Hello,
1. 早く帰った方がいい、暑いから。サバは、生き腐れとも 言われるくらい足が早い。
Translation given: "It's hot, so you'd better head back quickly. Mackerel goes off so fast that they coined 'fresh-looking rotten fish'."
What does 足 mean here? It seems to me that it should mean "the process of going off (i.e. going rotten)", but I don't see anything like that in the dictionary. Is it possible that 足 just means "speed", and the "of going rotten" part is to be assumed?
2. まだ一部の学生しかそのことを知らない。
My translation: "Only a few of the students know this yet"
Somehow I confused myself about what is the subject of 知らない, but it must be 学生 rather than the speaker, right?
3. あの学生は通訳ができるくらい日本語が上手らしい。
My translation: "That student's Japanese seems to be good enough for him/her to be a translator."
Does らしい have the sense of "seems to be" here? Or is it more like "typical of" or "appropriate for", somehow referring back to 通訳?
4. 田中前外相の更迭に続く政治混乱がその象徴である。
Translation given: "The dismissal of foreign minister Tanaka is symbolic of the continuing political turmoil."
I can't understand the structure of this sentence. To me it looks like 続く政治混乱がその象徴である means "the continuing political turmoil is the/that symbol", and 田中前外相の更迭 means "the dismissal of former foreign minister Tanaka", joined by に in some relationship that I can't figure out. However, according to the translation Tanaka, not the turmoil, is the symbol.
1. 早く帰った方がいい、暑いから。サバは、生き腐れとも 言われるくらい足が早い。
Translation given: "It's hot, so you'd better head back quickly. Mackerel goes off so fast that they coined 'fresh-looking rotten fish'."
What does 足 mean here? It seems to me that it should mean "the process of going off (i.e. going rotten)", but I don't see anything like that in the dictionary. Is it possible that 足 just means "speed", and the "of going rotten" part is to be assumed?
2. まだ一部の学生しかそのことを知らない。
My translation: "Only a few of the students know this yet"
Somehow I confused myself about what is the subject of 知らない, but it must be 学生 rather than the speaker, right?
3. あの学生は通訳ができるくらい日本語が上手らしい。
My translation: "That student's Japanese seems to be good enough for him/her to be a translator."
Does らしい have the sense of "seems to be" here? Or is it more like "typical of" or "appropriate for", somehow referring back to 通訳?
4. 田中前外相の更迭に続く政治混乱がその象徴である。
Translation given: "The dismissal of foreign minister Tanaka is symbolic of the continuing political turmoil."
I can't understand the structure of this sentence. To me it looks like 続く政治混乱がその象徴である means "the continuing political turmoil is the/that symbol", and 田中前外相の更迭 means "the dismissal of former foreign minister Tanaka", joined by に in some relationship that I can't figure out. However, according to the translation Tanaka, not the turmoil, is the symbol.