NHKニュースで学ぶ現代英語 2025年7月勉強分②

2025-07-12

備蓄米 販売の動き加速

< 見出し>JAPAN RETAILERS START SALES OF LOWER-PRICED GOVT. RICE

Lower-priced rice from the Japanese government’s emergency stockpiles is turning up on store shelves.
・stockpile：（食糧）備蓄、貯蔵
・turn up：（いきなり）現れる、姿を現す、出てくる

Prices for the staple food had doubled in the past year, denting household budgets.
・dent：傷つける、へこませる、損なう

Some businesses sold 5-kilogram bags of rice on Sunday for about 2,000 yen.
・business：個別の企業、店舗（ここではスーパー、小売業者）

That’s roughly the equivalent of 14 dollars.
・equivalent：同等（のもの）

That price is around half the amount customers have to pay in many stores.

No-bid contracts have made 300,000 tons of stockpiled rice available for sale.
・no-bid contract：入札なしの契約（「随意契約」）

The agriculture ministry on Friday started accepting applications from small and mid-sized retailers that want to buy rice from the stockpiles.

Approximately 80,000 tons of rice harvested in 2021 are available for sale through the no-bid contracts.

Analysts are waiting to see whether the widespread sale of the stockpiled rice will help bring down prices.
・wait to see：様子を見る、見守る

イーロン・マスク氏 特別政府職員の任期終了

< 見出し>ELON MUSK EXITS GOVERNMENT ROLE

One of Trump’s top advisors says he’s leaving behind his role in government.
・leave behind ～：～を置いていく、～を置き去りにする

Elon Musk says his time as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is coming to an end.
・the Department of Government Efficiency：政府効率化省（DOGE）

Musk delivered the news on social media and offered his gratitude to Trump.
・deliver news：ニュースを伝える
・offer：〔態度などを〕示す、表す

He had previously said he’d scale back his government role and focus on running his electric vehicle company, Tesla.
・scale back：縮小する
　※ = scale down, cut back

He said much of his work at DOGE was done.

A White House spokesperson says members of the administration will continue his efforts.

“The DOGE leaders are each and every member of the president’s cabinet and the president himself, who is wholeheartedly committed to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse from our government.”
・each and every：一人一人の、どの～も、ありとあらゆる
　※everyを強調した表現。
・wholeheartedly：心を込めて、心から

Musk declared his support for Trump during last year’s presidential campaign.

He became a confidant and wielded influence over the administration.
・confidant：（心を許せる）側近、腹心 [kɑ́nfədæ̀nt]
　※confidentは [kɑ́nfidnt]
・wield：（影響を）及ぼす、（権力などを）ふるう、行使する

But his mass layoffs of government workers sparked widespread anger, and they had a negative impact on Tesla.
・spark：「火をつける」→「急激な活動を引き起こす」

韓国イ・ジェミョン新大統領 始動

< 見出し>LEE JAE-MYUNG SWORN IN AS SOUTH KOREA’S PRESIDENT
・be sworn in as ～：宣誓して～に就く、～に宣誓就任する
　※受動態の形になる理由は「トランプ新大統領 就任」のGPT欄参照

Lee Jae-myung of South Korea’s Democratic Party was sworn in as president Wednesday.

He said he will work to bridge the country’s divide.
・bridge ～：(動)～に橋を架ける、橋渡しをする

“No matter who you supported in this election, I will be a president for all the people. It is a president’s role to foster greater unity.”
・foster ～：～を育む、発展を助ける

The 21st president also said he will honor the constitution, protect the country, and pursue the peaceful unification of the peninsula.
・honor：（約束や契約などを）守る、順守する
・unification：統一、統合

Lee also promised to promote individual freedom and public welfare.

He said he also wants to strengthen national culture.

Lee already spoke with the chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
・Joint Chiefs of Staff：「統合参謀本部」
　※ joint（統合された）+ Chiefs（参謀長たち） of Staff（参謀部）

He was briefed on North Korea’s recent military activities.
・brief A on B：ＢについてＡに手短に情報を与える、説明する

Lee later said he will make sure the country is prepared for Pyongyang’s nuclear and military provocations.
・Pyongyang：ピョンヤン（ここでは北朝鮮のこと）[pjʌ́ŋjɑ́ŋ]
・provocation：挑発する行為

天安門事件から36年

< 見出し>CHINA KEEPS TIGHT LID ON TIANANMEN CRACKDOWN 36 YEARS ON
・keep a lid on ～：～を隠しておく、抑制する
・Tiananmen：天安門
・crackdown：（活動や不正・犯罪行為などに対する）厳しい取り締まり、弾圧

Wednesday marks 36 years since the violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
・demonstrator：デモ参加者

But fewer and fewer younger Chinese people know anything about it.

A number of students and citizens in and around the square were cut down when soldiers opened fire on June 4, 1989.
・in and around ～：～とその周辺に
・cut down：打ちのめす、やっつける
　※ここでは「殺害される」を意味する。
・open fire：発砲する、砲撃を開始する

The government puts the death toll at 319.
・put the death toll at ～：（死者（犠牲者）の数が）～名である
　※犠牲者数等を発表するときなどに使う言い回し。

But many believe the actual figure is much higher.

The government maintains its response to what it describes as “turmoil” was correct.
・maintain ～：（～が正しいことを）断言する、主張する
・response to ～：～への対応
・turmoil：動乱、騒動 [tə́ːrmɔil]

The square and the avenue leading up to it have been under tight security since last week.
・leading up to ～：GPT欄参照

People in Beijing mostly refused to speak to foreign media.

A woman in her 30s said she knew very little about the incident.

“We might have heard of the incident, but have no clear idea, as we haven’t studied it.”

The government keeps a tight lid on any discussion of the episode.

The number “64” is taboo, as it evokes the date, June 4.
・evoke：（感情や記憶、反応などを）呼び起こす、呼びさます


※今回の放送の学習ポイント「１より小さい数について複数形が使われる」については「ｉＰＳ心筋細胞シート ベンチャー企業が承認申請」参照