(1) Kitakyushu, where I was born and brought up, has a mild climate and few natural disasters. In addition, although it is an ordinance-designated city, the cost of living is not so high and there are many hospitals, which makes it an easy place to live in. Further, Kitakyushu is blessed with products from the mountains and seas, and the food is delicious. That’s why I love Kitakyushu. (67 words)
(2) However, I have some complaints about Kitakyushu. Kitakyushu has been experiencing a declining birthrate and an aging population. In addition, young people are concentrated in the city center, while only the elderly people can be found in the suburbs. Such regional disparities should be corrected, and Kitakyushu should be transformed into an attractive city for young people by establishing new educational institutions and attracting large companies’ facilities. (67 words)
(A)I have often heard the opinion that America is not interesting and American culture is stereotypical because there are same buildings, same townscape, same food, no matter where you go in America. However, I think such people probably travel only by plane. If you stay at a first-class hotel which will take you to and from the airport by a taxi or limousine, eat dinner at a first-class restaurant, and only look at the main streets, it is natural that the whole country will look stereotypical. The same will also apply to Japan. The only difference is that we, Japanese, know about Japan of course, but we also know about the daily lives of the back streets, which are not stereotypical.
I'm a thoroughgoing bus traveler. (B)There are big economic reasons for using buses. Apart from those who travel by their own cars, buses are the cheapest means of transportation in America. However, when traveling a long distance, buses are sometimes more expensive if the cost of accommodation along the way is included. Notwithstanding, I choose buses if time permits. When I travel by bus, I can clearly see the changes in respective lands, people, and customs. Even if they don’t change, I can recognize that such unchanging lands, people, and customs themselves have a meaning.
As traveling is my only hobby, I often travel from place to place. As a matter of course, common sense differs depending on the place. After using the toilet, bottom is wiped with paper in some countries, while it is washed with water in others. Rice is eaten with chopsticks in some countries, with a spoon and fork in others, and with hands in others. Trains come on time in some countries, while timetables are of no use whatsoever in others.
(A)However, when I think about it, I am not so often confused by the difference in common sense. It is natural that there is a difference in common sense, and I even have a feeling that it has to be different. I love traveling because it also allows me to recognize that I am not a universal existence. If what I consider “normal” were the global standard, I wouldn't want to travel in the first place.
(B)When going out into a different culture alone, some people stubbornly try to follow their own standards, while others manage to follow the local customs. I'm the latter. I even somewhat think that if I stick to my standards, I don't need to go traveling.
When interpreting statements, especially in the case of consecutive interpretation, the interpreter’s summarizing ability is indispensable. (A)Of course, it is not permissible to edit the statements, such as shortening or abbreviating them arbitrarily, however, it is not enough to interpret the statements simply word for word. Doing so makes the expressions just too long, which consequently makes the conversation rather difficult to understand. Ideally, the interpreter should fully understand the content, analyze it in his or her own way, and present it to the point, neither too much nor too little, in a manner that complies with the logical structure of the target language to some extent.
If this summarizing goes well, you can understand what the other person is saying so smoothly that you can forget what you heard through the interpreter. (B) If the interpreter lacks the summarizing ability, he or she may surely be interpreting, but it may not make sense, or may not understand what the speaker wants to say.
When I was a child, I liked reading, but I disliked the predetermined study. I was worried about that so much. It appears that I can't get rid of such an obsession in my childhood even now. When I thought about it, a laughter welled up in me, and as if I were invited by it, various scenes in my childhood that I had not remembered for a long time came back to my mind one after another. Strange to say, each of these mental scenes is just connected to the memory of the books I read in my childhood.
If there were a time machine, I would like to use it. I want to go to the past on the time machine and see myself when I was young. If he is worried about something, I would like to talk to him and give him a piece of advice. Further, I want to see how such advice changes him, and I want to see if it would change what I am now as well. (75 words)
Speaking of the course of human life, other people’s casual words can sometimes serve as a trigger for a change of its direction by 180 degrees. We often notice that such small words became brighter as time went by, and they were the very words that could add a brilliant sparkle to our life.
