（１）(a) An unforgettable memory of my childhood

 When I was in sixth grade, the teacher in charge of me suggested I make a kanji word book. I understood that I had learned about one thousand kanji (Chinese characters) so far. I wrote a kanji on the head of a small card and wrote the phrase on the tail of a small card. I planned to make one thousand cards, but I couldn't. I learned how to use Kanji dictionary. I'll never forget these memories.

 

（１）(b) Tsukuba expo '85

 Tsukuba expo '85 is called International science technology exposition. It was held from March 17^th to September 16^th in 1985 at Tsukuba research academic city in Ibaraki prefecture. The theme was "human, housing, environment and science technology." The participants were 47 countries, 37 international organizations, 28 domestic private companies and the guests of 20 million and 230 thousand. Most of exhibits were film such as 3D pictures, computer graphics and so on. The rumor said that it's the only display of high tech goods, although it was the second special expo after International marine expo in 1975.

 

（２）(a) How I make use of dictionaries

 I usually use two electronic dictionaries. One is equipped with an encyclopedia. The other is for English language learners. I think that using an electronic dictionary is the quickest way. On top of that, the functions are useful. The search function for sample sentences is excellent. I have many dictionaries as well as my two electric dictionaries, but I don't use them so often. I depend on the two electronic dictionaries. Incidentally, I bought a brand new electronic dictionary (091017). It is more excellent than the old ones. It has all the dictionaries included in the old two dictionaries. I don't have to purchase two kinds. On top of that, it has the touch function. I can consult the dictionaries more quickly than the old ones.

 

（２）(b) Cigarette smoking

 I smoked for the first time when I was in college. One of my friends recommended I started smoking. I quit smoking when I worked as a lecturer. I restarted smoking after I became a math teacher in my prefecture. I quit smoking again, and I repeated it again. I hadn't been a heavy smoker. Now I don't smoke. My goal is to live as long as possible. Smoking is bad for health. So I won't smoke tobacco or cigars anymore and I won't try them in the future. Well, the place where smokers smoke is going to decrease these days. I don't think that they can smoke in the public places in the near future.

 

（３）(a) My favorite hobby

 My favorite hobby is swimming. I learned to swim for the first time when I was a fifth grader. My house is located 200 meters far away from Nakaumi lagoon. I swam every day in the summer holiday. I could only do the breaststroke. I practiced swimming a lot after I became a senior high school math teacher. I was able to swim even in winter, because heated pools were available. Now I can swim with the four styles, breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, and crawl stroke. Swimming is my favorite hobby. Well, my hobby is going to change swimming into walking on the roads. (091023)

 

（３）(b) Bullying weak students in schools

 Sometimes I find a report of a teenage suicide in the newspaper. They often seem to be a case of bullying by classmates. It is said that children nowadays don't have much resistance to the problems that arise in human relations. Bullying weak students in schools seems to happen in any school. It is important to nurture the students who don't allow the other students to bully weak their friends, because telling the teacher makes things even worse.  

 

（４）(a) What I'm most concerned with now

 What I'm most concerned with now is my marriage. I'm old enough to get married. I hope I will be able to get married with a compatible partner soon. Then I will be able to work harder. Because I can share housework with my wife. I have a lot to do. I have many books to read. I have confidence in my ideas. I can express whatever I want to mention in English, but I still have problem in listening English. I hope that someone who can understand my passages and can help me in it will appear soon.
I've finished making the 1450 compositions at the end of last March. I've moved to the next tasks. I'm going to start another Website. I've already announced it. I have to hurry in order to keep my promise. This is another concern now. Well, I wrote a lot of passages including my researchs. But I am still single.(091023)

 

（４）(b) Japan through a foreigner's eye

 Japanese people use "domo" very often. At first I thought it meant "thank you." For example, if you drop a handkerchief and a man standing nearby picks it up for you, you can say, "Domo."

 A few days later, I found another meaning. A woman stood waiting for someone. She looked angry. At last her boyfriend came running, very late. Then he said, "Domo domo."

 So I understood this word as "thank you" or "I'm sorry." Perhaps "arigato" or "sumimasen" comes after "domo."

 Why don't they say it in full? Is this the Japanese way to say things? How do they know everything? Only recently I learned some more meanings. When two people meet, they say, "Iya domo." And then when they part, again they say, "Ja domo." Does "domo" also mean "hello" or "see you"? (NHK kokokoza text)

 Japan through a foreigner's eye seems to be really strange.

 

（５）(a) Why I am interested in English

 I re-started studying English after I became a math teacher. I improved my English very much. I found math to be the most widespread international language. I found several dropouts and wrote a paper whose idea I thought enable the number of dropouts to reduce very much. I had a dream. I will write a research paper in both English and Japanese so that I can help teachers minimize the dropout rate in elementary schools. I resigned my post as a math teacher. I study English hard now. I hope I will be able to make my dream come true in the future.

 

（５）(b) Festivals in Japan

 The three main annual festivals are held in Kyoto. They are Aoi matusri held on May 15^th, Gion matsuri held on from July 17^th to July 24^th, Jidai matsuri held on October 22^nd.

 The first one is celebrated at the Upper and Lower Kamo Shrines. A procession dressed in costumes of the Heian period leaves the old Imperial Palace, passes the Lower Kamo Shrine and proceeds to the Upper Kamo Shrine.

 The second one is celebrated at Yasaka shrine in the Gion area of Kyoto's Higashiyama ward. The morning of the seventeenth is the Yamaboko Parade. It originated late in the 9^th century when a festival was held to pray that an epidemic would end.

 The third one is celebrated at Heian shrine. A procession of people in costumes representing the historical periods from Heian to Meiji parades along the main avenues of Kyoto.

 Japan's three main festivals are Gion Festival in Kyoto, Kanda Festival in Tokyo and Tenjin Festival in Ohsaka. They attract a great many tourists from all over the world. Well, I think that Japan has a lot of the others and they are mostly held in summer.

（６）(a) The first trip abroad

 I took part in YMCA children's camps when I was in college. Later I belonged to a YMCA children's club called Indians. I took part in the ICCP (international camp councilor program). I visited New Hampshire in the United States. I stayed there for two months. I visited three camps there. I had a good time. I played with American children. I played sports with them, too. After three camps, I enjoyed a homestay in Washington. I had a precious experience there. I'll never forget the happy memories.

（６）(b) Young girls' fashion of today

  I don't know at what age girls start to pay attention to fashion. High school students are supposed to wear the uniforms. It is prohibited to wear private cloths in public places. I don't know if coats are regulated. I saw high school students wearing colorful coats over in uniforms. I discovered that they were sold at Uniqlo (discount clothes store). The coats must be reasonable for them. Well, I think that many high school students are susceptible to pressure from their peers. This is one of the reasons why high schools regulate the uniforms.

 I found high school students wearing sports wear. It seems to be popular among young people. They must have bought it at Alpen sapecializing in sports wear.

（７）(a) What I'm most proud of

 I am going to finish making about 1400 compositions. I've already announced that I would finish them by the end of March, I have to keep my promise, and so I have to hurry. I've already finished about 1130 passages. About 270 passages are left undone, and fifteen days are left. So I have to make at least 20 compositions a day.

 I planed this in order to improve my English, but I don't know how much I improved my English. So maybe I shouldn't be proud of this accomplishment. (I'd like to leave this passage as it was so that it can remind me of my proficiency in the past) I wrote many English passages after finishing 1400 compositions. This is also what I'm proud of. (091026)

（７）(b) The Japanese wedding ceremony

 A couple chooses a Shinto or a Christian ceremony. In a Shinto wedding, the priest recites a prayer and the couple makes their vows with an exchange of cups of ceremonial sake brought by a shrine maiden. The bride and the groom drink three times each from three stacked sake cups. This is called san san kudo no sakazuki. They go before the altar and read their vows, and they exchange rings. After the ceremony, they have a wedding reception. This is a kind of ordinary Japanese wedding ceremony.

（８）(a) My career plans

 I graduated from Kumamoto University and worked as a lecturer for one year. I became a senior high school math teacher. I restarted studying English. I found that math is the most widespread international language in the world. I also found some dropouts left behind at elementary schools. I wrote a research paper on how to teach math to the students who were rather bad at math. I had a dream. I may be able to help teachers in order to minimize the number of the dropouts at elementary schools. I'd like to try it in both English and Japanese. I resigned my post as a math teacher. I became a free lance and an independent educator. I will write a research paper in both English and Japanese. If I have a chance to try it abroad, I will willingly do so.

 After that, I restart to study Chinese. I hope that I can write a research paper in Chinese. My career goal is to master Chinese.

（８）(b) The middle-class consciousness of the Japanese

 As technology develops, and Japan enjoys a high standard of living, the middle-class consciousness of the Japanese has changed.

 Firstly, people want to have a washing machine, a refrigerator and a TV set. Secondly, they want to have to have a color TV set, cooler (air conditioner) and car. They are called 3Cs. Thirdly, now I think that people want to have a second car, a house, a DVD player, a brand new computer and so on.

（９）(a) The TV commercial I like best

"Kokoku no kotonara jyaro ni kiitara dou jyaro"
I tend to ignore most TV commercials, but somehow the phrase above occurred to me. It includes a pun. That is why I remember it.
 I don't know who is the copywriter of this phrase, but at least I remembered it. So the copywriter succeeded in attract many people, but I can't remember the pictures, so the art director must have failed.
Well,I can't tell the TV commercial I like best, because I tend to ignore any commercial and to watch almost the programs of the public channels.

（９）(b) Violence in junior high schools

Some junior high school students are frustrated and resort to violence. They are strong enough to kill a person, so they are very dangerous. Third graders are supposed to take entrance exams for senior high school. Before they take the exams, they are divided into several courses almost in accordance with their school reports. Unfortunately some of them have to give up on entering a prestigious high school. If their school reports are excellent, they can enter any high school. Some students, who can't enter their favorite high school, feel frustrated, and they may resort to violence against something, such as desks, windows, their friends and so on. It is very difficult for some students to control their frustration. The best solution is to boost their confidence on something, I guess.

（１０）(a) A foreign country I'd like to visit

 I study English hard in order to pursue my dream, so I'd like to visit a foreign country where English is spoken, such as the U.K., U.S, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Canada and so on. I'd like to check how my English conversation works there. I will enter an elementary school and improve my conversation skill, particularly with kids in order to make my dream come true. I will take part in as many activities as possible in order to pursue my dream. Well, it may be impossible, but my dreams are dreams.


（１０）(b) Word processors and personal computers

 As memory of a computer increases, a computer can include a word processor.Word processors were sold in the past, but they disappeared. If you buy a computer you can use a word processor, too. Word processor became one of software in PC. The most famous Japanese language word processor is Ichitaro. I use the other Japanese word processors called Word. The most famous English language word processor is Word. But I use Ichitaro more often than Word.

（１１）(a) My favorite summer sports

 One of my hobbies is swimming. So my favorite summer sport is swimming. I learned to swim for the first time when I was in fifth grade. My house is about 200 meters far away from Nakaumi lagoon. So I changed swimming trunks at home and went to the lagoon every day. I used to swim in both the morning and the afternoon.

 After I became a math teacher I improved my swimming skill. Several heated pools are available around here; Sanin district. Now I can swim four styles, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and crawl. I can swim 1,500 meters continuously. I like swimming very much.

（１１）(b) The changing roles of Japanese women

 Most Japanese women used to be housewives. As technology developed, electrical appliances were produced and sold, such as washing machine, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner and so on. As a result, housework has been reduced a lot. It is possible for women to get a job. On top of that, Japan is becoming an aging society. There is a lack of work force. There is more chance for women to work. Furthermore, the revised Equal Employment Opportunity Law has gone into effect. Women can get the same amount of money as men. Now, women are housewives as well as workers. Fortunately, more husbands share the housework with their wives than before. Well, as a matter of fact, I found that housework is a full-time work these days. Whether wife works or not varies from couple to couple.

（１２）(a) My views on marriage

 Japanese Constitution article 24 says, "Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis." I'm Japanese, so I have to follow this article.

 For me, marriage will make me work more than before. I can tell whatever I mean in English now. But I have to improve my listening skill. I have to master English as soon as possible so that I can make my dream come true. Meanwhile, if my papers are appreciated, I may be able to publish books and get a certain mount of money. Don't you think that I'm a wishful thinker?

 If I can get some money, I will be able to survive in the future. Am I a wishful thinker?

（１２）(b) English as an international language

 English is the most important international language historically, and probably always will be in the future. Furthermore, English may become a common language. More people will study English. Like computers, the world can't run without English, I guess.

 I learned Esperanto in the past. Esperanto is an artificial international language. Esperanto is an ideal language, because the grammar is easy and it has no grammatical exceptions. However it hasn't spread so much, because there are no native speakers of Esperanto. It is natural that Esperanto failed to become an international language. It is clear that no artificial language is practical, and can not become an international language. English will be the last international language, maybe.

（１３）(a) My personal collection of books

The senior high school textbooks and a part of the notebooks, the college textbooks in both electrical engineering and math, Japanese famous popular novels from Meiji period to Heisei era such as Natsume Soseki, Mori Ohgai, Mishima Yukio, Dazai Osamu, Matsumoto Seicho, Some English famous novels, books for English study introduced in the NHK radio English program, books for Windows and computer, dictionaries, eiken TOEIC, TOEFL, TIME, English Journal and so on are my personal collection of books. I tend to collect any kinds of textbooks and popular novels.

（１３）(b) The world population

According to UN statistics in February 2005, the world's population was 6 billion 465 million, which was about 2 billion 400 million more than in 1975. The biggest increase occurred in developing countries. The population in developed countries was one billion 211 million and that in developing countries was 5 billion 253 million, which accounts for 81 percent of the world population. The world's population will reach 9 billion and 76 million in 2050 and the population in developing countries account for 86 percents. The elderly population, over 60, is 672 million in 2005. That will reach one billion 968 millions in 2050. The movement from the developing nations to the developed nations will increase and more in the future. (from Imidasu in 2006) Well, I don't think that the world population continues to increase in the future. For example, the population in Japan stay put now.

（１４）(a) The newspaper I read regularly

 The newspaper I read regularly is the local newspaper called "Sanin chuo shinpo". It is delivered around two o'clock in the morning. I usually read the obituaries in order to check if someone in my hometown passed away.

 I usually read the second last page, gossip, the obituary of a celebrity and so on. Today's article was very sad. A wife left her bedridden husband behind and he died, too. I checked the women's half marathon course in Matsue city on the same page. I thought that the best viewing spot would be in front of Kentucky Fried Chicken. I intend to go there around noon.

（１４）(b) Comics and young Japanese

 It is said comic departments in universities are booming. Some famous comic writers became professors. Meanwhile, coffee shops with a lot of comic books are prosperous. There are such 300 coffee shops in Tokyo. There are even comic libraries in Japan. If you have some money and free time, you will be able to enjoy comics to your heart's content.Well, comics are available in a local ramen (Chinese noodle) shop. One of the relative's son like both ramen and comics. He said that he read three comic books while ordering and eating ramen. He must be a quick reader. As a matter of fact, I didn't read comics so much in my childhood. One of the reasons why is that my family was too poor.

（１５）(a) The most delightful experience I've ever had

I'm an independent educator. I worked as a senior high school math teacher before. I had a dream and resigned from my post. I am writing many English passages. I put most of them in my homepage. I intend to do it forever. I'm looking for a compatible partner. I like a lady who can understand my passages and can correct my passages if possible.

 Last January, my mother became seriously ill and went in Red Cross Hospital. Fortunately, she recovered her health, but my father became seriously ill last month. So I have to modify my dream. He founded my family. I intend to build my ideal family. He once said, "You can't save money in business in recession, but money comes and goes." I'm a free lance. I teach some siblings of my relatives. One of them improved. It's the most delightful experience in these days. I don't intend to run a cram school. I should create new jobs by myself as far as I can feed myself. I haven't known any English teacher who made more than 1,000 English compositions. I believe that I will make enough money to feed my family in the future. Now I can't put up any experience which is more delightful than these days' one. To find my future wife must be the most delightful.

（１５）(b) Japan as a trading nation

 Japan can't survive without trade, because Japan isn't a self-sustainable country.  So Japan has to import food. Japan can't help living as a trading nation.

 Japan used to adopt a national isolation policy in the Edo period. Japan was westernized in Meiji era as the standard of living became higher. Japan had to import a lot of things including food. After World War�U, this trend has been accelerating. Well, all countries are going to internationalize now. They are in the situation of mutual dependence now.

（１６）(a) The person who has impressed me most

 Sakamoto Ryoma is the person who has impressed me most. He was born in Kochi at the last part of Edo period. He studied in Tokyo. He learned how to sail from Katsu Kaishu. He ran a trading company called Kaientai. He succeeded in mediating between the Satsuma clan and Choshu clan and it accelerated the Meiji restoration. He was still young. He enjoyed his honeymoon trip with his wife. It is said that it was the first honeymoon trip in Japanese history. Unfortunately, he was assassinated when he was 32 years old.

 If possible, I'd like to talk with him.

（１６）(b) Foreign language courses on TV

 Three English language courses and one English course for high school students are broadcast now. I used to watch all of them, but not anymore. One of them was very difficult. It was "dorama de tanoshimu eikaiwa" (enjoying English conversation through drama). I couldn't understand the entire program.

 By the way, I think that TV English programs are easier than radio English programs, because the pictures have a lot of information and help us understand the conversation.

 Well, there are other foreign language courses on TV such as Chinese, Korean, German, Spanish, French, Russian, and Arabic. They include all six official languages of UN.

（１７）(a) The best way to check my own health

The best way to check my own health is to be hard on myself. For example, I climb up Mt. Daisen. It usually takes about two hours to climb up from the foot to the top of the mountain. If you can't put up with it, you are in bad health. If you have to take a rest on the way to the top, you aren't in good health. If you get to the top within one hour and forty minutes, you are very healthy. You can't understand if you are in good health or not when you goof off.

（１７）(b) Priority seats for old people

 I recently bought "Bungeishunjyu April issue", because an article in the local newspaper said that the issue included some recently-discovered opinions of Emperor Showa. I ran through the issue. The writer, Kuroi Senji appeared with his portrait. Some of his books were introduced. I got interested in him and bought one of his books called "oiruto iu koto" (what is to become old). I ran through it. He wrote about priority seats for old people in the preface. He thought that he was still young, but he was offered a seat by a little boy on a train. He was disappointed, because the little boy found him old. I haven't had such an experience, yet, and I hope I never do.

（１８）(a) The book I want to read again and again

 I read the book "koukousei no sogo eigo kaisetsu" (general information of English for high school student) this morning. It is one of the thickest books I have except for dictionaries. It has 625 pages. I read it when I was in senior high school. I refer to it whenever I have a question about English grammar, even though I read the book "Advanced grammar in use by Cambridge" recently. Don't you think that I've improved my English grammar?

 I wanted to check conditions and suppositions. I didn't want to use suppositions, because they show impossible things. I wanted to use conditions. I wasn't sure that I could distinguish condition from supposition.

 Well, I think that studying is to increase such reference books. So the books I want to read again and again are reference books.

（１８）(b) The teaching of English by Japanese teachers

 I don't exactly know how well Japanese teachers can speak English, but judging from the students, they can't speak English so much. I mean that the average TOEIC score of university students is less than 500 points. If students can speak English well, the teachers must have spoken English very well.

 Only the teachers who stand at the top of the mountain can show the way to the top. When the teachers don't know the way to the top, they can't show the students how to get there clearly. In a nutshell, Japanese teachers have to study English much more so that they can lead students to the top of the mountain on English.

（１９）(a) My favorite kind of music

 Recently iPod seems to be very popular among young people. It can store many songs. The iPod which can store 240 songs costs 9800 yen. If you pay 30,000 yen, the iPod can store more than 2,000 songs. What a surprise! Technology is developing rapidly, isn't it? When I visited an electric appliance store the other day, I asked the clerk if the device which can store a lot of songs and listen to the radio and TV and can record the programs, exists now or not. He answered, "No way." I predict that such a device will be marketed in the future. Well, I have an IC recorder equipped with radio now, but it's not equipped with TV.

 By the way, I like several kinds of music. I've mostly collected a lot of songs sung by famous singers. So I can tell that my favorite kind of music is popular song.

（１９）(b) Hunger in Africa

Hunger in some developing countries in Africa is very serious. They also suffer from malnutrition, diseases, illiteracy, bad environment, low average life expectancy and high infant death rate. Absolute poverty is defined as being when the cost of living is less than one dollar per day. One billion and 93 million people are in absolute poverty in the world as of the end of 2001 (18% of world population). The 316 million people in the southern part of Sahara are in absolute poverty. The situation hasn't changed for a long time.

（２０）(a) The magazine I usually read

 I subscribe to three magazines. They are TIME, "Cheerful math class in elementary school," and Isara.

 I think that the articles in TIME are some of the most sophisticated passages in English. They are worth reading in order to improve my reading skill, and they include many recent world topics. I can catch up with the world by reading them.

 The second one includes many research papers to teach math in elementary schools. I enjoy reading them. It is necessary for me to read them in order to make my dream come true.

 The third one is an Internet magazine which includes many advertisements, especially biglobe. It is not so important to read. I run through it. It costs 315 yen per month. As a matter of fact, I gave up subscribing it.

（２０）(b) Nuclear disarmament

 Nuclear disarmament used to emphasize the importance of keeping a power balance between U.S. and Soviet. Gorbachev became the secretary general of the Communist Party in USSR in 1985. He started to give up socialism, and the nuclear disarmament treaty was concluded between U.S. and USSR in December 1987 for the first time in history. And the war between India and Pakistan happened. Now both nations have nuclear arm. There is a threat in the world. The two countries may sell nuclear arm to North Korea or Afghanistan. The US president; Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, because he contributed nuclear disarmament. This is a brief history of nuclear disarmament.