English Essay by Brian Southwick, Niigata City ALT

51 A Trip to Galveston, USA: Part 1 ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　　On Sunday, November 7, I returned to Niigata from a trip to Galveston, Texas, USA. I went to Galveston, one of our sister cities, with sixteen elementary, junior high, and high school students from Niigata. I am going to write a series of essays about the trip. In Part 1 I will tell you about the sister city exchange program and about our sister city in the USA.
　　The international sister city program was started in America in 1960. The American president at the time, Dwight Eisenhower, wanted young people around the world to learn about foreign cultures and to exchange ideas with each other. In January, 1965, Galveston in the USA became Niigata’s first sister city. Today Niigata has four other sister cities, three of them in Russia and one in France.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　 Galveston is a city on an island in southeastern Texas, and it is quite different from Niigata City. First, it is much smaller than Niigata, with a population of about 50,000 people. Niigata’s population is about 800,000, so there are many schools in the city. Niigata has more than 170 public elementary and junior high schools, and about 30 high schools, too. Galveston has 7 elementary and 3 junior high schools, and only 1 high school. About the weather in the two cities, Niigata is colder than Galveston in winter and not as hot as Galveston in summer, and Niigata has more rain and snow in a year.
　　But Galveston and Niigata are both cities by the sea. Galveston is on the Gulf of Mexico, so fishing is important to the city. The fish there is quite fresh and delicious, and there are many seafood restaurants. And just as Niigata City is the capital of Niigata Prefecture, Galveston was once the capital city of Texas.
　　Because Galveston is by the sea, hurricanes sometimes damage the city. In the year 1900, 6,000 people lost their lives and 8,000 homes were destroyed by a hurricane. Two years ago, in 2008, another hurricane caused much damage in the city.

＜注＞
Galveston（ガルベストン），Texas（テキサス州），sister cities＜city（姉妹都市），
series（シリーズ，続き物），essays＜essay（エッセイ，随筆），international（国際的な）
president（大統領），at the time（当時の），Dwight Eisenhower（アイゼンハワー），island（島）
southeastern（南東部の），quite（まったく），population（人口），public（公立の）
Gulf of Mexico（メキシコ湾），fishing（漁業），fresh（新鮮な），seafood（シーフード，魚介類）
capital（首都），Niigata Prefecture（新潟県），hurricanes＜hurricane（ハリケーン）
damage（被害を与える，被害），lives＜life（命），destroyed＜destroy（破壊する）
caused＜cause（〜を引き起こす，もたらす）





Question and Answers:　Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.


Q1: What is Niigata’s sister city in the USA?
A1:

Q2: Whose idea was the International Sister City Program?
A2.

Q3. Which city has more people, Galveston or Niigata?
A3.

Q4. Why are there many seafood restaurants in Galveston?
A4.

Q5. How many homes were lost in the hurricane of 1900?
A5.





＜解答例＞

A1. Galveston is.

A2. It was Dwight Eisenhower’s.

A3. Niigata does.

A4. Because fishing is important to the city.

A5. 8,000 homes were.