DAY 61 Funeral discounts for Japan's elderly who quit driving There is a new road-safety strategy in central Japan to encourage elderly drivers to stop driving. A company that operates 89 funeral homes is offering a 15 per cent discount on funeral services to any driver over the age of 75 who surrenders their driving licence. The discount also applies to family members of those relinquishing their licence. The scheme has the full backing of the local police force. Drivers must visit a police station to hand in their licence. Police officers then provide a document, which the elderly person hands to the funeral home as proof that they are no longer allowed to drive. Similar schemes in Japan have included cut-price taxi fares, discounts on entry to public baths and cheaper noodles. The latest initiative is a further attempt to reduce the number of traffic accidents involving seniors, which is becoming a serious problem in Japan. There are almost 5 million licence holders in Japan over the age of 75. This is double the number from a decade ago. In that same period, there has been an increase in the number of fatal collisions involving elderly drivers. Drivers aged 75 or older accounted for 13.2 per cent of fatal traffic accidents in central Japan's Aichi Prefecture last year. This is up from 7.7 per cent in 2007. Aichi police say some of those accidents involved seniors confusing the accelerator and brake pedals or mistakenly putting the vehicle into reverse. 1. Inadvertent /ˌɪn ədˈvɜr tənt/ 2. Urge /ɜrdʒ/ 3. Surrender /səˈren dər/ TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F). A company with 89 funeral homes is part of a road-safety campaign. The company is offering a 15% discount to anyone who stops driving. The local police force has big doubts about the strategy. Old people in Japan have been offered cheaper noodles to stop driving. Over 5 million people with driving licences in Japan are over 75 years old. The number of elderly drivers in Japan has hardly changed in a decade. There has been an increase in fatal collisions involving elderly people. Police said some elderly people mistake the accelerator for the brake.
DAY 62 Explanation : Don't get me wrong!!! If you say ' Don't get me wrong ' when you want to make sure that someone does not misunderstand what you are doing or saying, or why you are doing or saying it. Example : Don't get me wrong, it's interesting work. Billy Bill is going to sing tonight. Lucy Oh, no! Billy Don't you like his singing? Lucy It's not that. Don't get me wrong!!! Billy What's the problem then? Lucy He only knows one song. KEY WORDS AND PHRASE 1. Contained /kənˈteɪn/ 2. Objections /əbˈdʒek ʃən/ 3. Evidence /ˈev ɪ dəns/ Pattern Practice 1. Don t contain yourself inside your room, get out and enjoy 2. Why don t I see any objections from you? 3. We have a lot of evidence that says he is lying.
DAY 63 Face recognition scanner to stop toilet paper thieves A park in Beijing, China has started a trial to try and save toilet paper and prevent thieves from stealing it. Park officials have installed six facial recognition scanners at the city's Temple of Heaven Park. The machines will scan someone's face before providing him or her with 60 cm of toilet paper. That same person will then have to wait for nine minutes if they want extra paper. A park spokesman said there was a problem of visitors to the toilets taking too much toilet paper. He said some people came and filled their bags with it. The park had put up posters and broadcast messages over loudspeakers asking visitors to use less toilet paper. The new facial recognition scanners have brought a surprise. They have become a tourist attraction. Visitors are now coming to look at and try out the machines. Videos of people pulling strips of toilet paper from the machines have gone viral on social media sites. Staff are available to help people with problems using the machines or for people who urgently need more toilet paper. The scanners seem to be popular. A user on the Chinese social media site Weibo commented: "This is a really good idea. I recommend that it be rolled out in toilets nationwide." The trial appears to be successful so far. The daily amount of toilet paper used in the park's toilets has gone down by 20 per cent. 1. Prevent /prɪˈvent/ 2. Concrete /ˈkɑn krit, kɑnˈkrit/ 3. Pieces /pis/ TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F). The facial recognition machines are just part of a trial. Beijing has installed 60 facial recognition scanners in parks. The machine only gives people a 60-cm strip of toilet paper. A park put up posters asking people to use less toilet paper. The facial recognition scanners have become a tourist attraction. The article said the scanners are full of viruses. There are no staff in a park toilets because of the scanners. The scanners have had no effect on how much toilet paper is used.
Day 64 Explanation : Out of the question!!! Robert I am going to look at new cars tomorrow. I wish I could have one. Robert Why don't you come along? Robert I'd like to but I don't want to be tempted. I am sure you could get a good deal. No, buying a new car is out of the question for me right now. If you say that something is out of the question, you are emphasing that it is completely impossible or unacceptable. Example : For the homeless, private medical care is simply out of the question KEY WORDS AND PHRASE 1. Structure /ˈstrʌk tʃər/ 2. Accuse /əˈkjuz/ 3. Intend /ɪnˈtend/ Pattern Practice 1. That is really a very nice structure. 2. He was accused of stealing the food in the kitchen. 3. Please don t eat the cake in the fridge, this is intended for grandma.
DAY 65 Subway sues TV station for $210 million The international sandwich chain Subway is suing the Canadian broadcaster CBC following a report that said the fast food giant's chicken was only half chicken. The CBC reported on one of its shows that Subway's oven roasted chicken contained only 53.6 per cent chicken, and that its chicken strips had just 42.8 per cent chicken. The show claimed the rest was a soy filler. The researchers stated that competing chains had considerably higher levels of meat in their chicken-based products. Subway announced: "We have issued a Notice of Action against the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that asks for $210 million in damages over allegations that are defamatory and absolutely false." Subway said it has made several attempts to dispute the claims of CBC. It said: "Despite our efforts to share the facts with the CBC about the high quality of our chicken and to express our strong objections to their inaccurate claims, they have not issued a retraction, as we requested." It added: "We do not know how they produced such unreliable and factually incorrect data.producing high quality food for our customers is our highest priority." A CBC spokeswoman said the corporation was standing behind its investigation, its story and its reporters. She said: "We believe our journalism to be sound and there is no evidence that we've seen that would lead us to change our position." 1. Unreliable /ˌʌn rɪˈlɑɪ ə bəl/ 2. Untrue /ʌnˈtru/ 3. Various /ˈveər i əs, ˈvær-/ TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F). Subway is suing a TV station from the USA. The TV station said Subway's chicken was only half chicken. The TV show said half of Subway's chicken was filled with wheat. The show said Subway's competitors sold products with less chicken. Subway has made no attempts to dispute the claims. The TV station has not issued a retraction of its claims. Subway said producing high quality food was its highest priority. The TV station was confident its journalism on this story is sound.