Hi, ladies!
It has been another unseasonable warm day and I can hear a lot of children playing outside through the window.
Thank you for your kind words to my daughter. She is getting used to her new environment and trying to make new friends at school.
Spring is a season you can enjoy beautiful flowers everywhere. My tiny veranda garden will soon become a nice place, because my daughters are eager to make fantastic flower bed there. I dream that at the veranda I sit down on a chair gracefully, enjoying a cup of tea, even beside a lot of washing…
Well. See you next. Have a nice weekend!
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Hi, ladies!!!
It’s Friday, April 10, 2009 today. It has been another mild and lovely spring day, hasn’t it?
The NHK news has reported that today is the 50th anniversary of the wedding of the Emperor and Empress. Fifty years ago they paraded after the ceremony in Tokyo and the procession was aired, and I remember that I, by myself, went to the place of a friend of mine, whose parents ran a small general shop, to take a look at it, since we did not have a television.
After the program was finished, some middle-aged women living in the neighborhood started to gather at my friend’s place and talked about the wedding gala as if they had watched it standing on the roadside downtown Tokyo. They were totally attracted and charmed by the splendid wedding celebration broadcast on that beautiful spring day.
At that time I, as a child, never imagined that I would be alive and see their 50th anniversary tea party on TV. Most of the middle-aged women I saw on that day at my friend’s parents’ shop are now dead, I assume.
I am not an ardent supporter of the Japanese Imperial Family, but this 50th anniversary festivity should have been performed in a more exciting and gorgeous way. We are getting into an aging society, and they are, without any doubt, sort of a clear symbol of Japan’s seniority. It’s fascinating to glorify and encourage the elderly Japanese of great experience and knowledge, isn’t it?
It’s getting late, and I am going to get ready for going to bed now, my precious friends. Goodnight…
Hi Cherry and friends,
It was another beautiful warm spring day. I like to see fresh new leaves and various kinds of flowers as well as cherry blossoms which petals started fluttering down from the trees.
I watched the news about the 50th anniversary of the emperor and empress and a special TV program about their life in the imperial residence and their official business. I noticed that the emperor has been seeking how he should be or serve as the emperor for Japanese people and I was moved by his sincere and honest attitude. I was also very impressed by the harmonious relationship between the emperor and empress. Through their interview, I felt something heartwarming and peaceful. The couple, who went though the difficult area before and after the war, might be a good model for the elderly Japanese.
Good night, my precious friends.
Dear Cherry and friends
Good evening! How are you?
It has been very warm today.
This morning, an old friend of my family, Mr. S, visited us and had tea together. The jolly Mr. S often boasts about his family. He recently has been boasting his granddaughter, Sacchan, who entered a kindergarten this spring. Sacchan’s granduncle is Matsuken because his wife is a sister of Matsudaira Ken, who is from Toyohashi. Mr. S is not harmful but most of his acquaintances think he is irresponsible. Today he complained that he has been belittled by Sacchan. No wonder, she is aware of his irresponsibleness. Poor, Mr. S.
By the way, I have never met Matsuken in person.
I visited my eye doctor this evening. Last week, I had a little trouble with my eyes and was diagnosed as allergic conjunctivitis. By applying eye lotion, my eyes are getting better.
While preparing for the first TOEIC class of this semester, I met an interesting expression, “The woman is touching her hat.” It is from a picture question. In this photo, there is a woman standing beside a white car and she is touching her hat. When I saw this picture for the first time, I wondered why this woman was doing it. The answer came from another direction. In the book I’m reading now, there was a similar expression. The passage was explaining about a man in a novel. “The gardeners touched their hat.” I felt that the sentence appeared abruptly, unnaturally fitting the passage. So I followed one of Plum’s instructions, “Lean on your dictionaries! Not on me.” Well, my dictionary tells that it means they greeted to him.
Customs are closely tied to their language usage.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi, ladies!!!
It’s Saturday, April 11, 2009 today.
It has been another beautiful spring day and I believe that many of you went out for a walk or a drive to enjoy yourselves with your family or on your own. Japanese spring is so short-lived that we should make wise plans to maximize this mild and pleasant weather for our interest.
Today I stayed at home all day and did what I had to do for my project, but tomorrow I will do some spring big cleaning and some weeding in the garden. I just wonder what kind of weather we are going to have tomorrow. I hope it will not be wet.
Here is a new quiz for you and me. I hope you have been enjoying the quizzes I make. The article is from the BBC EL.
British job losses
Summary
10 April 2009
Unemployment in Britain has officially risen to over two million. The figures are not yet as bad as Germany or America but there is concern over the rate that jobs are being lost.
Report
Here at (1) Mini car plant in Cowley they know all about (the) frightening speed of Britain's job losses. Recently over 800 agency workers were laid off from here with very little in (3) way of notice. They're now part of a growing number of jobless which has passed (4) two million mark for the first time in 12 years.
What is particularly worrying is the way redundancies are happening across (5) spectrum of careers. There is evidence too that (6) pain and suffering is being felt especially by (7) younger people.
Politicians are bracing themselves for (8) summer when many school and university leavers will finish (9) full-time education and start looking for jobs. That is one of the reasons why experts are predicting that Britain could experience over three million unemployed, (10) situation not seen since the 1980s.
Naomi Grimley, BBC News, Cowley, Oxford
Answers:
1. the
2. the
3. the
4. the
5. a
6. the
7. ---
8. the
9. ---
10. a
Hello, Cherry and my friends.
Plum, I'm one of the members who have been enjoying the quizzes you made. I miss the quizzes and your comments when there are no quizzes. Yet I always wonder how you can find time to make this test almost every day. Please forgive me to ask you such a silly question but can I ask you how long it takes you to make them.
Today’s topic of British job losses was especially difficult for me to get right answers. I made lots of mistakes. One of them are
Over 800 agency workers were laid off from here with very little in (the) way of notice. Is the way of notice an idioms?
By the way, I met American women whose first names are Windy and April.
Their names are very easy to remember for me but I was not a little surprised due to their simplicities.
I'm ready for going to bed, my precious friends.
Hi, ladies!
Yesterday was a Toast Masters’ day. One of speakers told us a nuance in expression. When you see a friend wearing a nice hat, what do you say about the hat? She said “Your hat is very nice!” Her friend didn’t seem to be happy to hear the praising words. As mingling with Americans, she found that she should have say, “I like your hat.” which is more appropriate expression to give pleasure others.
By the way, I haven’t decided to the figure for the next essay. First, I think of the first female doctor, Hagino Ginnko, but I changed mind and are still groping someone.
Well, I’ll list the women’s name I am now thinking.
*Ichiyo Higuchi: Every Japanese knows her name. She is a face of 5000 yen. She is a kind of literature genius. However that is not the reason I want to pick her up. I really want to know how to struggle to support her poor family without marriage after her father death in Meiji era when it was very difficult to survive.
* Setsuko Yagumo: She was also from a ruined warrior family. She married a foreigner in order to survive and support her clan. That is an opposite way from Ichiyo.
*Women in a rice riot in Toyama. I have interested in the vitality of unknown powerful common wives.
How do you think about those figures? Aren’t they suitable for a heroine of an essay? Please tell me your idea.
Hi, ladies!!!
It’s Sunday, April 12, 2009 today. It has been a mild and pleasant spring day, hasn’t it?
My husband and I spent the majority of this morning cutting and trimming branches of some trees growing in the shrine grounds, not in my garden. Trees in the shrine grounds are strong and hardy and shoot out young branches of one meter or so at this time of the year.
In the afternoon I talked with Ulala, Yoji and their little ones on the PC phone as long as one hour or so. They looked well and happy, and so I was glad about it.
Sunflower, thank you for asking me how long it takes to make a quiz. Well, it takes 5 or 10 minutes. It is not a problem at all.
I also make quizzes for my English classes so that they will learn something about the English articles.
But, in principle, I am the one that learns most about the English articles, probably. It’s fun to make quizzes, to tell you the truth.
Cosmos, should you ask me which one I would like for your next topic, I would, without any hesitation, answer you the last one: Women in a rice riot in Toyama. It sounds fairly intriguing to me.
Well, it is almost time to get ready for supper. Have a lovely Sunday evening, my precious friends.
Hi, ladies!!!
This is an interesting piece of news.
Diabetes 'impact on brain power'
Failure to control type 2 diabetes may have a long-term impact on the brain, research has suggested.
Severe hypoglycaemic episodes - hypos - occur when blood sugar levels drop dangerously low.
(1) University of Edinburgh team found they may lead to poorer memory and diminished (2) brain power.
The study, based on 1,066 people with type 2 diabetes aged between 60 and 75, was presented at (3) conference of the charity Diabetes UK.
(4) volunteers completed seven tests assessing (5) mental abilities such as memory, logic and concentration.
The 113 people who had previously experienced (6) severe hypos scored lower than the rest of (7) group.
They performed poorly in (8) tests of their general mental ability, and vocabulary.
There are at least 670,000 people in England aged between 60 and 75 years old who have Type 2 diabetes and around (9) third of them could be at risk of (10) hypo.
*****
HYPOGLYCAEMIA
Hypoglycaemia is caused by a lack of sugar (glucose) reaching the brain, which uses it as fuel
Symptoms can include sweating, fatigue, hunger, feeling dizzy, feeling weak, a higher heart rate than usual and blurred vision.
More severe episodes can led to temporary loss of consciousness, convulsions and coma
*****
Answers:
1. a
2. ---
3. a
4. the
5. ---
6. ---
7. the
8. ---
9. a
10. a
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