独り言

昨日の新聞を読むと以下の表現がある。
①New car sales in the United States in 2008 plummeted 18 percent from the previous year to their lowest level in 16 years....
②,whose combined 2008 sales plunged 23.7 percent from the preceding year to...
③Sales at market leader GM fell 22.6 percent to 2,933,451 units.Ford's sales sagged 20.1 percent to 1,907,864 units,while Chrysler's sales declined 30 percent to 1,453,122.

ここで注目されるべきことは、いくら減少したかという表現が、名詞のままで裸でおかれている、ということです。新聞はこの形が多いようです。一般には、減少するという、あるいは増加するという場合は、前置詞のbyを入れます。つまり、plummeted by 18 percent, plunged by 23.7 percent, fell by 22.6 percent, sagged by 20.1 percent, declined b y 30 percent 等々。

Googleで、”decline 3 percent"を検索すると、7,210件あります。" decline by 3 percent" で検索すると、20,500件が登録されています。すなわち、by を使うほうが圧倒的に優勢であるということです。したがって、増加・減少を表すときは、byを使うと頭の整理をしていて間違いありません。

「木曜日に」というとき、on Thursday もThursday も両方使って間違いでないのと同じでしょう。しかし、基本は、on Thursday と覚えておくべきでしょう。

これらは、英語学習者としては、自分の頭が混乱させられるひとつの要素です。

from today's Nikkei

対日投資　ファンド経由　非課税に　政府　促進へ税制改正　投資実績１年以上など条件

The government has decided to revise the taxation for foreigners who have invested their money into Japanese companies or Japanese things through the funds for the purpose of encouraging foreigners to further make investment into Japan.Its pillar is that profits of foreingers got by buying stocks will not be taxed under the conditions such as the one that the fund investment has lasted more than a year.This is aimed at preventing the stagnation of foreingers' investment into Japan.

from yesterday's Nikkei

企業年金　運用利回り　一段と悪化　昨年４－１１月マイナス１６％　金融危機が直撃　日立、株式投資を凍結

Amid the turmoil in the world's stock markets hard-hit by the financial crisis,the managements of the corporate employees' pension scheme funds have been worsening. The yields of such fund investments on average in the period from April through November last year declined to a minus 16 percent. If the stock market stagnation continues like this, the yield in the whole fiscal 2008 would log the worst-ever record.In these circumstances, Hitachi,Ltd. has decided not to invest the fund money in the stock.Against the background of this,how to manage the pension fund will become one of the most important management problems for each company.

from today's Nikkei

特許ソフトも保護対象　大幅な法改正で明確に　技術革新後押し　開放のルール整備
Japan Patent Office likely will start to deliberate on greatly revising the current Patent Law.The objects of the law have long been mainly things like tangible equipment.But,the patent office intends to include intangible assets like software as the objects protected by the new regulation.Another strategy the patent office is going to seek to progress is that the environment where many participants are able to reciprocally make use of patents others have created will be made by establishing a necessary rule for making public the patents of corporations and universities for the purpose of encouraging technological innovation.