English Essay by Brian Southwick
24　A Summer Job
　　ネイティブスピーカー（ALT）によるＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow ver.) 　(fast ver.)　

　　This week’s essay is the third and final in a series about jobs I had in junior high and high school. I have already written about two odd-jobs and about working at a restaurant. In this essay I will tell you about a summer job I had many years ago.
　　The father of one of my high-school classmates was a teacher at the university in my hometown. He was an expert on insects. My friend told me that his father wanted someone to help on a summer project. I was interested, so I called and asked if I could have the job. The answer was “Yes”.
　　My job was to collect the kind of insect called “stink bug”. Stink bugs are small, and they are either green or brown in color. They have a very strong, unpleasant smell. I was given a net and a cage, and I was told to catch as many of them as I could.
　　I usually went hunting for stink bugs in the morning, before it got too hot. I drove one of the university’s trucks into the countryside, and for three or four hours I caught bugs. While catching stink bugs I saw many other kinds of insects, and I sometimes saw snakes and turtles, too. When I had enough stink bugs, I returned to the university and gave them to my friend’s father. In the afternoon I fed and took care of the bugs and did odd-jobs around the office.
　　Catching bugs was an interesting job to have, and I enjoyed being outdoors in the countryside. But I was very glad when the summer vacation ended and it was time to go back to school.
（注）

final（最終の，最後の），series（続き物，シリーズ），odd-job（臨時の仕事），
classmate（同級生），university（総合大学），hometown（生まれ故郷の町），
expert（達人，専門家），on (〜に関して)，insect（昆虫），project（企画），
collect（〜を集める），stink bug（カメムシ），unpleasant（不愉快な），
smell（臭い），cage（かご），hunt（狩りをする），got＜get（〜になる），
truck（トラック），countryside（いなか），turtle（亀），enough（十分な），
return（戻る），fed＜feed（えさを与える），outdoors（戸外で），end（終わる）
　stink bug (photo by Wikimedia)


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

Q1. Whose father gave Brian the summer job?

A1.


Q2. What kind of bug did Brian have to collect?

A2.


Q3. Why is it called a “stink bug”?

A3.


Q4. Did Brian ever see snakes or turtles?

A4.


Q5. How did Brian feel when summer vacation ended?

A5.



＜解答例＞
A1. The father of one of my high-school classmates did.
　　　または　One of my high-school classmates’ (father) did.
A2. He had to collect the kind of insect called “stink bug”.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　= stink bugs
A3. Because it has a very strong, unpleasant smell(, it is called a “stink bug”).
A4. Yes, he did.
A5. He was very glad (when the summer vacation ended).
　　　　= felt