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アメリカ軍は、ネバダ州の空軍基地「エリア51」に宇宙人を隠している！！この有名な都市伝説は、これまでに多くのSF作品を生み、人々の想像力の源となってきました。その真偽(?)はともかく、エリア51周辺の町ではこれを観光の目玉に利用しているようです。

*** It's a Good Expression ***

（今回の重要表現）

What's up?

どうしたの。

(to) be abducted

誘拐される、拉致される

Area 51

man

（間投詞）= wow

highly classified

極秘の

super 〜

（副詞）超〜

fishy

怪しい

I bet 〜

きっと〜に違いない（賭けてもいい）

mini-tourism industry

小さな観光産業

(to) check it out

試しに〜してみる

(to) get arrested

逮捕される

***Script***

Is the American Government Hiding Aliens?

M: Umm, Karla, can I ask you something?

W: Yeah, sure. What's up, Hajime?

M: Have you ever been abducted by aliens?

W: Um… what?

M: I always hear about Americans who say they've been abducted by aliens!

W: Hajime, you can't believe everything you hear! But, actually, Nevada, the state I'm from, is KNOWN for aliens! You know, Area 51 and all that.

M: Area 51? What's that?

W: Oh man… OK, so, "officially," it's a highly classified part of a United States Air Force base, about 150 kilometers north of Las Vegas. But a lot of people think it's much more than that. The government didn't even admit that it existed until less than five years ago. It's super, super top secret. Fishy, right?

M: Hmm... It's probably just the American government trying to protect its military secrets.

W: No! It's ALIEN military secrets! I bet they have a bunch of really advanced alien technology they're hiding in there. Or, even... actual aliens!

M: What happened to NOT believing everything you hear?

W: Hey. A girl can dream!

M: So, have you ever been to Area 51?

W: No… not yet! Actually, a nice sort of mini-tourism industry has developed around Area 51. For example, in the town of Rachel, you can go to this cafe called the Little A'Le'Inn.

M: Wow. If I ever go to America, we should check it out!

W: Yeah! We've gotta be careful, though-- you can get arrested if you come too close to Area 51!

(Written by Jazmin Boulton)