知ってる内容を英語ルートで理解。
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I went to the pharmacy to get medicine from the doctor. At the cash register, I looked at the paper showing how much money I needed to pay. I saw something strange called a “management fee”. I asked the pharmacist what this meant. He said it is money they charge to make sure customers don’t take the wrong medicines or medicines they are allergic to.
I told the pharmacist this was the only medicine I was taking and that I was not allergic to anything. So I said I would not pay the management fee.
The pharmacist surprised me by saying, “You must pay everything, or I cannot give you your medicine!”
I left the pharmacy without my medicine, feeling very upset. I wondered if pharmacies are allowed to refuse to give prescribed medicine just because the customer does not want to pay a certain fee.
On my way home, I thought about the word “prescription”. It looks like it has something to do with DNA analysis, which I used to study words from ancient languages like English.
After some research, I found that the “scribe” part of “prescription” comes from an ancient word SKER, meaning “to cut or carve”. Long ago, scribes would carve words into stone or wood to write messages that became the start of modern languages.
The SKER is still found in many English words like skirt, screen and scale – words about cutting things. A skirt is cut from cloth. A screen divides a space. Scales were once sharp shells used for cutting. You see they are related etymologically.
A few days later, the pharmacy staff apologized to me for the rude pharmacist. They said pharmacies cannot legally refuse to sell prescribed medicine just because a customer does not want to pay certain fees.
The eye medicine I got will last a very long time since you only need one tiny drop each time. Doctors should be careful not to prescribe too much medicine, or medical costs will keep rising for everyone.
I hope you enjoyed my story and that you continue enjoying learning English!
私立学校に英語教師として勤務中、40代半ばに差し掛かったころ、荒れたクラスを立て直す策として、生徒に公言して英検1級に挑戦することを思い立つ。同様の挑戦を繰り返し、退職までに英検一級（検定連合会長賞）、TOEIC満点、国連英検SA級、フランス語一級、スペイン語一級（文科大臣賞）、ドイツ語一級、放送大学大学院修士号などの成果を得る。
アメリカで生徒への対応法を学ぶ為に研修（地銀の助成金）。最新の心理学に触れた。4都県での全発表、勤務校での教員への研修を英語で行う。現在も特別選抜クラスの授業を全て英語で行っている。「どうやって単語を覚えればいいですか？」という良くある質問に答える為、印欧祖語からの派生に基づく「生徒には見せたくない語源英単語集」を執筆中。完成間近。常日頃洋書の読破で様々な思考にふれているが、そうして得た発想の一つを生かして書いた論文がコロナ対策論文として最近入賞。賞品の牛肉に舌鼓をうっている。元英検面接委員