Notes：
bicycle messengers 自転車配達人(自転車で書類や小荷物などを配達する人);
vitally 極めて;
on commission 歩合制で;
incentive やる気, 意欲;
zoom in and out of traffic 猛モースピードで人や車の往来に入ったり，出たりする;
precarious 危なっかしい, 不安定な;
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New York City is full of people and traffic. That’s why there is an amazing delivery service — bicycle messengers. The messengers ride their bicycles all across the city, delivering important documents and packages from one place to another. They are faster than cars, and this makes the job vitally important but also dangerous. The messengers get paid on commission, so they have a lot of incentive to go at high speeds. But, because of this, bicycle messengers have 13 times as many serious accidents as other people. The next time you watch a show about New York, see if you can see a messenger zooming in and out of traffic. Then you will really understand how precarious their jobs can be.
(by Prof. Carmella Lieske)
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Notes:
bookworm 本の虫、読書家;
I fear that…(～ではないかと)心配する、不安になる;
complain that…(～だと) 不満を言う;
be bored 退屈している;
avid 熱心な;
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For me there is nothing better than a good book; in fact, given the choice between food and a book, I fear that I would choose to starve. Looking back I wish I had read when I was young – I certainly had more time then. To make matters worse I was always complaining that I was bored to my parents. Now I realise that I need not have been bored at all! So it makes me feel good to see people reading, especially kids, because I know that they have found something amazing. I have a daughter; she is only three so it is too early to say whether she will become an avid reader or not, but the signs are good. She loves to be read to, and so we read every day together. My dream is that one day she will read books by herself and we can go to the library and read all day until our eyes hurt and we have to go home. (by Prof. Simon Smith)
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