English Essay by Brian Southwick

42 Petanque ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　Have you ever heard of the game called petanque?　I am a member of the Niigata City Petanque Club, and in this essay I will introduce you to a game that is fun and interesting for all ages to play.
　Petanque is a French game, and it was first played in the south of France in 1907.　The game is quite popular now. Every year in summer almost 17 million French play petanque, and people around the world also enjoy playing the game.
　Players use three heavy balls made of metal.　The balls weigh about 700 grams, and they are bowled at a target ball.　The target ball is a little smaller than a table-tennis ball and is made of brightlycoloredplastic or of wood.　A cheap set of three balls costs about 3,000 yen.　The most expensive balls are sold for more than 40,000 yen.
　The game is easy to play.　On0e player stands in a circle drawn on the ground and tosses the target ball about 8 meters away.　Next, the player bowls one of the metal balls at the target.　When both players have bowled all of their balls, the players take the score.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　For example, if Player A has one ball closer to the target than Player B, then Player A gets one point.　Player B doesn’t get any points.　If Player B has two balls closer to the target than Player A, then Player B gets two points.　The player who gets the points throws the target ball and is the first to bowl in the next round.　The game is played until one player gets thirteen points.　Teams of two or three members can play each other, too.
　The Niigata City Petanque Club met for the first time in 2007.　Since then the club has met at Nishi Ohata Park twice a month, on the first and third Sundays.　About twenty Japanese and foreign players get together in the afternoon to enjoy playing petanque, meeting new people, and chatting in English.
　New members can play even if they don’t have their own balls.　If you are free on a Sunday afternoon and the weather is fine, why don’t you join us?

<注>
petanque（ペタンク），essay（随筆），age（年齢），French（フランスの，フランス人），the south of France（フランス南部），quite（とても），million（100万），metal（金属），gram（グラム）， bowl（を転がす），target（的，標的），brightly（明るく），colored（色のついた），plastic（プラスチック），wood（木材），set（ひとそろい，セット），cost（〜の値段である），circle（円）， toss（を投げる）， score（得点），closer（close「近い」の比較級），point（点数），round（回），twice（２回），chat（おしゃべりをする），even if〜（たとえ〜でも）





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

 Q1. Where was petanque played for the first time?
A1.

Q2. If Player A has three balls closer to the target than Player B,
　　how many points does Player A get?
A2.

Q3. Can teams of two or three members play each other?
A3.

Q4. How long has the Niigata City Petanque Club met?
A4.

Q5. What do club members enjoy doing?
A5.



＜解答例＞

A1.　It was played in the south of France.

A2.　Player A gets three points.

A3.　Yes, they can.

A4.　It has met since 2007.

A5.　They enjoy playing petanque, meeting new people, and chatting in English.