執筆者 Modern English | 2014年01月16日 | Trivia
Janus is the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, including doors, passages, endings and time. January, the beginning of the year, is named after him. He controlled the beginning and ending of war as well....
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年01月15日 | Idioms
“Let’s kick off this party with a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” “Kick off” means start. A football game starts with a real kick, but you can kick off any event. The first activity at this party is a game where blindfolded players must attempt to attach the tail...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年01月14日 | Words
“He says he saw an alien, but I’m skeptical of his story.” Someone who is skeptical overall does not believe things too easily. A skeptic probably doesn’t believe in aliens, the Loch Ness Monster or ghosts. You can also be skeptical about only a certain instance: “I...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年01月11日 | Phrases
“Hello. This is Bob Johnson. I’m not in right now, so please leave a message after the beep.” This phrase is a common way to end the recorded message played by an answering machine. Another common phrase is, “Please leave your name and number,” because with that...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年01月10日 | TOEIC
“We need to ________ the inconvenience to our customers from this renovation.” Fill in the blank. A. ensmallen B. minimize C. minimal D. smallify 「この改築によるお客様への不便を最小限に止めないといけません。」 AとDは「small」で言いたいことはわかりますが、実在する単語ではありません。BとCでは、Bが動詞でCが形容詞です。この場合「need...
