クリスマスとは・・・

Man was made at the end of the week's work, when God was tired.

人間とは、一週間の仕事で疲れた神様が最後につくった生き物である。
（マーク・トウェイン）


神様は１日目に「光あれ」と言って、昼と夜をつくり、２日目に大地と海をつ
くり、・・・・・６日目に人間をつくった（７日目はお休み）という旧約聖書
の天地創造の話を、『トム・ソーヤーの冒険』でおなじみの米国の作家マー
ク・トウェインが皮肉っぽく解釈した言葉です。

神が疲れたときにつくられた存在だから、人間は不出来なのだと。

マーク・トウェインは辛辣で面白い言葉をたくさん残している人ですが、今年
は（も？）こんな言葉が身に染みるほど、暗いニュースが多い一年だったよう
な気もします。


今週は、記事を１本しか取り上げることができなかったので、名言をもう一つ。


Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish
peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real
spirit of Christmas.

クリスマスとは、何らかの時節ではなく、心のありようを言う。平和と友好を
大切にし、慈悲深くあることが、真のクリスマス精神である。
（カルビン・クーリッジ）


昔の米国大統領の言葉です。そうありたいものですが、パキスタンの事件など
を聞くと、人間の救いがたさを改めて思います。

それでも・・・・・

いつでも、心にクリスマスを。

皆さん、よいお年を。

ブット元首相暗殺で混迷へ

Bhutto Assassination Sparks Disarray
( New York Times )

Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and twice-serving prime minister, was assassinated Thursday evening as she left a political rally here, a scene of fiery carnage that plunged Pakistan deeper into political turmoil and ignited widespread violence by her enraged supporters.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・spark　火花
・disarray　乱雑（にする）
・assassinate　暗殺する
・rally　再集合、（決起）集会
・carnage　虐殺
・plunge　突っ込む、投げ込む
・turmoil　騒動、混乱
・ignite　点火する
・enrage　激怒させる


● 解説ザブ〜ン！

天国から「メリー・クリスマス」

Cards From Heaven Have Dead Man Talking
( New York Times )

Even in death, Chet Fitch is a card. Fitch, known for his sense of humor, died in October at age 88 but gave his friends and family a start recently: Christmas cards, 34 of them, began arriving -- written in his hand with a return address
of ''Heaven.''

The greeting read: ''I asked Big Guy if I could sneak back and send some cards. At first he said no; but at my insistence he finally said, 'Oh well, what the heaven, go ahead but don't (tarry) there.' Wish I could tell you about things here but words cannot explain.

''Better get back as Big Guy said he stretched a point to let me in the first time, so I had better not press my luck. I'll probably be seeing you (some sooner than you think). Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Chet Fitch''


【 まずは準備運動 】

・return address　差出人住所
・sneak　こっそり逃げる・入る・出る
・insistence　強い主張、固執
・tarry　滞在する


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委員会を構成するには・・・

To get something done，a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.

委員会で何かを決めようと思ったら、委員は３人だけにすべきだ。もっとも、そのうちの２人には欠席してもらうがね。
（ロバート・コープランド）

これなら、しっかり commit できそうです＾＾

韓国大統領選に影を落とす経済

Economy Looms Over South Korea Election
( New York Times )

As South Koreans headed to the polls for their country's presidential election on Wednesday, voters appeared ready to choose Lee Myung-bak, a pro-business candidate identified with the nation’s economic growth but bedeviled by corruption charges.

South Koreans’ concern about their economy, squeezed between high-tech Japan and low-cost China, runs so deep that renewed charges this week of ethical lapses by Mr. Lee failed to shatter their belief that it was time to elect a man considered capable of reviving the economy, pollsters said.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・loom　ぼんやり見えてくる、ぬーっと現れる
・voter　投票者、有権者
・bedevil　悩ます、まどわす
・corruption　腐敗、堕落
・squeeze　絞る、圧搾する
・ethical　倫理（上）の
・shatter　打ち砕く、粉砕する


● 解説ザブ〜ン！

銃乱射事件の容疑者、教会で自殺

Suspect in gym shootings found dead at church
( Japan Times )

The alleged gunman in Friday's shooting rampage at a sports club in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, was found dead at a nearby church Saturday after apparently committing suicide, police said.

Two people were killed and six others were injured by the gunman, who came in the front entrance of Sports Club Renaissance Sasebo at around 7:10 p.m. and started firing what was believed to be a shotgun. The man targeted both people in the gym and in a pool where children were taking lessons. He also fired shots in the lobby and an office.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・apparently　一見、どうやら〜らしい
・injure　傷つける
・firing　発砲


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夫なんて・・・

There is so little difference between husbands you might as well keep the first.

どうせ夫なんて五十歩百歩なんだから、最初のをつかんでおけばいいのよ。
（アデラ・ロジャーズ・セント・ジョンズ）

いやはや、そうかもしれません＾＾；

might as well〜は「〜したほうがいい」。
なぜそのような意味になるのかがよく分かる文章です。

ゴア氏、ノーベル賞授賞式で英断を促す

Gore Urges Bold Moves in Nobel Speech
( New York Times )

He has said it again and again, with increasing urgency, to anyone who will listen. And on Monday, former Vice President Al Gore used the occasion of his 2007 Nobel Peace Prize lecture here to tell the world inpowerful, stark language: Climate change is a “real, rising, imminent and universal” threat to the future of the Earth.

Saying that “our world is spinning out of kilter” and that “the very web of life on which we depend is being ripped and frayed,” Mr. Gore warned that “we, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency ‐a threat to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive potential even as we gather here.” But, he added, “there is hopeful news as well: we have the ability to solve this crisis and avoid the worst‐not all‐of its consequences, if we act boldly, decisively and quickly.”


【 まずは準備運動 】

・bold　大胆な
・urgency　緊急（性）、切迫（感）
・occasion　機会、（特殊の）場合
・stark　飾り気のない、ありのままの
・imminent　切迫した、
・universal　普遍的な、広く行われる
・kilter　好調
・web　クモの巣（状の物）、インターネット！
・rip　裂く
・fray　こする、すり切らす
・emergency　緊急時
・ominous　不吉な
・potential　可能性、潜在力
・consequence　結果、重大さ


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米で、１０代の出生率が上がる

Teenage Birth Rate Rises for First Time Since ’91
( New York Times )

The birth rate among teenagers 15 to 19 in the United States rose 3 percent in 2006, according to a report issued Wednesday, the first such increase since 1991. The finding surprised scholars and fueled a debate about whether the Bush administration’s abstinence-only sexual education efforts are working.

President Bush noted the long decline in teenage pregnancy rates in his 2006 State of the Union address, saying, “Wise policies such as welfarereform, drug education and support for abstinence and adoption have madea difference in the character of our country.”


【 まずは準備運動 】

・fuel　燃料（供給する）、あおりたてる
・note　書き留める、注目する、言及する
・decline　傾斜、減少
・pregnancy　妊娠
・State of the Union address　（米大統領の）一般教書演説
・welfare　福祉、幸福
・adoption　採用、養子縁組


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イランは核兵器開発を中止していた

U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003
( New York Times )

A new assessment by American intelligence agencies released Monday concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting a judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb.

The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to reshape the final year of the Bush administration, which has made halting Iran’s nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・halt　停止する、させる
・assessment　評価、査定
・intelligence　知性、情報、諜報
・conclude　結論する
・contradict　否定する、矛盾する
・relentlessly　容赦なく、冷酷に、執拗に
・cornerstone　（建築の）基石、基礎


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編集者が選ぶ流行語大賞

Editors to single out buzzword of the year
( Japan Times )

Amplification of the Japanese language reaches its annual culmination every December when editors of Gendai Yougo no Kisochishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words) crown a word or a phrase as its "ryuko go taisho" ― buzzword of the year.

The grand prize is chosen by the encyclopedia's editors, who pick a termfrom a nominee list compiled from readers' surveys. Past selections havereflected the times, including perestroika, the 1988 buzzword, and bubble "keizai" (bubble economy) a term that received a nomination in 1990.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・culmination　絶頂、全盛
・encyclopedia　百科事典
・contemporary　同時代の、現代の
・nominee　候補に指名された人
・compile　資料を集める、編集する
・selection　選択、選択されたもの
・reflect　反射する、反映する


● 解説ザブ〜ン！

プーチン与党が圧勝、でも指導者は誰に？

Putin’s Party Wins in Russia, but Leadership Is Still Clouded
( New York Times )

President Vladimir V. Putin’s party secured a landslide in
parliamentary elections on Sunday after a campaign in which the Kremlin persistently hobbled the opposition. Yet while the results represent a triumph for Mr. Putin, they also usher in a new era of political instability for Russia.

Even as Mr. Putin has been accumulating power, he has been stirring deepuncertainty about his intentions, making it all but impossible to answer a fundamental question about Russia’s future: come the middle ofnext year, who will be in charge?


【 まずは準備運動 】

・secure　安全にする、確実にする
・landslide　地すべり、（選挙での）地すべり的勝利
・hobble　足を引きらせる、妨害する
・era　時代
・instability　不安定
・accumulate　積む、ためる
・stir　かき混ぜる、かき立てる
・uncertainty　不確かさ
・intention　意図、意思


● 解説ザブ〜ン！