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American Geniuses <1>

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
we have begun to read an essay called "American Geniuses".
Would you please check my exercises I have just made?

3 次の文を和訳しなさい。
①Einstein was a genius in mathematics. (Einstein = アインシュタイン mathematics =数学)

②This music proves his genius. (prove =証明する)

③That night, no stars were to be seen. (no ~は複数扱いなので were を使う)

④Pablo Picasso is well known as a great Spanish painter. (Pablo Picasso = パブロ・ピカソ)

⑤Leonardo da Vinci had a genius for both the arts and the sciences. (Leonardo da Vinci = レオナルド・ダ゙・ビンチ)

⑥At twenty he came to Japan and began to work here.

⑦Jane moved to France with her parents when she was very young.

⑧In those days the children were forced to work more than 12 hours a day. (in those days = その当時)

⑨I've spent a great deal of time on this report. (report =報告書,レポート)

4 次の文を英訳しなさい。
①私の叔父は、1970年に淡路島(Awaji Island)で生まれた。(数字を入れて9語)
My uncle was born on Awaji Island in 1970.

②私が子供の頃、父は、毎日私に父の仕事を手伝わせた。(forceを用いて13語)
When I was a child/kid/boy/girl, my father forced me to help his work.

③アインシュタインは、数学と物理の両方に天才的な才能があった。(have, geniusを用いて9語)
Einstein had a genius for both math/maths/mathematics and physics.

④そのダイヤの指輪(diamond ring)は、どこにも(anywhere)見つからなかった。(be to を用いて9語)
The diamond ring was not to be found anywhere.

⑤レオナルド・ダ・ビンチは偉大なイタリアの(Italian)芸術家としてよく知られている。
Leonardo da Vinci is well known as a great Italian artist.

⑥ホイットマンは、とても若いときに、ロングアイランドからブルックリンに引っ越した。
Whitman moved from Long Island to Brooklyn when he was very/quite young.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
It might just be an oversight but I would put at least a "with" in here, probably a "him with his", and change it to "made", not "forced". "my father made me help him with his work"
②私が子供の頃、父は、毎日私に父の仕事を手伝わせた。(forceを用いて13語)
When I was a child/kid/boy/girl, my father forced me to help his work.
 
OK, Michael2. Thanks for the help.
Would you show me some example with the verb "force"?
How about this?
The manager of this convenience store forced the workers to work overtime every day.
 
I think, as the word says, "force" implies the use of some force, and resistance on the part of the object. It doesn't have to be physical force, it could be a threat, whereas "make" just sounds like an order. If you say "Our teacher made us clean the classroom before we went home," it's just an order or command to do so.
In your example, it depends on what the manager did. I would probably not use "force" but simply "asked" because forcing or making people work overtime would be illegal in most cases, or should be. If you said "The manager forced the pop group to sign a contract" it would sound to me like the manager is threatening them in some way, perhaps by not booking them for gigs unless they signed with him.
When describing relations between people I think I would only use "force" if there really was force or threats involved, but it is quite commonly used in situations, where the situation makes someone do something that they don't want to, eg.
"Lack of skills forces these young men into low-paid jobs."
"Bad health forced her to abandon her studies.",
"Falling sales eventually forced them out of business."
"The rising tides forced them back"
 
Michael2, you may not believe it, but I'm afraid to say that in Japan today there are a lot of companies or schools that force the workers or the teachers to work overtime until some workers die from overworking. So that's what I meant.

Are there any other mistakes in my exercise?
 
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I think the point he had here is that in these cases "force" usually means physical force. So unless physical force is literally used then it's usually better to use "made" or "coerce". In the case of the father I would likely use "made" while with Japanese companies if there are negative consequences implied or stated to not performing the action I would say "coerce" is preferred over "forced".
 
Yes, in a context like the convenience store manager or even Japanese companies, to use "force" sounds like the literal use of force. I would expect even Japanese companies would not actually use force to the extent that you would use "force" as the verb here, although in this case it might be that bad that "force" would be appropriate. Do you have any examples of the things Japanese compnaies actually do to make their employees do so much overtime? I would imagine it would be more passive-aggressive pressure rather than force though.

Also, I think "a (mathematical) genius" is more natural in this kind of sentence.

3 次の文を和訳しなさい。
①Einstein was a genius in mathematics. (Einstein = アインシュタイン mathematics =数学
 
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