8/7 〜 8/9

実践ビジネス英語

実践ビジネス英語　　　Wednesday, August 7

1) Pearson says some experts used to believe that pet could cause latent allergies to develop into full-blown reactions, but that now many believe pets can actually help strengthen the immune system. Collins recalls reading about pet staving off high blood pressure and stress among elderly people. And Umemura says having pets can help senior citizens avoid depression and loneliness.

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Companion Animals (4)

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2) allergy: Umemura is talking about physical actual allergies the kind where we sneeze or get a rash, you know, we have a physical reaction to something. I'm allergic to house dust. But we can also use "allergy" and "allergic" metaphorically about things that we really dislike that we are averse to. So if I say, "Bryan is 'allergic' to exercise." Then he really doesn't like to exercise.

3) That's a good question: We often use this literally to tell someone that you have just asked a good question. But it's also used in the sense of, "Yes, that's a very valid point. What we going to do about that?" Or "Yes, you have just asked something that is not known and needs to be known." For example, Mr. A might say, "But how is the company going to afford this new computer system?" And Mr. B says, "'That's a good question.'"

4) latent: When something is "latent," it's there and it may come out or develop, but it's not active or visible now. "He discovered a 'latent' for public speaking, for example." Or "The trip awakened her 'latent' passion for adventure travel."

5) full-fledged = experienced, qualified, mature, professional
イギリス英語では fully-fledfed ともいう

6) conventional wisdom: This is what the majority of people believe about something, the commonly accepted belief. We often use this phrase when we feel the common belief is not true. I just saw an article, for example, that said "'Conventional wisdom' says extroverted people are the best sales man. But apparently a new study indicates this is not true."

7) back in the day: In a certain period that has now passed, Lyons is saying, you know bygone time. I remember the first desktop computers "back in the day" with their tiny screens and their tiny amounts of memory.

8) think the opposite: Believe, feel the opposite of something else, Pearson means. You might see a newspaper article that says, "Expert A predicted consumer spending will rise next quarter, but expert B 'thinks the opposite.'" So expert B thinks it'll go down.

9) keep someone company: This is to provide companionship. For example, "John 'kept me company' while I was waiting at a veterinarian's office."

10) keep at bay: This is to keep something away, prevent it from approaching, developing, etc., things like, "She exercises regularly to 'keep stress at bay.'" Or "The government is taking steps to 'keep deflation at bay.'"

11) as something shows: As something illustrates or something gives evidence of, Umemura means. You can say things like, "'As this latest mistake shows' Frank is unreliable." Or "'As this data shows' sales have been steadily improving for the last two years."

12) plus: In addition, furthermore, something like, "Bill made the best impression of all the job candidates. 'Plus' he has the most experience."


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実践ビジネス英語　　　Thursday, August 8

1) Pearson cites evidence that per ownership can be dangerous and stressful for seniors mentioning the difficulties of caring for a pet and sadness over the animal's demise. Collins points to research that older people with pets are physically healthier, to which Pearson says elderly people can trip over pets and items related to them. Lyons says data can be chosen selectively but he believes pets are beneficial overall.

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Companion Animals (5)

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2) the jury is still out on: Something has not been decided yet. The answer is still not known, things like, "'The jury is still out on' whether electronic devices are harmful for small children." Or "'The jury is still out on' whether our new marketing strategy will be effective."

3) take for a walk: We also have the expression "take for a ride." In addition to driving someone around in a car or a boat, whatever. This can also mean cheat someone, deceive them. You might hear things like, "Investors were 'taken for a ride' by the company's promises of high returns." Or "Voters were 'taken for a ride' by the party's promise of lower taxes."

4) be attached to: Pearson uses "attached" to mean very fond of, don't want to be separated from as if we are physically connected to something. And it can refer to things as well as living creatures. "'I'm very attached to' my books," for example. It's very hard for me to give any of them away or sell them to second-hand bookstores.

5) have a lower incidence of: Something occurs less frequently, less common, in other words. We also refer to a "higher incidence" of something, as in, "There's a 'higher incidence of diabetes and heart disease among people who are obese."

6) heart attack, strokes and other cardiovascular maladies: "Malady" is another word for sickness, a disorder of the body. "A new study has found that Alzheimer's is the most expensive 'malady' in the United States," for example. Apparently it costs families and society from 157 billion to 215 billion dollars a year.

7) paraphernalia: According to my dictionary, this word originally comes from a Greek term that referred to a married woman's personal property outside her dowry. Nowadays, however, we usually use it to mean the equipment, the articles connected with a particular thing or activity. So pet "paraphernalia" would include things like food and water dishes, toys, leashes.

8) cherry-pick: This means to pick only the most desirable, the best of something. And as Lyons is using it, there's often a nuance of choosing unfairly. In this case, choosing only the information that supports a particular point of view. There's a well-known documentary film maker in the United States, for example, who is often accused of "cherry-picking" his facts. Critics say he only includes the information that supports his position and ignores facts that contradict it.

9) I have also seen it used straight though. In the sense of the personnel department went through the resumes and "cherry-picked" ten for interviews. In that case, there's no nuance of unfairness.

10) gut feeling = 直感、何となく感じること（口語）
gut instinct や gut reaction も同じような意味で使う

gut feeling = an instinct or intuition, an immediate or basic feeling or reaction without a logical rationale


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実践ビジネス英語　　　Friday, August 9

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Companion Amimals (6)

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1[S]: In our current vignette, members of the H&B staff talk about the recent decline in pet ownership in the United States and the various benefits of having a pet. Paul Pearson, for example, believes they help children develop empathy and nonverbal comminication skills. What do you think, Heather?

2[H]: I completely agree. And Pets can also teach children valuable lessons about responsibility. If my husband and I ever get a dog, for example, we'll probably wait until our daughter's old enough to be partly responsible for looking after it. Around the age of six might be appropriate. At that point, I'm sure she could handle things like giving the dog its food and water every day.

Pets also teach children about the value of life. I got especially good tutelage in that from the Samoyed dog my family had when I was little, a dog by the name of Elsie. She ended up having 33 puppies in her lifetime, three litters of 11 puppies each.

3[S]: My goodness. You didn't keep all those dogs, did you?

4[H]: No, no. That would have made for insanely crowded house and yard. I helped to take care of the puppies when they were very little. But eventually we gave almost all of them away to other families in Mekoryuk, the Alaskan village where we lived at the time.

Mekoryuk, Alaska ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekoryuk,_Alaska

Her puppies were part of nearly every dogsled team in the community. We kept just one puppy that my parents named Achilles of all things. He lived up to the name though. He grew into a huge strapping dog.

5[S]: So if you get a dog for your daughter someday, would it be a big dog like the ones you had?

6[H]: I used to be pretty biased against small dogs, I admit. In my mind, a dog had to be fairly large to count as a real dog. But ever since my mother-in-law got an adorable long-haired chihuahua about 12 years ago, I've come to appreciate small dogs as well. In any event, we would be very careful to research the breeds we consider to make sure they are suited to family life and average-sized Tokyo apartment.

I'm always shocked at how many people treat pets like accessories, and don't even consider whether the animal is likely to be happy in their care. It's critical to check how much exercise they need. Are they comfortable around children and other dogs? What kind of health problems are they prone to... etc. etc.?

7[S]: They are certainly are a great many things to consider when deciding on a pet for one's family.

8[H]: Yes. And there's also the fact that pets pass away. They don't live as long as we do, so inevitably children will have to deal wit the death of a pet. I was talking to a friend about this the other day, a woman who also has a small child, and she thought this issue was another good reason to wait until our children are a certain age before getting a pet.

And it seemed like sound thinking to me. If we wait until our children are six or seven, for example, then they would liley be well into their teens when the dog or cat passed away. It would still be very sad, of course, but they probably be able to cope with it better than they would in younger days.


【原稿チェック： Hiromi】
【ディクテーション： Sanae】