ヒラリー・クリントン氏を推薦する

Primary Choices: Hillary Clinton
( New York Times )

This generally is the stage of a campaign when Democrats have to work hard to get excited about whichever candidate seems most likely to outlast an uninspiring pack. That is not remotely the case this year.

The early primaries produced two powerful main contenders: Hillary Clinton, the brilliant if at times harsh-sounding senator from New York; and Barack Obama, the incandescent if still undefined senator from Illinois. The remaining long shot, John Edwards, has enlivened the race with his own brand of raw populism.

As Democrats look ahead to the primaries in the biggest states on Feb. 5, The Times’s editorial board strongly recommends that they select Hillary Clinton as their nominee for the 2008 presidential election.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・primary　予備選挙
・contender　競争者
・harsh　粗い、ざらざらの
・incandescent　白熱の、光り輝く
・undefined　定義されていない、不明確な
・enliven　活気づける, 元気づける
・raw　生の、未加工の
・populism　大衆主義、ポピュリズム
・editorial board　編集局
・nominee　任命・指名された人


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白鵬、千秋楽を劇的に制す

Hakuho wins dramatic final
( Japan Times )

Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho passed arguably his toughest test with flying colors Sunday, beating rival yokozuna Asashoryu in a final showdown to win his third straight title with victory at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.

For compatriot Asashoryu, who was on a comeback from a two-tournament ban in the hunt for his 22nd Emperor's Cup, an amazing 15-day effort just was not enough this time around against the junior yokozuna.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・arguably　議論の余地はあるが、ほぼ間違いなく
・compatriot　同国人
・ban　禁止
・amazing　驚くほどの


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政治の世界においては・・・

Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.

政治の世界においては、記憶力の悪さほど称賛に値するものはない。
（ジョン・ケネス・ガルブレイス）


A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

良い小説は主人公についての真実を語るが、悪い小説は作者についての真実を語る。
（G・K チェスタトン）

日本の小説は携帯の形態に

Thumbs Race as Japan’s Best Sellers Go Cellular
( New York Times )

Until recently, cellphone novels −composed on phone keypads by young women wielding dexterous thumbs and read by fans on their tiny screens −had been dismissed in Japan as a subgenre unworthy of the country that gave the world its first novel, “The Tale of Genji,” a millennium ago. Then last month, the year-end best-seller tally showed that cellphone novels, republished in book form, have not only infiltrated the mainstream but have come to dominate it.

Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally cellphone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels. What is more, the top three spots were occupied by first-time cellphone novelists, touching off debates in the news media and blogosphere.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・compose　組立てる、構成する
・wield　（剣・筆などを）巧みに使う
・dexterous　器用な
・dismiss　退ける、去らせる
・unworthy　価値のない、値しない
・tally　割符、記録、勘定
・infiltrate　浸透する
・dominate　支配する
・touch off　火を付ける、点火する
・blogosphere　ブロゴスフィア（ブログのユーザーによるコミュニティー）



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国会開幕、福田首相が施政方針演説

Fukuda opens Diet, lays out his agenda
( Japan Times )

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda vowed Friday to start Diet discussions on the establishment of a permanent law that would authorize the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces overseas to engage in peace operations so that Japan can fulfill its duties as a "peace-cooperating nation."

"A peaceful and stable international society is a precious asset to Japan and Japan must do whatever it can to cooperate," Fukuda said during his policy speech that kicked off the 150-day ordinary Diet session. "In order to act swiftly and effectively to participate in international peace operations, I will start considering the so-called general law.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・establishment　設立、設定
・dispatch　発送、派遣
・fulfill　遂行する、果たす、満たす
・asset　資産の一項目、価値のあるもの
・cooperate　協同する、協力する
・kick off　キックオフ、始まる、始める
・swiftly　すみやかに


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エコノミストとは・・・

An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he
predicted yesterday didn't happen today.

エコノミストとは、昨日予測したことが今日起こらなかった理由を明日明らかにしてくれる専門家のことである。
（ローレンス・Ｊ・ピーター）


God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.

神が病を癒し、医者が料金を取る。
（ベンジャミン・フランクリン）

必要な地域に医者を

Doctors Where They’re Needed
( New York Times )

Few things are more frightening than knowing you live too far away from the nearest doctor. Yet in many rural or poor urban areas there are far too few doctors to serve the community, and the problem is getting worse.

Because the federal government has done too little in recent years to encourage doctors to take these less-glamorous posts, New York and other states are looking for ways to fill the gaps in medical care. Unlike some areas, New York is not lacking in medical school graduates; there are new interns out there in droves. The problem is that after they graduate, not enough of them decide to venture into the cold north upstate or the poorest urban neighborhoods.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・frighten　ぎょっとさせる
・rural　いなか（風）の
・urban　都会（風）の
・federal　連邦（政府）の
・glamorous　魅力的な
・lack　欠けている
・in droves　集団で、ぞろぞろと


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経済の減速に即効薬なし

No Quick Fix to Downturn
( New York Times )

As leaders in Washington turn their attention to efforts to avert a looming downturn, many economists suggest that it may already be too late to change the course of the economy over the first half of the year, if not longer.

With a wave of negative signs gathering force, economists, policy makers and investors are debating just how much the economy could be damaged in 2008. Huge and complex, the American economy has in recent years been aided by a global web of finance so elaborate that no one seems capable of fully comprehending it. That makes it all but impossible to predict how much the economy can be expected to fall before it stabilizes.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・downturn　下降、沈滞
・attention　注意、注目
・avert　避ける
・loom　ぼんやり見えてくる、（危険などが）じわじわ迫る
・aid　助ける
・elaborate　念入りな、綿密な、精巧な
・comprehend　理解する
・predict　予言する


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金があれば・・・

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

腹を空かせた犬を拾って裕福に暮らせるようにしてやれば噛みついたりしないものだ。この点が犬と人間との重要な違いだ。
（マーク・トゥエイン）


prosperous は、successful and rich という意味。
マーク・トゥエインらしい皮肉たっぷりの言葉です。でも、そんなこともないんだけどなあ。


Money can buy you a pretty good dog but it can't buy the wag of his tail.

金があればかなり良い犬だって買うことができる。だが、金で犬に尻尾を振らせることはできない。
（詠み人知らず）


これは、You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink.
（馬を水辺に連れていくことはできても、無理やり水を飲ませることはできない）ということわざを下敷きにしているのでしょう。

money が主語、英語的な文章です。buy にも注意。目的語を２つ取って、「〜に何かを買う」という形もありです。
I'll buy you a drink. で、「一杯おごってあげるよ」

犬のヒーリングパワー

The Healing Power of Dogs
( New York Times )

Dogs have long had special standing in the medical world. Trained to see for the blind, hear for the deaf and move for the immobilized, dogs have become indispensable companions for people with disabilities.

But dogs appear to be far more than four-legged health care workers. Over the years, data on the larger role dogs play in health has trickled out from various corners of the world. One Japanese study found pet owners made 30 percent fewer visits to doctors. A Melbourne study of 6,000 people showed that owners of dogs and other pets had lower cholesterol, blood pressure and heart attack risk compared with people who didn’t have pets. Obviously, the better health of pet owners could be explained by a variety of factors, but many experts believe companion animals improve health at least in part by lowering stress.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・deaf　耳の聞こえない
・immobilize　動けないようにする、（ギプスで患部を）固定する
・trickle　したたる、少しずつ漏れる
・various　違った、種々の
・blood pressure　血圧
・heart attack　心臓発作


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47階から転落した男性、「奇跡」の回復

‘Miraculous’ Recovery for Man Who Fell 47 Floors
( New York Times )

Alcides Moreno plunged 47 stories that morning last month, clinging to his 3-foot-wide window washer’s platform as it shot down the dark glass face of an Upper East Side apartment building. His brother Edgar, who had been working with him on the platform, was killed.

Yet somehow, Alcides Moreno, the man who fell from the sky, survived.

In his hospital room, amid all the machines that helped keep him alive, his wife, Rosario, lifted his hand again and again to stroke her face and her hair, hoping against hope that a simple tactile sensation would remind him, would help bring him back.

Then on Christmas Day, Alcides Moreno reached out - and stroked the wrong face.


【 まずは準備運動 】

・plunge　飛び込む、急落する
・cling　くっつく、すがりつく
・platform　壇、台、踏み台
・stroke　 なでる、さする
・tactile　触覚の


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