4. correct or suitable for a particular time, situation, or purpose
5. an important official statement about a particular situation or plan, or the act of making this statement
答えは、以下の今週の英文記事の中にあります。
【今週の英文記事】
課題文_69_「休業補償」_語彙
「国が休業補償を」8割、世論調査
82% say government should compensate firms that shut down over virus fears
More than 80% of the public believes the government should compensate businesses that have complied with a request to suspend operations in response to a surge in coronavirus infections in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, according to a Kyodo News survey released April 13.
Conducted by telephone over the four days through April 13, 82% said the government should compensate businesses in exchange for suspending operations to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, while 12.4% said they see no such a need.
According to the latest survey, 80.4% of the 1,028 respondents from across the country said that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s declaration of a state of emergency on April 7 in Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures came too late, while only 16.3% said the timing was appropriate.
Under the declaration, effective through May 6, prefectural governors can request that businesses halt operations, although such a request is not legally binding. (Kyodo)
(165 words) 49秒で200英単語/分
(The Japan Times alpha: National news、上級、April 24, 2020)
(The Japan Times alpha: National news、上級、April 24, 2020)
influenceの語源
influence = （名）影響、（動詞）影響する
語源は占星術の専門用語で in（中へ）+ flu（流れる）
「中に流れ込んでくる」= 「天体から流れ込んでくる運気」
influenza（イタリア語源）= 「天体の動きの影響で起こる病気」：influenceと同語源。
他に、
speak English fluently （英語を流ちょうに話す）
flush the toilet（トイレを流す）
massive flood （大洪水）
(p.21, Jan. 10, 2020, thejapantimes alpha)
