Notes:
resign 辞職する
instability　不安定
riot (集団による)暴動，騒動
take it in stride 冷静に受け止める
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We have a new Prime Minister in Japan. In more than a few countries of the world, if the prime minister resigned, there would be political, economic, and/or social instability, but not in Japan. There was no major change in the yen exchange rate and no riots in the streets. People seemed to take it in stride, as if it was an everyday occurrence. While it certainly isn’t as common as that, Japan does tend to get a new PM quite often. In fact, since June 3, 1989, when Mr. Uno became PM for a little over two months, there have been 15. Can you name all of them? After Uno was Kaifu, then Miyazawa, Hosokawa, Hata, Murayama, Hashimoto, Obuchi, Mori, Koizumi, Abe, Fukuda, Aso, and Hatoyama. How long do you think Mr. Kan will be PM? Time will tell.(by Prof. Carmella Lieske）
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Notes:
the Metro：(ワシントンDCなどの)地下鉄;
the Tube：(ロンドンの)地下鉄;
underground：(英式での)地下鉄;
Moscow (ロシアの首都)モスクワ;
be famous for～　～で有名である;
the pictures of ～　～の光景;
fit　（空間などに） うまく納まる;
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Have you ever thought about subways? They have many names, including the Metro (Washington DC) and the Tube (London). The London Underground is the oldest, opening in 1863. The Paris Metro is very convenient. Every building in the city center is within 500 meters of a station! More people use the subways in Moscow than in any other part of the world, and it is the fastest in the world. Some of the trains go as fast as 120 kilometers per hour. And, of course, Tokyo is famous, too – for the pictures of people pushing other people into the cars so that as many people as possible can fit.（by Prof. Carmella Lieske）
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