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3/21(月)の放送の英文記事と英単語：田舎の、序文、鈍感

In a New Constitution, the Pope Sets Out to Overhaul the Vatican

Overhaul　徹底的に見直す、整備する、追いつく
Stipulate　規定する、取り決める
Baptize　洗礼を施す、清める
In dribs and drabs　少しずつ
Pastoral　田舎の、羊飼いの、牧歌
Preamble　序文、予告、前触れ
Archbishop　大司教
Tone deaf　音痴、鈍感、無神経

著者：Jason Horowitz
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

ROME — Pope Francis on Saturday issued a new constitution, nearly a decade in the making, to govern the bureaucracy that runs the Roman Catholic Church.

The constitution, running 54 pages, newly stipulates that baptized lay Catholics, including women, can lead departments traditionally headed by cardinals and increases institutional efforts to protect minors by incorporating the pope’s clergy abuse commission into the church’s government.

The new text — titled “Praedicate Evangelium,” or “Proclaiming the Gospel” — concluded a process that has, over the years, introduced in drips and drabs overhauls regarding Vatican finances and the consolidation of Vatican offices. It reflects Francis’ emphasis on a more pastoral and ground-up church, and leaves a concrete mark on the church’s workings.

Reforming the often unwieldy and out-of-touch Vatican bureaucracy, known as the Roman Curia, which governs a church of 1.3 billion faithful, was a central motivation for Francis’ election in 2013.

The document, drafted by top cardinals chosen by Francis, was released on the ninth anniversary of his installation as pope. It explicitly states in its preamble that “the pope, bishops and other ordained ministers are not the only evangelizers in the church,” creating space for Catholic “laymen and laywomen” to have “roles of government and responsibility.” In another section, called “Principles,” it states that the pope can appoint any Catholic he considers qualified to lead a Vatican office.

The new constitution also places Francis’ abuse commission inside the powerful doctrinal office that often opposed the panel’s recommendations. The new structure, the constitution says, will help the church “protect minors and vulnerable persons from sexual abuse.”

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and the president of the commission in question, has at times taken the exceptional step against the hierarchy and criticized Francis for being tone deaf and wrong on the issue of abuse. But the cardinal called the incorporation of his commission into the church government a “significant move forward in upgrading the place and mandate of the commission, which can only lead to a stronger culture of safeguarding throughout the Curia and the entire church.”

The constitution, signed by Francis on Saturday and published immediately, and only in Italian, will go into force June 5, replacing the charter “Pastor bonus,” or “Good Shepherd,” introduced in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

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3/22(火)の放送の英文記事と英単語：大麦、配給、追い詰める

War Threatens to Cause a Global Food Crisis

barley　大麦
fertilizer　肥料
dwindling　徐々に減少する
inflate　インフレが起こる、(物価などが)つり上がる
push (someone) over the edge　精神的に崩壊させる、追い詰める
ration　配給

著者：Jack Nicas
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The war in Ukraine has delivered a shock to global energy markets. Now the planet is facing a deeper crisis: a shortage of food.

A crucial portion of the world’s wheat, corn and barley is trapped in Russia and Ukraine because of the war, while an even larger portion of the world’s fertilizers is stuck in Russia and Belarus. The result is that global food and fertilizer prices are soaring. Since the invasion last month, wheat prices have increased by 21%, barley by 33% and some fertilizers by 40%.

Ukrainian farms are about to miss critical planting and harvesting seasons. European fertilizer plants are significantly cutting production because of high energy prices. Farmers from Brazil to Texas are cutting back on fertilizer, threatening the size of the next harvests.

China, facing its worst wheat crop in decades after severe flooding, is planning to buy much more of the world’s dwindling supply. And India, which ordinarily exports a small amount of wheat, has already seen foreign demand more than triple compared with last year.

Around the world, the result will be even-higher grocery bills. In February, U.S. grocery prices were already up 8.6% over a year prior, the largest increase in 40 years, according to government data. Economists expect the war to further inflate those prices.

For those living on the brink of food insecurity, the latest surge in prices could push many over the edge. After remaining mostly flat for five years, hunger rose by about 18% during the pandemic to between 720 million and 811 million people. Earlier this month, the United Nations said that the war’s effect on the global food market alone could cause an additional 7.6 million to 13.1 million people to go hungry.

The World Food Program’s costs have already increased by $71 million a month, enough to cut daily rations for 3.8 million people.

Armenia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Eritrea have imported virtually all of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine and must find new sources. But they are competing against much larger buyers, including Turkey, Egypt, Bangladesh and Iran, which have obtained more than 60% of their wheat from the two warring countries.

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3/23(水)の放送の英文記事と英単語：大変動の、隔離、曖昧な

There’s a Messaging Battle Right Now Over America’s Energy Future

fossil fuels　化石燃料
sustainable　支持できる、持続できる、耐えうる ​​
catastrophic　大変動の、破滅的な、悲劇的な
sequestration　隔離、隠退、(財産の)仮差し押さえ
greenhouse gas　温室効果ガス
ambiguity　両義性、曖昧な
articulating　はっきり発音する、明瞭に表現する、(…と)関節でつなぐ

著者：David Gelles and Lisa Friedman
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

Climate scientists, oil executives, progressives and conservatives agree on one thing these days: The energy transition is here.

The burning of fossil fuels for more than a century has already warmed the planet significantly, and cleaner and more sustainable sources of power are needed in order to avoid further catastrophic changes to the environment.

But even as longtime adversaries use the same terminology, calling for an “energy transition,” they are often talking about different scenarios.

According to the scientific consensus, the energy transition requires a rapid phasing out of fossil fuels and the immediate scaling up of cleaner energy sources like wind, solar and nuclear.

But many in the oil and gas business say the energy transition means a continued use of fossil fuels, with a greater reliance on natural gas rather than coal, and a hope that new technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration can contain or reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses they produce.

“The term ‘energy transition’ is interpreted one way by the climate hawks and in a totally different way by those in the oil and gas industry,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. “It is a very ambiguous term.”

Climate researchers say there is little room for ambiguity. Major scientific reports have underlined the need to phase out fossil fuels and the damaging effects of planet-warming emissions.

Last year, an International Energy Agency report said nations around the world would need to immediately stop approving new coal-fired power plants and new oil and gas fields and swiftly phase out gasoline-powered vehicles to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Oil and gas executives have a different view of how the energy transition should play out.

At CERAWeek, a major energy industry conference in Houston this month, there were more than 100 panel discussions and presentations about the “energy transition,” and the term was used to describe programs articulating a broad range of visions from virtually eliminating the use of coal, gas and oil, to using all forms of energy, including fossil fuels, but capturing the emissions that are damaging the planet.

“All energy sources will be needed to support a successful transition,” Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, said at the conference. “Our industry must play its part, too.”

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3/24(木)の放送の英文記事と英単語：信憑性、和解金、承認する

Boeing Faces New Upheaval After Crash of Chinese Airliner

regulatory　規定する、取り締まる
credibility　信用性、信憑性
be disinclined to　…したがらない、気が進まない
fine　罰金
settlement　和解金
grant　認める、承認する

著者：Niraj Chokshi
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The crash of a Boeing jet in China on Monday is the latest crisis for the American plane manufacturer, raising the prospect of renewed regulatory scrutiny and confronting the company with another catastrophe involving its planes.

It could be weeks or even months before investigators identify what caused the Boeing 737-800 NG operated by China Eastern Airlines to plunge from the sky with more than 130 people aboard. But the outcome of the investigation could weigh heavily on Boeing, which recently overcame years of troubles involving a newer variant of the single-aisle 737, the Max, and has had long delays in producing and delivering the twin-aisle 787 Dreamliner.

“I think it’s going to be very important to see what actually happened with this particular incident because there’s a credibility concern,” said Rob Spingarn, a managing director at Melius Research, a financial analysis firm. “I think the investment community will pause to some extent on Boeing until that information is out.”

Thousands of 737-800 NG planes have safely traversed the globe in recent decades, and many industry analysts and experts were disinclined to conclude that Monday’s crash indicated any fundamental design flaw. But Boeing’s stock fell 3.6% nonetheless. Shares of China Eastern ended 6.5% lower in trading in Hong Kong.

Boeing’s recent problems began with the Max, which was widely criticized after one of the planes crashed in Indonesia in late 2018 and a second crashed in Ethiopia in March 2019. All 346 people aboard the planes were killed, and the Max was grounded worldwide after the second crash.

Those disasters brought regulatory rebukes, several lawsuits, and billions of dollars in fines, settlements and lost orders. The United States approved the Max for flight again in late 2020, requiring Boeing make certain changes to the plane. That prompted similar approval from other countries, but regulators in China granted approval only in early December.

The Max crashes were directly tied to flight-control software known as MCAS, which the Max is the only commercial airliner to use. That system was introduced to the Max to account for changes made when the plane was upgraded from the NG, or Next Generation, line.

On Monday, Boeing said that it was in touch with China Eastern Airlines and with the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency leading U.S. efforts in assisting China’s investigation into the crash.

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3/25(金)の放送の英文記事と英単語：低層の、官僚的、再統合

Elon Musk Opens Tesla’s First European Plant

Low-slung 低層の
Go Live 稼働を始める
Bureaucracy 官僚的
Reunification 再統合
Solely 単独で

著者：Christopher F. Schuetze
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

BERLIN — Tesla officially began making cars in Europe on Tuesday, opening an assembly plant in a critical market where Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, plans to build 500,000 electric vehicles a year.

Musk escorted Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and other officials on a tour of the huge, low-slung $7 billion plant just outside Berlin. It was constructed in little more than two years, a speed that amazed German officials and commentators.

“Electromobility will shape the mobility of the future,” Scholz said after the tour.

Robert Habeck, a German vice chancellor and the country’s economy minister, said it was “a special day for the region, a special day also for Germany and a special day for the mobility transformation in Germany.”

Musk, for his part, wrote on Twitter, “Danke Deutschland!!” He celebrated the day by handing over the first 30 European-built Teslas to customers who had ordered them and been invited to the event. Tesla will build its Model Y SUV at the plant.

The plan for the factory, called Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, was first revealed in a surprise announcement by Musk a little over two years ago, and it overcame a number of legal and political challenges to attain its production certification. A battery production plant on the property still requires state approval before going live.

The speed with which Tesla built the factory in a country known for its rigid bureaucracy and deliberate planning was a theme during the opening speeches. The project also represents a significant financial investment in the former East German states that since reunification have attracted less major business.

The 2.4-million-square-foot plant places Tesla in one of the most important electric car markets in the world. European countries have passed laws to phase out internal combustion engines.

More than 20% of new cars sold in Europe and Britain in December were powered solely by electricity. Europeans also bought more electric cars than diesels in December.

The German site is Tesla’s third major plant after factories in Fremont, California, and Shanghai. Another plant, outside Austin, Texas, is expected to open soon. The new plants are expected to double the company’s production capacity to about 2 million vehicles a year.

Once it is fully operational, the German plant will employ 12,000 people.

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3/26(土)の放送の英文記事と英単語：統合した、機嫌をとる、悩まされる

Call for an Uber, Get a Yellow Taxi

hail　呼んで迎える
embattled　悩まされる
decimated　多くの人を殺す
about-face　180 度の転向
curry favor　機嫌をとる
integrated　統合した

著者：Winnie Hu, Kellen Browning and Karen Zraick
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

NEW YORK — New Yorkers ordering a ride on the Uber app will soon be able to choose a yellow taxi under a new partnership between the ride-hailing giant and two taxi technology companies.

Starting later this spring for anyone in the city, the deal will enable Uber riders to pay roughly the same price for a yellow taxi as they would for a standard individual Uber ride, known as UberX, the company said.

They will get a price upfront in the app before they request the trip, as they currently do with all Uber rides.

Yellow cabdrivers who respond to Uber app hails will also see a ride’s pricing upfront and under the deal will have the option to accept or reject it.

The Uber-taxi partnership is the first such large-scale deal in the United States and comes as New York City’s embattled yellow taxi industry has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, with many people still working from home and many tourists staying away.

The partnership is also something of an about-face for Uber, which has clashed with taxi groups for years as it has attempted to take over markets around the world. But Uber has discovered more recently that partnering with taxi companies instead of fighting them can turbocharge its business, especially overseas. Partnerships with taxi fleets and technology companies in other countries allow Uber riders to order taxis on the app, as will be the case in New York.

Those agreements, combined with the New York partnership, “would seem to reflect a new page or a new stance in Uber being willing to work more closely with the industry that it was once trying to disrupt,” said Tom White, a senior research analyst with financial firm D.A. Davidson.

Being “a little more friendly” with taxi companies could help Uber “curry favor and smooth Uber’s relationships with legislators and policymakers” in those cities, he added.

Uber said it had integrated with more than 2,500 taxis in Spain, partnered with taxi service TaxExpress in Colombia, acquired local HK Taxi app in Hong Kong last year, begun a partnership with SK Telecom in South Korea and worked with taxis in other countries, including Germany, Austria and Turkey.

Uber’s new partnership with the taxi industry in New York will generate more revenue for the company since it receives a fee on every ride ordered through its app.

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3/27(日)の放送の英文記事と英単語：災難、憤激させる、家計可処分所得

Britain Announces Measures to Help People Cope With Inflation, Including Cutting Gas Prices

exacerbate　<苦痛・病気・恨みなどを>悪化させる・激化させる、<人を>憤激させる
woe　苦悩・災難
chancellor of the Exchequer　<イギリスの>大蔵大臣・財務大臣
Gross domestic product　国内総生産（GDP）
bleak　<天候・風邪など>寒い、<場所など>寂しい <生活など>厳しい <将来など>暗い
household disposable income　家計可処分所得

著者：Eshe Nelson
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

In Britain, the economic shock waves of the war in Ukraine are exacerbating a squeeze on household budgets and heightening fears of a cost-of-living crisis. The British government announced some measures on Wednesday to help people cope with the rising prices, which are at their highest level in three decades, including cutting gas prices.

But the plan, which called for some tax cuts and additional benefits for low-income people, was met with criticism from analysts and opposition lawmakers, who pointed to Britain’s deepening economic woes.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the Exchequer, said the sanctions on President Vladimir Putin’s government and the efforts to isolate Russia were weighing on the British economy. This was most acutely felt in the cost of living, he said. Hours earlier, the government reported that inflation was at its highest level since 1992, with prices rising 6.2% from a year earlier.

“The actions we have taken to sanction Putin’s regime are not cost free for us at home,” Sunak told lawmakers as he announced an update to the Treasury’s tax and budget plans on Wednesday. “The invasion of Ukraine presents a risk to our recovery — as it does to countries around the world.”

The Office for Budget Responsibility, which provides independent economic and fiscal forecasts for the government, downgraded its outlook for the British economy. Gross domestic product will increase 3.8% this year and 1.8% next year, it said on Wednesday. Five months ago, the agency forecast growth of 6% this year and 2.1% in 2023. Inflation will average 7.4% this year and won’t fall back below the central bank’s target of 2% until 2024, it said.

The outlook for household incomes is even bleaker. With inflation factored in, household disposable income per person will drop 2.2% in the next fiscal year beginning in April, the agency said. That would be the largest fall in a single year since official records began in 1956.

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