The sportswear company Nike gave its office workers a holiday to help them de-stress from life’s challenges and worries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The clothing giant gave its employees a week-long mental health break. It closed its offices from August the 23rd to the 30th so that its employees could “enjoy additional time off to rest and recover”. Nike said it wanted to focus on helping to combat “burnout”. Nike’s senior manager of global marketing science Matt Marrazzo said: “Our senior leaders are all sending a clear message – take the time to unwind, de-stress and spend time with your loved ones. Do not work.” Nike’s retail stores are still open and store workers are working as usual.
The man expresses his opinion about the students having to pay for the health club. State his opinion, and explain the reasons he gives for holding that opinion.
Question 2 攻略
それでは、解答法を順を追って解説していきます
▮ リーディング
リーディングの内容は大学が新しい運動器具を導入したとか、
大学が新しい入学システムを開始したとか、なんらかの
「キャンパスでの変化」についてです。
そしてそれに対して2つの理由があります。
Read a short passage about a campus situation.
Health Club Fees
The university plans to charge a membership fee at its health club starting in January. The fee for using the facilities will be $20 per student. The university has made this decision in light of the deteriorating condition of the equipment and the poor state of the health club itself. Renovations will be made during the Christmas break. All fees will go toward the costs of renovation and the purchase of new equipment.
メモ取り Question 2 リーディング
リーディングの以下の要点をメモします。
・キャンパスでの変化
・変化の理由1
・変化の理由2
▮ リスニング
リスニングでは、リーディングの内容に関する男女の学生の会話で、
片方の学生がそれについて賛成か反対かを述べ、その理由を2つ挙げます。
Listen to a conversation about the same topic.
● スクリプト
W : Hey, Pete are you going to join the health club after Christmas?
M : If it were free, sure. But since it’s not, I guess I’m not.
W : It’s only twenty bucks.
M : Twenty bucks Is a lot of money to some people, Sue. These renovations and new equipment should be paid by the university.、We pay enough here already. They charge us for everything books, lab fees, photocopying, and late fees at the library. It’s too much.
W : Yeah, I guess so, but the health club really needs this. It’s in bad shape, and the equipment is ancient.
M : You know most of that equipment is less than two years old? I talked to a guy in the Athletic Department, and he said it was the football coach and team that pushed for the renovations. And they don’t have to pay since they are on a sports team.
W: No, that can’t be true. They won’t make us pay and have some others use it for free.
M: You’ll see. Wait until January. It’s not fair. If we pay. they-should pay also.
メモ取り Question 2 リスニング
内容は必ず1人の学生の意見と理由2つなので、これらの要点をメモします。
・学生の意見
・学生の理由1
・学生の理由2
▮ 質問と回答例
Question
The man expresses his opinion about the students having to pay for the health club. State his opinion, and explain the reasons he gives for holding that opinion.
Sample Response （回答例）
学生の意見 + 2つの理由 を述べます。
The man is not pleased that the students have to pay for admission to the school’s health club. (← Option) Even though the fee is small, he thinks it is a lot of money for him to
spend. Plus, he states that he doesn’t like the fact that the students have to pay
for things like books, late fees, and lab fees in addition to their tuition.
He feels that the school is charging them enough for lots of different things already. (←Reason 1) Finally, he believes that it is very unfair that members of the student body have to pay but members of the school’s sports teams do not,( ← Reason 2) especially because the football team and coach were the ones who wanted to have the changes made.
Scientists have discovered that street lights and other forms of artificial lighting could be behind a decline in insect populations. Researchers from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology conducted studies on the number of insects living near sources of white light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The researchers said LEDs are responsible for disrupting insect behaviour and for causing a drop in their numbers. Lead researcher Douglas Boyes said the results of his study were “eye-opening”. He was surprised at the extent of the insect loss due to LEDs. He found a 47 per cent reduction in insect populations at hedgerow test sites and a 37 per cent reduction at roadside grassy areas.
There has been a relentless quest to find sustainable energy sources in the past decades. One source of energy that has thus far eluded scientists is nuclear fusion. This is the Holy Grail of clean energy. Generations of physicists have tried to replicate this reaction. Scientists in the USA say they recreated the power of the Sun for a minuscule fraction of a second. Powerful lasers blasted a tiny target to create a reaction. The burst lasted just 100 trillionths of a second, but it created 10 quadrillion watts of power. Ten quadrillion is equal to 1 followed by 16 zeros. The power the scientists created is the equivalent of 6 per cent of all the energy from the Sun hitting Earth’s surface at any given moment.
We hear about climate change pretty much every day now. We see pictures of floods, fires and heatwaves on TV news. Scientists have just announced that July was the hottest month ever recorded. The scientists are from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the USA. A spokesperson from NOAA said: “July is typically the world’s warmest month of the year, but July 2021 outdid itself as the hottest July and hottest month ever.” NOAA said Earth’s land and ocean surface temperature in July was 0.93 degree Celsius higher than the 20th-century average of 15.8 degrees Celsius. The Northern Hemisphere was 1.54 degrees Celsius hotter than average.
The government in Cuba is legalising the ownership of small and medium-sized businesses. This represents a monumental shift in policy from the communist-ruled country. State-owned companies have traditionally been the norm in Cuba, following the revolution in 1959 that brought Fidel Castro to power. He nationalised Cuba’s industries to put them into state hands. The new policy allows entrepreneurs to operate businesses that have up to 100 employees. The change of heart from the government came after a month of street protests. Thousands of Cubans demonstrated against dire economic conditions. People also protested about a lack of food and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
A shortage of timber worldwide is causing a dearth in supply and major problems for the housing and construction industry. The decrease in the availability of timber has caused a sharp spike in the prices of newly built homes around the world. In some countries, the price builders pay for timber has shot up by about 25 per cent. One of the reasons builders are struggling to get supplies is because people have been repairing or reforming their homes during lockdown. Another reason is that post-lockdown construction and additional DIY projects have created “extraordinary demand”. A timber trade federation said suppliers were “working around the clock” but are “struggling to keep up”.
Some people like to watch films. Others like to attend concerts. Which activity do you prefer to do? Give specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
STEP 1 |Organizing 解答の組み立て|Ask yourself the following questions and organize your ideas.
1 Do you prefer to watch films or attend concerts?
2 Why do you enjoy doing this activity?
3 What features of films or concerts are so attractive to you?
1 My preferred activity ____________________________________
2-1 First reason ___________________________________________
1.As for me, I prefer watching films to attending concerts.
2- 1. First of all, watching films is a very relaxing activity.
3- 1. They usually last around two hours, so, during that time, I can forget about what is going on in my life and get lost in the movie, especially if it is an action movie, which I love.
2-2. Secondly, I think of films as artwork, so I try to appreciate them as works of art when watching them.
3-2. When they come together successfully, like in Citizen Kane, for example, I realize I am watching something more than a movie.
解答例 B
1 I would say I prefer attending concerts rather than watching films.
2-1. One of the main reasons is that there are so many different genres of music I like.
3-1. In the past few months, I have attended concerts performed by musicians in three different genres, thereby enabling me to hear some of my favorite songs performed live.
2-2. Another reason why I like attending concerts is that the music is much better when I hear it performed live.
3-2. My family went to a classical music concert recently.Attending the concert in person was so much better than listening to the same music on a CD.
STEP 2 |Response 解答文作成| Make your response using the above information.
As for me, I prefer _______ One of the main reasons is ________________
STEP 3 |Speaking 解答| Now say your response out loud, and record your time. While you are speaking, do not look at the written response
Response time: 45 seconds Your speaking time: ___ seconds
STEP 4 | Compare 比較 | Listen to a sample response, and compare it with yours.
解答例 A films
As for me, I prefer watching films to attending concerts. First of all, watching films is a very relaxing activity. They usually last around two hours, so, during that time, I can forget about what’s going on in my life and get lost in the movie, especially if it’s an action movie, which I love. For example, no matter how many times I watch movies like Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean, I get lost in the stories and forget about the outside world. Secondly, I think of films as artwork, so I try to appreciate them as works of art when watching them. For example, the acting, camerawork, lighting, and many other aspects of a film are all important. When they come together successfully, like in Citizen Kane, for example, I realize I’m watching something more than a movie. This makes me appreciate watching the film even more.
解答例 B concerts
I’d rather travel in a group than alone. To begin with, traveling in a group is safer than traveling alone. If I were alone, I might have some problems, yet no one could help me, especially in a foreign country where I don’t speak the language. If I’m with a tour group, the leader almost always speaks the local language. In addition, traveling with a group can give you and your travel partners man shared experiences and lots of good memories from the trip. Since it’s more interesting to travel with others, you can get memories from your trip that will last a lifetime. That is why I prefer traveling with a group of people.
The U.K. education secretary Gavin Williamson has announced a new $5.5 million programme to teach Latin at 40 schools across the country. Mr Williamson said the Latin Excellence Programme aims to “level up” opportunities for students in some government-run schools. Latin is a language that was spoken in the area around Rome over 2,000 years ago. It is taught in 49% of the UK’s “elite” private schools but only 2.7% of state schools. Williamson said: “Latin has a reputation as an elitist subject, which is reserved for the privileged few, but the subject can bring so many benefits to young people, so I want to put an end to that divide.” He added: “Latin can help pupils with learning modern foreign languages.”
