NHKニュースで学ぶ現代英語 2024年10月勉強分④
イグ・ノーベル賞 18年連続日本人が受賞
< 見出し>JAPAN-U.S. TEAM NETS IG NOBEL FOR BUTT BREATHING STUDY
・net：「捉える、捕まえる」→「獲得する」→「受賞する」
A new crop of Ig Nobel Prize winners was announced Thursday.
・a crop of ～：～の群れ、大量の～、続出する～、次々と現れる～
Not to be confused with the Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel salutes the science that makes us laugh and think.
・not to be confused with ～：～と混同してはいけません、～と混同しないように
※決まりのフレーズ
・salute：挨拶する、敬礼する
This year, a Japanese team is being honored after discovering some mammals can breathe through their behinds.
・behind：お尻
Takebe Takanori and his team took home this year’s physiology award.
・physiology：生理学 [fìziɑ́lədʒi]
“First and foremost, thank you so much for believing the potential of anus for breathing potential.”
・foremost：最初に、一番先に
・first and foremost：真っ先に、何よりもまず
※「f」で始まる同じような意味の単語を語呂よく重ねた決まり文句
・anus：肛門
They realized loaches use intestinal breathing to survive low-oxygen environments and wondered if mammals could do the same.
・loach：ドジョウ
・intestinal：腸の、腸に関する
They experimented on lab mice and pigs that struggled to use their lungs and administered an oxygen-rich liquid through the anus.
・administer：（薬などを）投与する、塗布する
They found the pigs’ oxygen levels briefly improved.
Takebe and his team published their research in 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic.
They believe it could be used to treat respiratory failure as an alternative to ventilators.
・respiratory：呼吸の [réspərətɔ̀ri]
・respiratory failure：呼吸不全
レバノンで携帯通信機の爆発相次ぐ
< 見出し>LEBANON ROCKED BY SECOND DAY OF EXPLODING DEVICES
People in Lebanon have been caught up in a second day of deadly attacks using mobile devices laced with explosives.
・be caught up (in) ～：～にとらわれる、（自分が意図しない事態などに）巻き込まれる、（何かに）夢中になる、熱中する」
・lace：（飲み物などに酒や薬物、毒を）少量加える、（何かに）～を組み合わせる
・explosive：爆発物
Investigators are trying to determine who did it, and where the products came from.
Portable devices including walkie-talkies detonated on Wednesday.
・detonate：爆発する
Authorities say 25 people were killed. And on Tuesday, hundreds of pagers exploded, killing 12.In total, the attacks injured more than 3,000.
・pager：（携帯用の小型無線）呼び出し機」（ポケベル）
※ポケベルはbeeperとも呼ばれる。cf. page：（館内放送やポケベルなどで人を）呼び出す
Lebanon-based Shia Muslim group Hezbollah blames Israel and hinted at a retaliatory attack.
・Shia Muslim：イスラム教シーア派（の）
※「シーア派教徒」などの意味ではShiiteのつづりも使われる。cf. Sunni Muslim：イスラム教スンニ派
・hint at ～：～を言外にほのめかす
・retaliatory：報復的な [ritǽliətɔ̀ːri]
But Israel is yet to comment.
・be/has yet to ～:まだ～していない
The two sides have been exchanging cross-border fire for months.
People in Israel have been forced to evacuate from the border area with Lebanon due to fighting.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they’ll be able to return safely to their homes.
But the exploding devices in Lebanon are raising fears of an escalation.
【 豆知識：時制の一致は必ずしも必要ない 】
例えば主節の動詞が過去形のときは、それに時制を一致させて、従属節の動詞も過去形にする（時制の一致）が、「現在/未来でも当てはまること」ならば、時制を一致させなくてもよく、現在のことや未来のことについてはそのままその通りの時制でよい。
例) ハリス氏の指名受諾演説
She said she will
fight for America’s future.
過去に行った演説なので「said」だが、後ろは今後行いたい未来の話なのでwouldではなくwillでOK
10代のインスタグラム利用 一部制限へ
< 見出し>META INTRODUCES NEW TEEN PRIVACY CONTROLS FOR INSTAGRAM
U.S. tech giant Meta Platforms has unveiled a set of enhanced privacy controls to protect teenage users on Instagram.
The company announced a new “Teen Accounts” designation on Tuesday.
・designation：（指定され与えられた）名称、区分
The feature automatically places built-in protections on accounts belonging to users under the age of 18.
・place：セットする
・built-in：内蔵の、組み込みの
※cf. built-in camera：（パソコンやスマートフォンの）内蔵カメラ
Meta says these users will now only be able to receive messages from accounts they follow or are already connected to.
They will also get notifications telling them to close the app after 60 minutes each day.
And an anti-bullying feature filters out offensive words and phrases.
・bullying：いじめ
・filter out ～：フィルター（機能）を使って～を除去する
・offensive：攻撃的な、ひどく失礼な、人をとても不快にさせる
Users under 16 will not be able to opt out of these restrictions without permission from their parents.
・opt out (of ～)：～から外れる（～を使用しない）選択をする、～から手を引く、身をひく、脱退する
The changes come as social media firms face increasing pressure to better protect children from bullying, sexual extortion, and other dangers on their platforms.
・ come as ～：～となる、～が起こる（生じる）
※報道の英語でたびたび使われる表現。
・extortion：強要、ゆすり
【 豆知識：to不定詞と動詞の間に副詞がくる形 】
ニュース文
“The changes come as social media firms face increasing pressure to better protect children from bullying, sexual extortion, and other dangers on their platforms."
toと動詞の間にほかの単語（具体的には副詞）を挟んだものは特に、
「split infinitive」（間をsplit「引き裂かれた」不定詞、「分裂不定詞、分離不定詞」）
などと呼ばれている。
その他の例
・to more efficiently assign computing tasks 「より効率的に計算処理を割り当てる」（７月２５日放送回「データセンター 省エネ取り組み加速」 ）
・to boldly go where no one has gone before「誰も以前に行ったことがない場所へ大胆に行く」（宇宙開発での決まり文句）
・to clearly understand「明確に理解する」
・to greatly improve「大きく改善する」
・to again become「再びなる」
米FRBが大幅利下げ
< 見出し>U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHANGES COURSE
・Federal Reserve：アメリカの中央銀行にあたるFederal Reserve System「連邦準備制度」の略
※連邦準備制度の中枢で、政策立案を行うのがＦＲＢ（Federal Reserve Board）「連邦準備制度理事会」。日本ではＦＲＢという名称で報道されるが、英語の報道ではFederal ReserveやFedもよく同じ意味で使われる。
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have stayed the course on interest rates in the face of attacks from their critics.
・stay the course on ～：～に関して方針を維持する、継続する、堅持する
※お決まりのフレーズ
・in the face of ～：～に直面して、～を前にして
・critic：批判する人、批評家
But they say their patient approach “has paid dividends.”
・dividend：分け前、恩恵、配当 [dívidènd]
・pay dividends：「（株式の）配当を支払う」→「成果を得る、実を結ぶ」
※経済用語を使って比喩的に表している。
So they’re cutting rates for the first time in more than four years.
Policymakers introduced a series of hikes to battle inflation, and they’ve managed to cool prices.
・hike：引き上げ、上昇
・cool：(動)冷やす
・prices：物価
※この意味では、通例は複数形
So they’ve decided to lower their benchmark rate by half a percentage point.
・lower：(動)下げる
“This decision reflects our growing confidence that, with an appropriate recalibration of our policy stance, strength in the labor market can be maintained in a context of moderate growth and inflation moving sustainably down to 2 percent.”
・recalibration：再調整
※re + calibrate「調整する、修正する、調節する」
・in a context of ～：～の状況の中で、～の文脈において
・moderate：緩やかな、穏やかな
Powell and his colleagues have seen the unemployment rate edge up, and they’ve seen high mortgage rates discourage people from buying homes.
・edge：(動)少しずつ動く
So they decided to move aggressively in the belief that lower borrowing costs will encourage investment and protect against a slowdown.
・in the belief that ～：～ということを信じて
But they say they have not accomplished their “mission."
And they project they’ll cut their rate by another half a percentage point by the end of the year.
コメの取引価格 8月として過去最高
< 見出し>JAPAN’S RICE PRICES HIT RECORD HIGH FOR AUGUST
Shoppers in Japan have been facing rice shortages at retailers as the average wholesale price rose sharply in August.
The agriculture ministry says industry cooperatives sold all varieties of rice produced in 2023 to wholesalers at just above 16,000 yen, or 114 dollars, per 60 kilograms on average.
・cooperative：(名)（生活）協同組合
・industry cooperatives：ここではＪＡグループなどを指す。
・just above ～：～の少し上、～の真上
・on average：平均で
That’s a rise of 17 percent from a year earlier.
・from a year earlier：（その時点の）１年前から
The price is the highest for August since the survey began with rice harvested in 2006.
・begin with ～：～で始める
Demand from inbound tourists increased, while the supply fell due to heatwaves in the summer of last year.
・inbound：(形)（飛行機や船などが）入ってくる、到着する
Many people bought rice at supermarkets to stock up for earthquakes and storms, leading to further shortages.
・stock up for ～：～に備えて（大量に買い込んで）蓄える
・lead to ～：～につながる、～を引き起こす、～の原因となる
The shortages are easing in Tokyo as newly harvested rice begins arriving in stores.
But prices are 50 percent higher than last year.