Category: 毎日英会話

My new _________ lives ________ in my new ___________. He just moved in, as I have.* He is from New York, as I am**–and that’s great in a foreign country–to have a friend from home–to talk to.

A. nearby

B. neighborhood

C. neighborly

D. neighbors

E. neighbor

*”As I have” would usually be expressed, “Like I did,” which is how most people would speak, but the phrasing in the example is correct. “Like I did” actually has a different meaning: technically it says “I moved here in a way similar to how the neighbor moved here,” but in spoken English is understood to mean “I moved here too,” and is technically wrong.

** “As I am” means “I am also from New York.” Most English speakers will say, however, “like I am (from New York)” but this suggests that the two people are from New York in some similar way or quality–and is technically incorrect.

Answer:

My new _neighbor_ lives _nearby_ in my new _neighborhood_.

E. A. B.

Did you know? We vary the intonation of the 2nd verb if referring twice to the same noun?

Choose:

1. Please set your mobile phone to silent mode, and refrain from talking on the phone.

2. Please set your mobile phone to silent mode and refrain from talking on the phone.

The answer is number 2, because if we do not emphasize the intonation when uttering the second verb–or action–the two actions mentioned will be expressed in a monotone fashion and the effect will be to unconsciously interpret the instructions as referring to two different nouns or items. The speech of the speaker will also be incredibly robotic and boring.

“Like night and day” means “very different”.

A. Where’re ya from?

B. New York.

A. Ya like Tokyo?

B. It’s OK–too crowded, rushed… noisy?

A. New Yorkers are used to it!

B. I’m from Long Island.

A. But Tokyo and New York are similar.

B. Like night ‘n day.

A. ?

B. We don’t run into each other. We have more space; it’s quiet.

Here, speaker B is expressing an opposite opinion. She probably likes Japan–and Tokyo too–for their own qualities… but like many Americans–and especially New Yorkers–she feels it is best to share her true feelings: She doesn’t think Tokyo and New York are similar (at least in the ways she explains that they are different)–in her opinion. And in her use of the expression, like night and day, she is perhaps being a bit sarcastic (saying the opposite thing-with other words), rather than directly contradicting speaker A and saying “no they are not similar”. The complete unspoken–or suggested comment–would be: “Yes, they are similar–like night and day are similar,” meaning “night and day are similar because they are parts of the day, but one is dark and one is light–so they are not similar at all!”

Choose:

Adam: When’s your birthday?

1. Jimmy: August; you know that. It’s ___ the 11th.

J: When’s yours?

2. A: Now you’re the stupid one. It’s ___ August too!

a. on

b. in

ANSWERS:

1. a (on)

How to remember this: The 11th is a date we write on the calendar.

My birthday is on the 11th.

We write a note about it on top of–or over–the day-square (on the calendar marked) 5th)

2. b (in)

My birthday is in August.

How to remember this: If we do not know or give the exact date, we know that the birthday must be inside (in) the time–the month–of August.

Jon: Where can we get a bite?

(To “get a bite” is to have something to eat.)

Don: What’ya want?

(“What’ya want?” is a slang contraction of “what do you want?”)

Jon: Not meat.

Don: Japan’s not veggie-friendly.

(“veggie-friendly” means providing options and consideration to vegetarians.)

Jon: Why? D: Why are ya veggie?

Jon: I wanna live long, strong. I care about Earth–all species!

Jon is:

a. political

b. socially conscious*

c. weird (very strange)

d. a granola

e. a, b & d

1. All the answers here are okay, but ‘e’ is best. Jon might be “weird” in Japan, but not in English-speaking countries, where vegetarianism has been popular for decades. Many famous people in history were/are vegetarians.

2. A “granola” is a health-conscious person.

This comes from Granola Bars , which are alternatives to candy bars and thought to be healthier. They usually contain raisins, nuts, dried fruit, honey, brown sugar and rolled oats–sometime yogurt morsels.

*Socially conscious refers to a state of mind highly popular in the West. If one is socially conscious s/he makes consumer choices that support companies which are seen to care about the environment, species rights, indigenous people, fair trade and labor concerns. Some socially conscious people, for example, will not buy products from China, because of China’s human rights record, treatment of the Dalai Lama and Tibetans–as well as of Turkistan and Taiwan. 

Others will not buy cosmetics which come from animal testing (these are called cruelty-free). Vegetarians often will not buy anything that includes animal skins (“leather”) or tuna from companies known to obtain fish from slave labor or which over-fish the oceans(Thai Union, Chicken of The Sea, Bumble Bee). The idea is that consumers can change conditions in the world by nor purchasing products that come from harmful and careless companies.

Vegetarians have a much smaller carbon footprint, meaning they contribute far less to global warming and environmental destruction than do meat eaters.

Welcome! This is a typical kind of conversation among friends that you might hear in America or in another western country:

Tweet 1

Jon: So, Don, have you seen Apollo 11?

Here, Jon does not say ‘movie,’ he simply names the title.

Don: No. I don`t know about that man.

This means Don does not trust the situation or does not think it is true.

Jon: You don`t think we went to the moon?

Don: Well, how do you trust the government?

Apollo was the government program that sent men to the moon. Because the government lied before–like about the Vietnam War, people started to distrust the Apollo program.

Jon: It’s probably the most publicly documented* event in history.

Don: What’s that mean? 

Jon: It means all the information is public! You can find all of it!

*This means that because NASA is completely paid for by taxes, everything it does is available for the public to see. Everything about the American space program is available by mail–in books or on the internet.

Tweet 2

Don: Is Apollo 11 a good film?

Jon: ‘Don`t know; ‘haven`t seen it yet.

Like Speakers of Japanese, native speakers of English often omit the subject ‘I’ in casual speech.

Don: So, I guess I shouldn’t judge until I do.

Don means he shouldn’t form an opinion about the movie until he does see it.

Jon: Let’s go. I’m sure it’ll be great!

Don: How do you know so much about @NASA.

Jon: Some of the greatest things are hidden in a place called books!

Jon wants Don to read books–and he is being sarcastic (saying exaggerated or opposite things to make a point, to be mean or to be funny; here is trying to make a point and be funny).

Don: You’re funny!

Happy English Speaking!

Can I get some help?

We know polite expressions, but we should know this one in case we forget:

“Can I get…

help

the time

a table

the soup

the sandwich

some water

another one two more

the check

a taxi (at the hotel)

directions

a map

the time

a ticket

, please?”