Hiroko-san's Monday Morning English [Week 5]

Travel News Wire… Several major airlines have been raising their fuel surcharges for passengers. This move comes at a time of rising oil prices and the weak dollar. Japanese passengers flying on long range flights may have to pay as much as 60,000yen just for the fuel charge in the coming months.

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Hiroko's Memory Tips:

Look over the phrases for 5 minutes.
Say them to yourself without looking at the screen.
At lunchtime, say them to yourself again. Can you remember all three phrases?

Achilles' Heel

Albert:"How is the new employee working out?"
Paul: "You mean Michael? He has lots of great ideas, he works hard, and he knows how to finalize a contract, but somehow his reports always contain mistakes in the accounting figures. Math seems to be his Achilles' heel."
This phrase comes from Greek mythology and the stories of the Trojan War. According to legend, the mother of Achilles held him by the heel and dipped him in holy water, which protected him from injury. But his heel did not touch the water, and when his enemies found out, they were able to defeat him by shooting an arrow into his heel. To say that you know someone's Achilles' heel means that you know a critical weakness in their personality.

Prescription drug abuse

Many people from all over the U.S. are making multiple visits to pharmacists in Florida. Authorities are worried about the lax pharmacy regulation in that state, and warn that it is a haven for prescription drug abuse.
This phrase means that people can get addicted to common pharmaceutical drugs, and then go to several pharmacies to get large amounts of the prescription drug. They can then sell it to other uses or use it for themselves.

Eating away at our market share

“This year our profits increased by only 1%. Even though customers were satisfied with our prices and products, we have seen the arrival of several competitors from China that are eating away at our market share.”
If we imagine a pie, new companies can start to take more slices of the business pie, and established companies can see their market share divided among a larger number of companies.

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