NHKニュースで学ぶ現代英語 2024年8月勉強分③
首里城再建 正殿で瓦ぶき始まる
< 見出し>RED TILE RESTORATION BEGINS AT OKINAWA’S SHURI CASTLE
Restoration work has begun in Okinawa to place tiles on the roof of the main hall at Shuri Castle.
・restoration：復元、修復、回復
The building in the southern Japanese prefecture was destroyed by fire in 2019 and is now being rebuilt.
The site is surrounded by scaffolding and a temporary roof to protect it from wind and rain.
・scaffolding：（建築の）足場
※数えられない名詞。scaffoldとも言い、こちらは数えられる名詞。
The frame of the structure was completed last December.
In May, a ceremony to pray for safety during the reconstruction was held after part of the roof was finished.
Craftspeople have now started laying tiles.
・craftspeople：〔熟練した〕職人たち、工匠たち、工芸人たち
・lay：（平らな場所に）置く、敷く
They’re made from mudstone and red clay sourced from the prefecture.
・source：（材料などを）調達する
“People in the prefecture have special feelings about Shuri Castle. The craftspeople are full of passion for placing each tile. We’re all working together to rebuild the castle quickly.”
The reconstruction of the main hall is scheduled to be completed by autumn of 2026.
【 豆知識： 】
「～でできている、～から作られている」(be) made 〇〇
・(be) made
from
原材料が外見的に分からなくなっている場合
例) Sake is made from rice. 「酒は米から作られる」
・(be) made of
原材料が見て分かる場合
例) a box made of plastic 「プラスチック製の箱」
※参考 「リサイクル素材のランドセルが人気」
世界各地でシステム障害
< 見出し>TECH GLITCH CAUSES GLOBAL CHAOS
Tech workers around the world are scrambling to deal with an IT outage that’s causing widespread chaos.
・scramble to ～：急いで動いて～する、慌ただしく～する、先を争って～する
・outage：供給や機能の）停止
※outage/power outage：停電
The disruption has impacted hospitals, grounded flights, and locked millions of people out of the electronic devices they rely on.
・disruption：障害による停止、途絶
・ground flight：地上に待機させる、離陸させない、飛行禁止にする。運航停止にする
・lock A out of ～：Ａを～から締め出す、Ａを～に入れない
※例) I’ve locked myself out of my room.
Authorities in the U.S. have responded to the outage by notifying major airlines that they won’t allow them to fly.
“They let me know that my flight was canceled and that they can’t rebook it for the day because it’s likely that more flights later on will get canceled. And then, so, I can try for tomorrow, but they said it’s best to just leave.”
・it’s likely that ～：～が起こりそうだ、～の可能性が高い
・later on：あとで
・and then, so, ～：話の合間をつなぐフレーズ（「それで～」程度のニュアンス）
The AP says about 1,500 flights have been canceled and thousands of others delayed.
Executives at Microsoft say the glitch was caused by a bug in software that was released by U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
The outage has disrupted operations at transportation hubs around the world, including Narita Airport near Tokyo.
20億年前の地層から微生物
< 見出し>SCIENTISTS: MICROBES IN 2 BIL. YEAR-OLD ROCK MAY BE ALIVE
・microbe：微生物
A team of researchers from the University of Tokyo say they appear to have found living microbes in geological strata dating back 2 billion years.
・geological：地質学の、地質に関する
・strata：stratum「層」の複数形 [stréitə]
・date back：（時を）さかのぼる
If confirmed, they could be the oldest living microbes ever found on Earth.
They were found in an area in South Africa called the Bushveld, known as one of the world’s largest deposits of chrome, platinum, and other rare metals.
・deposit：何かが堆積しているもの、（地学では）鉱脈、埋蔵地、鉱床
・chrome：クロム [króum]
A Japanese team, working as part of an international drilling project, took the sample at a depth of 500 meters.
Associate Professor Suzuki Yohey says microscopic observation at a lab back in Japan found a large number of microbes in the rocks.
He says detailed analysis found the presence of cells with DNA and protein which can only be generated by living things.
He says this evidence strongly suggests the microbes are still alive.
Suzuki’s team plans to conduct a genome analysis to determine how old their microbes really are and what they can tell us about how life evolved on our planet.
・ genome：ゲノム（染色体上の遺伝子が持つ情報）[dʒíːnoum]
【 豆知識：関係代名詞のthatとwhichの使い分け 】
カンマ＋which（非制限用法）：補足の情報を加えるとき
補足情報であることを示す（「ちなみにそれは～」）。
that（制限用法）：重要な情報を加えるとき
その前後を合体させ、フレーズ全体である１つのことを定義する。
カンマを使うと、そこで意味がいったん切り離されるため使わない。
※話し言葉では、カンマの部分はかすかなポーズで表される。
（参考：豆知識：カンマやポーズの有無による意味の変化）
イギリス英語ではwhichが好まれ、重要な情報についてもwhichを使うが、thatでも構わない模様。
一方アメリカ英語ではthatを使うことが標準的になっていて、whichを使うのは間違いだと感じる人もいる。
そのため国際英語という観点からは、thatを使っておけば無難。
バイデン氏 大統領選から撤退を表明
< 見出し>BIDEN BOWS OUT OF RACE, ENDORSES VP HARRIS
・bow out of ～：～から身を引く、～を辞退する、～を辞任する
・endorse：支持する、（公式に）承認する
・VP：= vice president
U.S. President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race for the presidential election.
He’s endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to be the Democratic Party’s nominee to take on Republican Donald Trump in November.
・vice：代理の
・take on ～：～と戦う、～と対決する、～と対戦する
Biden made the announcements on his X account on Sunday.
He says it’s “in the best interest” of his party and the country for him to stand down to focus solely on fulfilling his duties as president for the remainder of his term.
・interest：利益
・stand down：降りる、辞任する、身を引く、退く
・solely：もっぱら、～だけに、単独で
・fulfill：遂行する、全うする、果たす
・remainder：残り、余り
He was set to become the party’s official candidate by giving a nomination acceptance speech at the party’s national convention in mid-August.
・be set to ～：～することになっている、～に決まっている
・give a speech：スピーチをする
・convention：（政党のような大きな組織の代表者たちが一斉に集まる）大会
It’s believed that Biden’s exit will allow about 4,000 state delegates to vote for a candidate at their own discretion.
・exit：出ていくこと、退出、退場
・delegate：代議員
・discretion：（自由）裁量、判断や行動の自由、決定権
・at one’s (own) discretion：～（人）の判断で、～の自由裁量で、～の好きなように
※例 ) Viewer discretion is advised.「（この番組には暴力などの過激な内容が含まれているため、この先を見るかどうかには）視聴者の慎重な判断が勧められます」（海外のテレビ番組などの冒頭で流れる注意喚起のメッセージ）
This is the first time in 56 years that an incumbent president seeking reelection has dropped out of an election campaign.
・incumbent：現職の
The last president that did so was Lyndon Johnson back in 1968.
・ back in ～：（年など）～にさかのぼって
ナウル大統領“中国経済無視できず”
< 見出し>NAURU PRESIDENT ON DIPLOMATIC SHIFT TOWARD CHINA
The leader of Nauru has spoken to NHK about why the Southern Pacific island nation recently severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China.
・sever：切る、断ち切る、（関係を）断つ [sévər]
・sever diplomatic ties with ～：～と外交関係（国交）を断つ、断交する
・in favor of ～：～の方を選択して
President David Adeang was in Tokyo to attend the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting.
・be in ～：～を訪れている
Nauru established diplomatic relations with China in January and severed ties with Taiwan.
“We are confident that we will be on the right side of history for partnering with China at this time. China is not a country that you can ignore. Its size, particularly of its economy, tells you that it has a lot to contribute to the world, but also it has a lot of technology through which to support the development of small island developing states such as Nauru.”
・on the right side of history：歴史の流れに従って（順応、適応して）
※考え方や行動などが「将来の歴史的評価で正しい側（良い方向）に」ある、といったニュアンスで使われる慣用句。
・partner：(動)提携する、パートナーを組む
・contribute ～：～に貢献する
Nauru has a population of just over 12,000.
・just：少し（だけ）、わずかに