皮膚の役割

皮膚の役割

Have you ever thought about what skin does for us?
Most of us are aware that skin protects us from liquid, heat, cold, dirt, and bacteria.
But that is not its only job.
For instance, the skin is where our bodies make the vitamin D that we need.
Another function has to do with the sense of touch.
Without that sense, we could not feel any difference between rough and smooth surfaces.
Skin can even help us determine if someone is sick.
The wrong color – slightly gray or very pale – may be a sign of disease.
Skin may reflect a person’s mental state, too.
Unusual sweating, for example, may be a sign that a person is nervous or under stress.

遺伝子と行動

Genes, the basic parts of cells which are passed down from parents to children, may have something to do with human behavior.
In an experiment, scientists put flies into a glass tube and placed a light at the end of it.
Some of the flies began flying toward the light, some began walking, and some did not move at all.
On the basis of the flies’ actions, they were separated into different groups: flies that love light, files that like light, and flies that like the dark.
The researchers found that these three groups of flies had variations in a particular set of genes.
This suggested to the researchers that the variations in these genes might explain the differences in the flies’ behaviors.
If genes influence behaviors in flies, why not in humans too?

アルファベット読みとフォニックス読み

今日は、アルファベット読みとフォニックス読みについて、少し触れてみたいと思います。
アルファベット読みは、「A」を「エイ[ei]」と発音するのに対して、
フォニックス読みの場合は、「A」は「アとエの中間[æ]」で発音します。
つまり、フォニックス読みは単語になった場合の発音となります。

アルファベット読み・フォニックス読み一覧表

例えば、「b」「l」「o」「g」をまとめて表記すると「blog」となります。
これを上の表のアルファベット読みで発音すると「ビーエルオウジー」となりますが、この発音では英語での会話はできません。
単語の「blog」を発音する場合は、上の表のフォニックス読み「ブルオグ」のように読みます。一部例外はありますが、単語を発音する場合に、フォニックス読みを意識して読むと良いかと思います。