raft #2

raftが気になりました。尚、この表現は、以前先輩が解説されていた記事があるので、リンクを張らせて頂きます。a raft of - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
復習となりますが、ここでのraftは「いかだ」ではなく「（（主に米））多数、大量」（『ジーニアス英和辞典　第３版』大修館）の意になります。確認のためLDOCEも参照してみますと’ a large number of things’と記述されていました。更に、関連表現としましてa (whole) raft ofでは「たくさんの」（ibid）と表現できますので、こちらも併せておさえておこうと思います。(Shou-VR*)

'The Butler' expands its appeal at the box office

Despite a legal battle that could have imperiled its ticket sales prospects,"Lee Daniels' The Butler" takes the box-office crown for a second straight week — and may be Oscar's first contender.

As recently as last month, Lee Daniels' The Butlerwas looking like a box office mess.

The Weinstein Co., which owned the film rights, had just lost a legal battle with Warner Bros, which claimed that its 1916 short The Butler had title ownership. The studio had to take down posters, its Facebook page, and change the title to add director Lee Daniels. On top of that, it would face a summer slate that included teen favorites: horror and fantasy films.

No matter. Butler fended off another raft of new films this weekend, taking its second consecutive box-office crown with $17 million this weekend, according to studio estimates from Hollywood.com.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/08/25/the-butler-box-office/2696285/