Free Grocery Store537
6/24/2024 (#8 this year)
A teacher called Andrew came from a school called RCA in Vancouver, Canada to visit
us last week. He was doing a tour of all the Asian schools that go to RCA. Did you see
him? Many of our high school students that have come from our junior high school havebeen to that school and they recognized him. I’m always so glad that our students arefriendly and willing to1 greet anyone that they meet. Andrew said that one thing heremembered about Hokusei students is how friendly they were. RCA was a very niceschool and Vancouver is a beautiful city. When I was there, I met many friendly people.
Although, I meet a lot of friendly people in Japan as well.
12 differences

Last week’s answer

Something you didn’t know about food bank
1. The first food bank was made in 1967 by John van Hengel in Phoenix, USA. He wastrying to stop food waste and didn’t realize how important it would be at the time.
2. Most cities in developed countries2 have food banks, but there are not enough inpoorer countries. There are many charities that are trying to set them up.
3. Food banks in Japan started quite recently. There are only 230 at the moment, butthere are more every year.
4. The number of people visiting food banks skyrocketed 3 after the corona virus. The
cost of living crisis4 is also making it very difficult for a lot of people to make ends
meet5. Many people need help.

Canada has opened its
first free grocery store. It
is in Regina, Canada. The
grocery6 store is openfrom 9 to 5, for five days aweek. Why is it free? The
grocery store is operated7
by the Regina Food Bankand all of the food has
been donated8 by people
or local supermarkets and businesses. All of the items in the grocery store arefree for anyone who needs them, and it is set up like a regular store so thecustomers can use a shopping cart and choose what they need. People canvisit the store once every two weeks. The store was set up by the local foodbank because they realized a few things. Firstly, visiting an food bank is very
embarrassing9 for people. When it is set up like a store, there is a lot lessshame10. Secondly, food banks give everybody the same things, but people
don’t always need the same things. It is better if they can choose what theyneed. Thirdly, the store is more visual, and they receive a lot more donations
than before. They help about 200 families a day and 25% of the people whocome in are children. The majority of people who use a food bank have a job,
but they can’t
always afford to
go to a regularshop. They only
visit the foodbank sometimes,
when they arehaving difficulty.
That is why they
are vital11. Foodbanks are asafety net12.
1.willing to する意思がある 2.developed country 先進国 3.skyrocket 急に高くなる 4.cost of living crisis 生
活費危機 5.make ends meet 生活の収支を合わせる 6.grocery 食料雑貨店 7.operate 営業する 8.donate
寄付する 9.embarrassing 恥ずかしい 10.shame 恥ずかしさ 11.vital 命の 12.safety net 安全網

An Unusual Job

World record
I always get hiccups1 when I eat spicy food. My daughter gets hiccups when she starts tolaugh. When you get hiccups, it is called an attack. What about you? When do you gethiccups? Most people get hiccups, but they usually go away pretty quickly. CharlesOsborne from the USA has the world record for the longest attack of hiccups. He started
hiccupping in 1922 and he suddenly stopped one morning in 1990. He had been
hiccupping for 68 years! He said that he would give anything to get rid of2 them. He started
when he fell over. He might have damaged his ribs, or he might have damaged part of hisbrain, but whatever he did he started hiccupping. He died about a year after he stopped
hiccupping. Do you know how to stop your hiccups? I have a foolproof3 method. Youbreathe in as much as
you can and then holdyour breath for 10
seconds.
After10seconds, breathe ineven more without
breathing out. Then
breathe in even moreagain. Then breathe
out. I guarantee it willstop your hiccups.

"We cannot solve problems with the same thinking
we used when we came up with them.”— Albert Einstein

Waterslide tester
Have you ever been to Gateau Kingdom? They have a great waterslide there,
although it is quite short. The world’s longest waterslide is in Penang,Malaysia, and it is 1,140 m long!! It takes about 4 minutes to slide! I would
love to ride that! What about you? Well, if you decide to do this week’s job,
you might be able to. This week, I am looking at the job of waterslide tester.
New waterslides are built all the time. A company designs and installs4 them,but how do they know if the slide is good? Maybe it is too steep 5? Maybe it
has too many sharp turns6? Maybe it doesn’t have enough water. Maybe it
has too much water? Maybe it is too slow? How can the company find out
all of these things? Well, they can hire a professional waterslide tester. Thesepeople travel to new waterslides and ride them many times before they are
opened to the public. Then they write a report about the waterslide, so thecompany know if it is ok. If their report is bad, the company will have toredo7 the slide. Waterslide testers get paid about 3,000 yen an hour. I expectthat most people do it for fun, more than for the money.

1.hiccup しゃっくり 2.get rid of なくすする 3.foolproof 誰にもできる
4.install 設置する 5.steep 急勾配 6.sharp turn 急カーブ 7.redo やり直す