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8/1(月)の放送の英文記事と英単語：ふたご座、工芸品、形見

Aldrin’s Space Memorabilia Sells for More Than $8 Million

memorabilia　記憶すべき記念品、思い出の品
gemini　ふたご座
artifact　人工遺物、工芸品
maroon　置き去りにする、孤立させる
memento　記念品、形見

著者：Christine Chung
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

NEW YORK — A white, Teflon-coated jacket worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969 sold for $2.7 million at a Sotheby’s auction Tuesday, fetching the highest price among dozens of pieces of rare memorabilia tracing his career in space exploration.

Aldrin, now 92, has a storied career as an astronaut, joining NASA in 1963 after flying for the Air Force. Within three years, he had executed the world’s first successful spacewalk in the Gemini 12 mission. Then, on July 20, 1969, millions of people watched on television as he became the second man to walk on the moon, about 20 minutes after Neil Armstrong, who declared it “one giant leap for mankind.”

The custom-fitted jacket Aldrin wore on that mission sold after fierce bidding lasting nine minutes, with the auctioneer calling it “the most valuable American space-flown artifact ever sold at auction.” (The garments worn by the two other Apollo 11 astronauts from that mission are owned by the Smithsonian.)

In all, 68 of 69 lots of Aldrin’s belongings were sold for a combined $8 million Tuesday by Sotheby’s in Manhattan at an auction that lasted more than two hours.

Derek Parsons, a Sotheby’s spokesperson, said that the Aldrin sale was the “most valuable single space exploration auction ever staged.”

Only one lot did not sell: It included the tiny broken circuit switch that nearly marooned the Apollo 11 crew on the moon and a dented aluminum pen that Aldrin used as a manual workaround to achieve liftoff.

Aldrin said in a statement that “the time felt right to share these items with the world, which for many are symbols of a historical moment, but for me have always remained personal mementos of a life dedicated to science and exploration.”

Among the items sold at auction were also gold-colored lifetime passes to Major League Baseball games, for $7,560, and an MTV Video Music Awards statuette modeled after the iconic image of Aldrin placing the American flag on the moon’s surface, which fetched $88,200.

A complete summary flight plan of the Apollo mission sold for $819,000. A Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest honor for civilians, bestowed to Aldrin by President Richard Nixon, sold for $277,200.

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8/2(火)の放送の英文記事と英単語：堪能する、落胆させる、遂行する

Biden Savors Much-Needed Victories. But Will the Highs Overshadow the Lows?

savor　(活動･経験を) 堪能する、 かみしめる
dispiriting　意気消沈させる、落胆させる
plummet　(人気・物価などが) 急落する
make good on…　(約束などを) 遂行する、守る
pay off　(努力などが)効果をもたらす、報われる
resonate with　共鳴する、(人に)共感を呼び起こす

著者：Michael D. Shear
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and his top advisers have tried for months to press forward amid a seemingly endless drumbeat of dispiriting news: rising inflation, high gas prices, a crumbling agenda, a dangerously slowing economy and a plummeting approval rating, even among Democrats.

But Biden has finally caught a series of breaks. Gas prices, which peaked above $5 a gallon, have fallen every day for more than six weeks and are now closer to $4. After a yearlong debate, Democrats and Republicans in Congress passed legislation this past week to invest $280 billion in areas like semiconductor manufacturing and scientific research to bolster competition with China.

And in a surprise turnabout, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who had single-handedly held up Biden’s boldest proposals, agreed to a deal that puts the president in a position to make good on promises to lower drug prices, confront climate change and make corporations pay higher taxes.

Even for a president who has become used to the highs and lows of governing, it was a moment to feel whipsawed. Since taking office 18 months ago, Biden has celebrated successes like passage of the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill and slogged through crises like the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Gas prices soared; now they are coming down. Unemployment is at record lows even as there are signs of a looming recession.

The president’s brand of politics is rooted in a slower era, before Twitter, and sometimes it can pay off to have the patience to wait for a deal to finally emerge. But now, with congressional elections coming up in a few months, the challenge for Biden is to make sure his latest successes resonate with Americans who remain deeply skeptical about the future.

If Congress manages to pass the compromise reached with Manchin, West Wing aides argue, it will move the country to the forefront on addressing the world’s changing climate and lower drug prices even as it raises money from corporations to lower the federal budget deficit.

The deal would give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for millions of Americans, extend health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act for three years and require corporations to pay a minimum tax — something many progressive Democrats have been demanding for years.

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8/3(水)の放送の英文記事と英単語：使用期限、免疫システム、副作用

Banana Boat Recalls Hair and Scalp Sunscreen Over Low Levels of Carcinogen

carcinogen　発癌物質
benzene　ベンゼン
expiration date　使用期限
immune system　免疫系、免疫システム
adverse effects　副作用 (side effect、 side reaction)
reimbursement　払い戻し (refund)

著者：April Rubin
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The parent company of Banana Boat recalled batches of a sunscreen spray because they contained trace levels of benzene, a carcinogen, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. Consumers were urged to stop using the products.

Edgewell Personal Care, which owns Banana Boat, issued the voluntary nationwide recall Friday for products in three batches of SPF 30 hair and scalp sunscreen that were found to contain the carcinogen, according to the FDA.

“Consumers should stop using the affected product immediately and appropriately discard,” officials said.

The lot codes — found on the bottom of the cans — of the three recalled batches are 20016AF, 20084BF and 21139AF, with expiration dates in December 2022, February 2023 and April 2024. All spray cans recalled are 6 ounces.

“No other Banana Boat products are in the scope of this recall and may continue to be used by consumers safely and as intended,” the FDA said.

Benzene is not an ingredient in any Banana Boat product, but it is part of the propellant that sprays the sunscreen out of the can, the FDA said. Retailers were told to remove the products from shelves. The sunscreen had been sold online and in stores.

“Exposure to benzene can occur by inhalation, orally and through the skin,” the administration said, “and it potentially can result in cancers including leukemia and blood cancer of the bone marrow and blood disorders, which can be life-threatening.”

Low levels of benzene can be found in products such as plastics and detergents, as well as at gas stations and in the air through tobacco smoke, motor vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Benzene causes cells to work incorrectly and can damage the immune system.

“The seriousness of poisoning caused by benzene depends on the amount, route and length of time of exposure,” the CDC said, “as well as the age and preexisting medical condition of the exposed person.”

People are exposed to trace levels of benzene in their environment. No adverse effects related to the Banana Boat sunscreens have been reported, but consumers should contact their health care providers if they experience problems, according to the FDA.

Banana Boat will offer reimbursement for buyers of these products. For more information, consumers can visit the Banana Boat website or call 1-888-686-3988.

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8/4(木)の放送の英文記事と英単語：詳細な、遅刻率、データ侵害

A Cyberattack Illuminates the Shaky State of Student Privacy

shaky　不安定な
intimate　詳細な
tardiness rates　遅刻率
data breach　データ侵害
subject to　～の対象になる
In the wake of　～の結果として、〜があった今

著者：Natasha Singer
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

The software that many school districts use to track students’ progress can record extremely confidential information on children.

Now these systems are coming under heightened scrutiny after a recent cyberattack on Illuminate Education, a leading provider of student-tracking software, which affected the personal information of more than 1 million current and former students across dozens of districts — including in New York City and Los Angeles, the nation’s largest public school systems.

Officials said in some districts the data included the names, dates of birth, races or ethnicities, and test scores of students. At least one district said the data included more intimate information such as student tardiness rates, migrant status, behavior incidents and descriptions of disabilities.

Some cybersecurity and privacy experts say that the cyberattack on Illuminate Education amounts to a warning for industry and government regulators. Although it was not the largest hack on an ed tech company, these experts say they are troubled by the nature and scope of the data breach.

In a statement, Illuminate said that it had “no evidence that any information was subject to actual or attempted misuse” and that it had “implemented security enhancements to prevent” further cyberattacks.

Concerns about a cyberattack emerged in January after some teachers in New York City schools discovered that their online attendance and grade book systems had stopped working. Illuminate said it temporarily took those systems offline after it became aware of “suspicious activity” on part of its network.

Illuminate declined to say how many school districts and students were affected. The company said it had worked with outside experts to investigate the security incident and had concluded that student information was “potentially subject to unauthorized access” between Dec. 28 and Jan. 8. At that time, the statement said, Illuminate had five full-time employees dedicated to security operations.

In the wake of the hack, Illuminate said it had hired six additional full-time security and compliance employees, including a chief information security officer.

After the cyberattack, the company also made numerous security upgrades, according to a letter Illuminate sent to a school district in Colorado.

But during an interview with a reporter, Greg Pollock, vice president for cyber research at UpGuard, a cybersecurity risk management firm, found one of Illuminate’s AWS buckets with an easily guessable name. The reporter then found a second AWS bucket named after a popular Illuminate platform for schools.

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8/5(金)の放送の英文記事と英単語：行動で示す、避難する、強調

Newsom Asks Hollywood to Stop Filming in Conservative States

walk the walk 行動で示す
cudgel 棍棒（こんぼう）
rebuke 避難する
underscore 強調
denounce 避難する

著者：Shawn Hubler
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Widening his attack on Republican states for their positions on guns, civil rights and abortion, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Wednesday called on Hollywood to “walk the walk” on liberal values by bringing back their film and television productions from states such as Georgia and Oklahoma.

Newsom issued the challenge through an ad in Variety that asked the state’s left-leaning creative community to “take stock of your values — and those of your employees — when doing business in those states.”

The Democratic governor on Wednesday simultaneously endorsed a legislative proposal that would provide a $1.65 billion, five-year extension of California’s film and television production tax credit program.

It marked the second time in recent weeks that Newsom has used California legislation as a cudgel to rip Republican leaders elsewhere. Last month, he signed a bill allowing residents to sue makers of illegal guns and took the opportunity to rebuke Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas for previously enabling its residents to sue abortion providers.

Newsom’s statements Wednesday underscored the pressure that intensifying culture wars have placed on U.S. corporations, particularly in states where the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade has severely constrained reproductive rights for women.

Some of the country’s biggest businesses, including the Walt Disney Co., Netflix and Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, have announced programs to help employees who need abortion access but cannot obtain it in their home states. Hundreds of entertainment figures also have denounced policies in Republican-led states that have weakened safeguards for LGBTQ people. Last week, some 400 television creators and showrunners publicly demanded that production companies protect pregnant employees in states where abortion is outlawed.

But entertainment companies have not yet announced major plans to cancel expansions or relocate offices.

“Tulsa King,” Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming crime drama starring Sylvester Stallone, has been filming this summer for Paramount+ in Oklahoma. In Georgia on Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp announced that film and television productions generated $4.4 billion in the state this fiscal year, a new record.

The Motion Picture Association, the trade group representing major film studios and Netflix, declined to comment Wednesday.

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8/6(土)の放送の英文記事と英単語：腹立たしい、必須ではない、十分な

Transportation Dept. Proposes New Rule to Ease Air Travel Chaos for Passengers

infuriating　腹立たしい
significantly　著しく
nonessential　必須ではない
proposed　提案された
exploiting　利用している
adequate　十分な

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

Amid an infuriating summer for air travel, the Department of Transportation is proposing changes to federal policy that guide flight refunds, providing more recourse for passengers when airlines cancel flights or significantly alter a flight’s schedule, route or seat categories.

The rule, which the agency will decide on after a 90-day public comment period closes, would also require U.S. carriers that received pandemic aid to issue a full refund if a passenger chooses not to travel because of certain coronavirus-related factors, such as a country shutting down to nonessential travel.

“This new proposed rule would protect the rights of travelers and help ensure they get the timely refunds they deserve from the airlines,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement Wednesday announcing the proposal.

Under the current DOT policy, airlines are already supposed to reimburse passengers for flights that have been canceled or “significantly changed.” But carriers have been accused of exploiting both the ambiguity around the term “significantly changed” and the fact that many air travelers do not know that they are entitled to refunds, instead of credits, for canceled flights.

The proposed policy defines “significantly changed” as a three-hour delay for a domestic flight and a six-hour delay for an international flight. The new rule would also entitle passengers to full refunds for any switch in the departure or destination airport, the addition of a layover or a change in aircraft that causes a significant downgrade in seat class. This week, several Democratic senators introduced a bill with similar protections.

Air travel for many has been frustrating throughout the pandemic, but over the past year, the number of delays and cancellations has increased, affecting thousands of passengers eager to travel after two years of restrictions and closures.

About 20% of flights on U.S. carriers have been delayed this year, 6% more than the airlines’ performance over the previous two years, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking company. On high-travel weekends, airlines have canceled flights four times as often as they did in 2019.

Many stranded or delayed travelers have complained about the tortuous process required to obtain refunds.

“It’s theft, basically,” said Kathryn Jones, 64, a nonprofit grant writer from Austin, Texas, who says she is fed up with airlines altering flights without offering adequate compensation.

On Aug. 22, the DOT will hold an online public meeting to discuss the proposed changes.

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8/7(日)の放送の英文記事と英単語：中間線、中止する、意見や立場を明確に示す

China Sends Ships and Planes Toward Taiwan, Defying Rising Criticism

median　中間線, 中央値
strait　海峡
halt　中止する
condemn　非難する
stake out　意見や立場を明確に示す
let alone　(否定文で) まして~

著者：Jane Perlez, Alexandra Stevenson, John Liu and Michael Crowley
(c) 2021 The New York Times Company

China sent a force of warships and aircraft into waters and airspace near Taiwan on Friday, defying international criticism of its military exercises and demonstrating the country’s growing appetite for confrontation over the island that it claims as its territory.

The military exercise came a day after at least 11 Chinese missiles landed in waters to the north, south and east of Taiwan, driving fears that Chinese forces were practicing for a hypothetical attempt to encircle and attack the island. On Friday, China’s military deployed fighter jets, bombers, destroyers and escort ships to waters near the island, where a high-profile visit by Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week infuriated Beijing.

Some of those Chinese warplanes and warships on Friday crossed the informal median line in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan’s defense ministry said.

More worrisome for some analysts, Beijing also canceled or suspended talks with the United States on climate change and military coordination — raising concerns that an accidental encounter could slide into open hostilities. In halting the talks, Beijing struck directly at the Biden administration’s strategy of confronting China on points of dispute, such as Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong, while trying to collaborate with it to tackle global threats like climate change.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, on Friday condemned the shutdown of military communications and climate talks as “irresponsible.” But he suggested they might only be temporary setbacks in the overall U.S.-China relationship, saying such responses were “of a piece of their playbook.”

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, on Friday denounced China’s military drills and stressed that U.S. policy on Taiwan was unchanged.

“We will not seek or do not want a crisis,” she said. “At the same time we will not deter from operating in the seas and skies of the Western Pacific.”

But the two global powers are staking out hard, ideologically driven stances that make compromise challenging, heading into a deep chill in relations that could reshape the geopolitical landscape and have ramifications on global issues like world markets and climate change.

China has long claimed Taiwan, a self-governing democracy off its southern coast, and regarded any visit by an American politician as an affront, let alone one by Pelosi, the highest-ranking U.S. official to go there since 1997.

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