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US military presence provokes activism  米軍駐留に最も寛容な日本

戦後６３年が経過しても、日本での米軍駐留はより存在感を増す。日本は米同盟諸国の中でも最も寛大に米軍駐留に協力してきたが、基地問題、空母配備問題に対する抗議がとぎれることはない。

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Cheryl Chow is a freelance writer with a rich multi-cultural background and a deep interest in cross-cultural issues. She grew up trilingual and tri-cultural. Her primary cultural roots are American, Chinese and Japanese. She is fluent in English, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese. Over the years, she has written poetry, essays, articles, and books on various topics, including social trends and health issues. She is currently living in Taipei, Taiwan.

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6月21日号 1面

The Circus Comes to Town
太陽のサーカス「シルク・ドゥ・ソレイユ」、日本初の常設シアターオープンへ

Cirque du Soleil, the hugely popular circus‐style entertainment empire, held a performance in Japan on June 3 to publicize its plan to hold a permanent show at Tokyo Disney Resort.

Titled ZED, the show was scripted and performed by Francois Girard, director of the movie Silk, which starred Yakusyo Koji and Ashina Sei. The Renaissance‐style stage was constructed to resemble the inside of a brass and copper globe. The main character, Zed, is seen traversing the two completely different worlds of heaven and earth.

The various characters of Tarot cards appear, as the two disparate worlds become tied together.

Known for its elaborate performances on huge stages, Cirque du Soleil has earned worldwide fame, especially in Las Vegas, where it has quickly become a must‐see attraction.

Oriental Land Co., which operates Tokyo Disney Resort, signed an agreement with Cirque du Soleil in 2005 to stage regular performances from Oct. 3. The action will take place inside Theater Tokyo, whose construction has cost 14 billion yen and taken about two years. The facility is huge, measuring 35 meters wide, 20 meters long and 21 meters high. Covering it will be a semi‐circular roof with an area of 1,700 square meters.

The facility will also feature one of the world's biggest theater pits, roughly 6 meters deep.

The preview performance was a remarkable showcase of the performers' skills. They twirled batons rapidly and with great dexterity, and about a dozen performers were propelled into the air.

(By Igari Junichi)

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【WORDS　単語をチェック】
cirque （仏）サーカス　soleil （仏）太陽　hugely popular 圧倒的人気の　circus‐style entertainment empire サーカス式のアクロバットを見せる一団　publicize 公表する　permanent show 常設の公演（後出 regular performance も同意）　Tokyo Disney Resort 東京ディズニーリゾート　title ～ ～と題する　script 立案する　perform 演出する　director 監督　Silk 『シルク』（２００７）　star 主役にする　Renaissance‐style stage ルネッサンス期をイメージしたステージ　construct 建設する（後出 construction は建設）resemble まねる　brass 真ちゅう　copper 銅　globe 地球儀　main character 主人公（後出 character は登場人物）　traverse 行き来する　heaven 天　earth 地　disparate 異なる　become tied 結ばれる　elaborate 手の込んだ　earn worldwide fame 世界的な名声を得る　must‐see 必見の　sign an agreement 契約を交わす　facility 施設　 measuring ～ 大きさは～で　wide 幅　long 奥行き　high 高さ　semi‐circular 半球形の　feature 特色とする　theater pit 奈落（舞台の床下の地下室）　remarkable showcase 目を見張るような披露の舞台　skill 技術　twirl くるくる回す　with dexterity 器用に　propel ～ into the air ～を宙に投げ上げる

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English Soup by Chikako Kobayashi

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And the Award Goes To ...  今年の受賞者は…

Craig and Justin discuss the pains of Father's Day.

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(Watching television)

Justin: What are those awards?

Craig: Oh, it's the "Best Father Purple Ribbon" award. It's given out to several famous fathers every year, and each one gets a trophy. Though I have to admit, sometimes it looks like the recipients are chosen only because they're high profile and have kids.

J: Do you know what your kids have up their sleeve for tomorrow?

C: Well, until last year, the kids used to make breakfast in bed for Mother's Day and Father's Day. Except ...

J: Except what?

C: Last year, we got food poisoning from their breakfast. Turns out the eggs were old. So this Mother's Day, Denise made sure all the food in the house was fresh.

J: And the Mother's Day breakfast went well?

C: The kids were too scared after what happened last year, so they took Denise out to lunch instead.

J: That's a shame.

C: Well, the food poisoning we got was pretty bad.

J: So you'd prefer a lunch out ...

C: Or even a trophy!

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ここで差をつける安河内哲也の英文法

東進衛星予備校講師　安河内　哲也

Los Angeles を「ロス」と言ったり長い英単語を略して言うのは、日本人のお家芸ですね。最近よく耳にする「メタボ」って何の略だかわかりますか？　これは metabolic syndrome の略で、これには「代謝症候群」という意味があります。metabolic は形容詞ですが、名詞の metabolism は「新陳代謝」という意味でとてもよく使います。英語では「メタボ」では通じません。ちなみに、Los Angeles を略した正しい英語は LA です。

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問題 次の英文の（　）に入れるのに適当な語（句）を選びなさい。

1. Many tourists wait outside Buckingham Palace just __________ the changing of the Guards.

(A)　for a sight　(B) 　catch sight of　(C) 　to seeing　(D) 　to see.

2. A man so difficult to please must be __________ .

(A) 　difficult for work with　(B) easy working　(C) 　hard to work with　(D) pleasant to work

3. This river is dangerous to __________ in July.

(A) 　being swum　(B) 　swim in　(C) 　swim it　(D) 　swimming　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　解答：1　(D)　2　(C)　3　(B)

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ピーターエニスのジャパン・ウォッチ

The debate continues  拉致問題と米朝関係

米朝の歩み寄りを懸念する日本だが、ブッシュ大統領の対北朝鮮政策に大きな変化はなさそうだ。

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Peter Ennis is Editor of The Oriental Economist Report, responsible for overall coverage, but focusing mostly on Japanese political and security developments. Mr. Ennis has been reporting and writing about Japan and U.S.‐Japan relations for 25 years. He has written for Weekly Toyo Keizai, Bungei Shunju, Chuo Koron, Sapio, Nikkei Weekly, Newsweek Japan and many other newspapers and magazines.

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