V. Read the statement below and write a paragraph giving at least two reasons why you agree or disagree with it. Write your answer in English in the space provided on your written answer sheet.
‘A law should be passed in Japan establishing a minimum percentage of woman in key positions in the government and major corporations’
【解答例１】
I prefer printed books than e-books. First, I can highlight or take notes in the printed books. E-books are sometimes really complicated to edit while printed books are easy to add notes.Also, I believe printed books are better to memorize as I am used to study with printed books. Second, the smell of printed books gives me the feeling of being in the story when I am reading fiction stories. I prefer printed books since I can feel the books with five senses, with the weight of the books and the smell of papers. （97語）
I prefer e-books than printed books. One of the reasons is because e-books are easy to share with others. People can access e-books online at the same time, which is useful when I am working with others. Another reason is that e-books allow me to take several books at once as I can download books as much as I need in one tablet. When I am going to school, I don’t need to carry several heavy books if I download them into one light tablet. The mobility of e-books is a huge benefit that I cannot gain by using printed books. （106語）
V. Read the statement below and write a paragraph giving at least two reasons why you agree or disagree with it. Write your answer in English in the space provided on your written answer sheet.
‘A law should be passed in Japan establishing a minimum percentage of woman in key positions in the government and major corporations’
【解答例１】
I agree with the statement. In Japan, many of the key positions in the government and major corporations are men and a percentage of female in key positions is the lowest in the world. This is because historically, Japanese society has been a men-dominated society. For a gender equal society, setting a minimum percentage could be the first step. Another reason is having a minimum percentage of women in key positions can lead to fair decision making for both men and women. Government policies are often in favor of men and women’s voice are difficult to be reflected to policies as people who are making decisions are mostly men. Having women and men at high positions can result in fair policies in a government or corporations.
（114語）
I disagree with the statement. First, the law should not be favorable to any group of people in society. Making a law for males to forbid any gender discrimination toward females is acceptable. However, making a law to set a minimum percentage of woman in key positions in the government and major corporations for women should not be acceptable in terms of fairness and equality. Second, the high positions of government and corporations should be chosen by the ability of each person and not by the gender. If a male in the government or a corporation has more ability than female, it is normal that the male with more ability to be chosen to the key positions.
(109語)
V. Read the statement below and write a paragraph giving at least two reasons why you agree or disagree with it. Write your answer in English in the space provided on your written answer sheet.
‘Gay marriage should be made legal in Japan’
【解答例１】
I agree with the statement that gay marriage should be made legal in Japan. First, getting married to their lovers is one of the fundamental human rights recognized in the Japanese constitution. This means no one should entrench on it no matter which sex they are getting married with. Second, to make gay marriage legal will not cause any negative effects on Japanese society at all. Since it is considered that DNA is linked to being gay, no matter legalizing gay marriage or not, it will not cause any changes of population of the society. Allowing people with all types of genders will lead to more happiness in the society.
（111語）
I am against the statement that gay marriage should be made legal in Japan. There are two reasons that I disagree with the statement. First, marriage is to swear to love their wives or husbands, which should be male and female. Legalizing gay marriage means that marriage is no longer a pious event. Second, gay marriage is not allowed by most of the main religions in the world, such as Judaism and Christianity. Legalizing gay marriage means that it denies those religious faiths. Since freedom of faith is recognized by the Japanese Constitution, the government should not make a decision which offends those religious faiths. (105語)
be used to 名詞で〜に慣れている。この表現はused to(かつては〜だった) という表現と勘違いしやすいので、注意しましょう。
attribute A to B で,Aの原因をBと考えるという意味になります。 因果関係を生む動詞は文章を読む上で非常に大事です。なぜなら、これだけで理由を説明するBecauseや、結果を表すthereforeと同じ意味になるのです。こうした語彙であれば、多くの人が注意している場合が多いですが、動詞の因果関係は見逃しがちです。パラフレーズを見抜くのであれば、確実に覚えておきたい表現でしょう。
文法の問題。副詞のenoughの使い方がわかるかどうかが鍵となります。副詞のenoughは形容詞を後ろから説明して、enoughの値がどれくらい十分なのかを説明しています。ここではyoung peopleがどれだけold(=mature)なのかということをto不定詞以降で表しています。
young people old enough to
下線部のstatistical illusionというのは、trueからの文章をさしています。このことから答えは3になります。
1が違う理由は、関係ないように見えて関係しているとは言っていません。むしろここでの論理は逆ですね。関係しているように見せて実際は関係ない事柄ということです。
2が違う理由はat a glanceだと関係しているように見えるので逆ですね。
4については、similar trendsというのが間違っています。simlar trendだとどっちかが上がった時に、どっちかも上がるという傾向でないとおかしいです。
設問4
これは文法問題です。 ought to have + vppという形がわからないと答えを導き出せません。すべきだったのにしなかったという意味になります。否定形と同じ扱いですね。それ以外の選択肢は実際に教訓を得たことになり現在法律が変わってないのと矛盾するのでバツになります。
設問5
これは知識問題ですので、日頃単語を覚える時に覚えてください。
設問6
this phenomenon(お酒を一つの場で過剰に摂取すること(以後A)) と the current laws(20歳から飲酒可,(以後B))の関係が [clear(誰がみても100%) のrelation なのか,以後①], [at least(最低限)のconnectedなのか,以後②]と言うのが問題になりますね。
まず空欄の前の方は、attribute (A) directly to (B) ではないといっていますので、at leastの方の選択肢が入ります。
①In july one of Taiwan’s top newspapers, United Daily News, published a story based on supposedly leaked minutes from a secret government meeting. ②America had asked Taiwan to manufacture biological weapons at a lab run by the island’s defence ministry, the report claimed. ③Taiwanese and American officials quickly denied it. ④The allegedly leaked minutes, it transpired, were not written in the usual style of Taiwanese government records. ⑤They were filled with official-sounding phrases used in mainland China, but not Taiwan. ⑥This was likely Chinese disinformation, Taiwanese officials said. ⑦Yet the story spread to Taiwanese talk shows and influencers. ⑧Within weeks it had evolved into a wilder claim: ⑧Taiwan was going to collect 150,000 samples of Taiwanese blood and hand them over to the Americans, so that they could develop a virus to kill Chinese people. 出典：”China is flooding Taiwan with disinformation”From The Economist
VOA Learning Englishあたりから始めて徐々に英文記事に慣れていくといいだろう。
英検準1級くらいまでの単語を覚えたらThe New York TimesやBBC Newsなどにも挑戦してほしい。
そのあたりまでいけば馴染みのある分野なら大体読めるくらいになってるはずだ。もちろん一番の対策は過去問演習であることには間違いないのだが、それと並行して上記のような多読を行うと盤石な実力がつく。
ぜひ時間のあるうちに始めて見てほしい。
