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蚊と観光客とちびっこギャング
夏がくると筆者は3つのものに悩まされます。それはウイルスを運ぶ蚊と、街中にあふれる観光客と、やかましい子供たち。特に子供たちは、義務制のサマースクールもさぼり、はしゃぎまわって大人たちを困らせます。一体どうすればよいのでしょうか?!
Mosquitoes, Tourists, Kids: Nuisances of Summer
By BOB YAMPOLSKY
Summer in New York is usually a hot and sticky affair, but it has been a lovely summer
so far. We have had day after day of bright, dry weather, where it's hot in the sun and
cool in the shade, and we have not had to put on the air conditioner once this year.
Of course summer does bring some pests. I can think of three, off hand. First, there
are mosquitoes. We have always had mosquitoes, but last year some of our mosquitoes
were found to be carrying an exotic and potentially fatal African disease, the
West Nile Virus.
Number two are the tourists, who are everywhere. Of course it's not nice to call them
pests (especially because they spend so much money here), but I really do wish they
would learn to walk faster.
And number three are the kids. Now as everyone with kids knows, there are two kinds of
kids: your kids, and other people's kids. When I talked to the parents of my kids'
classmates, the first thing everyone asks is, "What are you doing with your kids?" All
across the city there are day camps, swimming classes, art classes and a myriad of
other activities that have one primary purpose: to get the kids out of the house.
As for the other kind of kids, they are all over the city, of course, now that it is
summer vacation. But this is a type of pest that the city has actually taken major
strides in reducing, through a new mandatory summer school program.
The New York public school system has ended its policy of "social promotion," that
is, the policy of sending students on to the next grade regardless of their
performance in school. Now, students who do not meet the standards for their grade
are required to attend and successfully complete sum
mer school before they are allowed to advance.
This new summer school program has had a shaky start. Last year, students took a test
at the end of the year that determined whether or not they had to go to summer school.
About 52,000 children in kindergarten through 12th-grade were required to attend, but
when the summer was over, the Board of Education admitted that it hadn't really
kept proper attendance, and they weren't really sure how many of those kids actually
went to summer school.
Then the company administering the tests admitted that it had made mistakes in grading
the tests, and that about 8,000 students who were given failing scores had actually
passed the tests, and had gone to summer school even though they actually didn't have
to.
This year, over 300,000 students (about a third of the total student population) were
told they would have to go to summer school. I applaud the city's efforts: the streets
and parks have noticeably fewer children in them on weekdays. Unfortunately, there
have been attendance problems, with close to 40 percent of the students not attending as
they should.
Attendance was also a problem this July Fourth. I'm not a big July Fourth fan myself,
but this year there were some special events planned; in particular, OpSail 2000,
which was billed as one of the greatest gatherings of ships ever. And among these
ships would be tall ships from around the world, which would parade one by one up the
Hudson River.
Now the actual gathering of the ships was to take place in New York Harbor, off
Battery Park on the southern end of Manhattan. But I knew that Battery Park would be
infested with tourists, so I did the smart thing and took my kids to Riverside Park,
where tourists never go.
It was crowded, but with neighborhood people, and crowded in a manageable way. We
found a spot by the railing, where we would have an obstructed view of the ships,
and waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, off in the distance, we spotted masts. The tall ships were coming! We waited.
Odd, the masts did not seem to be getting any closer. Odder still, the ships seemed to
be turning around. We waited some more, and then people with cell phones, who had
called people watching the event on television, began spreading the news: The ships were
going as far as midtown, miles to the south of us, and then were turning around.
Many people were quite upset. A lot of people had gathered in northern Manhattan to
see the ships, and no one even bothered to tell us that they weren't coming.
Personally, I was annoyed, but not in a big way. After all, it was a typical New
York screw-up.
There were fireworks that evening the largest in New York history. I had learned my
lesson, though, and I wasn't about to go downtown to see them. Instead I climbed to the
roof of our building, and watched the show with my neighbors. It was a beautiful
night. The fireworks were lovely and so, of course, was the Manhattan skyline. It was
past the mosquitoes' feeding time. There were no tourists and no rowdy school
kids.
In fact, it was so nearly perfect that I was almost able to block out my
four-year-old's insistent, "Can we go home now?"
Summer in New York is usually a hot and sticky affair, but it has been a lovely summer
so far. We have had day after day of bright, dry weather, where it's hot in the sun and
cool in the shade, and we have not had to put on the air conditioner once this year.
Of course summer does bring some pests. I can think of three, off hand. First, there
are mosquitoes. We have always had mosquitoes, but last year some of our mosquitoes
were found to be carrying an exotic and potentially fatal African disease, the
West Nile Virus.
Number two are the tourists, who are everywhere. Of course it's not nice to call them
pests (especially because they spend so much money here), but I really do wish they
would learn to walk faster.
And number three are the kids. Now as everyone with kids knows, there are two kinds of
kids: your kids, and other people's kids. When I talked to the parents of my kids'
classmates, the first thing everyone asks is, "What are you doing with your kids?" All
across the city there are day camps, swimming classes, art classes and a myriad of
other activities that have one primary purpose: to get the kids out of the house.
As for the other kind of kids, they are all over the city, of course, now that it is
summer vacation. But this is a type of pest that the city has actually taken major
strides in reducing, through a new mandatory summer school program.
The New York public school system has ended its policy of "social promotion," that
is, the policy of sending students on to the next grade regardless of their
performance in school. Now, students who do not meet the standards for their grade
are required to attend and successfully complete sum
mer school before they are allowed to advance.
This new summer school program has had a shaky start. Last year, students took a test
at the end of the year that determined whether or not they had to go to summer school.
About 52,000 children in kindergarten through 12th-grade were required to attend, but
when the summer was over, the Board of Education admitted that it hadn't really
kept proper attendance, and they weren't really sure how many of those kids actually
went to summer school.
Then the company administering the tests admitted that it had made mistakes in grading
the tests, and that about 8,000 students who were given failing scores had actually
passed the tests, and had gone to summer school even though they actually didn't have
to.
This year, over 300,000 students (about a third of the total student population) were
told they would have to go to summer school. I applaud the city's efforts: the streets
and parks have noticeably fewer children in them on weekdays. Unfortunately, there
have been attendance problems, with close to 40 percent of the students not attending as
they should.
Attendance was also a problem this July Fourth. I'm not a big July Fourth fan myself,
but this year there were some special events planned; in particular, OpSail 2000,
which was billed as one of the greatest gatherings of ships ever. And among these
ships would be tall ships from around the world, which would parade one by one up the
Hudson River.
Now the actual gathering of the ships was to take place in New York Harbor, off
Battery Park on the southern end of Manhattan. But I knew that Battery Park would be
infested with tourists, so I did the smart thing and took my kids to Riverside Park,
where tourists never go.
It was crowded, but with neighborhood people, and crowded in a manageable way. We
found a spot by the railing, where we would have an obstructed view of the ships,
and waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, off in the distance, we spotted masts. The tall ships were coming! We waited.
Odd, the masts did not seem to be getting any closer. Odder still, the ships seemed to
be turning around. We waited some more, and then people with cell phones, who had
called people watching the event on television, began spreading the news: The ships were
going as far as midtown, miles to the south of us, and then were turning around.
Many people were quite upset. A lot of people had gathered in northern Manhattan to
see the ships, and no one even bothered to tell us that they weren't coming.
Personally, I was annoyed, but not in a big way. After all, it was a typical New
York screw-up.
There were fireworks that evening the largest in New York history. I had learned my
lesson, though, and I wasn't about to go downtown to see them. Instead I climbed to the
roof of our building, and watched the show with my neighbors. It was a beautiful
night. The fireworks were lovely and so, of course, was the Manhattan skyline. It was
past the mosquitoes' feeding time. There were no tourists and no rowdy school
kids.
In fact, it was so nearly perfect that I was almost able to block out my
four-year-old's insistent, "Can we go home now?"
Shukan ST: July 28, 2000
(C) All rights reserved
-
- Mosquitoes
- 蚊
- nuisances
- うんざりさせるもの
- hot and sticky affair
- 蒸し暑いもの
- shade
- 日陰
- pests
- 害虫や害獣、厄介なもの
- off hand
- 即座に
- were found to 〜
- 〜 なのが分かった
- exotic
- 外来の
- potentially fatal
- 死につながる可能性のある
- day camps
- 昼間だけの子供向けキャンプ(夜は家に帰る)
- a myriad of 〜
- 無数の 〜
- primary purpose
- 主な目的
- As for 〜
- 〜 については
- now that 〜
- 〜 なので
- (has)taken major strides in reducing
- 減らそうと大胆な作戦をとった
- mandatory
- 強制的な
- social promotion
- ところてん式の進級
- regardless of 〜
- 〜 に関係なく
- performance
- 成績
- are required to 〜
- 〜 を要求される
- advance
- 進級する
- shaky
- 危なっかしい
- kindergarten
- 幼稚園
- Board of Education
- 教育委員会
- (hadn't)kept proper attendance
- きちんと出席を取らなかった
- administering 〜
- 〜 を実施した
- failing scores
- 落第点
- population
- 人口
- applaud
- 称賛する
- noticeably
- 顕著に
- July Fourth
- 7月4日の米独立記念日
- OpSail 2000
- = Operation Sail 2000 世界中から100艘以上の船を集めた記念イベント
- was billed as 〜
- 〜 と宣伝された
- tall ships
- 大型帆船
- take place in 〜
- で開催される
- be infested with
- がはびこっている
- manageable
- 対応できる
- railing
- 欄干
- obstructed view
- 視界を邪魔される景色
- off in the distance
- はるか遠くに
- Odd
- 奇妙な
- cell(=cellular)phones
- 携帯電話
- midtown
- 商業地区と住宅地区の中間地区で、ホテル、劇場、映画館が立ち並ぶ繁華街
- (were)upset
- 憤慨した
- no one even bothered to 〜
- だれもわざわざ 〜 しなかった
- was annoyed
- いらいらした
- typical
- 典型的な
- screw-up
- へま、どじ
- fireworks
- 花火
- had learned my lesson
- 教訓を得た
- neighbors
- 近所の人たち
- skyline
- 空を背景にした高層ビルの輪郭
- feeding time
- 血を吸う時間
- rowdy
- やかましい
- block out
- 心から閉め出す
- insistent, 〜
- しつこい 〜 という言葉
-