執筆者 Modern English | 2013年01月16日 | Idioms
“How are you?” “I’m sick as a dog. Don’t touch me; it’s contagious.” Dogs are not particularly more prone to sickness than other animals, but when someone is very sick, we say they are as sick as a dog. One theory about the origin of this phrase is that it is because...
執筆者 Modern English | 2013年01月15日 | Words
Bill: Ted and I used to hang out together all the time, but recently he never wants to go anywhere with me. Frank: I know. He’s gotten really busy with work lately. “Recently” or “lately” mean “in the period of time leading up to the present.” The starting point may...
執筆者 Modern English | 2013年01月12日 | Phrases
Beth: Did you hear that? I think this place is haunted. Jan: Don’t be silly. There’s no such thing as ghosts. Do you believe in ghosts? Aliens? If you don’t, you can say that there is no such thing as ghosts or aliens. It means they do not exist. ...
執筆者 Modern English | 2013年01月11日 | TOEIC
Unfortunately we were randomly selected to have our taxes auditing. A. Unfortunately B. randomly C. selected to D. auditing 間違っている部分はどれですか？ 「残念ながら、うちの会社が税務監査に選ばれてしまった。」 税務監査をするのではなく、監査されるので、「Our taxes will be audited」となります。「We will have our carpet...
執筆者 Modern English | 2013年01月10日 | Trivia
The English word “dinosaur” means “terrible lizard” (not dragon). Many dinosaurs have names ending in “-saur” or “lizard”. Dinosaurs have been extinct for a long time. We keep learning more about them by studying fossils. When scientists first discovered evidence of...
