実践ビジネス英語 Wednesday, July 9
1) Nissen says six to eight glasses of fluid a day are recommended, while Breakstone and Collins agree on the importance of getting enough sleep. Breakstone says busy people who are handling many things at once can also have memory problems. And Collins says the stress of a busy schedule can make a person less attentive and interfere with memorizing or retrieving information. Breakstone stresses the importance of exercise.
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Senior Moments (4)
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2) consensus
The general opinion, the agreement among a certain group, things like, "We couldn't reach a 'consensus' on whether to scrap this product." Or "The 'consensus' in the office is we should launch a new model in March."
3) run on empty
Collins is talking about working when you have no energy left. We also use this phrase about other resources such as food or money, things like, "Let's get some lunch. I'm 'running on empty' here." Or "This NPO really needs a loan. They are 'running on empty' due to the drop in donations."
4) shot
Collins is using "shot" as an adjective to mean ruined or put in very bad condition. For example, last year my smartphone crashed. It wouldn't even turn on. So I said, "I'll have to get a new phone. This one is 'shot.'" It's also very common to say someone's
nerves are "shot" meaning they are extremely nervous. They are extremely agitated, such as "She is so worried about her upcoming presentation her nerves are 'shot.'"
5) mile-long to-do list
A "to-do list" is pretty self-explanatory. It's a list of things we need to do. For example, "I've got to file my tax return today. That's at the top of my 'to-do list.'" And "mile-long" is often used to mean something is very long. "He's got a list of complaints a 'mile long,'" for example. Or "He's got a list of accomplishments a' mile long.'"
6) juggle
Like keeping multiple balls or objects moving through the air. "Juggle" can mean keep two or more activities going simultaneously. For example, "She's juggling' three different projects at once." And when I was in college, I "juggled" my studies, a part-time job and volunteer work."
7) take a toll on
This means to damage something, to cause a loss of some kind. Like the vignette, you can also say "take its toll on." For example, "All this overtime has really 'taken its toll on' her health." Or "The heavy snow really 'took a toll on' our roof."
8) too much on one's plate
The things on our plate are what we have to do or we have to deal with, such as, "He's got 'a lot on his plate' with the sales conference coming up." We also say "have a full plate" meaning you have a lot to do. You could say, "She's got a 'full plate' these days. It's very hard to make a date for lunch with her."
9) keep someone's memory sharp
A common expression using "sharp" is "sharp as a tack" meaning highly intelligent. For example, "Trevor is a good choice to lead the negotiations. He is 'sharp as a tack' and won't miss anything." We also use "sharp" after times of day to mean exactly at that time. So you could say, "The bus leaves at 8 a.m. 'sharp.' So don't be late."
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実践ビジネス英語 Thursday, July 10
1) Nissen says there are benefits to forgetfulness. And describes a middle-aged woman who can remember every detail of her life since she was 14. If this woman is given a date, she can immediately recall what day of the week it was, what she did and what key events took place around the world. However, this extremely retentive memory prevents the woman from sleeping well because her memories are constantly playing in her head.
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Senior Moments (5)
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2) joint
One especially common expression using "joint" is "nose out of joint." And this is to feel resentful because of the way we've been treated, especially when we feel insulted, ignored that sort of thing. For example, "He's had his 'nose out of joint' ever since the boss rejected his proposal." Or "Losing that project to Tom really put his 'nose out of joint.'"
3) meteorologist
Don't feel bad if you struggle to pronounce this word, so do a lot of native speakers. Even more fun are expressions like "meteorological forecast." I think this is one reason why the people on the news are often referred to as weatherman or weathercasters.
4) forgetful
A "forgetful" person is likely to forget things. They tend to forget things. Insufficient sleep can make us "forgetful."
5) blessing in disguise
This is something that seems bad but ultimately turns out to be good for us. It brings us some benefit. Things like, "Not getting that job was a 'blessing in disguise.' Because I didn't get it, I was available when something better came along." Or "Getting kicked out of that start up project was a 'blessing in disguise.' It ended up losing a lot of money."
6) recall in vivid detail
Can "recall" in clear detail, in other words, as if she can see a clear vibrant picture in her mind. You could also say, "He gave a vivid description of the company's goals for the future."
7) no picnic
Her life has not been easy, care-free, you know, like having a nice picnic somewhere would be. It's been hard, it's been difficult, Nissen means. So you could say, "Working with him is 'no picnic.' He is sloppy and arrogant." I can say from personal experience, house dust allergies are "no picnic."
8) play back in someone's head
Her memories are running in her head. They are repeating like a movie or DVD. We also say "play something over in one's mind" meaning to review some past event, go through it again in our minds. For example, "I've been playing the conversation over in my mind, trying to figure out what I said wrong."
9) some things are best forgotten
It's most advantageous we're better off if we just forget certain things. We let them go. We also have the expression "forgive and forget," which means forgive some past event and not hold a grudge over it. Let it go again. Such as, "Kevin and Jane got in a huge fight over politics, but they agreed to 'forgive and forget' the next day."
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実践ビジネス英語 Friday, July 11
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Senior Moments (6)
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1[S]: Now, our current vignette examines the memory problems that often come with age. It starts off with some jokes about elderly people who have trouble remembering things including what about a man who called his wife pet names because he couldn't remember her real name.
2[H]: I looked online the other day and found a number of jokes like that. One particularly common one describes three sisters in their 90s. The first sister is about to take a bath. She puts one foot in the bathtub and then calls to the second sister, "Was I getting in the bath or out of it?"
The second sister says, "Hold on. I'll come check." But when she gets half way up the stairs, she calls to the third sister to ask, "Was I going up the stairs or down?" The third sister shakes her head at all this and says, "I hope I never get that forgetful." She knocks on wood, for good measure and then says, "I'll come help you to as soon as I see who is at the door."
3[S]: Hmm... another good one! Do you do anything to help reserve or strengthen your memory?
4[H]: There is something I've been trying lately. I've read about it in a book on Abraham Lincoln of all places. Basically a politician of the time was worried that he didn't have good enough memory. So every night he spent 15 minutes describing his day to his wife. He described who he met, what he did, even the exact words spoken. It worked and he became known for having an incredible memory.
So I've been doing this in a bath or as I'm lying in bed before I go to sleep. We go through so much of the day on autopilot. It takes a good deal of effort. I have to really think about the details like, "OK! I read some newspaper articles on my smartphone but what specifically was each one about?” And I often find myself doubling back, saying things like, "I read some articles on the train. Oh! Oh, wait! I also took out the garbage before left the house and washed the dishes.
5[S]: Does it seem to be improving your memory?
6[H]: I've just started so it's a bit too early to tell. I'll let you know. There was something else I tried for a while did seem to work. I would look at the first paragraph of a newspaper article for several minutes. Then cover it up and try to write down the exact words. It was surprising how much effort that took as well more evidence of being on autopilot.
And I felt increasingly focused and sharp as I did it. The words started to look crisper on the page, more clear. Unfortunately, I got busy and let myself drop out of the habit. I should start that up again. It would only take a bit of time each day.
7[S]: Collins talks about how search engines and online databases are influencing the way we remember information. She says, people are less likely to recall facts if they know they can look them up online.
8[H]: I'm sure that's true. A friend told me once that when I get stuck trying to remember something, I should resist the temptation to look it up as long as possible. Keep trying to remember it on my own to flex my memory muscles. And it does feel like exercising. I always feel like I've hefted up a heavy weight and then let it down when I finally managed to remember something.
【原稿チェック： Hiromi, Cecile, Ina, Hiroko】
【ディクテーション： Sanae】
