Blog
Picture of the Week: Onyx
Onyx is a kind of stone. It has many bands or stripes. The stripes come in many colors. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”. オニキスは石の一種で、縦横にしま模様がたくさん入っています。...
Phrase of the Week: How come? What for?
Child: How come things fall down and not up? Parent: Are those my keys? Don’t drop them down there! Argh! What did you do that for? Child: I wanted to see if it would fall up. “How come?” is another way to ask “why?” It asks the reason something happens. “How come the...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
Thanks to everyone’s high productivity, we have made a lot of progresses on this project. Find the mistake. A. everyone’s B. productivity C. a lot of D. progresses 「皆さんの高い生産力のおかげで、このプロジェクトが前進しています。」 間違いを見つけましょう。...
Trivia of the Week: Ice Cream Sandwich
An ice cream sandwich is ice cream sandwiched between two cookies or other sweet cakes. Different countries have different types of ice cream sandwiches, but the standard American sandwich is vanilla ice cream between rectangular chocolate wafers. Round chocolate-chip...
Idiom of the Week: Butterflies in My Stomach
“Tonight is the big concert! Are you nervous?” “Yes, I have butterflies in my stomach already.” If you are nervous about performing in front of people or asking someone on a date, you might have a funny feeling in your stomach. It feels like butterflies are flapping...
Word of the Week: Mutt
A mutt is a mixed-breed dog. Sometimes people use it as an affectionate or insulting name for any dog. Mutts can be more unique than pure-bred dogs, and are less likely to get illnesses that are common to certain breeds....
Picture of the Week: Ruby
The ruby is the birth stone of the month of July. They come in a range of shades of red or pink. The brighter red a ruby is, the more valuable it is. ...
Phrase of the Week: All bets are off.
Commentator: “Normally I would expect the Tigers to win this game easily, but with their star player injured, all bets are off.” When something unusual makes it impossible to predict what will happen, we say “all bets are off”. When you bet on a sport, you can see how...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
The location is not very convenient, because there are no train stations or bus stops in the _________. Fill in the blank. A. proximity B. approximate C. near D. nearby...
Trivia of the Week: The Pied Piper
“The Pied Piper” is a fairy tale about a man who saved a town from rats. The town was overrun with rats, so they asked for the piper’s help. He played his flute and the rats followed him out of the town. Then he asked for the money the town had agreed to give him, but...
