実践 6/25(Wed.)〜6/27(Fri.)

実践ビジネス英語　　　Wednesday, June 25

1) Breakstone says becoming more multicultural will help American companies compete in the world. Lyons points to the rise of the millennial is another key change, saying they are expected to make up nearly 75% of the working population by 2025. Breakstone describes millennials as believing that an individual's behavior can affect millions of people, and Collins says they are more idealistic than previous generations.

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The Impact of Changing Demographics (4)

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2) preferences and tastes
One way to use "preference" the noun form of "prefer" is to say someone's preference is for, so longer, slightly more formal way to say "they prefer this particular thing," such as "My 'preference' is for kabuki over Noh." Or "His 'preference' is for Italian food rather than Chinese."

3) We also have the expression "have a taste for," which means we really like something or partial to it. When it comes to movies, I "have a taste for" period dramas. I like to see stories about the past." Or you could say, "When she was in college, she developed a 'taste for' adventure travel."

4) keep on top of
Stay fully aware or in control of something. "Stay on top of" would also work here, things like "He always watches the evening news to 'keep on top of' world events." Or "She reads several trade magazines to 'stay on top of' industry trends."

5) Another common expression using "top" is "over the top." And we use this about things that are excessive, that are too much. There's a sense of "Wow! You are really going to go that far."

6) Imagine, someone describes a product as epoch-making and you think "That's a little 'over the top.'" In other words, you would not go that far in describing the product. You think that's excessive.

7) account for
Lyons means form this amount of something, make up this account, things like "Digital cameras 'accounted for' 20% of our sales last year." Or "Women 'account for' 53% of our staff."

8) "Account for" can also mean provide a justifying reason for something, such as "He couldn't 'account for' the missing funds." He couldn't explain where they were. What had happened. " Or "I can't 'account for' his behavior. I don't know why he acted that way."

9) place a high premium on
In this case, "premium" means value. If we place or put a high premium on something, then we value it particularly. We attach great importance to it. For example, "She 'puts a high premium on' honesty."

10) come naturally
This means something is natural and easy for someone, things like "Writing 'comes naturally' to Fred." Or "Public speaking 'comes naturally' to Barbara." And we also say the opposite, "not come naturally," such as "Math 'doesn't come naturally' to him." Or "Foreign languages 'don't come naturally' to her."

11) character trait
A "trait" is a defining characteristic of someone or something. For example, "Perseverance is one of his best 'traits.'" Or "Scientists are looking for similar 'traits' in the two animals' DNA."

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Thursday, June 26

1) Collins says millennials want socially meaningful jobs, in which there's no conflict between their public and private lives. Breakstone attributes this to the influence of technology on their lives. Nissen praises millennials for being driven and willing to flout convention. And Lyons admires them for focusing on how they can add value to their lives and to society in general.

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The Impact of Changing Demographics (5)

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2) given
This means a certainty, something that is sure to happen or be a certain way. For example, "A lot of overtime is a 'given' in this business. "To use a personal example," I drink at least four cups of coffee a day. That’s a 'given.'"

3) be on one's toes
This means alert, careful, ready. According to my idiom dictionary, it probably comes from the image of runners or boxers who are on their toes so they can be ready to move or start immediately. So for example, "I have to 'be on my toes' when I’m translating so I don't skip any sentences or words."

4) win out
Ultimately triumph in some competition, some struggle. For example, "The high quality of their products 'won out' over their competitors' low prices." Or "Eventually fatigue 'won out' and I went to bed."

5) put someone down
This is to disparage, to belittle. And there's a sense of pushing the other person lower, setting them at a lower level than the person doing the criticizing. I once saw a coworker tear into someone over a mistake. They were very demeaning, and I thought, "Hey, you know, it's important to point out mistakes, but you shouldn't 'put someone down' like that."

6) entitlement
This is the noun form of "entitle, " which means give someone the right to claim or get something. For example, "All employees are 'entitled' to 10 days off a year." Or "This card 'entitles' you to a free drink with lunch." And "entitlement" often has the nuance of arrogantly believing that we deserve to get something, or be treated a certain way, even though we really don't deserve it. And that's how Nissen is using it here.

7) refreshing
We often use "refreshing" about things that restore our vitality, our energy, a "refreshing nap" or "refreshing beverage." But here, "refreshing" means things that stimulate us because they are new, fresh, different. So you could say, "Her presentation was very 'refreshing.' It contained a lot of new ideas."

8) buck convention
This means act in opposition to convention, to common practice. Think of a horse jumping in the air with its back bent upward, trying to throw something off. So it's like you are throwing off convention, common practice.

9) as a whole
In its entirety, considering all its parts together. Things like, "The beverage industry 'as a whole' did very well last year." Or "Unemployment was down for the European Union 'as a whole.'"

10) go out of date = すたれる、時代遅れになる
out-of-date = （形）時代遅れの、旧式の、すたれた
up-to-date = 新しい知識や情報を取り入れた、最新の、現代的な、流行の
up-to-the-minute = 最新の（to-date よりももっと新しい）

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Friday, June 27

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The Impact of Changing Demographics (6)

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1[S]: Now, one of the topics in our current vignette is the rise of the millennials. Apparently a lot of US employers and businesses are going out of their way to accommodate this generation. Have you heard anything about this, Heather?

2[H]: Yes. I was just reading about how the hotel industry is catering to millennials, for example. They're a very important group: Travel spending by people in their 20s to mid-30s went up 20 percent in 2010. That makes them the quickest-growing age group.

So hotels have been introducing things like power consoles in rooms and public areas so it's easy for guests to charge all their various devices. Hotel lobbies are also getting massively reworked, partly because young guests tend to socialize and work there far more than they do in their rooms. So hotels are making sure that their lobby furnishings and designs are more attractive to young people. They're also hosting free events every day like wine tastings and yoga sessions.

Oh, and young guests are said to absolutely require free, high-speed, wireless Internet connections throughout their hotels. My reaction to getting that kind of service at a hotelhas always been "Oh, how nice!" But millennials apparently consider it utterly fundamental.

3[S]: Well, I'm sure hotels don't want young people having a disappointing experience and writing about it online.

4[H]: True. As the article I was reading said, "Young people today don't gripe to the hotel manager. They head for social media." It's a daunting update on what a friend in public relations once told me that a satisfied customer will tell five friends, but a dissatisfied customer will tell 20. Maybe that should be updated to, a satisfied customer will put up one complimentary post online, a dissatisfied customer will put up five, or something along those lines.

But it is a very serious concern. As a sign of just how serious, a few years ago, one of the largest hotel companies in the world created a team of about 20 people just to monitor and deal with complaints and comments posted online.

5[S]: What about the employers? What are some of the things they're doing?

6[H]: They're trying to accommodate the millennials' desire for things like quicker promotions, more flexible work schedules and greater communication with management. One software company in the Midwest, for example, basically guarantees that recent college graduates will be promoted within a year as long as their performance is acceptable.

And some managers at a major snack and beverage company have started giving feedback more often. As their vice president of human resources put it, "Managers here usually give quarterly feedback sessions. Millennials want it after a presentation."

7[S]: So what do you think, Heather, should companies be going to these lengths for millennials? Is it worth it?

8[H]: I think so. They're full of youthful energy and drive. They know all about technology that my generation has often never heard of. And they're not tied down by any established wisdom about what can or should be done. People like that bring innovation. And that's always been a critical commodity at any time in history.

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