もし人生にこんなシナリオを与えられたら、あなたはどれを選びますか？

*太字の単語やフレーズは、今週のボキャブラリーです。この記事の最後に詳しい説明を載せています。

This week’s question requires us to think about our own well-being versus the well-being of others. 

Image you have been given the following 3 scenarios and you must choose ONLY ONE of them to come true. 

Your choices are: 

To end world famine; 
To win ¥100,000,000; 
To add 10 years to your life. 

Which would you choose and why?

My answer:

Of course, if I won ¥100,000,000, my life would probably be a little more relaxed than it is now. I am sure I would play a little more golf, I would buy an old house in the countryside and spend my time fixing it up and I would certainly do a lot more gardening. Besides that, I could help any friends or family that needed any assistance.

None of us know just how long we will live. However, my assumption is that I have at least another 30 or 40 years left of my life here on earth. And quite honestly, that is plenty for me. For that reason, living until I am 70 or 80 seems like enough time to do what I want to do. However, if I knew that I would die anytime soon, then adding another 10 years might be a good idea since dying young would only hurt the people around me. However, I don’t want to add another 10 years onto my life so that I live until 90 or perhaps even longer.

However, if I am honest with myself and if I really had to choose between the three scenarios, there is no internal debate. As much as I would like some extra money or extra time in my life, those things don’t compare to helping others.

How about you? Which would you choose and why?

I will look forward to hearing your answers this week when we speak.

Be well,

Keith//

This week's vocabulary:

well-being 名詞
幸福, 安寧, 福利
the well-being of the nation｜国家の安寧
material well-being｜物質的幸福.

versus 前置詞｟形式的｠
（比較や二者択一において）…に対して, 対比して, 対照して

scenario 名詞
（複 〜s）
1 （映画の）シナリオ, 脚本
a scenario writer｜シナリオライター.
2 （劇などの）台本, 筋書
under this scenario｜このような筋書で.

famine 名詞
1 飢きん；Ｕ飢え, 空腹, 飢餓(starvation)
a region ravaged by famine｜飢きんに見舞われている地方
famine prices｜飢きん相場.
2 大変な不足, 大欠乏.
［中フランス語←俗ラテン語famīna（famēs飢え＋īna -INE2＝飢えの状態）］

fix (something) up
自動詞｟米略式｠修理する、改善する

assumption 名詞
1 仮定, 想定, 前提, （…と）仮定すること｟that節｠；了解事項；〘論理学〙（三段論法の）小前提
on the assumption that ...｜…という仮定のもとに
It's a mere assumption.｜単なる仮定の話だ.

plenty 名詞
1｟ふつう肯定文｠十分, たくさん, 多数, 多量（の…）｟of ...｠
There was plenty of money.｜たくさん金があった
There were plenty of apples on the tree.｜木にはリンゴがたくさんなっていた

internal debate
（心の）内なる討論