Notes:
automation: オートメ［自動］化;
automatic transmission: オートマチックトランスミッション,自動変速機;
cruise control: 《自動車》クルーズコントロール, 車速設定装置;
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Have you ever thought about how much cars have changed in the past 50 years? We now have automatic transmission, electric windows, a central locking system, air bags, cruise control, a GPS (global positioning satellite) system, air conditioning, DVD players, and TVs. In 1959, a car that was very advanced for the time had a radio with an electrically powered antenna. Things have really changed! On the other hand, now when something breaks, it is usually not cheap to repair. For example, if, while a window is down, the motor suddenly breaks and then it starts to rain, you have to get it fixed unless you want a small river in your car! In the past, you might have been able to get the window up by yourself, but not anymore. The joys of technology! (by Prof. Carmella Lieske)
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Notes:
federal (政府・国家が)連邦政府の
claim to　～すると主張する
census　国勢調査
Tagalog　タガログ語
Vietnamese　ベトナム語
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Last time I told you that South Africa has 11 official languages, but did you know that on the federal level, the United States doesn’t have any official languages even though 96% of the population claims to speak it “well” or “very well”? Once every 10 years, we take a census in the US. In the year 2000, 215 million people over the age of five said their only language at home was English. The next most popular language was Spanish, with 28 million people. Chinese languages, French, German, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Italian were next; each had over 1 million speakers. I guess that’s why they call the US a salad bowl. (by Prof. Carmella Lieske)
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