The Japan Times WEEKLY Hoshide returns to Earth

1) Hoshide returns to Earth

 星出、地球へ帰還

 

2) Akihiko Hoshide returned to Earth on Nov. 19 after completing a four-month mission to the International Space Station and setting a new record for spacewalks by a Japanese astronaut.

 星出彰彦氏は、国際宇宙ステーションでの4カ月間の任務を完了し、日本人宇宙飛行士による宇宙遊泳の新たな記録を残したのち、11月9日に地球に帰還した。

 

3) The Japanese astronaut, Akihiko Hoshide returned to Earth from the International Space station. He completed the mission to there and the Russian Soyuz spacecraft carried Hoshide parachuted down safety. Hoshide said that on Twitter before the Soyuz undocked from the International Space Station, he thanks to all people who supported him and he is glad to born on this beautiful planet. This time, his spacewalks to repair the station totaled 21 hours and 23 minutes, which is surpassed the previous record of 20 hours and 5 minutes made by Soichi Noguchi.

 

4) When I was a child, I had a longing to go to space, but in fact, this is very hard to realize because for becoming an astronaut, it asks us hard training and patience, and it is highly competitive. So, I was glad to hear that Mr. Hoshide accomplished such achievement as the representative in the world. And it is surprised that he renewed the record of the space walks’ time. I hope the Japanese astronaut's will leave more achievement in the future.

 

5) spacewalks　宇宙遊泳、undocking ドッキング解除、surpass　凌駕する、astronaut　宇宙飛行士、 altitude　標高

 

Japan Times WEEKLY November 24, 2012

Enjoy your school life!

Do you enjoy your school life? Today, it is said that school education is very important, and people also think that the high academic achievement is required. But is studying only the way to getting success in your life? I don’t think so. I think that besides studying, student should do some activities such as club activities, volunteer work and so on. I have two reasons to say that. First, some extra activities give us a lot of experiences. For example, in my case, I am joining the Yosakoi club. The activities brought me many experiences, memories, smiles and a lot of friends. Next, through the activities, we can learn a sense of responsibility and social common sense. For instance, because the Yosakoi club has so many expeditions, I have learned that I should always consider my behavior in public place. And trough the meeting of the club, I also learned that how to say my opinions. Of course, studying is so important and students have to do their best and they should use their educational programs effectively. But I think you have to do some activities other than studying because you can get a lot of good experiences and social ability. Enjoy your school life!

 

Naomi Isobe

Japan Times WEEKLY First solely bio-fuel jet flight raises clean travel hopes

1) First solely bio-fuel jet flight raises clean travel hopes

バイオ燃料100％のジェット飛行に初成功

 

2) The world's first flight powered entirely by bio jet fuel has raised hopes for cleaner air travel and upped the prospects of a boon for farmers whose oilseed crops could supplant kerosene.

　世界初のバイオ燃料100%のジェット飛行の成功によって、環境に優しい飛行機旅行への期待が高まると共に、灯油に代わる油糧種子作物を育てる農民が恩恵を受ける見込みが引き上げられた。

 

3) In 2012, October 29, a Dassault Falcon 20 took off from the Canadian capital Ottawa, this is the world’s first flight, which uses the renewable bio-jet fuel. The fuel was made by brassica carinata, it is commonly used for making Ethiopian mustard, and this crop is well suited for growing in semiarid areas. In Canada, more than 40 farmers contracted with the two companies, Agrisoma and Applied Research to grow over 2400 hectares oilseed, and it will be turned into bio jet fuel by them. This bio-fuel could be commercially available within a few years.

 

4) When I read this article, I felt an expectation to this bio-fuel technology. If this fuel have been using practically, the emissions will be reduced and we can keep the clean air. And this bio-fuel is sustainable, so there are no concerns about the drain of the fuel. I hope the early establishment of generally using the bio-fuel to the air plane

 

5) supplant ～にとって変わる　solely 単独で　round tip 往復で　trailed ～の後に続いた　swapped with ～と入れ替えられる

 

Japan Times WEEKLY November 17, 2012

The Japan Times Weekly- Shark brains could hold key to attacks

1) Shark brains could hold key to attacks

サメの脳、攻撃の鍵を握る

 

2) Shark brains have been found to share several features with those of humans, a discovery that Australian researchers believe could be crucial to developing ‘’ repellents’’ for the killer great white species.

オーストラリアの研究者が、サメの脳は人間の脳の特徴に類似していることを発見した。この発見は、人間を攻撃するホホジロザメに対する「サメよけ」の開発に繋がると期待される

 

3) An Australian researchers found that Shark brains have quite large parts of the brains associated with their visual input, which is alike to the human brains. The researcher, Yopak said that, today, most repellents for sharks are the type of electronic pores on a sharks head and send the electrical signal to their brain. And she added that it is important to understand the mechanism of their brain, and it will be connect to developing a new ‘’repellents’’ as simple as marking patterns on surfboards and wetsuits.

 

4) When I read this news, I remembered that I felt an awful feeling to a shark because of the affect of the movie ‘’jaws’’. Today, a lot of people are attacked by sharks, it is terrible. By this discovery like this news, I want more effective repellents to be developed.

 

5 ) repellents 忌避剤　white great shark ホホジロザメ　poisonous 有毒な　repel 撃退　implication 含意

 

The Japan Times WEEKLY November 17, 2012

The Japan Times WEEKLY A travesty of Justice

1) A travesty of Justice

 茶番の捜査

 

2) The police have apologized to four people for mistakenly arresting them over threats posted on the Internet.

警察は、インターネット上で犯行予告を書き込んだとして逮捕された4人は誤認逮捕であったことを謝罪した。

 

3) The police apologized that the four people who arrested because of the suspicion of made the threats on the internet were their mistake. Although the true criminal was the person who hacked the four people’s computer, the police extracted confessions from two of them. The police must avoid similar mistakes forever and investigate the cause of this incident.

 

4) When I read this article, I felt the distrust to the police. I think maybe the people who arrested as mistakenly were received psychological pressures and leading questions from the police, and under this threat, they had to confess. This is very fearful. I hope the police investigate crimes with a sense of justice, and they should lost the false charges.

 

5) Vocabulary

 travesty　模倣

 confession 　自白

 hack　(コンピュータなどに)不正に侵入する

 interrogation　尋問

 prosecutor　検察官

 mistakenly　誤って

 

The Japan Times WEEKLY November 3, 2012

The Japan Times Weekly Reconstruction funds should be used exclusively for disaster-hit areas

1) Reconstruction funds should be used exclusively for disaster-hit areas

 復興予算の使途は被災地限定に

 

2) It was surfaced that a special account budget to fund reconstruction of communities devastated by the 3/11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster has been used to pay for unrelated projects.

3月11日の東日本大震災による津波やその二次災害、及び福島の原発事故の被害に対する復興予算が、被災地再建とは無関係の事業に使用されていたことが明らかになった。

 

3) It was revealed that the part of the reconstruction funds were not used for disaster-hit areas that were devastated by the 3/11 earthquake. The government said that without the reconstruction of Japanese economy, it will be impossible that the true reconstruction of the disaster-hit areas. But in the disaster-hit area, 60 percent of the small and medium size enterprise owners’ request for to receive subsidy were turned down due to a shortage of funds. The government should have common sense principle that the reconstruction budget should be used for projects to the disaster areas.

 

4) When I read this article, I got angry to the government. The people in the disaster-hit areas need more help of money to reveal this serious damage caused by the earthquake. I think government should consider this situation more serious, and also consider that the most important thing they have to do now. I hope to the quickly revival of the disaster-hit areas.

 

5) Vocabulary

devastate 荒れる disaster 災害 utilize 利用する apparently 見たところでは revive 復興する

 

The Japan Times WEEKLY October 27, 2012