Blog
Phrase of the Week: Look Over
“I finished my homework. Can you look over it and check for mistakes?” “Look over the plan for the project and tell me if you have any questions about it.” Looking something over means to inspect or examine it, usually quickly. It’s almost the opposite of “overlook”,...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
“You’ve been so helpful. I can’t _____ how thankful we are.” Fill in the blank. A. empress B. express C. depress D. impress 「いろいろお世話になりました。なんとお礼を言っていいのやら」 Dの impress は impress on you なら「伝える」という意味になりますが、一語では「感動させる」という意味になってしまうので、ここでは使えません。 Depress...
Trivia of the Week: Dracula
Dracula is the name of a vampire who first appeared in the book Dracula by Bram Stoker. It was published in 1897 and had a strong influence on how we imagine vampires. Dracula is probably based on a real person, Vlad III Dracula (also known as Vlad the Impaler)....
Idiom of the Week: Never Mind
“Where did you get that shirt?” “Well, it’s a long story. It all started ten years ago when I took a trip to see my cousin in—” “Never mind. I don’t want to know.” You can use “never mind” to take back something you said. If you asked a question, but no longer want to...
Word of the Day: Ditto
“We can choose the color? I’ll take a blue one.” “Me too.” “Ditto.” “Ditto” is a word that means “the same”. It’s very short, so you can save time by not repeating a long phrase. In writing, it is convenient when repeating items or parts of items in a list using the...
Picture of the Week: Bats
Here’s a spooky tree for Halloween season. What’s in this tree? It’s full of bats! Do you think bats are scary or cute?...
Phrase of the Week: Try to Keep Up!
“Let’s race to that tree!” “Okay! Try to keep up!” If you keep up with something, it means you don’t fall behind. If you can’t keep up with your friend, you might be left behind. You should also try to “keep up” on housework—if you are left behind, many chores will...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
“Before you can play with the toy, you or a parent must resemble all the parts.” Find the mistake. A. Before B. with the toy C. resemble D. all the parts 「玩具と遊ぶ前に、自分又は親がパーツを組み立てる必要があります。」 玩具の箱によく書いてある「Some assembly...
Trivia of the Week: What’s Wrong?
Beth: Oh no! What am I going to do now? Tom: What’s wrong? Beth: You know what’s wrong! You threw my doll into the tree! What’s wrong with you? Tom: Oh, yeah. I was just playing around. I’ll help you get it down. In this dialogue, Tom sees that Beth is upset and says,...
Idiom of the Week: Jump on the Bandwagon
“That’s your costume for the Halloween party? You’re dressing as Harry Potter, too?” “Yep, I resisted for a long time, but I’ve jumped on the bandwagon and become a Harry Potter fan.” A bandwagon was originally a wagon carrying a band in a parade or circus. Bandwagons...
