Word of the Week: Literally

執筆者 | 2014年07月08日 | Words

“I was so startled, I literally jumped a foot in the air!” The word “literally” means “without exaggeration”. If you literally jumped a foot in the air, that means that if someone were holding a ruler by your feet and measured the height of your jump, it would be at...

Phrase of the Week: It Depends

執筆者 | 2014年07月05日 | Phrases

“When are you going to go?” “It depends on the weather.” This is a useful phrase when you can’t answer without more information. Sometimes the necessary information is unknown, like tomorrow’s weather. Remember, learning a language is a big job. It takes a lot of...

TOEIC Practice Question of the Week

執筆者 | 2014年07月04日 | TOEIC

“We have narrowed the options to these two choices.” Find the mistake. A. narrowed B. options C. these D. choices 「この２択まで絞りました。」 間違いはどこでしょうか？ 「Narrow」には「狭くなる」という意味がありますが、これだけでは「絞る」という意味になりません。この意味で使うなら「narrow (something) down」ですので、「We have narrowed it...

Trivia of the Week: Cirrus Clouds

執筆者 | 2014年07月03日 | Trivia

Cirrus clouds are high, wispy clouds. The name comes from a Latin word for a lock of hair. Cirrus clouds don’t rain, but sometimes they indicate that rain is coming soon. They can drop ice crystals, but the ice evaporates before it reaches the ground....