Voicy初の公式英語ニュースチャンネル「Voicy News Brief with articles from New York Times」。チャンネルでは、バイリンガルパーソナリティがThe New York Timesの記事を英語で読み、記事の中に出てくる単語を日本語で解説しています。
Voicy Journalでは、毎週金曜日にその週に読んだ記事を、まとめて紹介します！１週間の終わりに、その週の放送をもう１度聞いて復習するのも良いかもしれません。VoicyのPCページやアプリでは、再生速度も変えられるので、自分の理解度に応じて、調整してみましょう。
11/7(土)の放送
Biden Makes Gains in Key States as Anxious Nation Awaits Winner
著者：Jonathan Martin and Katie Glueck
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
Joe Biden gained ground in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia on Thursday as the slow-moving vote count in those contested battleground states moved him closer to capturing an electoral majority and defeating President Donald Trump.
As an anxious country waited to learn the winner, the two candidates emerged toward day’s end to make remarks that were dramatically different in tone and content.
In a brief appearance before reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said he remained confident that he would ultimately prevail but did not lay claim to the White House.
“Democracy’s sometimes messy,” said Biden, who remained ahead in Arizona on Thursday night but lost some ground there. “It sometimes requires a little patience as well. But that patience has been rewarded now for more than 240 years with a system of governance that’s been the envy of the world.”
He urged calm and emphasized that “each ballot must be counted.”
Hours later, in a stunning news conference, Trump lied about the vote-counting underway in several states, conjuring up a conspiracy of “legal” and “illegal” ballots being tabulated and claiming without evidence that states were trying to deny him reelection.
“They’re trying to steal an election, they’re trying to rig an election,” the president said from the White House briefing room. He also baselessly suggested nefarious behavior in Philadelphia and Detroit, cities that he called “two of the most corrupt political places.”
Trump’s remarks, mostly reading from notes, were at times more valedictory than defiant. He used much of his appearance to complain about preelection polls, demonize the news media and try to put the best face on Tuesday’s results, trumpeting his party’s congressional gains. He did not take questions from reporters.
Republican leaders offered no immediate response to Trump’s remarks, but a small group of maverick lawmakers in the party denounced his comments, seeking to reassure voters that there was no reason to believe the integrity of the election had been undermined.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a frequent critic of Trump, offered the sharpest rebuke, saying “this is getting insane” and demanding that the president stop “spreading debunked misinformation.”
Yet there were also Republican lawmakers who rushed to Trump’s defense. “Radical Dems tried to do away with law and order and are now trying to do away with law and order at the ballot box,” wrote Rep. Roger Williams of Texas.
gain ground しっかりした足掛かりを得る、優勢になる
remark (手短な) 意見、所見、批評
prevail 勝つ、勝る、勝利を得る
conjure up (記憶・イメージ・アイデアなどを) 心に呼び起こす
tabulate 〜を表にする、集計する
rig 不正操作する
nefarious 極悪な、非道な
valedictory 別れの言葉
defiant 反抗的な、挑戦的な、傲慢な
trumpet ～を吹聴する、言い広める
*blow one’s own trumpet 自画自賛する、ほらを吹く
maverick 異端的な、非正統的な
do way with 排除する、廃止する
11/8(日)の放送
U.S. Employers Added 638,000 Jobs In October. Unemployment Fell to 6.9%.
著者：Nelson D. Schwartz
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
The U.S. economy gained 638,000 jobs last month, a sign the labor market continues to heal slowly as a resurgence in the coronavirus threatens future growth.
The unemployment rate fell sharply to 6.9%, from 7.9% in September, the Labor Department reported.
The overall job gain would have been larger without the loss of 147,000 temporary census positions.
The nation has recovered a little over half of the 22 million jobs lost after the pandemic struck in March, but the gains have softened in recent months. The economy added almost 1.8 million jobs in July and 1.5 million in August, but the figure fell to 672,000 in September.
Among the big contributors to the October increase were two industries hit hard by the pandemic: food and drink establishments, which added 192,000 jobs, and retailing, which picked up 104,000. But cooler temperatures and caution about shopping amid surging coronavirus cases threaten those gains.
“It’s better than expected, but we’re starting to see headwinds,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting firm Grant Thornton in Chicago, said of the October report. “The drop in the unemployment rate is welcome news, but there are still over 11 million unemployed workers.”
Even as the unemployment rate has come down, joblessness for many has become more prolonged. The Labor Department said the number of long-term unemployed — those without work for 27 weeks or more — grew to 3.6 million in October, an increase of 1.2 million.
Millions of unemployed workers have had a harder time paying bills since an emergency federal program paying $600 a week in additional benefits expired at the end of July. Another set of federal jobless benefits will last only through the end of the year.
The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group, estimates that more than 30 million workers have lost jobs or had their hours or pay reduced in the coronavirus-related downturn.
With the Senate remaining in Republican hands, as election returns suggest, any further relief will probably be more modest than the multitrillion-dollar package that seemed likely if a “blue wave” had given Democrats control of Congress and the White House. As a result, Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust in Chicago, has cut his estimate of growth next year by a full percentage point.
“The good news is that the U.S. job market is healing,” Tannenbaum said. “But full recuperation may take awhile.”
Resurgence 再起、復活
Census 国勢調査
Contributors 貢献者
Headwinds 逆風
Joblessness 失業
Prolonged 延長した
Benefits 手当
Left-leaning 左寄りの
Downturn 下降
Recuperation 療養
11/9(月)の放送
Tension, Then Some Tears, as TV News Narrates a Moment for History
著者：Michael M. Grynbaum, John Koblin and Tiffany Hsu
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
The tension mounted for days — and then broke, all at once.
CNN went first, calling the presidential election at 11:24 a.m. Eastern. It was followed in quick succession by NBC, CBS, ABC and The Associated Press. Fox News confirmed the outcome at 11:40 a.m.
The projection that former Vice President Joe Biden had defeated President Donald Trump came after days of slow-burning suspense on the cable news networks and broadcast channels.
It was a projection in Pennsylvania that tipped the networks’ models to a surefire Biden victory, as a batch of a few thousand ballots from Philadelphia trickled in, heavily skewed in Biden’s favor.
Donna Brazile, a Fox News contributor who was formerly the interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, wiped away tears as she reflected on the significance of Sen. Kamala Harris becoming the first woman of color to be elected vice president.
“Been a long time coming, to be the last to get voting rights, to be those who waited and waited for our turn; it’s been a long time coming,” she said, after noting that she had been thinking about her grandmother, who did not have the right to vote. “This is not about asking anyone to leave the room. Just scoot over and let women also share in the leadership of this country.”
On CNN, anchor Anderson Cooper asked pundit Van Jones for his reaction. Jones, tearing up behind his eyeglasses, took a moment before saying, “Well, it’s easier to be a parent this morning. It’s easier to be a dad. It’s easier to tell your kids that character matters.”
The nail-biting week had exhausted anchors and audiences alike. On Friday, Jake Tapper of CNN acknowledged “frustration” among viewers but evoked memories of the 2000 election, when networks had to reverse projections in Florida. “No one wants to go through that again,” he said, urging patience. “Everyone in the media wants to get it right.”
Shortly after Saturday’s projection, the major networks showed scenes of revelers celebrating Biden’s victory as well as groups of Trump supporters in places like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who were waving Trump flags and carrying signs that said, “Stop the Steal,” a reference to the president’s unfounded claims that the election was fraudulent.
Trump, at that moment, was absent from the airwaves. He was off playing golf at a course in Virginia that bears his name.
in quick succession 素早く連続して、続けざまに
projection 予想
suspense はらはらすること、宙ぶらりん
tip (動)（ものを）傾ける
surefire 確実な
trickle (液体が）したたる、（人などが）ぽつぽつ来る
skew (動）斜めになる
scoot over (長い座席などの空きスペースを）詰める
pundit 専門家、権威者
nail-biting はらはらさせる、いらいらさせる
reveler 酒盛りをする人、飲み騒ぐ人
unfounded 根拠のない
fraudulent 詐欺(行為)の
bear a name 名前が書かれた
11/10(火)の放送
Chinese State Media Reacts to Biden Victory With Cautious Optimism
著者：Vivian Wang
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
HONG KONG — The Chinese state news media reacted with cautious optimism to former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, expressing hope that he would stabilize the fast-deteriorating relations between the two countries.
But many outlets also continued to warn of future tensions between the superpowers, and to suggest that American democracy was in decline.
Under President Donald Trump, trust and cooperation between the United States and China ebbed to their lowest levels in recent history as a trade war raged and officials on both sides hurled recriminations about espionage, protest movements and the coronavirus pandemic. China’s state-controlled news outlets had criticized Trump and the United States with increasing stridence in recent months.
But the immediate reaction to Biden’s victory Sunday was measured, indicating that China was willing to attempt, and indeed was eager for, a thaw.
“The outcome could usher in a ‘buffering period’ for already-tense China-U.S. relations, and offer an opportunity for breakthroughs in resuming high-level communication and rebuilding mutual strategic trust,” Global Times, a fiercely nationalistic tabloid, wrote in an article, citing Chinese experts.
The article suggested that the two countries could work together on combating climate change, containing the coronavirus and developing vaccines, saying that Biden would be “more moderate and mature” than Trump on foreign affairs.
Those that did venture optimism warned against excessive expectations. Although Trump had made demonizing China a central plank of his campaign rhetoric — especially as he tried to deflect blame for his disastrous response to the coronavirus outbreak — public opinion toward China in both parties has increasingly soured.
And geopolitical tensions between the two countries will most likely continue to simmer. The Global Times article pointed to unresolved disputes over the democracy movement in Hong Kong, the trade war and Taiwan.
Southern Daily, an official newspaper for the southern province of Guangdong, wrote on Weibo that while Biden would most likely treat Russia, not China, as the biggest foreign threat to the United States, “we don’t have to have illusions.”
“One thing is for sure, things will never return to the way they were before,” the post continued. “The world is not the world it was before.”
<Pickup Vocabs 1>
stabilize 安定化させる
☝️stable(安定している)
☝️カタカナ読みとの発音の違いに注意
deteriorating 悪化する
outlets 報道機関
[語源: outlet(出口)→衣料品などのアウトレット、壁のコンセント穴
ebbed 減退した
☝️ebb and flow(干満、盛衰)
recriminations 逆襲
[語源: re(返す、再び)+criminate(非難する)]
espionage スパイ活動
☝️spyが隠れています
stridence 騒々しく甲高い音調を持っているということ
thaw (外交の)緊張緩和
[語源: thaw(溶ける)→雪解け]
<Pickup Vocabs 2>
usher in 案内して通す
☝️usher(劇場などの案内係)
buffering 緩衝(バファー)としての
mutual 相互の
☝️mutual love/friendship, mutual hatred
moderate 穏健
[語源: med-(適切に対応する)
[med-繋がりの親戚: 先週のaccommodate(適切に収容する)]
mature 成熟している
☝️おとなな↔︎immature(子どもっぽい)
venture 思い切って言う
[語源: venture(失う危険を冒す)]
[親戚: adventure(冒険)]
demonizing 悪者扱いする
☝️デーモン閣下
geopolitical 地政学的な
☝️geo(地球の) + political(政治的な)
simmer 沸騰直前まで煮え立つ
☝️沸騰してしまうとboil
11/11(水)の放送
Biden Announces a 13-Member Virus Task Force as Cases Soar
著者：Michael D. Shear and Sarah Mervosh
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday made an urgent plea for Americans to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus, declaring that “a mask is not a political statement” as he vowed to make defeating the pandemic his No. 1 priority when he replaces President Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
“It doesn’t matter who you voted for, where you stood before Election Day,” Biden said in short remarks in Delaware after meeting with members of a newly formed COVID-19 advisory board. “It doesn’t matter your party, your point of view. We can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months.”
He added: “Not Democratic or Republican lives — American lives.”
The magnitude of his task became starkly clear Sunday as the nation surpassed 10 million cases and sank deeper into the grip of what could become the worst chapter yet of the pandemic. In his remarks, the president-elect said the grim statistics suggested the country was “facing a very dark winter” ahead.
“Infection rates are going up. Hospitalizations are going up. Deaths are going up,” Biden said after listening to his advisers, who called into the meeting remotely.
Drugmaker Pfizer announced Monday that an early analysis of its coronavirus vaccine trial suggested the vaccine was robustly effective in preventing COVID-19.
Biden called the development “excellent news” in a statement but cautioned that Americans would need to rely on basic precautions to “get back to normal as fast as possible.” He said Americans would not be wearing masks forever but should do so until the vaccine is readily available.
Biden named Dr. Rick Bright, a former top vaccine official in the Trump administration who submitted a whistleblower complaint to Congress, as a member of the COVID-19 task force advising him during the transition, officials announced Monday morning.
Bright, who was ousted as the head of a federal medical research agency, told lawmakers that officials in the government had failed to heed his warnings about acquiring masks and other supplies and that the failure to act may have cost American lives.
soar 上昇する、急増する
plea 嘆願
point of view 視点、見解、考え方
magnitude 重大さ
starkly 完全に
surpassed 上回る、超える
robust 強固な
readily 容易に、気軽に
whistleblower 告発者
oust 追放する、更迭する
heed 聞き入れる
11/12(木)の放送
Renewable Power Grows Strongly, Despite the Pandemic
著者：Stanley Reed
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
The energy industry has experienced its worst year in decades because of the pandemic, but clean sources for generating electricity have still managed to grow, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
Consumption of electricity generated by wind, solar and hydroelectric sources will grow nearly 7% in 2020, a remarkable jump because overall energy demand will slump by 5%, the steepest drop since World War II, the Paris-based forecasting group said in a new report.
This performance shows that these renewable sources of energy are “immune to COVID,” Fatih Birol, the agency’s executive director, said.
In fact, renewables are likely to expand nearly 50% by 2025, the year when, together, they are expected to eclipse coal as the world’s largest source of electric power.
Renewable electricity is growing because of government policies that encourage such investments and strong interest among investors who want to put money into clean energy projects, according to the report.
The world this year is expected to add nearly 4% to its capacity to generate electricity from renewables like wind and solar, despite travel restrictions, factory closings and other obstacles caused by the pandemic.
Next year, growth is expected to accelerate to around 10%. That is because projects disrupted by the pandemic will come online, and because governments in Europe and Asia are eager to ramp up spending to tackle climate change and to help kick-start their economies.
Birol said a return to the Paris accord on climate change by the United States, as President-elect Joe Biden has pledged, could give “unprecedented positive momentum in the fight against climate change.”
In an indication of the new energy landscape that is taking shape, London-based oil giant BP said Tuesday it had reached a preliminary agreement with Orsted, a Danish company that is the world’s largest developer of offshore wind farms, to build a large pilot plant for generating emissions-free hydrogen.
The proposed plant, at a refinery in Lingen, in northwestern Germany, would use electricity from an Orsted wind farm in the North Sea to generate the gas from water.
The companies say their plant would replace 20% of the refinery’s consumption of this so-called gray or polluting hydrogen, reducing emissions each year by the equivalent of around 45,000 cars.
steep (坂・増減などが)急な、険しい
forecast 予想する、予報する
eclipse 凌ぐ、凌駕する
capacity 能力
restriction 制限
disrupt 中断させる
ramp up 増やす、急成長する、強化する
accord 協定、一致、調和
momentum 勢い、運動量
refinery 精製所
11/13(金)の放送
Unscripted Programs Will Feature More Diverse Casts, CBS Say
著者：Christine Hauser
(c) 2020 The New York Times Company
CBS reality shows, including “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “Love Island,” will feature more diverse casts next season, under an initiative that will also target development budgets and writing rooms, the network announced Monday.
Starting in the 2021-22 season, at least half the cast members of its unscripted programs will be people of color, the network said in a statement. It said it would also allocate at least one-quarter of its annual development budget for unscripted shows to those created or co-created by people of color, including Black and Indigenous people.
George Cheeks, president and chief executive for the CBS Entertainment Group, described the commitments as “important first steps” in bringing in new voices.
The announcement Monday was the latest development in a series of steps the network has taken regarding diversity in its casting, staffing and storytelling. The network did not immediately reply to a request for more details about the initiative.
In July, CBS Television Studios and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced a production deal for NAACP-produced content, saying that 25% of the network’s programs would come from creators who are people of color. CBS also pledged that, by the 2022-23 season, 50% of the writers on its shows would be people of color.
The initiatives for its reality shows built on those commitments, CBS said in the statement Monday.
The network has faced criticism in recent years for a prime-time lineup that lacked diversity. Those complaints came to light this year as widespread protests swept the United States after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, leading some entertainment companies, news organizations and other businesses to question long-standing industry practices.
Online, the effort by CBS was welcomed by J’Tia Hart, a nuclear engineer who was a “Survivor” contestant as J’Tia Taylor. In June, after the death of Floyd the previous month, Hart and other former contestants formed a group called the Soul Survivors Organization to shift how Black people are represented in entertainment.
Hart created a petition this year to gather signatures from “Survivor” and ViacomCBS executives to commit to featuring people of color “in their full breadth and depth,” while reflecting the racial diversity of the United States. The petition had garnered nearly 8,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
people of color 有色人種
allocate 割り当てる／配分する
Indigenous 先住民（の）
voice 個性／代弁者
NAACP 全国有色人種向上協会／（または）全米黒人地位向上協会
prime-time ゴールデンアワー／ゴールデンタイム
lineup ラインアップ／顔ぶれ
come to light 明らかになる／露見する
sweep 席巻する／さっと広がる
garner 獲得する／集める
