英語の記事を読もう ガーディアンが取り上げた「はじめてのお使い」
英語の上達にはできるだけ英語に触れることが必要です。
勉強というよりも英語を使って情報を得るという習慣をつけると知らず知らずにボキャブラリーも増え、同時に世界の情報を身に付けることができます。
ここでは、毎週英語の記事をご紹介するので、うまく活用してください。
■Ozone Layer
Characters: C - Chan; N - Nozomi
A GV and a learner in class talking about the ozone layer
N: I’m really taking this climate change seriously these days
because Japan’s climate has changed drastically.
C: What changes happened to Japan’s climate?
N: We have way hotter summers and shorter winters. I think
it may be a consequence of the hole on the ozone layer.
C: The ozone hole is quite a controversial topic. Many people
have different opinions about it.
N: Different opinions? The ozone layer has a hole and we
need to stop using CFCs and limit our carbon emissions
or else we’ll face a global catastrophe. People should have
only one opinion about it.
C: It is true that there is still a hole in the ozone layer but not
a lot of people are informed or updated about its condition.
According to research, the hole is actually getting smaller.
Are you familiar with National Geographic?
N: Yeah, why?
C: The ozone hole was first discovered in 1985 and scientists
have been observing it for a few decades since then.
But according to a 2016 report in Nat Geo, the ozone hole
has stabilized and is already healing.
N: Wow! I didn’t even know that was possible.
C: The global initiative of phasing out appliances
that produce CFCs was successful and the ozone has
continued to heal itself since then. In fact, researchers believe
the ozone hole has shrunk by more than four million square
kilometers. Furthermore, the hole is not as deep as it used to be.
N: Even so, I think it’s still safer to lessen our carbon footprint
instead of being careless and end up making things worse for us.
C: I agree. Industrial CFC production may have ceased in the
1990s, but the chlorine molecules produced in the 1970s and
1980s will remain in the atmosphere for around one hundred
more years.
N: We still have a long way to go then. Hopefully, things will go better
for the sake of our descendants in the future.
●Vocabulary:
Ozone layer オゾン層
Climate change 気候変動
Drastically 大幅に、極端に
Way ~ はる