2022/04/09(土)SMC
Spring has come! We were happy to meet in person and have a fruitful discussion. SM Kaneko served as Coordinator.
Word of the day: SM Takahata
"fire"
When used as a noun:
1) [U] Uncontrolled fire: flames and heat from something that is burning in an uncontrolled way
-Three children died in a fire at their home last night.
2) [C] Controlled fire: burning material that you have lit to provide heat, cook food etc.
-Once the fire was lit, the room seemed more cozy.
3) [U] Shots from a gun
-We heard a sudden loud burst of machine gun fire.
4) [U] Strong feeling as anger or enthusiasm
-His words were full of fire and passion.
5) [C] Heating equipment: a machine that produces heat to warm a room using electricity or gas etc., as power
-Turn on the fire, I’m cold.
When used as a verb:
[tr]
1) To shoot a weapon
-The gunmen fired, and the police fired back.
2) To make someone leave their job, sometimes as a punishment
-She was fired for refusing to comply with safety regulations.
3) To bake a clay at very high temperatures so that it becomes very hard
[int]
4) If an engine fires, it starts to work.
Phrasal verb or idiom
fire away: to speak without hesitation (talking down to someone)
“Can I ask you a question?” “Fire away”
fire up: to be filled with energy or enthusiasm
- She’s fired up about this new class she’s taking.
hang fire: to remain unsettled or unsolved
- The plans had to hang fire until the city council approved them.
play with fire: to do something risky or dangerous
- You’re playing with fire.
Please explain the meaning of the sentences.
1. We got along like a house on fire.
= extremely well
2. The teacher was under fire from their students’ parents for being too strict.
= criticized
3. The minister preaches fire and brimstone.
= a phrase describing Hell
4. I would go through fire and water to protect my family.
= do anything very difficult and dangerous for someone（たとえ火の中水の中）
5. The reporter fired questions at her.
= asked many questions all at once（矢継ぎ早に質問する）
6. Fight fire with fire. = Use the same method as your opponent in an argument.
(毒を以て毒を制す）
FIRE
What “FIRE” stand for?
"FIRE", an abbreviation for "financial independence, retire early", is a movement of people who devoted to a program of extreme savings and investment that aims to allow them to retire far earlier than traditional retirement plan would permit. By saving money 25 times of your yearly cost of living, you can retire early and live off the income from investment at the interest rate of 4%. This movement is popular especially for Millennials. Some people would move to a volunteer job that they are more passionate about. Anyway, they say it's wonderful to be freed from long working hours or commuting nightmare.
Lecture: SM Yoko Narisawa
Please answer funny quizzes.
1. What occurs twice in a week, once in a year but never in a day?
2. I am an odd number. Take away an alphabet and I become even. What number am I?
3. If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
4. Take 9 from 6, 10 from 9, 50 from 40 and leave 6. Why?
5. Can you name four days which start with the letter “ T ”?
6. Why is 6 afraid of 7?
7. What does an island and the letter “ T ” have in common?
8. Baseball bat and ball cost $50. If the bat cost $49 more than the ball, what is the cost of each?
9. I give milk and I have a horn, but I’m not a cow. What am I?
10. How can somebody walk for 8 days without sleeping?
11. How many sides does a circle have?
12. What only runs and never walks, what has a mouth and never eats, and has a bed, but never sleeps. What is it?
13. You can see me in water, but I never get wet. What am I?
14. Wednesday, Tom and Joe went to a restaurant and ate dinner. They were done and paid for the food and left. But Tom and Joe didn’t pay for the food. Who did?
15. You see a boat filled with people. You look again, but this time you don’t see a single person on the boat. Why?
Hint: The boat has not sunk.
< Answer >
1. letter ‘e’
2. seven
3. very large hands
4. IX stands for 9 in Roman numerals
X stands for 10, L stands for 50, XL stands for 40
SIX --- 9 ( IX ) = S
9 ( IX ) ---10 ( X ) = I
40 ( XL ) --- 50 ( L ) = X
5. Tuesday, Thursday, today, tomorrow
6. Because seven was hungry and seven ate nine. ( 7, 8, 9 )
7. They’re both in the middle of waTer.
8. The bat costs $ 49.5 and the ball $ 0.5.
9. A milk truck
10 He sleeps only at night.
11 Two. Inside and outside
12 river
13 A reflection
14 Wednesday
15 All of them were married.
Table topic speech
1) An important lesson I've learned
2) Peace is possible.
3) A trip to remember
4) What would I do if I knew I wouldn't fail?
5) If I were in charge of school lunches
Prepared speech
1. Vague Fear: SM Yu. Narisawa
One of his colleagues told him an allegorical story about the difference in temperament between people in Ishikawa, Toyama, and Fukui. He is from Ishikawa Prefecture.
When they don’t have anything to eat, people in Toyama commit a robbery.
People in Fukui commit a swindle.
People in Ishikawa starve not doing the wrong thing. .
Fukui was least noticeable of them all.
Last month he went to Fukui, but he only found it had some shuttered shops on the street.
It was just another local city. He was wondering where Japan will go.
Japan might go somewhere, and Putin might come here.
2. Cactus: SM K. Narisawa
He made a speech about what happened in his daily life. He make a scintillating fantasy out of the tiny little fact that he moved a cactus out of the toilet to his room. It's his strong suit to make a mountain out of a molehill.
3. Lost and found: SM Eda
He often used my smartphone as an English Japanese dictionary on commuter train. He enjoys English papers, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Japan Times.
Whenever he found unfamiliar words, he consulted in a dictionary app in the phone. So, he read kind of slowly because he also used his phone together to check the pronunciations of words.
Since he is reckless and becoming forgetful, it's getting dangerous for him to use his phone on the trains or buses. Actually, he lost it last Friday. Because of this negative experience, he came to this conclusion, 'I don't have to use a dictionary on the trains or buses.'
There are some drawbacks, of course, but by not using the phone, he may not learn some words.
However, he can use his brain to guess the meanings of the words, which may hopefully train his brain and prevent suffering from dementia. And that way, he can read faster and enjoy more news papers.
This experience of loosing his phone was a terrible one, even though it lasted just a couple of days.
However, when he heard it had been found, he was filled with a great joy and went straight to one of the bus terminal station to get it. He bought cakes for his wife and him to celebrate the happy occasion.
The problem was that his wife doesn't like sweets so much. She offered our trip to a nearby spa, but he was afraid of getting infected with the virus. They bought sushi to celebrate the happy event.
By the way, in Ukraine, people have been suffering in horrendous manners. Many Ukrainians lost their loved ones forever until they've arrived at the heaven. Millions of them are in fear of losing their husbands, sons, dads, who are fighting to defend their country. In Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Soviet Union or the U.S.A had to retreat in defeat after lengthy wars. The same fate is probably waiting for Russian troops. In order to quicken the pace of the war, we also want to help not militarily but financially.
That includes donating some of our income and save energy because Japan will import less coal and gas from Russia. We may have to eat higher price wheat products and meat because Russia and Ukraine produce lots of wheat and feed for animals. People in Ukraine are suffering in horrendous ways.
We just want to show Mr. Putin that the citizens of the democratic world are united for Ukraine and freedom and the righteousness will prevail over the evil in the end. Ukrainians' precious LIVEs have been LOST, but FREEDOM shall be FOUND in the land of Ukraine.
Meeting schedule
In-person: 9:30 AM on Apr. 23 at Oyama Community Center
(Coordinator: SM Eda, Word of the day: SM Yu. Narisawa, Lecturer: SM Takahata)
Zoom: 7:30 PM on Apr. 11,
8:00 PM on Apr. 18, 25
