Meat taste injected into soy beans for burger taste A biochemist at Stanford University in California has found a way to make a soy vegetable burger taste like meat. He isolated a compound that produces the taste in meat, and inserted it into soybean plants. Now he can produce a non-meat burger that tastes like meat. The burgers are on sale at the famous Momofuku restaurant in New York City. Google has offered more than $200milion for Impossible Foods, which owns and produces the vegetable meat products.

clockwise

Tristan: The temperature knob in the hotel shower is hard to understand. If I want warmer water, should I turn the water faucet clockwise or counterclockwise?

Riley: I think you need to turn it clockwise for warmer water. But be careful not to burn yourself.

Explanation: The phrase “clockwise” means to move in the same way as the hands of a clock. The opposite is “counterclockwise.”

clockwise: 時計回り
counterclockwise: 反対時計回り

persist/persistent

Patient: I have a persistent cough that won’t go away. And my throat always hurts. It’s been like this for weeks.

Doctor: It’s common to catch a cold, but if your symptoms have persisted for several weeks, it might be due to a viral infection.

Explanation: The word “persistent” means that someone or something won’t give up. Some infections are very persistent. The verb form is “persist”.

persist (verb) : 主張する
persistent (adjective) : 頑固な

minimum wage

Hello Mr. Johnson:

Can you please ask the human resources department to hire three new staff members for our delivery crew? We’re looking for employees who are willing to work part-time for minimum wage. We need people who can start as soon as possible.

Explanation: The phrase “minimum wage” means the lowest payment for work, according to the law. It is usually calculated by the amount of money paid for doing one hour of work.

minimum wage: 法定の最低賃金