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7/16/2024 (#11 this year)
We had another Monday off. I like four-day weeks. What about you? What did you getup to1 yesterday? It was sea day. Did you go to the sea? I didn’t do anything. Theweather is going to start getting hotter this week. I bought an air conditioner this year,
but I haven’t used it yet. I think the first time we use it is probably coming. My wife, mydaughter, and I can stand2 the hot weather. Our cat is the one that suffers the most. Hehas a fur coat that he just can’t take off. I offered to shave him at the same time I shave
my own hair, but my wife won’t let me. He lies on the floor in the genkan because it is
the coolest place in the house and he just looks uncomfortable for the whole summer.
12 differences!

Fast Fashion Might Become Recyclable
Many of the clothes we wear are fast fashion. We buy them because they arecheap and they are made of light, modern materials6. However, most fast
fashion items are made from polyester, which is a huge problem. Polyester isa type of plastic and it is one of the biggest sources7 of microplastics. Obviously,
the best thing to do is not use plastics, but that is not really an option. If there
was a way to recycle these clothes it would help the environment a lot. The
problem is that most fast fashion is made from a mix of different materials. You
can recycle polyester, you can recycle cotton, you can recycle nylon, and youcan recycle wool. However, you cannot recycle them when they are mixed
together. Scientists from the University of Delaware, USA, have worked out away to separate the materials. They have found a solvent8 that can break thebonds9 between the polyester and the other materials. Once it has done that,the materials come apart and can both be recycled. There are a few problems.
The solvent is expensive and some of the polyester is destroyed in the process.
Still, it is better than nothing10. It is a start and maybe we will find a way torecycle all of these materials in the future.

Last week’s answer

Something you didn’t know about polyester
1. Polyester was invented in 1930 by a chemist3 called Wallace Carothers.
2. Polyester is made from petroleum4.
3. Currently, China is the largest producer of polyester.
4. 65 million tons of polyester is produced every year. In 1975, it was 8 kg per person.
In 2022, it was 14.6 kg per person.
5. Polyester is very bad for the environment, but it is a very useful material. It’s strong,it keeps its shape, it’s easy to clean, it dries quickly, and it is very light.
6. Polyester clothes don’t only release microplastics5 when we throw them away. They
release microplastic each time we wash them.

1.What did you get up to 何したの 2.stand 我慢する 3.chemist 科学者 4.petroleum 石油
5.microplastic 小さいプラスチック 6.material 材料 7.source 源 8.solvent 溶媒 9.bond
化学結合 10.better than nothing 何もないよりましだ

An Unusual Job\World record
Do you have any pets? I have a cat called Mirin. He is mostly friendly, but I don’t think heis very smart. He is about the size of an average housecat and he weighs about 5 kg. Do
you know how big the biggest house cat is? It is called Fenrir Antares Powers and it is47.83 cm tall. That is pretty big for a housecat, but it is not the biggest cat. You might think
the biggest cat is a lion or a tiger, but it is actually a liger, which is a mix between a lion
and a tiger. The father has to be a lion and the mother has to be a tiger. This liger is called
Hercules and he is 3.33 m tall when he stands up on his rear1 legs. He weighs 418 kg.
Would you like one of those in your house? Maybe we could get one here at school? It
could walk around the corridors2 during class and then we could feed it. Hercules eats
about 14 kg of meat a day, so we’ll need to take turns buying it.

Odor Tester
Do you have a good sense of smell? If someone asks you to smell something,
can you analyze3 what it smells like? If I give you a cup of fresh coffee tosmell, do you say, “It smells like caramel, nuts, chocolate, citrus blossoms,
roast beef, and honey.” Of, do you say, “Dunno4. Smells like coffee.” If you
are the former5, then odor6 tester is the job for you. An odor tester has tosmell lots of things and decide what they smell like. Everything we own has
a smell of some kind. Your pen, your microwave, your shampoo. Before
these things went to the shops, an odor tester smelled them to decide if
their smell was ok or not. If the odor tester says the smell is bad, thecompany can make changes so that it smells nicer. There are many levels ofodor testing and as people get better and more experienced7, they are able
to smell more complex8 aromas9. These people can earn10 a lot of money
and companies where smell is important look for them. That could be you.

後 2.corridor 廊下 3.analyze 分析する 4.dunno “I don’t know”の“You can’t use up creativity. The more 1.rear
やく 5.former 前の 6.odor 香気 7.experience 経験 8.complex 複雑なyou use, the more you have”— Maya Angelou 9.aroma 香 10.earn 稼ぐ