In the past, the economy has targeted traditional and nuclear families as the main consumers of goods and services. These days, however, young single women are changing the profile of the typical consumer. More and more single women are coming to live in metropolitan areas. According to the national census, the number of households headed by single women in their 30s increased from 252,000 in 1990 to 327,000 in 1995, an increase of 29.7 percent. In comparison, the number of households headed by single men rose by only 14.9 percent during the same time period. These women are breaking from tradition by creating a lifestyle for themselves as single, independent people. Many of these unmarried women are buying condominiums ranging in price up to 30,000,000 yen. Such women are apparently thinking ahead many years into the future. Part of the reason is that women are beginning to earn salaries nearly equal to those earned by their male counterparts. For example, the average monthly salary of women aged 30 to 34 was 240,200 yen, an increase of 40 percent in the past ten years.
Some scientists are quietly smiling at agrove of young cottonwood trees in Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley. The landscape is full of old trees:the cottonwoods in the calley bottom are 70 to 100 years old. In the 1990s, however , not a newcomer was in sight. On the hillside, groves of elderly aspen trembled in the wind but no sprouts could be seen. In an attempt to deal with this serious state, the National Park Service introduced 14 gray wolves from Canada into Yellowstone in 1995. this was their first appearance since they were hunted out of existence there in the early 20th century. Biologists hoped that the wolves would cut the growing elk population which lived in the park. According to the wolf-effect theory, wolves keep elk numbers at a level that prevents them from gobbing up every young tree that pokes its head above ground . When the wolves were eliminated from the park, elk increased in number rapidly, cousuming the vegetation, stripping the Lamar Valley, and driving out other species. Without young trees in the area , beavers had little or no food and , indeedm they had been absent since at least the 1950s. Without beaver dams and the ponds they create, fewer succulents could survive. The plants are a critical food for grizzly bears when they emerge from hibernation. After the wolves' reintroduction in 1995 , researchers began to see not only a drop in the elk population but also various other changes.
One warm October day, my father and I took our dog Duffy for a walk in the country. Duffy ran, sniffed, and barked as she explored this wonderful new world. When we reached a small stream, she raced into the water. My heart froze with fear, because I was sure that she would drown. Then suddenly I saw her little white head bobbing proudly as she started to swim. “That’s animal instinct,” my Father commented with a big grin. Unlike her mistress, Duffy did not need swimming lessons. Nature programs instinct in animals. Birds know how to fly, fish know how to swim, and dogs know how to bark. Animals act by instinct, but people act by education. Education has reduced man’s dependence on animal instinct. When we talk about education, we usually think of classrooms, teachers, textbooks, and homework. Schools are a relatively recent invention, but they are certainly not the only way to educate children. Education is as old as humanity. All societies have transmitted their cultural heritage through some form of education. Children learned the customs of their society through observation and participation. For example, they mastered the principles of nutrition as they watched their mother prepare the evening meal. They learned the rules of nature as they helped their father plant the crops.
長文ですが、どなたか和訳よろしくお願いします。 In addition to cottonwoods and aspens , other trees are coming back , and most dramatically in places where browsing elk don't have a 360-degree view. One stand of willows, for example , grows at the foot of a mound that blocks the animals'view. It is obvious that the plants have not been eaten at all in several years. Elk don't feel safe here, because they can't see what is going on all around and are nervous about spending time in this area for fear of being attacked by wolves. Other changes accompany the regrowth of vegetation along the Lamar River. Just upstream is a small beaver dam , one of the first three dams documented on the river in 50 years. Slough Creek , a stream flowing into the Lamar , has six dams. Some researchers believe that because of the regrowth , beavers have something to eat again. "their food reserves are full of willow," one researcher says. As more woody vegetation grows along the Lamar , it will stabilize the banks and stop some erosion. More vegetation will also shade and cool the streams. It means , too, more broken branches in the Lamar, which will slow the river . And that causes water to pool and improves the trout habitat, leading to more and bigger fish. Although the scientific focus so far has been on vegetation, the wolf seems to have had an influence on the food web in other parts of Yellowstone as well. One of its most dramatic effects has been on coyotes. The number of coyotes in the park is down by 50 percent and in core wolf areas has dropped by 90 percent. With fewer coyotes, their prey, mice and rats, have exploded in number.
A few, however, were not truly unconscious but instead were “locked in.” These patients usually had extensive damage in a more primitive region at the base of the brain called the brain stem. Within the brain stem is a clump of nerve fibers known as the pons, where messages between the brain and nerves in most muscles are exchanged. The effect of an injury to the pons is a little like the effect that would be produced by severing major telephone communications from a city. The city (the brain) is functioning but cannot communicate with the rest of the world (the body), so for all intents it appears that the city has been deserted. Locked-in patients have lost the ability to control the body voluntarily, but they retain some ability to control the face. Often they can move only their eyes. Although they are conscious, they are unable to communicate. We had studied only a few of these locked-in patients, but their PET scans all showed more normal brain blood flow and metabolism than the PET scans of vegetative patients.
The famous British scientist Julian Huxley saw this coming long ago. In New Bottles for New Wine,published in 1957,he warned:It is as if man had been suddenly ap-pointed managing director of the biggest business of all,the business of evolution....
Whether he wants it or not,he is determining the future direction of evolution on htis earth. This is a sobering vision,but it is also an inspiring one. It dares us to let go of a nostalgic desire for an enviromental-ly pure past that probably never was and to take up areal and present challenge.
Everywhere we turn we see the human hand, and very little sign that it is about to withdraw. We may someday get greenhouse gases under control,but that does not mean we will ever return to the carefree and innocent days before such problems arose.
Enviromental protection becomes nnot merely a matter of repairing damege and leaveing na-ture alone,but of deliberately managing ecosystmes.
All this means that the human species is becoming increas-ingly responsible for the world.
@He lifed the lastpiece of toast and tomato from his plate, then felt dregs of tea moving against his teeth. When he had finished chewing he lit a cigarette and was once more aware of people sitting around him. It was eleven o'clock and the low-roofed cafe was slowly emptying, leaving only a dozen people inside. He knew that at one table they were talking about horse-racing and at another about war, but words only flowed into his ears and enterd his mind at a low pitch of comprehension, leaving it calm and content as he vaguely contemplated the positions and patterns of tables about the room. There would be no work until two o'clock, so he intendedsitting where he wasuntil then. Yet a sudden embarrassment at having no food on the table to justify a prolonged occupation of it sent him to thecounter for tea and cakes.
AThey sat talking and drinking, utterly oblivious of Ernest, who slowly felt their secretive, childish animation enter into himself. He glanced at them from time to time, feeling as if he should not be there though when he looked at them he did so in a gentleway, with kind, full-smiling eyes. The elder girl, about twelve years old, was dressed in a brown coat that was too big for her, and though she was talking and kaughing most of the time he noticed the paleness of her face and her large round eyes that he would have thought beautiful had he not detected the familiar type of vivacity that expressed neglect and want.
BErnest had finished eating and took out a cigarette, struck a match across the iron fastening of a table leg and, having inhaled deeply , allowed smoke to wander from his mouth. Like a gentle tide washing in under the moon, a line of water flowing inwards and covering the sand, a feeling of acute loneliness took hold of him, an agony that would not let him weep. The tow girls sat before him wholly engrossed in themselves, still debating whether they should buy a cake, or whether they should ride home on a bus.
和訳お願いします。 On the other hand,negative stereotypes that see all members of an ethnic group as being fat, lazy, noisy, or stupid naturally make the stereotyped people feel upset for being judged so unfairly. For example, as an American, I strongly dislike people stereotyping Americans as being noisy and overweight. It is important to remember that stereotypes are superficial ways of seeing people because they are only broad generalizations. There is a wide variety of peo-ple in every country and ethnic group. Part of being a good global citizen is having the cultural sensitivity not to jungle people using stereotypes.
In the United States the current debate about changing the Social Security program for retired ctizens is a direct result of a rapidly aging population without enough young workers to support Social Security's retirement benefits. In fact many countries that have a birthrate below2.1 children per woman are facing this problem and are struggling to find answers. The solutions that have been offered include increasing immigration to these couontries,encouraging women to have more children,and continuing to raise the retirement age.
Programs that have been developed to try to increase the number of births have had limited sucess. Increasing the retirement age is a short-term solution,but it may not address the long-term ploblem. According to a recent U.N.report,most developed countries will have to open their doors to million of immigrants. For example,by the year 2050,the avarage Itarian will be 43 yeats old,and 41 percent of the country will be over 60. Yet,all of these developed countries are resisting to face this reality,and most are trying to reduce the number of immmigrants that cross their borders both legally and illegally. While over 1 million legal immigrants were admitted into the United States in 2001,in 2003 only about 700000 were allowed in. Some experts belive this has caused an increase in illegal immigration,estimated at between 100000to500000 people a year,mostly from Mexico. U.S. senators,such as Hillary Clinton,have already announced that illegal immigrants crowding into the United States must be stopped. In Europe the issue of immigration has created right-wing political parties. These"anti-immigrant"parties base their arguments on claims that the foreigners stay in their own communites and refuse to learn the native language, they take the lw-paying jobs that the natives should have, and that they are damaging the sense of national pride with their different attitudes and beliefs.
Albert Einstein was born near the end of the nineteenthcentury in Germany. He graduated from a university in 1900,and two years after that began to work. He decided to return to the university and in 1905,at the age of 26,he received his post-graduate degree. That same year,he published three papers that completely changed the world of physics. Sixteen years later he won the Nobel Prize. Then in the early 1930s,when the Nazi Party came into power in Germany, he immediately decided to leave for the United States,ehere he lived fo the rest of his life. Einstein is also remembered for his efforts to secure world peace. He died at the age of 76. ユニコーンリーディング・6の冒頭 お願いします
・scientists have found changes brought about by wolves that returned on their own in the 1980's : willows reappeared, the diversity and abundance of songbirds doubled.
・But a storong correlation between the return of wolves and the new growth is far from demonstrated. Claiming that wolves are responsible is close to bad science. The ecosystem in Yellowstone is a multicausal interactive system, and there's never a single cause. Even a predominant cause is rare. At the same time the wolf numbers were coming back, there was flooding along the river and the climate is a lot warmer.
Breaking American's Dependency on Cars American has "big"problem in that too many people are getting fat. In fact nearly a third of all adults in the U.S. are considered overweight, according to the Atlata,Georgi-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say part of the problem is that Americans not only don't eat healthy foods but they eat too much and enjoy huge portions of everything,from French fries to sodas. (For those that don't belive it,check oout Super Size Me,the2004 Sundance Film Festival documentary in which film-maker Morgan Spurlock lives on a diet ofMcDonald's food for a mooth.) Another problemis:Americans simply don't get enough exercise.It maybe because it's not always easy to find a good place to work out. But it also might have to do with American's large size,which means that Americans need their cars= and love them,perhaps too much. American's long-time love affair with the car started when people celebrated the end of World War2 by buying more than21.4million cars between 1946 and 1950. The car became a symbol of indeoendence and freedom,and people quickly chose them over public transportation to go anywhere and everywhere. "We are a nation that's basically automobile-dependent,"says Madelyn Fernstrom, director of the University of Pittsburgh's Weight Management Center,pointing out that there just aren't enough places to walk. So,to crush American's growing weight problem,experts say better plannning of cities is needed. More concern over people's health must be taken into consideration when architects design a new office,park, residental community,or shopping mall. But,says Fernstorm,city planners don't think of it as important. "It's just not on the radar screen.It's not seen as an issue," she adds. "when we design new areas, we have to make sure there are places to walk ,places for children to play."
Some health experts say that weight-related diseases,such as heart problems,certain cancers and diabetes,could be cut by nealy a third if people got more exercise. Walking, for example, is an easy way to help people stay in shape. The exparts suggest a 30 minute walk ,at least five days a week , will help keep the pounds off. But again,walking is something that is sometimes difficult to do because of the way cities and communites are designed. Perhaps a family lives on one side of a shopping mall, and yet the roads leading to the stores do not have sidewalks, forcing them to drive. Sometimes fences may also block the way. "We've created an irrational approach to using our land that requires us to use our cars," says Lawrence D.Frankl,an associate proffessor of community and regional plannning at the University of British Columbia. "That means there is usually a `cold start' of the car, which<pollutes the air>,to go just a short distance."
Reseachers at the Georgia Institute of Technology took a survey on the driving habits of over 100000 residents of Atlanta,Georgia.They discovered that for every 30 minutes that aperson spent in a car ,they had a 3% chance of gaining weight. Most people who took the survey said they spent more than an hour a day in their cars.Public transportation may be the solution to the car problem ,says Frank ,but,he admits, it's"going to be very difficult for most people to change" The reseachers also found that people who lived in neighborhoods where they could easily walk to local shops or businesses were 7% less likely to be overweight than those living in suburban areas. Tripling the number of shops and other business near homes could possibly have the same effect on overweight people as making everyone in Atlanta look five years younger,suggested the researchers. A simmilar study by University of Maryland reseachers found that "urban sprawl"-- a slang term which refers to how cities are rapidly growing without any planning or concern-- has prevented people from being able to ride a bike or even take a daily walk. Says Frank , "We have to start providing retail locations closer to where people live and a connected street network that allows us to walk for non-work purposes."
In Vancouver ,British Columbia,Canada,where Frank lives, there are many public parks, such as the 4040hectare(404000 square meter) Stanley Park,which are easily accessible and great place for people to enjoy some contact with nature and get thier daily exercise. And while some American cities have excellent parks with plenty of walking paths,such as Central Park in New York City,they aren't neccessarily great places to be after dark. Says Fernstorm,"It's time sensitive --when the sun goes down, you have to stay out of their;it really isrisk." Other areas have "recycled" transportation modes of the past. The "rails to trails" project, which is popular across America, taakes old, unused railroad tracks and converts them into great paths for walking ,running or bike riding. Can exercise help? Hopefully it will ,since being overweight has now become a global issue. Of course, in countries like Japan ,where the diet is not entirely westernized,"there is a slight increase (in people's weight),but it's not like America,"where ,she points out,the weight levels are rising faster than anyplace else in the world.
Blood has meny important jobs to do. Its major function is to act as a transport system, carrying oxygen and food to all parts of the body, and food to all parts of the body, and carying away waste products. To do this it circulates around the body through a system of blood vessels. The main parts of the human body through which the blood circulates are shown in Figure 5.1.
The heart is a "blood pump". When blood leaves the heart, it is under high pressure. The vessels carrying the blood away from the heart have to withstand this pressure, so they have thick, muscularwalls. Vessels carrying blood away from the heart are called arteries. When an artery comes near the surface, it is some times possible to feel the surging pressure caused by the heart beating. This is called a pulse. You can feel a pulse in your wrist.