Maths Question

Qustion on a Year Two maths test: "Tony drank one-sixth of a glass of juice. Emily drank one-quarter of a glass of juice. Emily drank more. Explain."
My grandson's answer impressed his teacher: "She was more thirsty."

Saving 10,000 Projec

先日丸の内カフェで駐日欧州連合代表部の経済担当官、Dr. Rene DUIGNANの話、"Saving 10,000 Project" を聴く機会がありました。日本で何故自殺者が多いのか、どうすれば自殺を減らす事ができるのかと考えたDUIGNAN氏は英語「自殺者１万人を救う戦い」を創りました。私はＤＶＤを頂きましたが、この "サイト" からその映画が見れますので是非見てください。（映画は英語のナレーションで日本語字幕）

kith and kin

Reader's Digest 2月号に掲載の記事からです。
Favourite advice I plan to go pass on to kith and kin (once I figure out what kith means)
When I was a self-conscious teen, my mother told me, "You think people are thinking about your zit or your large nose, but they're not. No-one else is thinking of you as much as you think they are, because just think how much you're not thinking of other people."
And she was trying to cheer me up.
"kith" は知らない単語なので辞書を引きます。
・Collins Dictionary: one's friends and acquaintances (esp in the phrase kith and kin): We will not tolerate any tardiness because it is our loved ones, our kith and kin, who are suffering.
・Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary: old-fashioned : friends and relatives: They invited all their kith and kin to their new home.
・Dictionary.com: acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in the same general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group.
古い言葉で今では "kith and kin" と言う表現でしかほとんど使われないようです。

disquisition

今年のＡＳＪ総会後の "H.I.H. Princess Akiko of Mikasa" のレクチャー録の最後にもう一つ覚えたい単語がありました。
It then fell to the British Ambassador to express the thanks of all of us to Her Highness for her most
interesting disquisition.
この "disquisition" の意味を辞書で見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: a formal written or oral examination of a subject: Re-reading the draft of this report, I was tempted to excise this disquisition from the text as being irrelevant.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a formal inquiry into or discussion of a subject : discourse: Adam Smith's celebrated disquisition on the factors contributing to the wealth of nations.
・Vocabulary.com: Disquisition is a long and elaborate word to describe a long and elaborate analysis of a given topic. If you launch into a disquisition about toe jam at a party, you'll soon be talking to a wall.
上記の引用個所の後に以前取り上げた意味の "repair" が出てきたので、ついでに引用しておきます。
Finally flowers were presented to each of the Princesses, and also to our hostess Mrs. Hitchens. Mr.
Hitchens then invited the assembled company to repair to the adjoining rooms for a buffet reception, which was launched by a toast proposed by our honorary patron. Ample time was provided for conversing with their Highnesses and with fellow-members in a most convivial atmosphere, forming a fitting conclusion to this memorable evening

preponderance

今年の２月４日に開かれたＡＳＪ総会には皇太子も出席されました。情けない事に、ゲストスピーカーの名（皇族）を漢字で書けないのでＡＳＪの英文議事録から引用します。
We were honoured to have with us not only our honorary patron H.I.H. Princess Takamado, who was accompanied by her eldest daughter H.I.H. Princess Tsuguko, but also H.I.H. the Crown Prince, and, to complete the imperial presence, H.I.H. Princess Akiko of Mikasa, who was our speaker.
その "H.I.H. Princess Akiko of Mikasa" のレクチャーのタイトルは "Constructing the History of Japanese Art in the British Museum" で、その中に覚えたい単語がありました。
The Anderson Collection consists of 990 hanging scrolls, 92 handscrolls, 26 albums, three screens, one framed picture and various unmounted paintings; it covers almost all fields of Japanese painting and includes many different schools, with a preponderance of later Edo works, particularly those of the Kano school.
"preponderance" は前にも見た事がある単語ですが、意味を思い出せません。辞書を引きます。
・Collins Dictionary: the quality of being greater in weight, force, influence, etc ⇒ the preponderance of right-handed people
・Macmillan Dictionary: most of the people or things in a group: A preponderance of the students in the program came from overseas.
・Vocabulary.com: If there's a preponderance of something, there is A LOT of it. If you are a prosecutor, you are looking for a preponderance of evidence to convince the jury that the defendant is guilty.

score

昨日は早朝家を出て、ここ十年位前から恒例になってきた、出勤前に皇居の周りとついでに靖国神社の桜見に行きました。余り天気が良くなく、寒かったので珍しく余り混んでいないので気持ち良く花見を楽しめました。
さて、私が勤めている会社で扱っている製品に塩分の濃度を測る特殊な計器があります。 Salinometerと言うのですが、そのTechnical Manualに次ぎの文がありました。
To open a viral, score glass across end piece and snap off.
"viral" は標準海水の入っているガラス瓶の事で、"score glass across end piece and snap off" は注射液の入っているアンプル（ampule）に刻みを入れアンプルの先を折ってアンプルを開けるのと全く同じ事をします。 "score" にこの様な意味・用法があるとは知りませんでした。辞書で確認します。
・Macmillan Dictionary: to mark a line into the surface of something: Score the meat lightly with a knife.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to make a mark or cut on the surface of something hard with a pointed tool, or to draw a line through writing: If you score the tile first, it will be easier to break.
今夜は会社の花見で上野公園に行きます。

Breaking the silence

I was in a restaurant recentry when I realised I desperately needed to break wind. The sound system was really, really loud, so I timed it to coincide with the beat of the music.
I finished my coffee and got up to leave when I noticed that everybody was staring at me. That's when I remembered I was listening to my iPod.

Silent Passage of Gas

NHKの番組「ためしてガッテン」はだいたい見ていますが、先日のトピックはおならでした。そこで今日、明日とおならのジョークを２連発。
"Doctor, please help me," says an elderly patient. "I have silent passage of gas every morning. I have silent passage of gas every afternoon, and silent passage of gas in the evening. Sometimes I have silent passage of gas at unpredictable times - for instance, just now. Can you help me?"
"Sure, I can help you," says the doctor. "But first you need your hearing checked."

Adult ward

March 15のJapan Times Onlineの見出しからです。
Adult ward
should have right to vote: court The Tokyo District Court rules unconstitutional a provision in the Public Offices Election Law that strips the right to vote from adults assisted by guardians.
このニュースは日本語の新聞で見ていたのでここでの "Adult ward" が成人被後見人の意味になるはずだと分かります。　では後見人はどう言うのかなと思いながら記事を読むと次ぎの様に出て来ました。
The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ruled unconstitutional the provision in the Public Offices Election Law that strips the right to vote from adults helped by guardians.
"ward" は色々な意味を持つ単語ですが、被後見人の意味もある事を辞書で確認します。
・Macmillan Dictionary: legal someone, especially a child, who is officially being looked after by a court of law or by someone who is not their parents. The person who looks after them is their guardian: She was made a ward of the court when her parents died.
・Collins Dictionary: (law)
a.Also called: ward of court. a person, esp a minor or one legally incapable of managing his own affairs, placed under the control or protection of a guardian or of a court
b.guardianship, as of a minor or legally incompetent person

manna

今日覚えたい単語はJ.D. Salinger の短編集Nine Storiesの最後の話 Teddyにありました。Teddyは家族で豪華客船の旅行中で、自分達家族用のデッキの椅子に座ってノートに熱心にメモをしていました。そこに青年が近づいて来て話かけます。
"Oh, God, what a divine day," he said appreciatively, squinting up at the sun. "I'm an aboslute pawn when it comes to the whether." He crossed his heavy legs, at the ankles. "As a matter of fact, I've been known to take a perfectly normal rainy day as a personal insult. So this is absolute manna to me."
状況は晴れの日なので "manna" は何か良い事/物に違いありません。辞書を引きます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: according to the Bible, the food that God gave to the Israelites in the desert after they had escaped from Egypt: manna from heaven: something that you need or want very much and that you get unexpectedly: A letter from home was like manna from heaven.
・Collins Dictionary: (Old Testament) the miraculous food which sustained the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16:14?36): The clam pie was hot and the beer, as promised, cold - manna and nectar after a day's hiking.