難関大学を目指し、英文記事を読む！

3/15 3rd Blast Strikes ・・・

New York Timesなど米国の新聞社から送られてくるNews Alertでは、毎日何度も福島原発事故に関する記事の情報が送られてきます。海外の興味の中心は地震そのものよりも原発事故に移っています。
では、どのような扱い方をしているのでしょうか？

先ほど送られてきたNews Alertの記事をみてみましょう。

まず、どのような現状ととらえているのでしょうか？日本政府の動きからも事の深刻さは感じられると思いますが、今meltdownの一歩手前、というのが海外メディアの認識です。日本の新聞では対応にあたっている作業員も人為ミス、という報道もあります。なぜそのようなミスが出てくるのか。彼らも命がけです。

They(government officals) initially suggested that the damage was limited and that emergency operations aimed at cooling the nuclear fuel at three striken reactors with seawater would continue. 

the damage was limitedといって、緊急措置（emergency operations）として、核燃料の冷やすことを続けています。[emergency operationsをaimed～seawaterまでが説明、would continueが述部。]

これに対して、

But industry executives said that in fact the situation had in fact spiralled out of control and that all plant workers needed to leave the plant to avoid excessive exposure to radioactive leaks.

状況は、手にお言えないレベルに達してしまっており（had in fact spiralled out of control）、作業員は、漏れた放射能に過度にさらされないためには、施設を離れる必要があった、と意見を紹介しています。[had in fact spiralledと過去完了が使えれていることに注目。to avoid～は不定詞・副詞的用法]

If all workers do in fact leave the plant, the nuclear fuel in all three reactors is like(ly) to meltdown, which would lead to wholesale releases of radioactive material — by far the largest accident of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.

ただ、もし作業員が施設を離れた場合、三つの原子炉の核燃料がmeltdown（炉心溶解）を起こすことになる。meltdown（炉心溶解）が起こると、大規模な（wholesale）核燃料放出が起こる。それは、チェルノブイリ事故以来、この種の事故の最大とものになる。[which以下が仮定法過去になっていることに注目。by farは最上級を強調する決まり文句（文法必須事項）]

ほんの一部を紹介しました。それほど難解な文章ではないのでぜひ全文を読んでみましょう。http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/asia/15nuclear.html?_r=1&emc=na取り上げた個所は2ページ目。

分詞（High School Musical 3(The Junior Novel)）

新高校２年生と読んでいるHigh School Musical 3(The Junior Novel)では、興味深い分詞の用例が頻発しています。数ページから取り出した英文です。
下線を施したすべての分詞について説明ができますか？またこの中で「分詞構文」はどれでしょうか？

"Did anyone actually wash their lucky socks?"
Troy asked, giving them all a serious stare.

Troy asked, and gave them all a serious stare.と読めますから、これは「分詞構文」（連続動作）ということになりますね。

類似する「同時動作」ということでは、早大・教育（2006）に、

Using mice and tiny fish, scientists at Children's and elsewhere have been discovering how cells specialize as an embryo develops and trying to imitate that specialization in the laboratory.（早大・教育、2006）

などは、極めてオーソドックスな分詞構文と言えますね。

"I kept mine in my lunch bag,"Jason added.
  Troy nodded, satisfied. "Zeke?"

Troy nodded, while he was being satisfied.と読むと、これも「分詞構文」（同時動作）と考えられます。

...Troy was knocked to the ground, causing the referee to call a foul against West High.

これは一番興味深いかもしれません。Troy was knocked to the ground, which caused the referee to call a foul against West High.　causingの意味上の主語は前文の内容を受けています。

このように分詞の意味上の主語が前文の主語ではなく、文を受ける文が科学雑誌Natureの最近（3/25）のEditorialに出てきました。

All six (instances of litigation) were settled or dismissed within a year and a half, suggesting that the scale of litigation is not as high as some suspected.
[Nature(Editorial) Published online 25 March 2009]

このsuggestingも, which suggests that the scale of litigation is not as high as some suspectedと解することができます。ともに「分詞構文」と言えます。

入試問題に目を向けると、今年の東工大の出題英文にも、

At the same time, another group that slept for eight hours without being trained was never able to figure out the rule, suggesting that sleeping helped only if memories of the task were formed first.(東工大、2009)

という文章が出ていました。必須事項ですので確認しておきましょう。

Stunned, Troy looked around the gym at the crowd yelling, the cheerleaders leaping into the air ...

Stunned, Troy looked around the gymは、As he was stuuned, Troy ...となりますので、文法の参考書に出てくる典型的な「分詞構文」と言えますね。

さて、残りのat the crowd yelling, the cheerleaders leaping into the air ...ですが、ともに「後置修飾」の分詞、ということになります。

どれも、よく出てくる分詞ばかりです。大切なのは、こんな分析をいちいちせずに読み、意味を捉えてゆくことです。それにはたくさん読むべきです。その点でこのJunior Novelはとてもよい教材になると思います。

Junior Novelといっても、第二外国語として英語を学んでいる人を想定していないので、今の口語になれていない人には厄介かもしれません。しかし、基本的な語句や表現を学ぶための教材としてお薦めします。難点は、このNevelにCDなどで音声が提供されていないことです。会話の部分は映画と重なる表現も多々あるのですが。
http://www.amazon.co.jp/Disney-High-School-Musical-Novelization/dp/1423112024/

06年京都大学前期

しばらく休んでしまいました。今後週２回の位のペースで更新してゆくつもりです。

以下は今年の京大の問題です。一部の英語教師の間では、悪い入試問題として槍玉に挙げられます。しかし、この程度の英文は余裕で「処理」できるくらいの力は付けたいものです。[なお、この部分は平易です。これ以下の部分はちょっと考えないと意味の通る訳にはなりません]

まず、読んでみましょう。

   In the Greek peninsula early in the fifth century B.C., there emerged a group of individuals, many of them with beards, who were singularly free of the anxieties about status that tormented their contemporaries. These philosophers were untroubled by either the psychological or the material consequences of a humble position in society; they remained calm in the face of insult, disapproval and poverty. When Socrates saw a pile of gold and jewellery being borne in procession through the streets of Athens, he exclaimed, "Look how many things there are which I don't want." When Alexander the Great passed through Corinth, he visited the philosopher Diogenes and found him sitting under a tree, dressed in rags, with no money to his name. Alexander, the most powerful man in the world, asked if he could do anything to help him. "Yes," replied the philosopher, "if you could step out of the way. You are blocking the sun." Alexander's soldiers were horrified,expecting an outburst of their commander's famous anger. But Alexander only laughed and remarked that if he were not Alexander, he would certainly like to be Diogenes. Antisthenes was told that a great many people in Athens had started to praise him. "Why," he answered, "what have I done wrong?" Empedocles had a similar regard for the intelligence of others. He once lit a lamp in broad daylight and said, as he went around, "I am looking for someone with a mind." Having watched Socrates being insulted in the market place, a passer-by asked him, "Don't you worry about being called names?" "Why? Do you think I should resent it if a stupid horse kicked me?" replied Socrates.
[06京都大学（部分）]

◎文法・語法
１．there emergedは、there is 構文の変形。there livesなどと同様主語は動詞の後にある名詞。

２．Socrates saw a pile of gold and jewellery being borne in procession through the streets of Athens
は、S+V+O+C（現在分詞）の文型。意味合いとしてはCがbeingが書かれていること。
a.I heard  the song being sung by Nancy.
b.I heard  the song sung by Nancy.
のニュアンスの違い。

３．"Yes," replied the philosopher, "if you could step out of the way. You are blocking the sun."
couldは「仮定法過去」。

４．Having watched Socrates being insulted in the market place, a passer-by asked him, ...
分詞構文

５．"Why? Do you think I should resent it if a stupid horse kicked me?"
「仮定法過去」

◎言葉　name
１．... he visited the philosopher Diogenes and found him sitting under a tree, dressed in rags, with no money to his name.

２．Don't you worry about being called names?

nameがどんな意味合いで使われているかまず類推し、その後辞書で確認してみよう。

◎設問は、下線部訳。

if名詞節

[その２]

"This process of reasoning and analysis can continue in other directions. For example, you might investigate to see if perhaps you have contributed in some way to the situation that made you angry. Also, when you are in the midst of anger, your tendency is to perceive the person who harmed you as 100% bad. But if you analyze further, you will realize that every human heing is composed of both ( 　 ) and negative characteristics, andyou can try to get a more realistic view of the person by attempting to find some positive aspects of the person.
"So, with practice, various lines of reasoning and investigation can be used to reduce the force of your anger. This doesn't mean you shouldn't respond, or try to do something if someone tries to harm you. On the contrary, one should take measures to prevent harm to oneself and others, even strong measures. But using analytic methods such as these can help reduce the intensity of your anger, which can have destructive effects, and instead allow you to respond to the situation without a feeling of hatred arising."
[２００２年　北海道大学]

◎other directionsの例を文にそってまとめてみましょう。

◎you might investigate to see if perhaps you have contributed in some way to the situation that made you angry.
この文章の文章構造を考えてみましょう。

◎（　　）内に入る語を文中から探してみましょう。

◎A. On the contrary,B。AとBの内容をまとめてみましょう。

譲歩

こんな文章はどうでしょうか？獄中のホリエモンはどうおもうでしょうか？
   Economists tend to assume that people are mainly aiming to improve their material standard of living. Disgracing as this idea may be to the human spirit, there is a lot of evidence, based on the way people behave when confronted with choices, to support it. The trouble is, there is also evidence to suggest that money doesn't make you happier--- or not much happier, anyway.
   Up to now, studies have tended to find that the strongest influence on happiness is employment: people with jobs are very much happier than the unemployed. Low inflation also makes people happier. Income promotes happiness a little, but the effect tends to be small and statistically insignificant. In many countries incomes have risen sharply in recent years. This has not increased happiness overall: national surveys of "subjective well being" have stayed flat. Within countries, comparing people across the income distribution, richer does mean happier, but the effect is not large.
[2000年、立教]

1.The troubleとは、この文ではどういうことですか。

2."subjective well being"は、この文に即していうと具体的にどういうことですか。

3.Disgracing as this idea may be to the human spirit,を文脈に合うように接続詞を使って書き換えてみてください。

4.comparing people across the income distribution,どういう使われ方ですか。

◎表現
very much happier：比較級はmuchで強調。「少しだけ」はa little。
the unemployed=unemployed (     )
to support it　この不定詞の用法は？

◎語句
assume
improve
material standard of living
disgracing <disgrace
spirit
evidence
confront
choice
suggest
influence
inflation
promote
effect
statistically
insignificant
overall
survey
subjective
well being
distribution

現在分詞、過去分詞、動名詞

Freezing technology that truly preserves the quality of fresh fish is relatively new. Developed by the Japanese fishing industry in the 1990's to preserve the catch on long trips,"superfreezing" can reduce the core temperature of a 500-pound tuna to minus 70 degrees in about a day and a half. Packed in artificial snow ground from dry ice and surrounded by liquid nitrogen, that fish can be preserved in good condition for as long as two years. "It's an amazing product," said a restaurant owner who recently bought a medical freezer, [transplant / store / designed /to / organs], to keep tuna in his restaurant's basement.
[2005 東京理科大]

１．[　]内を並べかえて、意味の通る文にしなさい。

２．Freezing、fishing、superfreezing、amazing、それぞれ文法的に説明しなさい。

３．Developed、Packed、surrounded、preserved、designedはすべて過去分詞。ここでの使われ方について説明しなさい。

４．Packed in artificial snow ground from dry iceのgroundについて文法的に説明しなさい。

５．内容から考えて（といっても理系の人にとっては常識だと思うが）liquid nitrogenは日本語で何ですか。