listening lab 2022
LISTENING LAB 1122
Step 1: Read the questions below.
質問を読んでください。
1. How long did it take Bertie to finish the course?
2. What did Bertie get to eat as a reward for finishing the course?
3. At what age do most Maine Coon cats reach their full size?
4. How heavy is the largest pumpkin in the world?
5. What caused the difficult growing season in Europe in 2021?
Step 2: Listen to the audio and try to answer the questions.
オーディオを聞いて、 質問に答えて見て下さい。
Step 3: Listen again while you read the article.
記事を読みながら、もう一度聞いてみてください。
Guinness
by Claire Gorant
What’s the tallest mountain in the world? That’s an easy one — it’s Mount Everest. What’s the longest river in the world? It’s the Nile, right? How about this one — what’s the longest human tunnel ever traveled through by a skateboarding dog? Or the largest carrot ever grown? Humans aren’t the only ones who can set a world record. Let’s take a look at some of these outstanding plants and animals.
Our first winner is on the small side, but he doesn’t let that slow him down. In fact, Bertie, a leopard tortoise in the UK, smashed a 40-year record to become the fastest tortoise in the world. Appearing in the 2016 edition of the Guinness World Records, Bertie crawled along an uphill course at the shocking speed of 0.28 meters per second, completing the full course in just under 20 seconds. And what was waiting for him at the end of the course? A plate of his favorite snack, strawberries. Bertie now lives comfortably at the Adventure Valley Park with his Guinness certificate hanging on his wall.
Let’s move on to something a little less cold blooded. The Guinness world record for the longest tail on a domestic cat went to Altair Cygnus Powers, whose tail measures in at 44.66 cm. Altair is a silver Maine coon, a breed known for its large size, but even among other Maine coons, Altair’s tail is a little extreme. He often accidentally dips it into cups and dinner plates, and his owners have to be careful not to step on it when he’s in the room. Nicknamed “The Floofus,” he may someday break his own record, as he is not quite three years old and his breed usually continues to grow until age 5.
Stepping away from the animal kingdom, let’s look at a truly enormous fruit. The largest pumpkin in the world belonged to a farmer from Italy and weighed in at an unbelievable 1,226 kg. That’s heavier than a normal-sized car! The farmer, Mr. Cutrupi, has been growing giant pumpkins since 2008 and won first place at the annual Campionato della Zuccone pumpkin festival in 2021. Mr. Cutrupi’s pumpkin crop did very well that year in spite of some challenging weather. Record high temperatures across Europe made for a difficult growing season, but Mr. Cutrupi was still able to turn in a pumpkin that weighed more than 17 adult men.
These are just a few examples of record-breaking animals and plants, and they come from all over the world. Be on the lookout! The newest winner might be closer than you think!
Step 4: Check your answers.
答えをチェックしてください。
1. How long did it take Bertie to finish the course?
It took him less than 20 seconds.
2. What did Bertie get to eat as a reward for finishing the course?
He got to eat strawberries.
3. At what age do most Maine Coon cats reach their full size?
They reach their full size at age five.
4. How heavy is the largest pumpkin in the world?
It weighs 1,226 kg.
5. What caused the difficult growing season in Europe in 2021?
Record high temperatures did.
LISTENING LAB 0922
Step 1: Read the questions below.
質問を読んでください。
1. Where is the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum located?
2: What kind of books is Hearn most famous for?
3: Where was Hearn’s last teaching position?
4: Why did he take his wife’s family name when they married?
5: What did he die from?
Step 2: Listen to the audio and try to answer the questions.
オーディオを聞いて、 質問に答えて見て下さい。
Step 3: Listen again while you read the article.
記事を読みながら、もう一度聞いてみてください。
Lafcadio Hearn
by Claire Gorant
Most people visiting Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, head straight for Matsue Castle, and with good reason. It’s a national treasure and a wonderful example of traditional architecture. But across the moat to the northwest is a small museum dedicated to Lafcadio Hearn, better known in Japan by the name Koizumi Yakumo. Hearn is most famous for his books on supernatural folk tales and ghost stories, but how he became Koizumi Yakumo is itself an interesting story.
Born in Greece in 1850, Hearn soon moved to Dublin, Ireland, where he lived first with his father and then with his aunt. Unfortunately, neither his mother’s side of the family nor his father’s side wanted to keep him, so he was sent to America when he was a teenager. After being homeless for several months, he got a job at a newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his love of learning and writing grew. When he grew tired of Cincinnati, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he worked for newspapers and wrote about the city. It was there, during the World Exposition of 1884-1885, that he saw the Japanese exhibits, which sparked his interest in Japan. His work led him to many places, including New York and the Caribbean, but when he came across the English translation of The Kojiki, a collection of Japanese folk tales and ceremonies going back to the year 641 CE, he decided to travel to Japan. Soon after arriving in Japan, Hearn quit his job at the newspaper and took a teaching position at a middle school in Matsue, beginning his career in education. This career lasted the rest of his life, and his final position was as a lecturer at Waseda University.
While his time in Matsue wasn’t very long, it was eventful. He met and married Setsu Koizumi, and when they later decided to have children, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen and took her family name. At that time, fewer than 200 people from foreign countries had done so, but he thought it would be important for Setsu and his children in the future. After Matsue, they spent a few years in Kumamoto, before settling in Tokyo.
Hearn had a strong interest in supernatural stories, the relationship between humans and nature, and the importance of education, and this is clearly seen in his writings. Throughout his life he published well over 20 books, most of which are still in print today. Koizumi Yakumo passed away from a heart attack at the age of 54 over 100 years ago, but his works continue to be used in classrooms around the world to this day.
Step 4: Check your answers.
答えをチェックしてください。
1. Where is the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum located?
It's in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture.
2. What kind of books is Hearn most famous for?
He is famous for books on supernatural folk tales and ghost stories.
3. Where was Hearn’s last teaching position?
It was at Waseda University.
4. Why did he take his wife’s family name when they married?
He took her name because he thought it would be important to her and his children in the future.
5. What did he die from?
He died from a heart attack.
LISTENING LAB 0722
Step 1: Read the questions below.
質問を読んでください。
1. What kinds of things does the maneki neko hold?
2. Which temple is known as “the cat temple”?
3. What was the original maneki neko most likely made of?
4. Which city popularized the white body and big eyes of the modern maneki neko?
5. Which color maneki neko should you buy if you don’t want to get sick?
Step 2: Listen to the audio and try to answer the questions.
オーディオを聞いて、 質問に答えて見て下さい。
Step 3: Listen again while you read the article.
記事を読みながら、もう一度聞いてみてください。
Maneki Neko
by Claire Gorant
Sitting on the front counter of the neighborhood shoe repair shop, a white cat waves at you. You have the same one on your desk at work. The shrine down the street is full of them. These days, maneki neko figures are everywhere you look, in every color, holding everything from the traditional koban gold coin to hammers, fish, and even treasure chests. But where did this friendly cat come from? It depends on who you ask.
While the exact beginnings of the maneki neko legend are unclear, the general storyline goes like this: Someone is walking home at night, sometimes alone, sometimes in the rain. Suddenly, they see a cat waving at them, and they follow it. Because of this, they are saved from some kind of danger, like an attack or lightning. The most famous example of this was at Gotoku-ji, also known as “the cat temple.” During the Edo period, the powerful Lord Naotaka stopped at a nearby shelter one night because of terrible weather. All of a sudden, he saw a cat waving at him from the temple, and he followed it. A moment later, lightning hit the shelter he had been staying in. He believed that the cat had saved him, and he donated a large amount of money to the temple, which then built a statue of the cat. If you visit the temple today, you will find thousands of maneki neko figures on the temple grounds and along the nearby streets.
These stories explain the good luck the maneki neko brings, but what about the figure itself? Well, this depends on who you ask, too. The original shape was most likely the marushime neko, which was made of clay and wore only a simple collar. The most famous story goes like this: In the early 1800s, an old woman living alone in Asakusa, Tokyo, ran out of money to buy food. One night, she had a dream about her cat, and her cat said, “Take the clay from under your house, make a figure of me, and sell it.” She followed the dream’s instructions and became rich. The figures became more and more popular, and by 1902, they were seen in advertisements across the country.
However, the maneki neko we usually see today looks a lot different from the one in the folk tales. The round, white body and big eyes were born in Tokoname City, which like Gotoku-ji, is full of statues and paintings of the friendly cat. And in recent years, new color variations have appeared: red, to protect from illness; gold, to bring in money; and even blue or green, to help when you are studying for that big exam. Regardless of when and where the maneki neko really came from, it’s purpose is to bring you good fortune!
Step 4: Check your answers.
答えをチェックしてください。
1. What kinds of things does the maneki neko hold?
They hold all kinds of things, including gold coins, hammers, fish and treasure chests.
2. Which temple is known as “the cat temple”?
Gotoku-ji is.
3. What was the original maneki neko most likely made of?
It was likely made of clay.
4. Which city popularized the white body and big eyes of the modern maneki neko?
Tokoname City did.
5. Which color maneki neko should you buy if you don’t want to get sick?
You should buy a red one.
LISTENING LAB 0522
Step 1: Read the questions below.
質問を読んでください。
1. How long ago did the 5th mass extinction* occur?
2. How big was the asteroid* that caused the end of the dinosaurs?
3. Where is the Tanis dig site* located?
4. What animal is the fossilized* egg from?
5. What TV program covered* the Tanis discovery?
*mass extinction=大量絶滅
*asteroid=小惑星
*dig site=発掘現場
*fossilized=化石化した
*cover A=Aを取り上げる
Step 2: Listen to the audio and try to answer the questions.
オーディオを聞いて、 質問に答えて見て下さい。
Step 3: Listen again while you read the article.
記事を読みながら、もう一度聞いてみてください。
The 5th Mass Extinction
by Claire Gorant
Approximately 66 million years ago, almost all of the dinosaurs on earth suddenly died. This was the 5th mass extinction in history, and afterwards, mammals became the most powerful animals on the planet. Scientists searched for the cause of this mass extinction for hundreds of years, and now, most agree that it was cause by an asteroid, a giant rock from space, that fell to the earth in the Gulf of Mexico. This rock was thought to be 12 kilometers wide, about the size of Mt. Everest. But even though scientists thought they knew where the asteroid had hit, they were unable to find any pieces of it and could only guess about what had happened on that last day. That changed three years ago.
In 2019, in a dig site in the United States state of North Dakota, 3,000 kilometers north of the crash, scientists found something amazing. This dig site, called Tanis, contained thousands of fossils, but that wasn’t what was so unusual. Unlike at normal dig sites, where the fossils usually come from similar animals, at Tanis there were fossils of land animals, aquatic animals, and even plants all mixed together, rolled up in dirt and stone that tested positive for minerals commonly found in asteroids. Scientists also found something strange in some of the fish. Looking at the fossils, they found tiny, glass-like pieces of melted rock that are almost always discovered at asteroid impact sites. Researchers believe that these animals may have died when the giant rock crashed into our planet.
However, while the fossils, the minerals, and the melted rock were an important find by themselves, one piece stood out from the rest. It was a whole fossilized egg, with an undamaged baby still inside. Scientists believe it came from a pterosaur, a flying cousin of the dinosaurs, which grew to be over 10 meters from wing tip to wing tip. They plan to use X-ray technology to scan, print, and rebuild the bones in a lab. On top of that, the dig was filmed from start to finish, and a BBC program, Dinosaurs: The Final Day, was aired in the spring of 2022. Now everyone can enjoy these astonishing finds, and scientists have come one step closer to understanding the final days of the dinosaurs.
Step 4: Check your answers.
答えをチェックしてください。
1. How long ago did the 5th mass extinction occur?
It happened about 66 million years ago.
2. How big was the asteroid that caused the end of the dinosaurs?
It was 12 km wide. / It was as big as Mt. Everest.
3. Where is the Tanis dig site located?
It is in North Dakota. / It is 3,000 kilometers north of where the asteroid crashed.
4. What animal is the fossilized egg from?
It's from a pterosaur.
5. What TV program covered the Tanis discovery?
The BBC program called Dinosaurs: The Final Day covered it.
LISTENING LAB 0322
Step 1: Read the questions below.
質問を読んでください。
1. When is the earliest mention of sake in historical documents?
2. How many active sake breweries are there now?
3. According to historical documents, who were the first people to make sake?
4. When did Japan see its first female toji in modern times?
5. How many active breweries are run by women now?
Step 2: Listen to the audio and try to answer the questions.
オーディオを聞いて、 質問に答えて見て下さい。
Step 3: Listen again while you read the article.
記事を読みながら、もう一度聞いてみてください。
The Changing Face of Sake
by Claire Gorant
Nihonshu, or sake as it’s usually called when sold abroad, has a very long history. It is found in documents dating back to the sixth century, and was not only an everyday drink, but also used in traditional and spiritual ceremonies. It was incredibly popular — after WWII, sake made up about 80% of all alcohol sales. However, those numbers have been dropping. Now, sake makes up less than 7% of alcohol sales. The number of active breweries has gone from over 30,000 in the 1800s to only around 1,200 now. With shrinking sales and too few young people moving into sake production, women are filling positions all the way up to owner and toji (or brewmaster), which had traditionally been held by men.
“Traditionally” might be the wrong word. In fact, the earliest historical records of sake show it being created by female attendants at Shinto shrines. It is believed that the attendants chewed the rice grains, then spat them out to brew alcohol for their ceremonies. And until the 19th century, women were involved in every part of the sake brewing process. But why did that change? There are a number of possibilities, but many historians believe that as breweries began to modernize, they became bigger and more dangerous, at a time when society thought women should be taking care of the home. Whatever the reason, soon there were almost no women working in sake production at all.
In the past 40 years, this has started to change. In Hiroshima in 1985, a woman named Isae Mizuno became the first female toji in modern times, holding that position until she retired in 2014. And in 1988, the popular manga Natsuko no Sake followed a young girl who took over her family’s brewery. Many of the new leaders are bringing a sense of innovation with them. A small brewery in Kyoto worked for years to bring back an ancient kind of rice local to the area, and their sake made from this rice has built a strong fan base. The number of female-run breweries is still low (only about 50 out of 1,200), but as older owners age out, this new generation has a chance to bring sake back into the spotlight.
Step 4: Check your answers.
答えをチェックしてください。
1. When is the earliest mention of sake in historical documents?
The earliest mention is in the 6th century.
2. How many active sake breweries are there now?
There are 1,200.
3. According to historical documents, who were the first people to make sake?
The first people to make sake were female attendants at Shinto shrines.
4. When did Japan see its first female toji in modern times?
Japan saw its first female toji in modern times in 1985.
or That happened in 1985.
5. How many active breweries are run by women now?
About 50 active breweries are run by women now.
LISTENING LAB 0122
Step 1: Read the questions below.
質問を読んでください。
1. When was the first food bank opened?
2. Where did the woman find free food for her children?
3. In 1977, how many cities had food banks?
4. Is Feeding America the original name of the food bank network?
5. How many hungry children get food through Feeding America?
Step 2: Listen to the audio and try to answer the questions.
オーディオを聞いて、 質問に答えて見て下さい。
Step 3: Listen again while you read the article.
記事を読みながら、もう一度聞いてみてください。
Food Banks
The first food bank opened in the late 1960s. It was called St. Mary’s Food Bank, and it was established by John van Hengel, a retired businessman. The idea came to him when he was talking to a woman who was struggling to feed her family. She told him she often rummaged through grocery store dumpsters to find food to feed her children. She said that often the food the grocery stores threw out was still perfectly good to eat. She wondered why that food wasn't stored somewhere — like money is stored in a bank — for people like her to pick up when they needed it.
In St. Mary’s Food Bank's initial year, the team of volunteers distributed 275,000 pounds of food to people in need. Soon people in other states became aware of the food bank’s success, and they started other food banks. By 1977, there were food banks in 18 cities across the country. In 1979, Van Hengel organized a network of food banks called Second Harvest, which was later called America’s Second Harvest the Nation’s Food Bank Network. In 2008, the name of the network was changed to Feeding America. Though the name has changed, the goal has not, and for nearly four decades, this network of food banks has responded to the hunger crisis in America by providing food to people in need.
Today, Feeding America is a network of 200 food banks across the country. It is the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. Every year, these food banks feed 46.5 million people, including twelve million children and seven million seniors. To learn more or to donate your time or money, please visit their website at www.feedingamerica.org.
*rummage through A =ひっかき回してAを捜す
Step 4: Check your answers.
答えをチェックしてください。
1. When was the first food bank opened?
It was opened in the 1960s.
2. Where did the woman find free food for her children?
She found free food in grocery store dumpsters.
3. In 1977, how many cities had food banks?
Eighteen cities did.
4. Is Feeding America the original name of the food bank network?
No, it isn't.
5. How many hungry children get food through Feeding America?
Twelve million children do.