12/4 - 12/6

実践ビジネス英語　　　Wednesday, December 4

1) Pearson announces that the Great Lakes group has been voted the world best place to work in an annual poll, news that is greeted ecstatically by other H&B staff. He says Great Lakes employees have greater career passion than those of other companies, which he considers the group's greatest asset. Umemura says their CEO is a firm believer in the importance of passion in business.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

Finding Career Passion (1)

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

2) hold on to your hat: According to my idiom dictionary, this expression
may refer to a roller-coaster ride. Pearson means "I'm about to say something surprising or shocking. So be prepared." as in, "'Hold on to your hat.' Sales are up 40%."

3) red-letter day: This refers to a special day that should be remembered, cerebrated because there's some notable achievement, success or occurrence. Apparently, this expression comes from marking holidays in red on church calendars. For example, "Friday was a 'red-letter day' for Jane. Her novel was accepted for publication."

4) icing on the cake: A cake is delicious all by itself. Adding icing just makes it even better. So we use "icing on the cake" to mean an added benefit to something that's already good. For example, "He is really inspired and challenged by his new job. The higher salary is just 'icing on the cake.'"

5) tops: The highest, the best, in other words. Here, it's an adjective,
such as "Jennie is "tops" when it comes to negotiating. No one is better
than her."

6) It can also be an adverb, meaning "at most," something like, "Do you mind if I run to the bank? It'll take 15 minutes 'tops.'"

7) outshine: Pearson is using this term to mean surpass, do better than. You might see a headline that reads "How to Make Your Resume 'Outshine' the Rest" or "Mary's presentation completely 'outshone' Julie's," or "outshined Julie's." Either one is correct.

8) gratifying: "Gratifying" means pleasing, satisfying, things like, "It's 'gratifying' to know that my boss appreciates my work." or "It's 'gratifying' to know that our fundraising has been so successful."

9) just another: Something just like many others of its type, ordinary, nothing special. For example, "It's 'just another' tablet computer, no revolutionary features or particularly cheap price."

10) staunch: This means firm, steadfast. It often refers to loyalty or
adherence to something, such as "Lucas is a 'staunch' conservative." That
means he adheres steadfastly to conservative principles, beliefs. Or "She
'staunchly' refused to work overtime," means she steadfastly, firmly refused
to do it.

========================================

実践ビジネス英語　　　Thursday, December 5

1) Collins agrees that passion is important in work but says recommendations that people find their passion have become trite. She and Breakstone say they've heard references to passion in numerous university commencement speeches though Breakstone adds that the sentiment is true despite being cliché. Collins wants to see unsuccessful people speak at commencement ceremonies such as a famous swindler who went to her university.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

Finding Career Passion (2)

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

2) commencement speech: In this context, "commencement" refers to awarding academic degrees. U.S. universities often have "commencement weeks," a week-long period of events related to "commencement." The pinnacle is "commencement day" on which the "commencement ceremony" is held.

3) We also use "commencement" and "commence" as formal words to refer to a beginning, something like, "Our business tie-up will 'commence' at the
beginning of next fiscal year."

4) no graduation speech is complete without: Breakstone means references to passion always appear in graduation speeches. They are always there. They always occur, likewise, "No welcome or good-bye party is complete without a lot of speeches."

5) This expression can also mean that something is a vital part, that it
should be part of something. Many guidebooks say "No trip to Japan is
complete without an onsen visit."

6) big-name: If something is "big-name," it's very famous, widely admired. Collins uses it as an adjective so there's a hyphen between the two words. If it's a noun, no hyphen, such as, "He is a 'big name' in IT industry." or "Company Z is a 'big name' in publishing."

7) for a change: Unlike what we normally do, unlike what usually happens,
Collins means, such as "Fred usually eats at his desk but today he decided to eat out 'for a change.'"

8) that's what I call: This is a really good example of something, Person is saying. I find this to be very ... you can use lots of words after this expression. You can praise someone by saying "Now 'that's what I call' creative." or criticize them by saying, "'That's what I call' careless."

9) be all ears: I'm listening eagerly, avidly, Pearson is saying. For example, "You have an idea about how to stop our declining sales? 'I'm all ears.'"

10) infamous: Collins means someone or something that's well known for bad reasons, such as "She is an 'infamous' liar. Everyone knows how she makes up stories."

11) It can also mean deserving of a bad reputation, detestable. "Stealing
elderly people’s savings is an 'infamous' crime," for example. Or if someone accused me of stealing, I'd say, "That's is an 'infamous' lie."

12) alma mater: I love this word. This comes from Latin and originally means fostering mother. We use it to mean a school someone graduated from. And I'd say it's usually used to refer to college. My "alma mater," for example is in New York.

13) pyramid scheme = ねずみ講
アメリカでは一般的に Ponzi scheme という。 pyramid scheme や pyramid selling
という言葉が使われるが、multilevel marketing ともいう。

========================================

実戦ビジネス英語 Friday, December 6

1) Umemura agrees with Collins that a graduation address from a swindler
would be interesting. And Pearson thinks such a speech would encourage
students to focus on positive goals. Asked how he maintains his passion for work, Pearson describes such measures as thinking about his younger years, and talking to relatives who remember him then. He also says talking to others who love their work is effective.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

Finding Career Passion (3)

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

2) to remember: Umemura means it would be a very memorable graduation
speech, one that would stick in the mind. You could also say, "Last quarter was one 'to remember.' The company had three new hit products."

3) We also have the expression "to forget." And this refers to something
that's subpar, disappointing. It features some bad performance so it should be forgotten. It deserves to be forgotten. For example, "His last
presentation was one 'to forget,' disorganized and confusing."

4) not as crazy as it might sound: Pearson is using a polite expression here saying that might sound crazy, but it might not. Adding the "might" allows for differences of opinion, knowledge, etc. If Pearson wanted to be more definite, he could have said, "That's not as crazy as it sounds," which is openly saying that sounds crazy. For example, "Writing a good short letter is not as easy as it might sound. We don't have as many words and sentences to convey all our meaning and purpose."

5) over the course of: Over the progression, the duration of a certain
period, Breakstone is saying, such as "She's had many different jobs 'over the course of' her career." or "We made several important decisions 'over the course of' the meeting.

6) strike someone as: Give someone a certain impression. You could say,
"Chris 'strikes me as' a little nervous." or "Trevor 'strikes me as' very
understanding."

7) It's also very common to ask, "How does something strike you?" This means "What impression does it give you? What do you think of it? Something like, "How does that new ad campaign strike you? Do you think it will be successful?"

8) look back: To remember, think over the past, things that happened in the past. I often "look back" at my college years. That was a very happy time for me. Or you could say, "It's not good to 'look back' too much. We
shouldn't harp on the past.

9) To think about the future is to "look forward" or "look ahead."

10) exercise book: Here's a difference between British and American English. Pearson is Canadian and using the British term. Americans would probably call these "notebooks."

11) gain a valuable perspective on: A "perspective" is a mental view or an outlook on something. For example, "Living in a foreign country 'gives us a new perspective on' many aspects of life so does learning a foreign
language."

【原稿チェック： Cecile, Hiromi, Ina】
【ディクテーション： Sanae】