BBC News をもちいて前置詞を徹底解説！世界の死刑制度の現状について

「Global executions at highest level since 2015, report says」の記事に関して、読解していきます。日本語訳は、こちらにあります。前置詞が曖昧だと、TOEICの読解で9割を取ることは難しいです。TOEICが中々900点を超えない方がよく難しい単語をたくさん覚えて点を上げようとしていますが、その必要はほとんどなく前置詞をしっかり掴めば文脈から単語の意味を推測でき文全体が理解できます。この記事の中で分からない前置詞があればクリックして、解説を読んで下さい。では始めましょう。

単語リスト

キーワード	発音記号	意味
moratorium	/ˌmɒrəˈtɔːriəm/	一時停止、猶予
clemency	/ˈklemənsi/	寛大な措置、恩赦
acquitted	/əˈkwɪtɪd/	無罪判決を受けた
signed into	/saɪnd ˈɪntuː/	（法律などが）成立した
unlawful drug-related offences	/ʌnˈlɔːfʊl drʌɡ rɪˈleɪtɪd əˈfensɪz/	違法な薬物関連犯罪
weaponising	/ˈwepənaɪzɪŋ/	武器化する
quadrupled	/ˈkwɒdruːpəld/	4倍になった
entitled	/ɪnˈtaɪtəld/	という表題である
restrictive state practices	/rɪˈstrɪktɪv steɪt ˈpræktɪsɪz/	制限的な国家慣行
is likely to be higher	/ɪz ˈlaɪkli tuː biː ˈhaɪə(r)/	より高い可能性がある
gallows	/ˈɡæləʊz/	絞首台
capital punishment	/ˈkæpɪtl ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/	死刑
tide is turning	/taɪd ɪz ˈtɜːnɪŋ/	潮目が変わってきている
for the second consecutive year	/fɔː(r) ðə ˈsekənd kənˈsekjʊtɪv jɪə(r)/	2年連続で
accounting for	/əˈkaʊntɪŋ fɔː(r)/	～を占める、～の理由となる
state executions	/steɪt ˌeksɪˈkjuːʃənz/	国家による死刑執行

The number of state executions around the world has reached its highest level in ten years, a new report by Amnesty International has said.

More than 1,500 recorded executions took place in 2024 with Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounting for a combined 1,380 and the United States for 25, the charity found.

Despite this rise, the report also found that the total number of countries carrying out the death penalty stood at 15 – the lowest number on record for the second consecutive year.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the “tide is turning” on capital punishment, adding that “it is only a matter of time until the world is free from the shadow of the gallows“.

While these figures are the highest they have been since 2015 – when at least 1,634 people were subject to the death penalty – the true overall figure is likely to be higher.

Amnesty International says the figure does not include those killed in China, which it believes carries out thousands of executions each year. North Korea and Vietnam are also not included.

Data on the use of the death penalty is classified as a state secret both in China and Vietnam, meaning that the charity has been unable to access statistics.

Other obstacles, such as restrictive state practices or the ongoing crises in Gaza and Syria, meant that little or no information was available for those areas.

The report, entitled Death Sentences and Executions 2024, cited that Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were responsible for the overall rise in known executions.

Iraq almost quadrupled its executions from at least 16 to at least 63, while Saudi Arabia doubled its yearly total from 172 to at least 345.

Executions in Iran rose from at least 853 in 2023 to at least 972 in 2024.

The report also said that the two main reasons for the spike in the use of capital punishment was down to “countries weaponising the death penalty against protesters” and for “drug-related crimes”.

The charity found that more than 40% of executions in 2024 were carried out for drug-related offences, which it said was unlawful under human rights law.

In 2024, Zimbabwe signed into law a bill that abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes and, since September 2024, the world has seen two cases where death row inmates in Japan and the US have been acquitted and granted clemency respectively.

The charity also said more than two thirds of all UN member states voted in favour of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty last year.

出典元

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3r8n3yx1x5o