音声プラットフォーム「Voicy」で毎朝6時30分に更新中の英語ニュースチャンネル「Voicy News Brief with articles from New York Times」。このチャンネルでは、The New York Timesの記事をバイリンガルのパーソナリティが英語で読み上げ、記事と英単語を日本語で解説しています。英語のニュースを毎朝聴いて、リスニング力の向上と英語学習にお役立てください。

このVoicy Journalでは、毎週月曜日に前の1週間分のスクリプトをまとめて紹介しています。放送はアプリやWebページからいつでもご視聴いただけます。Voicy News Brief Season3の記事は2/7(月)以降をご覧ください！

4/18(月)の放送の英文記事と英単語：ぶっきらぼうに、先導者、裏付けに乏しい

Coachella Kicks Off a High-Stakes, Still Uncertain Concert Season

Abruptly　突然、ぶっきらぼうに
Thwart　阻止する、妨害する
Bellwether　先導者
Groundhog　ウッドチャック
Anecdotal　逸話の、裏付けに乏しい
Cadence　抑揚、リズム

著者：Ben Sisario
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

Two years ago, Tokimonsta, an electronic producer and DJ, was gearing up to play the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival when the mega-event — along with virtually the entire concert business — was abruptly shut down by the pandemic. The pause gave her a much-needed break from touring, but then late last year her return to the stage was thwarted when she contracted COVID-19 on the road, despite being vaccinated, and had to cancel the remainder of her shows, again.

Now, Tokimonsta is back on the lineup for Coachella, which will return Friday for its first run in three years. Coachella, in Indio, California, has long been the symbolic opening of the touring season, but this year it is being closely watched as a bellwether for the multibillion-dollar touring industry, which is eager to return to full capacity.

“They’re kind of the groundhog for all the venues,” Tokimonsta said. “If Coachella is OK to go, then everyone is going to feel comfortable.”

The pandemic has made the last couple of years especially rough for musicians, who often rely on touring as their largest source of income. After making a partial return last year, concerts are now roaring back, with industry predictions that, if all goes well, 2022 could eclipse 2019 as a record year for ticket sales.

But the excitement has been colored by a slight rise in coronavirus cases recently, and by concerns among many artists about the inherent dangers of touring when most local governments have dropped vaccination requirements for indoor venues, and mask usage among fans is spotty at best.

Every big gathering is still viewed as a potential superspreader event. After last month’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, for example, anecdotal claims of infections popped up on Twitter, although health officials said there were no signs that the event had caused a major spike.

Live Nation, the world’s largest concert company, is expecting a record year. By mid-March, executives have said, the company had already sold 50 million tickets for its concerts this year, about half its total for all of 2019.

“It feels like we’re much more back to a normal pace and cadence,” Omar Al-joulani, Live Nation’s co-president for touring, said this week.

音声はこちら

4/19(火)の放送の英文記事と英単語：逆襲、対艦巡航ミサイル、入ってくる

What Is the Neptune, the Ukrainian-Made Missile That Sank Russia’s Warship?

counterattack　逆襲、反撃
corroborate　 (新たな証拠などによって)強める、確証する(≒confirm, verify)
surveillance　監視、偵察
anti-ship cruise missile　対艦巡航ミサイル
ASCM countermeasure　 (相手の策・行動などに対する)対抗策、対応策
aircraft carrier　空母
incoming　入ってくる、次に来る

著者：John Ismay
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The missiles used to sink a warship from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet were built at home in Ukraine, as part of a coastal defense system designed to hide below enemy radar and evade counterattacks.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has maintained that an accidental fire broke out last week on the warship, the cruiser Moskva, resulting in ammunition explosions and ultimately the sinking of the ship. But U.S. officials corroborated assertions by Ukraine’s military that the Moskva was taken down by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles.

The Neptune is a coastal defense missile designed to attack enemy warships up to 190 miles offshore, according to documents published by Luch, a Ukrainian state-owned arms developer. The weapon is launched from tubes mounted on the back of large trucks, which can fire them nearly 16 miles from shore — allowing the vehicles to better hide from enemy ships and surveillance planes.

Each truck can carry four R-360 Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles, which can be launched within 15 minutes of the vehicle getting into position. Afterward, the trucks, capable of traveling at 40 mph on paved roads, can quickly move to new firing positions.

Each Neptune missile carries a 330-pound explosive warhead and weighs just more than 1,900 pounds, making it slightly larger than the Harpoon anti-ship missile used by the U.S. Navy.

To better evade countermeasures designed to spot and shoot down anti-ship missiles, the Neptune flies low — roughly 10 to 30 feet above the ocean surface — making it difficult to see on radar as it approaches. Flying low also reduces the amount of time an enemy warship has to react if it even sees the missile at all before impact.

Cruisers like the Moskva have air defense as their main mission — meaning that they specialize in shooting down enemy warplanes that threaten high-value ships like aircraft carriers.

In modern navies, both cruisers and destroyers can generally defend themselves against anti-ship cruise missiles like the Neptune. They can deploy defensive missiles and automated guns to shoot down the missile, in addition to launching countermeasures to confuse the missile’s seeker, causing it to miss its target.

It is unclear whether the Moskva saw the incoming missiles, or tried to defend itself.

The Moskva’s final resting place is not yet publicly known, although the Spanish government is expected to disclose this information in a notice in the coming days.

音声はこちら

4/20(水)の放送の英文記事と英単語：商務省、崩壊、悲痛

Retail Sales Grew in March as Inflation Soared

Commerce Department　商務省
consecutive　連続する、引き続く、結果を表わす
uptick　 (景気などの)上向き、上昇
surge　急増する、急成長する、(価格の)高騰
disruption　崩壊、 分裂、 中断、 混乱
woe　悲痛、 悩み、 苦悩、災いわざわい、悲痛な事柄

著者：Coral Murphy Marcos
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

Retail sales rose 0.5% in March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, climbing for the third consecutive month as prices continued to increase across the country.

The uptick followed spending increases of 0.8% in February and 3.8% in January. Higher prices for goods were probably inflating the sales data, according to economists, with the latest Consumer Price Index showing that prices rose 8.5% in March from a year earlier.

“The surge in gasoline prices put some serious upside to total retail sales,” said Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist at S&P Global.

Gas prices were already increasing as oil suppliers scrambled to keep up with rising demand from businesses and consumers recovering from pandemic disruptions. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spurred a further price surge after Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia, including reducing energy imports from the country. The invasion sent gas prices to their highest levels since 2008, with the average national price of a gallon rising above $4 in March, although prices have eased somewhat since then.

Spending at gas stations increased 8.9% in March, the report showed, and sales at electronics and clothing stores also grew. Spending at car dealers was down about 2%, while e-commerce sales dropped 6.4%.

Companies are starting to report earnings for the first three months of the year, which could provide a better picture of how businesses are negotiating supply chain woes and raising prices to offset higher production and transportation costs.

With prices climbing at their fastest pace in more than 40 years, companies such as PepsiCo and General Mills have already raised prices and could increase them even more in 2022.

Delta Air Lines said Wednesday that it expected an increase in fares in the second quarter to make up for rising fuel costs. Airlines including Spirit and United will release their quarterly earnings reports next week, which may give an indication of how higher gas prices are affecting those carriers.

“It’s hard to see prices coming down dramatically any time soon, especially for gasoline,” Bovino said.

音声はこちら

4/21(木)の放送の英文記事と英単語：癇癪、がっかりした、金切り声を上げる

After a 2-Year Ban, Hugs Are Back at Disneyland

hissy fit　癇癪、駄々をこねる
cohorts　仲間、相棒
bummed out　がっかりした、期待外れな
squeal-screaming　金切り声を上げる
lingering effects　長引く影響
roil　翻弄する、掻き乱す
rite　儀礼、儀式

著者：Brooks Barnes
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

ANAHEIM, Calif. — As the smell of cinnamon rolls and suntan lotion wafted through the spring air at Disneyland on Monday morning, Rory Sutherland flung herself on the sidewalk and had what can only be described as a hissy fit.

She was ready for a hug from Mickey Mouse — in fact, beyond ready: For more than two years, ever since the pandemic began, Disneyland’s furry inhabitants have been off limits. The park was closed for 14 months. When it reopened in April 2021 with extensive health-related modifications, Mickey and Minnie and their cohorts were kept at a distance from guests. No hugs. No autographs. No secrets whispered in little ears. Only waving from afar, which bummed out some families so much that they canceled or postponed their trips.

But on Monday, Rory, 2, trained her eyes on someone coming around the corner in red trousers and big, white gloves. Squeal-screaming, she picked herself up off the pavement and ran toward him with arms outstretched. Her mother, father and uncle chased after her and scrambled to unlock their iPhones to catch a photo of their embrace.

That’s right: Hugs are back.

“Cheese! Cheese!” Rory shouted toward her paparazzi, as Mickey knelt and started to rub noses with her. Rory’s mother, Alyssa Sutherland, wiped away a tear. “We’ve been waiting and waiting for the character interactions to come back,” Sutherland said, noting that the family had traveled to Southern California from Lethbridge, Canada.

Mickey was himself undoubtedly in need of a hug. In addition to the lingering effects of the pandemic, Disney has been roiled over the past month by the culture wars. Employees revolted over the company’s initial silence on an anti-LGBTQ law, and right-wing protests broke out after the company did speak up.

“Hugs for everyone!” one Disney employee shouted when Mickey arrived.

A lot of American families consider it a rite of childhood to hug one of Disney’s cartoon characters. Disney theme parks around the world attracted an estimated 151 million visitors in 2019, according to the Themed Entertainment Association, which has not yet released figures for 2021.

“It’s part of what makes Disney so special,” said Bri Petrarca, who had brought her sons, Grayson, 5, and Asher, 2, to meet characters on Monday. She was wearing a pink T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “Here for the hugs.”

音声はこちら

4/22(金)の放送の英文記事と英単語：優先債務、求められていない、毒薬

Elon Musk Races to Secure Financing for Twitter Bid

Senior debt　より優先的な債務
Preferred debt　優先債務
Loan against　を担保にした債務
Sizable　相当大きい
Unsolicited　求められていない
Take it private　非公開化
Skeptical　懐疑的
Poison pill　毒薬、ポイズンピル

著者：Lauren Hirsch
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

Elon Musk is racing to secure funding for his $43 billion bid to buy Twitter.

Morgan Stanley, the investment bank working with Musk on the potential deal, has been calling banks and other potential investors to shore up financing for the offer, four people with knowledge of the situation said. Musk is first focused on raising debt and has not yet begun to seek equity financing for his bid, one of the people said.

Musk, 50, is evaluating various packages of debt, including more senior debt known as preferred debt and a loan against his shares of Tesla, the electric carmaker that he runs, two of the people said. Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, is among the parties considering offering debt financing in a bid for Twitter. The equity he needs is likely to be sizable.

Musk is aiming to pull together a fully funded offer as soon as this week, one of the people said. The people with knowledge of the discussions were not authorized to speak publicly because the details are confidential and in flux.

Last week, Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, made an unsolicited offer for the social media company, saying that he wanted to take it private and that he wanted people to be able to speak more freely on the service. But his offer was regarded skeptically by Wall Street because he did not include details about how he would come up with the money for the deal.

While Twitter’s board has not rejected Musk’s offer, it responded days later with a “poison pill,” a tactic that would effectively prevent Musk from owning more than 15% of Twitter’s shares. Musk owns more than 9% of Twitter, making him its single-biggest individual shareholder.

Twitter is expected to provide an update on its deal-making prospects when it reports quarterly earnings April 28.

Musk’s offer for Twitter stands at $54.20 a share. Several analysts have said the company’s board is likely to accept only an offer of $60 a share or more. Twitter’s stock rose above $70 a share last year when the company announced goals to double its revenue, although its stock has since fallen to around $45 as investors have questioned its ability to meet those targets.

音声はこちら

4/23(土)の放送の英文記事と英単語：ちびちび食べた、ぽかんと見とれた、新構想

CNN+ Streaming Service Will Shut Down Weeks After Its Start

mingled　交流した
nibbled　ちびちび食べた
gawked　ぽかんと見とれた
ignominious　屈辱的
demise　消滅
brainchild　新構想
buttress　支え

著者：Michael M. Grynbaum, John Koblin and Benjamin Mullin
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

NEW YORK — At sunset on the last Monday of March, CNN stars gathered for a gala on the 101st floor of a midtown Manhattan skyscraper to celebrate the launch of CNN+, the streaming service that was supposed to take the network into the digital future.

Ethan Hawke, who directed a film for CNN+, mingled with Anderson Cooper and Carl Bernstein as guests nibbled on miniature lobster rolls and gawked at the dizzying views of the New York City skyline.

It took three weeks for CNN’s new owners to bring them down to earth.

In a move that stunned the media and tech worlds, Warner Bros. Discovery said Thursday that it will abruptly shut down CNN+ on April 30. “While today’s decision is incredibly difficult, it is the right one for the long-term success of CNN,” Chris Licht, the network’s incoming president, told staff.

The shutdown is an ignominious end to an operation into which CNN sank tens of millions of dollars: from a nationwide marketing campaign to hundreds of newly hired employees to big contracts for name-brand anchors, including former “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace and former NPR co-host Audie Cornish.

It collapsed just two days after Netflix reported a quarterly decline in subscriptions for the first time in a decade, a potential warning sign for major media companies joining the increasingly crowded field of streaming services.

The abrupt demise of CNN+, as well as Netflix’s projection it will lose 2 million more subscribers over the next three months, has raised questions about how many people are willing to pay for numerous streaming services and how profitable these businesses can become in the next few years.

CNN+ was the brainchild of CNN’s former corporate parent, WarnerMedia, and its former president Jeff Zucker, who envisioned a versatile digital product with big-name hosts that could buttress the network amid a decline in traditional cable viewership.

But the service had a powerful skeptic: Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who was on the verge of completing a merger with WarnerMedia that would put him in control of the news network.

Executives at Discovery, wary of antitrust rules, were constrained from advising their counterparts at CNN until the merger was done. CNN+ had lost its champion when Zucker left in February because of an undisclosed romantic relationship with a colleague. But WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar forged ahead anyway, launching the streaming platform March 29.

音声はこちら

4/24(日)の放送の英文記事と英単語：肥満、体重を減らす、腹囲

Scientists Find No Benefit to Time-Restricted Eating

intermittent　断続的な、周期的な
obesity　肥満
shed pounds　体重を減らす
in a narrow window　狭い時間帯に
waist circumference　腹囲

著者：Gina Kolata
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The weight-loss idea is appealing: Limit your eating to a period of six to eight hours each day, during which you can have whatever you want.

Studies in mice seemed to support so-called time-restricted eating, a form of the popular intermittent fasting diet. Small studies of people with obesity suggested it might help shed pounds.

But now, a one-year study in which people followed a low-calorie diet between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. or consumed the same number of calories anytime during the day has failed to find an effect.

The bottom line, said Dr. Ethan Weiss, a diet researcher at the University of California, San Francisco: “There is no benefit to eating in a narrow window.”

The study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, was led by researchers at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, and included 139 people with obesity. Women ate 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day, and men consumed 1,500 to 1,800 calories daily. To ensure compliance, participants were required to photograph every bit of food they ate and to keep food diaries.

Both groups lost weight — an average of about 14 to 18 pounds — but there was no significant difference in the amounts of weight lost with either diet strategy. There also were no significant differences between the groups in measures of waist circumference, body fat and lean body mass.

The scientists also found no differences in such risk factors as blood glucose levels, sensitivity to insulin, blood lipids or blood pressure.

“These results indicate that caloric intake restriction explained most of the beneficial effects seen with the time-restricted eating regimen,” Weiss and his colleagues concluded.

Christopher Gardner, director of nutrition studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, said he wouldn’t be surprised if time-restricted eating nonetheless worked on occasion.

“Almost every type of diet out there works for some people,” he said. “But the take-home supported by this new research is that when subjected to a properly designed and conducted study — scientific investigation — it is not any more helpful than simply reducing daily calorie intake for weight loss and health factors.”

音声はこちら

「Voicy News Brief with articles from New York Times」は毎朝6時30分にVoicyで更新中！いつでも無料で聴けるVoicyの英語チャンネルを活用して、英語力向上にお役立てください。