English Essay by Brian Southwick
43 A Nice Story
READING
(slow)
(fast)
On Friday mornings I usually work at the General Education Center in Nishikawa, Nishikan Ward. My work at the center includes writing essays, such as this one. On Friday afternoons I visit ALTs around Niigata City to talk about English teaching at junior high schools. Friday, November 21 was a cloudy, chilly day. Rain began to fall as I walked that morning from Echigo Sone Station to the Nishikawa Education Center. In the afternoon I had to go to Maki for a 2:00 meeting with some other English teachers. After having lunch at the education center, I walked back to Sone Station. The train left for Maki at about 1:15. It was 1:20 when I got to the station. I was late! The next train didn’t come until after 2:00, and there was no bus for me to take. So, I decided to walk to Maki. It is about 5 km from Nishikawa to Maki, and I thought I could get to my meeting by 2:00 if I walked quickly. After a few minutes a heavy rain began to fall, and a strong wind started to blow. Soon my trousers and shoes were wet, but I continued walking as fast as I could go. From time to time I looked at my watch: 1:30, 1:40, 1:45. Maki was still far away. I didn’t think I could get there by 2:00. |
READING (slow) (fast) |
Just then a car passed me and stopped. The driver, an old woman, gestured for me to get in. I opened the door and got in the back seat. The woman asked me in Japanese where I was going. When I told her she was very surprised. She said she was going to a dental clinic across the street from my meeting place. “I’ll take you to your meeting,” she said. |
<注> the General Education Center(総合教育センター),Nishikan Ward(西蒲区), include(〜を含む),essay(エッセイ、随筆),such as(〜のような), chilly(冷え冷えする),heavy(激しい),trousers(ズボン),wet(ぬれた), as fast as I could go(できるだけ速く),from time to time(時々),watch(腕時計), gesture(身ぶりをする),dental clinic(歯医者),daughter(娘),university(大学), married(結婚した),England(イングランド),friendly(やさしい), foreigner(外国人),the Nishikan Ward Office(西蒲区役所),kindness(優しさ) |
Question and Answers: Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and a verb.
Q1: Where does Brian usually go on Friday mornings?
A1:
Q2: What does he do at the education center?
A2:
Q3: Did Brian have a meeting in Maki on November 21?
A3:
Q4: What happened to Brian while he was walking in the rain?
A4:
Q5: Why did the woman help Brian?
A5:
<解答例>
A1. He goes to the General Education Center in Nishikawa.
A2. He writes essays.
A3. Yes, he did.
A4. An old woman in a car stopped and took him to Maki. The driver of a
car stopped and said, “I’ll take you to your meeting.” 等
A5. Because many people were friendly to her daughter and often helped her when she was an exchange student in America.