Notes:
stray 〈動物など〉迷い出た，道に迷った，はぐれた;
wander 動( 副(句)) (あてもなく)歩き回る，さまよう; 放浪[流浪]する;
bushes　 低木，灌(かん)木;
wonder 不思議に思う，驚く;
used to 以前は…だった;
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When I was leaving the parking lot of a university, I saw a cat wandering on campus. I stopped my car and tried to take a photo of her, but I couldn’t. As soon as she saw me, she ran into the bushes. As is usual with cats, she watched me from the bushes. I wondered why cats watch people after they run away. I could only see her eyes through the bushes. I hope the Daigaku Neko club will be able to take care of her. There used to be a lot of cats on campus about 10 years ago. Then this club started and found homes for many of the cats. (written by a reader, edited by Prof. Douglas Jarrell)
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Notes:
disposable shopping bag　レジ袋;
petroleum　石油;
semitransparent　半透明；
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In Japan, about 30 billion disposable shopping bags are used in a year. When the amount is divided by the Japanese population, It means that one person uses about 300 bags a year. Most of these are thrown away as rubbish. If people keep using too many, it is a waste of petroleum. That’s why many stores are trying to reduce the amount of wasteful disposable shopping bags.
When I lived in my hometown, Ibara, many stores offered the bags for free, but if people bought something and refused the bag, they would get points. When they collected enough points, they could get coupons. It seemed that not so many people refused bags. After I came to Izumo, I realized that you have to pay for the bags. It is a more effective way of making me refuse them. Now, I have gotten into the habit of carrying my own shopping bag. I think it is more fashionable to carry my own shopping bag than the semitransparent store bag. In this way, rules can change habits. The shops’ attempts and rules may contribute to saving petroleum.   (written by student K, edited by Prof. Douglas Jarrell)
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