・57 センター試驗 2019 (6) 5パラ

(5)     Today, we have a new type of route, the Internet, which specializes in the electronic exchange of information.  By using this worldwide route, people can easily obtain information that once was available mainly from books and face-to-face communication.  They can also instantly send messages to large numbers of people all at once.  According to one study, more than 3.5 billion people, which is about half of the global population, have access to this electronic route today.  As technology advances, more and more people will take advantage of this route to gather information and communicate.

[設問]

問4  What does paragraph (5) tell us about routes?  [  49  ]

  ①  Routes can be thought of as existing invisibly in the world.

  ②  Routes that move information can be regarded as dangerous.

  ③  The fundamental functions of routes are declining.

  ④  The importance of different kinds of routes is the same.

 

 

【解答・解説】

 [番號付英文]

5.1  Today, we have a new type of route, the Internet, which specializes in the electronic exchange of information.

5.2  By using this worldwide route, people can easily obtain information that once was available mainly from books and face-to-face communication.

5.3  They can also instantly send messages to large numbers of people all at once.

5.4  According to one study, more than 3.5 billion people, which is about half of the global population, have access to this electronic route today.

5.5  As technology advances, more and more people will take advantage of this route to gather information and communicate.

 

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

問4  What does paragraph (5) tell us about routes? （第5パラグラフは（通り）道について私たちに何を傳へてゐるか） [  49  ]

  ①  Routes can be thought of as existing invisibly in the world. （（通り）道は、目に見えないかたちで世界に存在してゐると考へることもできる）

  ②  Routes that move information can be regarded as dangerous. （情報をやりとりする（通り）道は危險だと看做され得る）

  ③  The fundamental functions of routes are declining. （（通り）道の基本的機能は低下中である）

  ④  The importance of different kinds of routes is the same. （さまざまな種類の（通り）道の重要性は變はらない）

※第５パラグラフでは、新しいルートとして「情報入手と通信手段としてのインターネットが廣く利用されてゐる」ことが述べられてゐます。②③④については述べられてゐません。

 

[解答]

[  49  ]  ①

[語句・構文等]

5.1     specialize in ～            ～を專門に扱ふ

5.3      message                         [發音・アクセント注意]  [mésidʒ]

5.3     large numbers of ～   多數の～

5.3      all at once                     同時に/突然

5.4      according to ～            ～の言ふところによれば/～にしたがつて

5.4      more than ～                ～以上

5.5      more and more ～      〈比較級 and 比較級〉については、 「英文讀解のヒント（39）」 （2015年12月9日付）に解説と例文があります。

5.5      take advantage of ～ ～（機會など）を利用する

5q1     think of ～ as …         ～を…とみなす/～を…と考へる

5q2     regard ～ as …            ～を…とみなす/～を…と考へる

 

[意味把握チェック]

5.1  今日私たちは新しいタイプの（通り）道、インターネットを持つてをり、それは電子情報交換を專門に扱ふものである。

5.2  世界中に及ぶこの（通り）道を使ふことにより、人々は、かつては主に書物や直接向ひあつての意思傳達によつて入手できた情報を、簡單に手に入れることができる。

5.3  人々は多くの人々へのメッセーヂを同時に一瞬のうちに送ることもできる。

5.4  ある研究によれば、35億人以上の人々が、それは地球人口の約半數であるが、今日この電子的（通り）道を利用できる状態にある。

5.5  科學技術が進歩するにつれて、益々多くの人々が、情報收集と意思疏通のためにこの（通り）道を利用することであらう。

・57 センター試驗 2019 (5) 4パラ

(4)     People have gone on to open routes in the sky as well.  Since the invention of the airplane, these routes have made it possible for people to travel long distances easily.  They found the best routes by considering conditions such as winds and air currents.  Eventually, people became able to travel safely and comfortably high in the sky, and going vast distances only took a small amount of time.  In fact, people used to need more than one month to travel to Europe from Japan by ship, whereas today they can travel between them in a single day by airplane.  Owing to the establishment of these sky routes, a great number of people now travel around the world for sightseeing, visiting friends, and doing business.

 

【解答・解説】

 [番號付英文]

4.1  People have gone on to open routes in the sky as well.

4.2  Since the invention of the airplane, these routes have made it possible for people to travel long distances easily.

4.3  They found the best routes by considering conditions such as winds and air currents.

4.4  Eventually, people became able to travel safely and comfortably high in the sky, and going vast distances only took a small amount of time.

4.5  In fact, people used to need more than one month to travel to Europe from Japan by ship, whereas today they can travel between them in a single day by airplane.

4.6  Owing to the establishment of these sky routes, a great number of people now travel around the world for sightseeing, visiting friends, and doing business.

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

  センター試驗の設問Ｂは各パラグラフの主題を問ふものです。讀み進める際に、各パラグラフの内容を簡潔なメモとして（單語レベルで）問題文のわきに書きつけておくと、これが解答を考へる際の手がかりとなり時間が節約できます。きちんとした文章にする必要はありません。第4パラグラフだと「空路」か「空路の開設」など。

 

  なほセンター試驗の論説文では、各パラグラフの主題（文）がパラグラフの先頭に置かれることが多いやうな印象があります。したがつて、讀み進める前に、先頭文をざつと眺めておくと全體の主題の見當をつけることができ、讀み易くなることが多いやうに思ひます。

  この問題文の先頭文を並べてみますと、

(1)  From quiet paths by a stream in a forest to busy roads running through a city, people have created various forms of routes in different places.

(2)  Early routes were often formed naturally on land.

(3)  People have established routes on water, too.

(4)  People have gone on to open routes in the sky as well.

(5)  Today, we have a new type of route, the Internet, which specializes in the electronic exchange of information.

(6)  As long as there have been people, there have been routes to connect them.

 

  試驗の名稱、問題文の長さ・難易度や設問形式は變はつても、ふつうの論説文の構造は大きくは變はらないと思はれますので、パラグラフ構造について知つておくことは有益ではないかと思ひます。拙ブログでは、2011年2月から3月にかけての試行段階で General Structure of an Essay といふ記事を連載してをりますので、よろしければ御參照ください。初囘の記事「試行： General Structure of an Essay」 （2011年2月25日付）にリンクをはつておきます。文の解説は2011年3月の記事をご覽ください。

 

[語句・構文等]

4.1     go on to-不定詞（～）              續いて次に～する

4.1     as well                            ～もまた

4.2    it（形式目的語）       第五文型〈SVOC〉でOを假に it としておき、後に目的語（ここでは不定詞句 for people to travel long distances easily）を置く文體です。for people は不定詞の意味上の主語を示してゐます。「～が、人々が長距離を容易く旅行することを可能にし（てき）た」「～により、人々は長距離を容易く旅行することができるやうになつてゐる」といふ意味になります。（※ 形式目的語を用ゐる文體については「英文讀解のヒント（8）」　（2014年7月23日付）に解説や例文を掲載してゐます）

4.4     a small amount of ～             少量の～

4.5     in (point of ) fact        實のところ/實際上

4.5     whereas ～                   （譯し下して）、ところが～/～であるのに對して

4.6     owing to ～                  ～のせゐで/～のゆゑに

4.6     a great number of ～ 多くの～

 

[意味把握チェック]

4.1  人々は續いて次に空にも（通り）道を拓いてきた。

4.2  航空機の發明以來、これらの（通り）道は人々が長い距離を容易に移動することを可能にしてきた。

4.3  人々は、風や氣流といつた條件を考慮することによつて最適な（通り）道を見出した。

4.4  結局、人々は高空を安全・快適に旅行することができるやうになつた、また遠大な距離を進むのにわづかな時間しか要しなかつた。

4.5  實際、以前は日本から船でヨーロッパに旅するのに一ケ月以上を要してゐた（ものだ）、ところが今日では飛行機だと兩者の間をただの一日で旅行することができる。

4.6  これらの空路の確立のゆゑに、今や多くの人々が觀光や友人訪問、商用のため世界中を旅行してゐる。

 

※お知らせ： 次週3月4日は都合により休載いたします。

・57 センター試驗 2019 (4) 3パラ

(3)     People have established routes on water, too.  Rivers and canals have served as effective routes for people to move around and carry things.  For instance, in the old Japanese city of Edo, water routes were used for the transportation of agricultural products, seafood, and wood, which supported the city’s life and economy.  People have also opened routes across the sea.  The seaways, which developed based on winds, waves, water depths, and coastline geography, were critical for the navigation of ships, particularly in the days when they moved mainly by wind power.  Using these sea routes, people could travel great distances and go to places they had not previously been able to reach.  A number of important sea routes emerged, leading to the exchange of natural resources, products, and ideas.  This, in turn, helped cities and towns thrive.

[設問]

問3  Why is the example of Edo introduced in paragraph (3)? [  48  ]

  ①  To describe the difficulty of creating routes on the water

  ②  To emphasize the fact that it was an important city

  ③  To explain the use of water routes to move along the coastlines

  ④  To illustrate the important roles of water routes for cities

 

【解答・解説】

 [番號付英文]

3.1  People have established routes on water, too. 

3.2  Rivers and canals have served as effective routes for people to move around and carry things.

3.3  For instance, in the old Japanese city of Edo, water routes were used for the transportation of agricultural products, seafood, and wood, which supported the city’s life and economy.

3.4  People have also opened routes across the sea.

3.5  The seaways, which developed based on winds, waves, water depths, and coastline geography, were critical for the navigation of ships, particularly in the days when they moved mainly by wind power.

3.6  Using these sea routes, people could travel great distances and go to places they had not previously been able to reach.

3.7  A number of important sea routes emerged, leading to the exchange of natural resources, products, and ideas.

3.8  This, in turn, helped cities and towns thrive.

 

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

問3  Why is the example of Edo introduced in paragraph (3)? （なぜ第3パラグラフで江戸の例が紹介されてゐるのか）[  48  ]

  ①  To describe the difficulty of creating routes on the water（水上に（通り）道を作る困難さを述べるため）

  ②  To emphasize the fact that it was an important city（江戸が重要な都市だといふ事實を強調するため）

  ③  To explain the use of water routes to move along the coastlines（海岸線沿ひに移動するため（の）海路の使用を説明するため）

  ④  To illustrate the important roles of water routes for cities（水路が都市には重要な役割をもつことを例證するため）

※3.2 の内容を説明するために具體例として江戸といふ「都市」を擧げてゐるやうに見えます。

 

[解答]

[  48  ]－④

 

[語句・構文等]

3.1  語句の言ひ換へ： 水路、海路など水上の通り道がさまざまな表現に言ひ換へられてゐます。讀者の理解を深め、文體に變化をつける修辭上の技法で、英語によく見られるものです。例： routes on water / water routes / routes across the sea / seaways / sea routes

3.3     for instance                  例へば

3.5      base ～ on …               ～の基礎を…に置く/…にもとづいて～を作り上げる

※ここは過去分詞で副詞的に用ゐられてゐます。「…に基礎が置かれて發達したのであるが」「…にもとづいて發達したのであるが」

 3.5  關係副詞 when： 「關係詞の讀み方（10）」（2012年7月18日付）に解説と例文があります。下線部をクリックすると參照できます。

 3.6  接觸節： 「關係詞の讀み方（1）」 （2012年5月16日付）に解説と例文があります。

3.7      a number of ～            （漠然とした數をしめして）若干の/相當數の

3.7      lead to ～                       （事が）（ある結果：～）に到る

 3.7  分詞構文： 「英文讀解のヒント（19）」 （2015年2月11日付）に解説と例文があります。

3.8      in turn                            交替で/今度は

3.8      help ～ 原形不定詞（…）             ～が…するのを助ける

問3 ② 同格（名詞＋that節）： 「英文讀解のヒント（70）」 （2017年3月22日付）に解説と例文があります。

3q4     illustrate                   [ílǝstrèit]  ※[アクセント注意]

 

[意味把握チェック]

3.1  人々は水上にも（通り）道をつくつた。

3.2  川や運河は人々が動き囘り物を運ぶのに效率の良い（通り）道として役立つてきた。

3.3  例へば、日本の古い都市である江戸では水路が農産品、魚介類、木材の運搬に使はれたが、そのことは江戸の暮しや經濟を支へたのである。

3.4  人々は海を渡る（通り）道もひらいた。

3.5  海路は、風、波、水深や沿岸の地勢にもとづいて發達したが、船の航行には危いものであつた、殊に船が主に風力で動いた時代には。

3.6  海路を利用して、人々は長い距離を移動することができ、以前には辿り着けなかつた場所に行くことができた。

3.7  多くの重要な海路の出現し、天然資源や製品や思想をやりとりするに到つた。

3.8  この事が今度は都市や町が繁榮する助けとなつた。

・57 センター試驗 2019 (3) 2パラ

(2)     Early routes were often formed naturally on land.  They gradually developed over long periods of time while people traveled them on foot or horseback.  A significant turning point in their history arrived when the first wheeled carts appeared in ancient times.  Once this happened, people recognized the importance of well-maintained routes.  Therefore, towns, cities, and entire countries improved them in order to prosper.  As a result, life became more convenient, communities grew, economies evolved, and cultures expanded.  The importance of land routes increased further, especially after the appearance of automobiles.

[設問]

問2  According to paragraph (2), which of the following statements is true?  [  47  ]

  ①  Early routes were created by people who traveled by wheeled carts.

  ②  People’s first routes on land followed the growth of towns and cities.

  ③  The development of land routes led to progress in many areas of society.

  ④  The improvement of routes resulted in the invention of the automobile.

 

 

【解答・解説】

 [番號付英文]

2.1  Early routes were often formed naturally on land.

2.2  They gradually developed over long periods of time while people traveled them on foot or horseback.

2.3  A significant turning point in their history arrived when the first wheeled carts appeared in ancient times.

2.4  Once this happened, people recognized the importance of well-maintained routes.

2.5  Therefore, towns, cities, and entire countries improved them in order to prosper.

2.6  As a result, life became more convenient, communities grew, economies evolved, and cultures expanded.

2.7  The importance of land routes increased further, especially after the appearance of automobiles.

 

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

問2  According to paragraph (2), which of the following statements is true? （第2パラグラフの言ふところによれば、次の記述のどれが正しいか） [  47  ]

  ①  Early routes were created by people who traveled by wheeled carts. （初期の（通り）道は車のついた乘物で旅行する人々によつて造られた。  ※2.1、2.2と不一致）

  ②  People’s first routes on land followed the growth of towns and cities. （人々の最初の陸上の（通り）道は町や都市の成長に次いでできた。  ※2.5、2.6と不一致）

  ③  The development of land routes led to progress in many areas of society. （陸上の（通り）道（/陸路）の發達は、社會の多くの分野での進歩（/進展）を（結果として）もたらした）

  ④  The improvement of routes resulted in the invention of the automobile. （（通り）道の改善の結果、自動車が發明された。  ※この因果關係は記載されてゐません）

 

[解答]

[  47  ]　③

 

[語句・構文等]

2.5      in order to-不定詞(～)  ～するために

2.6      as a result                     その結果

2q.3    lead to ～                       （事が）（ある結果）に至る

2q.4    result in ～                （結果として）生じる/～に歸着する/～といふ結果になる

 

[意味把握チェック]

2.1  初期の（通り）道はしばしば陸地で自然に形成された。

2.2  それらは、人々が徒歩で或は馬に乘つて移動するうちに、長期間にわたつて次第に發達した。

2.3  大昔に最初の車のついた乘物が出現した時に、（通り）道の歴史で重大な轉機が到來した（/生まれた）。

2.4  いつたんこのことが起こると、人々は良く整備された（通り）道の重要性に氣づいた。

2.5  それゆゑ、町や都市や國中が繁榮のために（通り）道を改善した。

2.6  その結果、暮しが一層便利になり、地域社會が成長し、經濟が發展し、文化が擴大した。

2.7  陸上の（通り）道（/陸路）の重要性はさらに増大した、特に自動車の出現後は。

・57 センター試驗 2019 (2) 1パラ

(1)     From quiet paths by a stream in a forest to busy roads running through a city, people have created various forms of routes in different places.  These now exist all around us, and their use is imperative for societies.  These routes have enabled people to move, transport things, and send information from one place to another quickly and safely.  Throughout history, they have been important in our daily lives.

[設問]

問１  Which of the following is closest to the meaning of the underlined word imperative in paragraph (1)?  [  46  ]

  ①  accidental

  ②  essential

  ③  industrial

  ④  traditional

 

 

【解答・解説】

 [番號付英文]

1.1  From quiet paths by a stream in a forest to busy roads running through a city, people have created various forms of routes in different places.

1.2  These now exist all around us, and their use is imperative for societies.

1.3  These routes have enabled people to move, transport things, and send information from one place to another quickly and safely.

1.4  Throughout history, they have been important in our daily lives.

 

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

問１  Which of the following is closest to the meaning of the underlined word imperative in paragraph (1)? （次のどれが、パラグラフ(1)の下線を施した語 imperative の意味に最も近いか）

（※ Longman Dictionary of American English の語義説明を附記してみました）

      imperative: extremely important and urgent

  ①  accidental: happening without being planned or intended

  ②  essential: important and necessary

  ③  industrial: relating to industry or the people working in industry

  ④  traditional: relating to the traditions of a country or group of people / following ideas, methods etc. that have existed for a long time rather than doing something new or different

 

[解答]

[  46  ]  ②

 

[語句・構文等]

 1.1 busy roads running through a city: running through a city が後から busy roads を追加説明してゐます。

1.1    route                    [ru:t] ※ここでは「（通り）道（/路）」「經路」としてみました。

1.2    use                       名詞で發音は [ju:s]

1.3    en-                             「特定の状態にする」といふ意味を與へて名詞や形容詞を他動詞化する接頭辭

1.3     enable ～ to-不定詞（…）             「（物・事が）～に…できるやうにする」

1.4     lives                     ここでは life の複數形 [laivz]

 

[意味把握チェック]

1.1  森の小川のそばの靜かな徑から都市をつらぬく往來の激しい道路まで、人々はさまざまな場所に多樣な形態の（通り）道を創出してきた。

1.2  これらは今日私たちの周り中に存在し、その使用は社會には絶對に必要（/必須/不可避）である。

1.3  これらの（通り）道により、人々は速く安全にある場所から別の場所へと移動し、物を運び、情報を送り屆けることができるやうになつてきてゐる。

1.4  歴史を通じて、それらはずつと私たちの日常生活で重要であつた。

・57 センター試驗 2019 (1) 全文

　目の衰へにより讀解問題の扱ひはやめてをりますが、大學入試センター試驗の第６問については、例年通りパラグラフ毎の解説を試みたく思ひます。この解説を了へましたら「用例研究」を再開する豫定です。御諒承をお願ひ致します。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                                            

 

第６問  次の文章を読み、下の問い（A・B)に答えよ。なお、文章の左にある(1)～(6)はパラグラフ（段落）の番号を表している。

 

(1)     From quiet paths by a stream in a forest to busy roads running through a city, people have created various forms of routes in different places.  These now exist all around us, and their use is imperative for societies.  These routes have enabled people to move, transport things, and send information from one place to another quickly and safely.  Throughout history, they have been important in our daily lives.

 

(2)     Early routes were often formed naturally on land.  They gradually developed over long periods of time while people traveled them on foot or horseback.  A significant turning point in their history arrived when the first wheeled carts appeared in ancient times.  Once this happened, people recognized the importance of well-maintained routes.  Therefore, towns, cities, and entire countries improved them in order to prosper.  As a result, life became more convenient, communities grew, economies evolved, and cultures expanded.  The importance of land routes increased further, especially after the appearance of automobiles.

 

(3)     People have established routes on water, too.  Rivers and canals have served as effective routes for people to move around and carry things.  For instance, in the old Japanese city of Edo, water routes were used for the transportation of agricultural products, seafood, and wood, which supported the city’s life and economy.  People have also opened routes across the sea.  The seaways, which developed based on winds, waves, water depths, and coastline geography, were critical for the navigation of ships, particularly in the days when they moved mainly by wind power.  Using these sea routes, people could travel great distances and go to places they had not previously been able to reach.  A number of important sea routes emerged, leading to the exchange of natural resources, products, and ideas.  This, in turn, helped cities and towns thrive.

 

(4)     People have gone on to open routes in the sky as well.  Since the invention of the airplane, these routes have made it possible for people to travel long distances easily.  They found the best routes by considering conditions such as winds and air currents.  Eventually, people became able to travel safely and comfortably high in the sky, and going vast distances only took a small amount of time.  In fact, people used to need more than one month to travel to Europe from Japan by ship, whereas today they can travel between them in a single day by airplane.  Owing to the establishment of these sky routes, a great number of people now travel around the world for sightseeing, visiting friends, and doing business.

 

(5)     Today, we have a new type of route, the Internet, which specializes in the electronic exchange of information.  By using this worldwide route, people can easily obtain information that once was available mainly from books and face-to-face communication.  They can also instantly send messages to large numbers of people all at once.  According to one study, more than 3.5 billion people, which is about half of the global population, have access to this electronic route today.  As technology advances, more and more people will take advantage of this route to gather information and communicate.

 

(6)     As long as there have been people, there have been routes to connect them.  These have contributed not only to the movement of people, things, and information, but also to the development of our communities, economies, and cultures.  Routes have played significant roles in the development and prosperity of humankind.  Currently unknown routes will surely take us even further in the future.

 

A  次の問い（問1～５）の [  46  ]～[  50  ]に入れるのに最も適当なものを、それぞれ下の①～④のうちから一つずつ選べ。

 

問１  Which of the following is closest to the meaning of the underlined word imperative in paragraph (1)?  [  46  ]

  ①  accidental

  ②  essential

  ③  industrial

  ④  traditional

 

問2  According to paragraph (2), which of the following statements is true?  [  47  ]

  ①  Early routes were created by people who traveled by wheeled carts.

  ②  People’s first routes on land followed the growth of towns and cities.

  ③  The development of land routes led to progress in many areas of society.

  ④  The improvement of routes resulted in the invention of the automobile.

 

問3  Why is the example of Edo introduced in paragraph (3)? [  48  ]

  ①  To describe the difficulty of creating routes on the water

  ②  To emphasize the fact that it was an important city

  ③  To explain the use of water routes to move along the coastlines

  ④  To illustrate the important roles of water routes for cities

 

問4  What does paragraph (5) tell us about routes?  [  49  ]

  ①  Routes can be thought of as existing invisibly in the world.

  ②  Routes that move information can be regarded as dangerous.

  ③  The fundamental functions of routes are declining.

  ④  The importance of different kinds of routes is the same.

 

問5  What is the main point of this article?  [  50  ]

  ①  Humankind first created various types of convenient routes on land.

  ②  Improvements in transportation have come at great cost.

  ③  Technology has interfered with opening up routes around the world.

  ④  The advancement of humanity was aided by the development of routes.

 

B  次の表は、本文のパラグラフ（段落）の構成と内容をまとめたものである。[  51  ]～[  54  ]に入れるのに最も適当なものを、下の①～④のうちから一つずつ選び、表を完成させよ。ただし、同じものを繰り返し選んではいけない。

  Paragraph                     Content

      (1)                       Introduction

      (2)                        [  51  ]

      (3)                        [  52  ]

      (4)                        [  53  ]

      (5)                        [  54  ]

      (6)                       Conclusion

 

  ①  Creation of roads used by people, animals, and vehicles

  ②  Developing ways for people to fly from place to place

  ③  Establishment of global paths for information transfer

  ④  Opening of lanes for ships to travel and transport things

お知らせ

・事情によりブログを休載させていただきます。次の掲載は7月2日の予定です。  ーでヾむ子拝

・121.1 Why a language becomes a …

次の文章を読み、後の設問に答えなさい。

     Why a language becomes a global language has little to do with the number of people who speak it.  It has much more to do with who those speakers are.  Latin became an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they conquered.  They were simply more powerful.  And later, when Roman military power declined, Latin remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of power ―― the religious power of Roman Catholicism.

     There is the closest of links between language dominance and cultural power.  Without a strong power-base, whether political, military, or economic, no language can make progress as an international medium of communication.  Language has no independent existence, living in some sort of mystical space apart from the people who speak it.  Language exists only in the brains and mouths and ears and hands and eyes of its users.  When they succeed on the international stage, their language succeeds.  When they fail, their language fails.

     This point may seem obvious, but it needs to be made at the outset, because over the years many popular and misleading beliefs have grown up about why a language should become internationally successful.  It is quite common to hear people claim that a language is ideal, on account of its perceived aesthetic qualities, clarity of expression, literary power, or religious standing.  Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and French are among those which at various times have been praised in such terms, and English is no exception.  It is often suggested, for example, that there must be something inherently beautiful or logical about the structure of English, in order to explain why it is now so widely used.  “It has less grammar than other languages,” some have suggested.  “English doesn’t have a lot of endings on its words, nor do we have to remember the difference between masculine, feminine, and neuter gender*1, so it must be easier to learn.”

     Such arguments are misconceived.  Latin was once a major international language, despite its many inflectional endings*2  and gender differences.  French, too, has been such a language, despite its nouns being masculine or feminine; and so ―― at different times and places ―― have the heavily inflected Greek, Arabic, Spanish, and Russian.  Ease of learning has nothing to do with it.  Children of all cultures learn to talk over more or less the same period of time, regardless of the differences in the grammar of their languages.

     A language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has been a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion.  These are all factors which can motivate someone to learn a language, of course, but none of them alone, or in combination, can ensure a language’s world spread.  Indeed, such factors cannot even guarantee survival as a living language ―― as is clear from the case of Latin, learned today as a classical language by only a scholarly and religious few.  Correspondingly, inconvenient structural properties ( such as awkward spelling ) do not stop a language achieving international status either.

     A language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people ―― especially their military power.  The explanation is the same throughout history.  Why did Greek become a language of international communication in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago?  Not because of the intellects of Plato and Aristotle.  The answer lies in the swords and spears wielded by the armies of Alexander the Great.  Why did Latin become known throughout Europe?  Ask the armies of the Roman Empire.  Why did Arabic come to be spoken so widely across northern Africa and the Middle East?  Follow the spread of Islam, carried along by the force of the Moorish armies from the eighth century.  Why did Spanish, Portuguese, and French find their way into the Americas, Africa, and the Far East?  Study the colonial policies of the Renaissance kings and queens, and the way these policies were implemented without mercy by armies and navies all over the known world.  The history of a global language can be traced through the successful expeditions of its soldier/sailor speakers.  And English has been no exception.

     But international language dominance is not solely the result of military might.  It may take a militarily powerful nation to establish a language, but it takes an economically powerful one to maintain and expand it.  This has always been the case, but it became a particularly critical factor early in the twentieth century, with economic developments beginning to operate on a global scale, supported by the new communication technologies ―― telegraph, telephone, radio ―― and fostering the emergence of massive multinational organizations.  The growth of competitive industry and business brought an explosion of international marketing and advertising.  The power of the press reached unprecedented levels, soon to be surpassed by the broadcasting media, with their ability to cross national boundaries with electromagnetic ease.  Technology, in the form of movies and records, fueled new mass entertainment industries which had a worldwide impact.  The drive to make progress in science and technology fostered an international intellectual and research environment which gave scholarship and further education a high profile.

     Any language at the center of such an explosion of international activity would suddenly have found itself with a global status.  And English was in the right place at the right time.  By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Britain had become the world’s leading industrial and trading country.  By the end of the century, the population of the USA ( then approaching 100 million ) was larger than that of any of the countries of western Europe, and its economy was the most productive and the fastest growing in the world.  British political imperialism had sent English around the globe during the nineteenth century, so that it was a language “on which the sun never sets.”  During the twentieth century this world presence was maintained and promoted, almost single-handedly, through the economic supremacy of the new American superpower.  And the language behind the US dollar was English. 

注： *1 neuter gender: （文法用語で）中性  *2 inflectional endings: 語尾変化

 

[設 問]

(1)  全体の議論を200～250字の日本語で要約しなさい。句読点も1字に数える。

(2)  Explain in 100 to 150 words in English what the author means by the underlined statement that “English was in the right place at the right time.”  As much as you can, avoid copying from the given text.

(3)  Suppose that your task is to determine whether the globalization of a language, as explained in the above passage, is similar to the globalization of (i) a particular team sport, or (ii) a particular genre of music, or (iii) a particular style of cooking.  Choose an example from one of these three categories.  What would you do to accomplish your task?  Answer as specifically as possible in 100 to 150 English words.  As much as you can, avoid copying from the given text.

 

  この問題は、設問(1)についてのみ[正答へのアプロウチ]と[解答例]を示すことといたします。設問(2)(3)は解答を英語で記すやう求めてゐますが、目下教養ある native speaker のチェックを得られる環境にないため、責任ある解答例を示すことができません。御諒解をお願ひいたします。

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

(1) 各パラグラフの要點をメモ風に記してみますと（※パラグラフを丸數字で示します）、

① ある言語が世界的に普及して國際語となるのは、使用者の數とはあまり關はりがない。

② 政治の力であれ、軍事力であれ、經濟の力であれ、力の基礎が無ければ言語は國境を越えて普及することはない。

③ 言語の國際化は、言語自體の特質（美的特性、表現の明確さ、文藝の創作力、宗教など）によると、長年廣く信じられてきた。

④ さうした主張は誤りである。習得のし易さも言語の國際化とは關係ない。

⑤ 言語の世界普及の可否は、言語自體の長所・短所によるのではない。

⑥ 言語の國際化が主に使用者の政治の力、とくに軍事力によることは、歴史を通じて同じであり、英語も例外ではない。

⑦ 國際化した言語の維持・擴大には強い經濟の力が必要であり、特に20世紀初頭には、經濟發展が新しい情報傳達技術により地球規模で進み始め、大規模な多國籍組織を出現させてゐて、經濟の力が極めて重要となつた。（市場・宣傳の國際化、報道・放送の擴大、娯樂産業の成長、研究・教育の促進など）

⑧ 英語は、産業・通商國家として海外に進出した英國から廣まり、經濟力の優勢な米國により普及が維持・擴大されて、國際語となつた。

 

  上記メモのうち要約でおさへておくと良いのは以下の點だと思ひます。

１ 言語の國際化は使用者の數や言語の特質にはよらないこと。

２ その要因は力の強さ（政治・軍事・經濟）であること。

３ 20世紀初頭から、經濟の力が特に重要となつたこと。

４ 英語は要件を滿たして國際言語となつたこと。

 

  この設問の字數（200～250字）は、20字詰の原稿用紙なら10～12行あまりです。極めて簡潔に内容をまとめることが必要で、個別の例示に言及する餘裕はあまりないとみるべきでせう。さまざまな解答が考へられますが、下に示すのは、問題文の中心主題が「英語の國際語化」とみて、英語にやや重點を置いた解答の例です。

 

[解答例]

・言語の國際化は、言語使用者の數、言語自體の特質、習得のし易さによるのではなく、使用者のもつ力による。言語の國際化は先づは政治の力、特に軍事力によりもたらされるが、その維持・擴大には強い經濟の力が必要である。特に20世紀初頭からは、新しい情報傳達技術により經濟發展が地球規模で進み始め、大規模な多國籍組織が出現して、經濟の力が極めて重要となつた。英語は、産業・通商國家として海外に進出した英國により廣められ、經濟力の優勢な米國によりその普及が維持・擴大されて、國際語となつた。（236字）

 

  一般論として、評論文の要約問題の對處法を、あくまで私見とことはりつつ、述べてみます。

・試驗など時間の制約がある場合には、評論文のパラグラフ構造の特徴を踏へると要約が容易になるのではないかと思ひます。多くの英語評論文は、パラグラフの積み重ねから成つてをり、１パラグラフ１主題が原則となります。（※例外もあります。パラグラフの構造については、拙ブログの General Structure of an Essay [2011年2月25日～2011年3月31日掲載] を御覽ください。）

・パラグラフ毎の主題をつかむには、各パラグラフの先頭文や最終文に注目すると有效な場合が多いやうに思ひます。英文では、難しい語句のあとに説明を加へたり、平易な語句で言ひ換へたりする場合が結構ありますので、わからなくてもその續きを讀み進めば主題の把握に差支へないことがあります。

・パラグラフわきにメモを書きつけたり、重要と思はれる文中の語句にしるしをつけるなどしておくと時間の節約になるでせう。どのパラグラフに何が書いてあるかわかれば可いので、メモを文にまとめる必要はありません。

・字數感覺を養ふには、原稿用紙か、一行あたりの字數を適切に設定したワープロ・ソフトを使つて練習するのが便利です。

・なほ、試驗問題は、書物や記事の一部を拔萃したものが多く、「長文問題」とは言ひながら實は比較的短いものです。かうした事情から、全體の主題が捉へにくかつたり、問題文がやや不自然に思はれることがあります。

 

※本文についての解説は拙ブログの記事を御參照ください（2012年8月20日～9月14日までの月曜日と金曜日に掲載）。畫面右の Back Numbers で該當の月・年をクリックし、Calendar で該當日をクリックしてご利用ください。

 

※お知らせ： 加齡による目の衰へのため、6月より扱ふ題材を變へて目の負擔輕減をはかることと致します。御諒承ください。これまでの記事はそのまま殘しておきます。

・121.0 Why a language becomes a …

次の文章を読み、後の設問に答えなさい。

     Why a language becomes a global language has little to do with the number of people who speak it.  It has much more to do with who those speakers are.  Latin became an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they conquered.  They were simply more powerful.  And later, when Roman military power declined, Latin remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of power ―― the religious power of Roman Catholicism.

     There is the closest of links between language dominance and cultural power.  Without a strong power-base, whether political, military, or economic, no language can make progress as an international medium of communication.  Language has no independent existence, living in some sort of mystical space apart from the people who speak it.  Language exists only in the brains and mouths and ears and hands and eyes of its users.  When they succeed on the international stage, their language succeeds.  When they fail, their language fails.

     This point may seem obvious, but it needs to be made at the outset, because over the years many popular and misleading beliefs have grown up about why a language should become internationally successful.  It is quite common to hear people claim that a language is ideal, on account of its perceived aesthetic qualities, clarity of expression, literary power, or religious standing.  Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and French are among those which at various times have been praised in such terms, and English is no exception.  It is often suggested, for example, that there must be something inherently beautiful or logical about the structure of English, in order to explain why it is now so widely used.  “It has less grammar than other languages,” some have suggested.  “English doesn’t have a lot of endings on its words, nor do we have to remember the difference between masculine, feminine, and neuter gender*1, so it must be easier to learn.”

     Such arguments are misconceived.  Latin was once a major international language, despite its many inflectional endings*2  and gender differences.  French, too, has been such a language, despite its nouns being masculine or feminine; and so ―― at different times and places ―― have the heavily inflected Greek, Arabic, Spanish, and Russian.  Ease of learning has nothing to do with it.  Children of all cultures learn to talk over more or less the same period of time, regardless of the differences in the grammar of their languages.

     A language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has been a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion.  These are all factors which can motivate someone to learn a language, of course, but none of them alone, or in combination, can ensure a language’s world spread.  Indeed, such factors cannot even guarantee survival as a living language ―― as is clear from the case of Latin, learned today as a classical language by only a scholarly and religious few.  Correspondingly, inconvenient structural properties ( such as awkward spelling ) do not stop a language achieving international status either.

     A language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people ―― especially their military power.  The explanation is the same throughout history.  Why did Greek become a language of international communication in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago?  Not because of the intellects of Plato and Aristotle.  The answer lies in the swords and spears wielded by the armies of Alexander the Great.  Why did Latin become known throughout Europe?  Ask the armies of the Roman Empire.  Why did Arabic come to be spoken so widely across northern Africa and the Middle East?  Follow the spread of Islam, carried along by the force of the Moorish armies from the eighth century.  Why did Spanish, Portuguese, and French find their way into theAmericas, Africa, and the Far East?  Study the colonial policies of the Renaissance kings and queens, and the way these policies were implemented without mercy by armies and navies all over the known world.  The history of a global language can be traced through the successful expeditions of its soldier/sailor speakers.  And English has been no exception.

     But international language dominance is not solely the result of military might.  It may take a militarily powerful nation to establish a language, but it takes an economically powerful one to maintain and expand it.  This has always been the case, but it became a particularly critical factor early in the twentieth century, with economic developments beginning to operate on a global scale, supported by the new communication technologies ―― telegraph, telephone, radio ―― and fostering the emergence of massive multinational organizations.  The growth of competitive industry and business brought an explosion of international marketing and advertising.  The power of the press reached unprecedented levels, soon to be surpassed by the broadcasting media, with their ability to cross national boundaries with electromagnetic ease.  Technology, in the form of movies and records, fueled new mass entertainment industries which had a worldwide impact.  The drive to make progress in science and technology fostered an international intellectual and research environment which gave scholarship and further education a high profile.

     Any language at the center of such an explosion of international activity would suddenly have found itself with a global status.  And English was in the right place at the right time.  By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Britain had become the world’s leading industrial and trading country.  By the end of the century, the population of the USA ( then approaching 100 million ) was larger than that of any of the countries of western Europe, and its economy was the most productive and the fastest growing in the world.  British political imperialism had sent English around the globe during the nineteenth century, so that it was a language “on which the sun never sets.”  During the twentieth century this world presence was maintained and promoted, almost single-handedly, through the economic supremacy of the new American superpower.  And the language behind the US dollar was English.  

注： *1 neuter gender: （文法用語で）中性  *2 inflectional endings: 語尾変化

 

[設 問]

(1)  全体の議論を200～250字の日本語で要約しなさい。句読点も1字に数える。

(2)  Explain in 100 to 150 words in English what the author means by the underlined statement that “English was in the right place at the right time.”  As much as you can, avoid copying from the given text.

(3)  Suppose that your task is to determine whether the globalization of a language, as explained in the above passage, is similar to the globalization of (i) a particular team sport, or (ii) a particular genre of music, or (iii) a particular style of cooking.  Choose an example from one of these three categories.  What would you do to accomplish your task?  Answer as specifically as possible in 100 to 150 English words.  As much as you can, avoid copying from the given text.

 

  この問題については、次囘に設問(1)のみ解答例を示すことといたします。設問(2)(3)は解答を英語で記すやう求めてゐますが、目下教養ある native speaker のチェックを得られる環境にないため、責任ある解答例を示すことができません。御諒解をお願ひいたします。

・124.10 Your favorite coffee shop is …

本問最終回は、問題文全体に關はる設問をとりあげます。

①                    

     Your favorite coffee shop is crowded with people who are stressed out, and you are standing shoulder to shoulder with them in a slow-moving line.  The pushing and elbowing of the crowd worsens your severe social anxiety.  You start gasping for air, your heart quickens, and you want to run away.

②

     You force yourself to stay, however.  You manage that achievement only because you are not actually there.  You are living this experience through your avatar, an animation that represents you in a virtual environment.  In reality, you have never _(a) made it to the counter during the morning rush, but you can get there on a computer.  The experience of watching your digital look-alike smoothly reach the front of the virtual line and order a pretend drink is real enough, research suggests, to help you learn to cope with similar situations in the actual world.

③

     Recent studies have demonstrated that watching an avatar that resembles you can influence your thoughts, feelings, and actions, which is called the “doppelgänger* effect.”  Doppelgänger avatars allow you to see yourself perform a desired action, live out a fantasy or take on a slimmer, fatter, or older form.  For instance, you can help people make smarter decisions about money.  In a recent study, a psychologist, Hal Ersner-Hershfield, and his colleagues created look-alike avatars of 50 participants whom they had digitally aged to 70 years old.  Each user “went inside” his or her avatar and _(ア) peered out onto the virtual scenery from the perspective of a new self.  Thus, researchers made some participants look in a virtual mirror to acquaint themselves with their senior selves while they answered questions known to enhance identification with an avatar, such as “What is your greatest fear?” and “What is your greatest hope?”

④

     Participants were then told to _(b) allocate $1,000 to four purposes: a special occasion, someone else, a short-term savings account, and a retirement savings account.  Those who had seen their older selves opted to put twice as much into their retirement account as those who had not seen their aged selves.  In a similar study, exposure to senior counterparts reduced participants’ prejudices against older people, ( Y ) the attitudes of subjects who did not meet their digitally aged doppelgängers.

⑤

     In addition to giving people a new perspective, doppelgänger avatars may be able to modify behavior _(イ) by providing substitute reinforcement.  Jesse Fox, a communications researcher atOhioStateUniversity, and her colleagues created avatar doubles for 69 college and graduate students who then watched their artificial selves eat in a virtual-reality environment.  The avatar sat in front of a bowl of carrots and a bowl of chocolates.  When the avatar ate chocolate, it got fat, and when it snacked on carrots, it slimmed down.

⑥

     Afterward, participants filled out a survey, which was placed next to a bowl of chocolates.  The female participants who witnessed their avatars gaining and losing weight and felt absorbed in the scenario consumed less of the available chocolate than did those ( Z ) avatars did not change or who did not buy into the virtual experience.  Many of the women thought the visual reinforcement had altered their attitude and behavior.  “Even though I really dislike carrots,” one said, “I liked watching myself get thinner, so watching the weight ( あ ) take ( い ) ( う ) me ( え ) ( お ) eat more healthily.”

⑦

     Avatars can also be used for less virtuous purposes, such as making us feel more favorable toward a product than _(ウ) we might otherwise be.  Already commercials feature actors who look, sound, and act like the people in the community _(甲) they target, in order to get consumers to envision themselves as owners or users of a particular product. A doppelgänger avatar might be an even more powerful way to accomplish the same goal.

⑧

     In 2010 researchers at StanfordUniversity’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab decided to test the power of avatars to influence consumers.  They asked 80 students to log on to a website and watch virtual _(c) endorsements of imaginary soft-drink brands.  Some brands appeared in advertisements with text endorsements only.  Others were shown with a picture of a stranger or a picture of the participant as a spokesperson.  In a survey asking which brand participants preferred, most chose the one that appeared with their own image.  This finding suggests that advertisers might benefit from _(エ) appropriating static images of individuals from, for example, social network sites, in order to personalize their marketing.

⑨

     The most appealing spokespersons of all, however, might be fully controllable doppelgänger avatars of the type featured in extremely absorbing virtual games.  When Stanford students entered such a virtual setting featuring their doppelgänger in a soft-drink T-shirt, they highly endorsed the product on the shirt, _(d) provided they could control and manipulate their digital doubles.  Such studies indicate the degree to which our opinions may be _(e) vulnerable to influence by anyone who decides to take and manipulate our digital image and put it before us.  “Our identities are _(f) on the verge of becoming that mixture of our physically real and virtual self or selves,” says sociologist Sherry Turkle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 (Adapted from Samantha Murphy, “Your Avatar, Your Guide,” Scientific American Mind, March / April, 2011)

[注]  doppelgänger  分身

 

I－F  以下の[A]～[C]の英語の質問に答える時、もっとも適切なものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 [C]  In this whole passage, which of the following does NOT describe an avatar?

  1  a digital double of a person

  2  an actual living person

  3  an animated representation of a person

  4  a virtual look-alike of a person

 

I－G  本文の意味・内容に合致するものを次の1～6の中から二つ選びなさい。

  1  Research suggests that a virtual experience through an avatar is effective in helping those who suffer from social anxiety improve their behavior in the actual world.

  2  Ersner-Hershfield’s study indicates that those who had watched their digitally aged avatars became more carefree with their monetary plans.

  3  The researchers at Ohio State University reported that 69 female subjects who had doubted the virtual reality setting of gaining and losing their weight did not improve their eating habits.

  4  In terms of sales promotion, good-looking strangers featured in commercials are more effective than the doppelgänger avatars of consumers.

  5  According to the research conducted at Stanford University, advertisers have difficulty in influencing people if they exploit the avatars of a target group.

  6  Seeing a digital doppelgänger can change your way of thinking for better or worse.

 

【解答・解説】

[設問]

I－F  以下の[A]～[C]の英語の質問に答える時、もっとも適切なものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 [C]  In this whole passage, which of the following does NOT describe an avatar? （この全文中で、アバターを表現してゐないのは次のどれか）

  1  a digital double of a person（人そつくりのデジタル畫像）

  2  an actual living person（實際に存在してゐる生身の人間）

  3  an animated representation of a person（本物のやうに動く代理像）

  4  a virtual look-alike of a person（假想空間のそつくりさん）

 

I－G  本文の意味・内容に合致するものを次の1～6の中から二つ選びなさい。

  1  Research suggests that a virtual experience through an avatar is effective in helping those who suffer from social anxiety improve their behavior in the actual world.（社會不安に惱む人が現實の世界での行動を改善するのを助けるのに、アバターを通じた假想空間での經驗が效果的だ、と研究は示唆する。 ※suggest: to say or show that something may be true.）

  2  Ersner-Hershfield’s study indicates that those who had watched their digitally aged avatars became more carefree with their monetary plans. （自分の高齡デジタル畫像を見てゐた人たちは、自分の金錢計畫について一層氣樂になつた、と Ersner-Hershfield の研究は示す。 ※indicate: (formal) to show that something exists or is likely to be true.）

  3  The researchers at Ohio State University reported that 69 female subjects who had doubted the virtual reality setting of gaining and losing their weight did not improve their eating habits. （假想空間での體重増減の設定に疑念を抱いてゐた69人の女性被驗者は食習慣が改善しなかつた、とオハイオ州立大學の研究者は報告した）

  4  In terms of sales promotion, good-looking strangers featured in commercials are more effective than the doppelgänger avatars of consumers. （賣上げ増進に關して[/の觀點で]は、宣傳に登場する見榮えの良い見知らぬ人のはうが、消費者の分身アバターよりも效果的である）

  5  According to the research conducted at Stanford University, advertisers have difficulty in influencing people if they exploit the avatars of a target group. （スタンフォード大學で行なはれた研究によると、廣告主は、販賣對象者のアバターを營利目的で利用すると、人々に影響を及ぼすのに難儀する）

  6  Seeing a digital doppelgänger can change your way of thinking for better or worse. （デジタルの分身を目にすると、考へ方が良い方か或は惡い方へと[良くも惡くも]變はる可能性がある）

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

I－F [C]  ②（第２パラグラフ）にアバターの説明があります（your avatar, an animation that represents you in a virtual environment）。生身の人間ではありません。

 

I－G

  1  ○○△  social anxietyを幅ひろく捉へるならまづまづ合致してゐると言へるでせうが、True/False の判斷ではなく、ふたつの選擇肢を選ばせる設問ですから、一應他の選擇肢を眺めてからの結論となりませう。

  2  ×××  more carefree とは書いてありません。

  3  ×××  食習慣が改善しなかつたのは、アバターが變化しなかつた人たちと研究に參加しなかつた人たちです。

  4  ×××  效果的だつたのはアバターのはうでした。

  5  ×××  アバターを利用した場合に人々に影響を與へるのが困難であつたとは記されてゐません。

  6  ○○△  3.1に watching an avatar that resembles you can influence your thoughts, feelings, and actions とあります。選擇肢6は、この記述に含まれるとみて可いでせう。

 

[解答]

I－F [C]  2

I－G  1, 6

・124.9 Your favorite coffee shop is …

⑨

     The most appealing spokespersons of all, however, might be fully controllable doppelgänger avatars of the type featured in extremely absorbing virtual games.  When Stanford students entered such a virtual setting featuring their doppelgänger in a soft-drink T-shirt, they highly endorsed the product on the shirt, _(d) provided they could control and manipulate their digital doubles.  Such studies indicate the degree to which our opinions may be _(e) vulnerable to influence by anyone who decides to take and manipulate our digital image and put it before us.  “Our identities are _(f) on the verge of becoming that mixture of our physically real and virtual self or selves,” says sociologist Sherry Turkle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I－A  下線部(a)～(f)の意味・内容にもっとも近いものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (d)  provided

  1  in accordance with the ratio that   2  in spite of the fact that

  3  on the condition that            4  reporting the information that

(e)  vulnerable to

  1  beneficial for    2  defenseless against

  3  immune to      4  unaffected by

(f)  on the verge of becoming

  1  about to become      2  accustomed to becoming

  3  similar to becoming   4  unlikely to become

 

 【解答・解説】

[番號付英文]

9.1  The most appealing spokespersons of all, however, might be fully controllable doppelgänger avatars of the type featured in extremely absorbing virtual games.

9.2  When Stanford students entered such a virtual setting featuring their doppelgänger in a soft-drink T-shirt, they highly endorsed the product on the shirt, provided they could control and manipulate their digital doubles.

9.3  Such studies indicate the degree / to which our opinions may be vulnerable to influence / by anyone / who decides to take and manipulate our digital image / and put it before us.

9.4  “Our identities are on the verge of becoming that mixture of our physically real and virtual self or selves,” says sociologist Sherry Turkle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

[設問]

I－A  下線部(a)～(f)の意味・内容にもっとも近いものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (d)  provided（～といふ條件で/もし～ならば）

  1  in accordance with the ratio that（～といふに比率に一致して/～のとほりに）

  2  in spite of the fact that（～といふ事實にも拘らず）

  3  on the condition that（～といふ條件で/もし～ならば）         

  4  reporting the information that（[分詞構文を後に置いて]～といふ情報を報告した）

(e)  vulnerable to（[影響]を受けやすい）

  1  beneficial for（[影響]への助けとなる） 

  2  defenseless against（[影響]に對して無防備な）

  3  immune to（[影響]に對して免疫のある）   

  4  unaffected by（[影響]によつて變はらない）

(f)  on the verge of becoming（～となる間際の/今にも～にならうとして）

  1  about to become（まさに～にならうとしてゐる）   

  2  accustomed to becoming（～となることに馴れてゐる）

  3  similar to becoming（～となることに似てゐる）

  4  unlikely to become（～となりさうもない）

 

 [解答]

I－A (d)  3

I－A (e)  2

I－A (f)  1

 

[語句・構文等]

9.1  might be ～： 假定法由來の婉曲表現です。控へ目に推定を述べてゐます。

9.3  關係代名詞の節がふたつ重なつてゐて多少讀みにくいのですが、「前から順に、頭に意味を放りこむ」讀み方をして意味を把握します。區切りの例を番號付英文ではスラッシュで示してみました。

  關係代名詞の節は前の名詞（先行詞）の説明として置かれてゐます。「そのやうな研究は程度(/度合)を示す」…これが中心文です…「程度」についての説明が續きます…どういふ程度か？…「私たちの意見が影響を受けやすい（であらう）程度」とあります…この influence は名詞で「影響」の意味です…次に by がありますから、誰による影響なのかが説明されます…anyone は「誰であれ～の人」…では、どんな人による影響なのか、その説明が who ～です…「私たちのアバターをとりあげ、操作し、私たちの前に置くことにする人」です…その影響を受ける程度を研究が示してゐる、といふことになります。

  關係代名詞は前の名詞を言ひ換へたものと解すると、日本人には讀みやすく使ひやすくなるやうです。前置詞 to も the degree を言ひ換へた which についてゐるものと解するとわかりやすいでせう。

□參考例文： degree に to がついた例です。

To what degree is the plan realistic?

その計畫はどの程度まで現實性があるのか。

9.4  or selves： or で言ひ換へ説明を行なつてゐます。physically real self と  virtual self とがあるので、單數の self を複數の selves に言ひ換へて一層正確に表現しようとしたのではないかと思ひます。

9.4       on the verge of ～        （あまり好ましくない事態について）～間際の/今にも～しようとして

 

[意味把握チェック]

9.1 しかしながら、最も心を動かす(/説得力のある）語り手は、非常に熱中しやすい假想空間ゲームに登場するタイプの、完全制禦可能な分身アバターかもしれない。

9.2 スタンフォード大學の學生たちは、清涼飮料水のＴシャツを着た自分の分身（アバター）が登場する假想空間（場面）に入つたとき、デジタル加工した自分の複製(/分身アバター)を制禦し操作できるといふ條件であれば、Ｔシャツにあしらはれた製品を大いに支持したのである。

9.3私たちの意見が、（誰であれ）私たちのデジタル畫像を作つて操作し私たちに提示することにした者によつて、どの程度影響を受けやすくなるかを、さうした研究は示してゐる。

9.4 「自分といふものが、本物の自分と假想の（單一または複數の）自分とが混りあつたものになる瀬戸際にある」とマサチューセッツ工科大學（M.I.T.）の社會學者 Sherry Turkle は言ふ。

 

※問題文全體に關はる設問（英問英答と内容眞僞）は、2018年5月14日に全文と共に解説いたします。

・124.8 Your favorite coffee shop is …

⑧

     In 2010 researchers at StanfordUniversity’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab decided to test the power of avatars to influence consumers.  They asked 80 students to log on to a website and watch virtual _(c) endorsements of imaginary soft-drink brands.  Some brands appeared in advertisements with text endorsements only.  Others were shown with a picture of a stranger or a picture of the participant as a spokesperson.  In a survey asking which brand participants preferred, most chose the one that appeared with their own image.  This finding suggests that advertisers might benefit from _(エ) appropriating static images of individuals from, for example, social network sites, in order to personalize their marketing.

I－A  下線部(a)～(f)の意味・内容にもっとも近いものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (c)  endorsements

  1  collections    2  judgments

  3  objections    4  recommendations

I－B  波線部(ア)～(エ)の意味・内容をもっとも的確に示すものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (エ)  appropriating static images of individuals

  1  editing motion pictures of customers with their permission

  2  ensuring proper handling of personal data

  3  forming favorable impressions of the target group

  4  using still images of persons without permission

I－F  以下の[A]～[C]の英語の質問に答える時、もっとも適切なものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 [B]  In the eighth paragraph, which of the following is NOT mentioned in the three types of advertisements created in the 2010 research at Stanford University?

  1  advertisements only with a sentence or short passage

  2  advertisements with a picture of an unknown person

  3  advertisements with a picture of the participant

  4  advertisements with a picture of the researcher

 

【解答・解説】

[番號付英文]

8.1  In 2010 researchers atStanfordUniversity’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab decided to test the power of avatars to influence consumers.

8.2  They asked 80 students to log on to a website and watch virtual endorsements of imaginary soft-drink brands.

8.3  Some brands appeared in advertisements with text endorsements only.

8.4  Others were shown with a picture of a stranger or a picture of the participant as a spokesperson.

8.5  In a survey asking which brand participants preferred, most chose the one that appeared with their own image.

8.6  This finding suggests that advertisers might benefit from appropriating static images of individuals from, for example, social network sites, in order to personalize their marketing.

 

[設問]

I－A  下線部(a)～(f)の意味・内容にもっとも近いものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (c)  endorsements（是認/支持）

  1  collections（收集物）    2  judgments（評價）

  3  objections（反對）    4  recommendations（推獎）

I－B  波線部(ア)～(エ)の意味・内容をもっとも的確に示すものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (エ)  appropriating static images of individuals（個々人の靜止畫像を流用すること）

  1  editing motion pictures of customers with their permission（許諾を得て顧客の動畫を編輯すること）

  2  ensuring proper handling of personal data（個人情報の適切な取り扱ひを保證すること）

  3  forming favorable impressions of the target group（目標とする集團の好印象を作り出すこと）

  4  using still images of persons without permission（許諾なしに人々の靜止畫像を使ふこと）

I－F  以下の[A]～[C]の英語の質問に答える時、もっとも適切なものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 [B]  In the eighth paragraph, which of the following is NOT mentioned in the three types of advertisements created in the 2010 research at Stanford University? （⑧に於いて、2010年のスタンフォード大學での研究で創られた３種の廣告の中で觸れられてゐないのは次のどれか）

  1  advertisements only with a sentence or short passage（一文または短文だけの廣告）

  2  advertisements with a picture of an unknown person（見知らぬ人の畫像を使つた廣告）

  3  advertisements with a picture of the participant（[研究]協力者の畫像を使つた廣告）

  4  advertisements with a picture of the researcher（研究者の畫像を使つた廣告）

 

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

I－A (c)  略

I－B (エ)  動詞 appropriate には to use or take something that does not belong to you（「自分のものでない何かを使ふ（/選ぶ）」）といふ意味があります。

I－F [B]  8.3 text / 8.4 stranger / 8.4 participant がヒントになります。

 

[解答]

I－A (c)  4

I－B (エ)  4

I－F [B]  4

 

[語句・構文等]

8.1 Virtual Human Interaction Lab； VHIL といふ略稱があるやうですが、正式な日本語名稱は確認できませんでした。御教示いただけると有難いです。名稱から推すに「假想空間に於ける人的交流について實驗・調査・研究を行なふ研究所」でせうか。

8.2  ＜ask ～ to-不定詞（…）＞： 「～に…するやう頼む」

8.2       log on to ～                   (Web site)を訪れる/に接續する

8.4  8.3の some と8.4の others は對比的に使はれてゐます。others は other brands を指してゐます。some は數をはつきりさせないことばですから「～もあった」としてみましたが、ここは「いくつかの」でも「一部の～」でも表現できさうです。

8.5  the one = the brand です。

8.5      image                         發音・アクセント注意  [ímidʒ]

8.6  might benefit ～は假定法由來の婉曲な表現になります。條件は副詞句 from appropriating ～に見出すことができます。

8.6      for example                    例へば

8.6       in order to-不定詞(～)         ～するために

 

[意味把握チェック]

8.1 200年にスタンフォード大學 Virtual Human Interaction Lab の研究者たちは、消費者に影響を及ぼすアバターの力(/アバターが持つ消費者への影響力)を試してみることにした。

8.2 彼らは80人の學生に、あるウェブサイトを訪れ、（いくつかの）架空の清涼飮料水の銘柄の宣傳を注視するやう依頼した。

8.3 一部の銘柄は宣傳の文言(/文句)のみで廣告に出てきた。

8.4 また、見知らぬ人の畫像が（宣傳の）語り手となつて映されたり、或は被驗者の畫像が（宣傳の）語り手となつて映されたりした銘柄もあつた。

8.5 被驗者がどの銘柄を好むかを問ふ調査では、ほとんどの被驗者が自分自身の畫像が現はれる銘柄を選んだ。

8.6 この発見により示唆されるのは、商品製造販売を個々人に合せるために、例へば、ソーシャル・ネットワーク・サイトからの個々人の靜止畫像を使用することで、広告主は利益を得るだらう(/得るかもしれない)、といふことである。

・124.7 Your favorite coffee shop is …

⑦

     Avatars can also be used for less virtuous purposes, such as making us feel more favorable toward a product than _(ウ) we might otherwise be.  Already commercials feature actors who look, sound, and act like the people in the community _(甲) they target, in order to get consumers to envision themselves as owners or users of a particular product. A doppelgänger avatar might be an even more powerful way to accomplish the same goal.

I－B  波線部(ア)～(エ)の意味・内容をもっとも的確に示すものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (ウ)  we might otherwise be

  1  we might be if avatars were not used

  2  we might feel if we had not gone shopping regularly

  3  we would be if we had different avatars

  4  we would feel if avatars were used for more virtuous purposes

I－D  第⑦段落にある太字二重下線部(甲)が指すものを次の1～4の中から一つ選びなさい。

(甲)  they

  1  actors    2  avatars    3  commercials    4  consumers

 

【解答・解説】

[番號付英文]

7.1  Avatars can also be used for less virtuous purposes, such as making us feel more favorable toward a product than we might otherwise be.

7.2  Already commercials feature actors who look, sound, and act like the people in the community they target, in order to get consumers to envision themselves as owners or users of a particular product.

7.3  A doppelgänger avatar might be an even more powerful way to accomplish the same goal.

 

[設問]

I－B  波線部(ア)～(エ)の意味・内容をもっとも的確に示すものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (ウ)  we might otherwise be（さもなければ私たちが favorable であらう[よりも一層…]）

  1  we might be if avatars were not used（もしアバターが使はれてゐなければ favorable であらう[よりも一層…]）

  2  we might feel if we had not gone shopping regularly（もし定期的に買物に行つてゐなかつたなら favorable と感じるであらう[よりも一層…]）

  3  we would be if we had different avatars（もし私たちが異なるアバターを持つてゐるなら favorable であらう[よりも一層…]）

  4  we would feel if avatars were used for more virtuous purposes（もしアバターが一層高潔な目的で使はれてゐるなら favorable と感じるであらう[よりも一層…]）

I－D  第⑦段落にある太字二重下線部(甲)が指すものを次の1～4の中から一つ選びなさい。

(甲)  they

  1  actors（俳優）    2  avatars（アバター）    3  commercials（宣傳）    4  consumers（消費者）

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

I－B (ウ)  otherwise は「もしさうでなければ」「別の状況では」といつた條件を提示する副詞です。その實際の内容は文脈で決まります。might be は（假定法過去で）提示された條件に對する歸結節を形成し、「～であるかもしれない」「～であらう」の意味と推定できます。

  7.1文末の be の後に favorable を補つてみると、アバターが使はれる、使はれないの條件設定で、私たちの感じ方を比較する文だとわかつてきます。otherwise によつて、「もしアバターが使はれなければ」といふ條件が提示されると解すれば、「アバターは、もしアバターが使はれてゐないとしたら私たちが （ある製品に對して）favorable であるかもしれない程度よりも、もつとその製品に對して favorable と感じさせる」といつた文意となり、假定法過去の條件節 if avatars were not used を含む選擇肢が適切だと判斷できます。

  なほ、ここは假定法過去の歸結節ですが、假定法過去完了の歸結節のケースは「假定法の讀み方 13」（2011年8月17日付）の例文13.3.2で紹介してゐます。

 

I－D (甲)   they target は接觸節（または目的格の關係代名詞の省略されたもの）で the people in the community に説明を加へてゐます。targetは動詞で「～を目標とする」の意味です。ここでは「宣傳が對象として狙ふ地域の人々」といふことになります。

 

[解答]

I－B (ウ)  1

I－D (甲)  3

 

[語句・構文等]

7.1  使役表現＜make+O+C(原形不定詞～)＞： 「Oに（強ひて）～させる」

7.1       such as ～                      例へば～など

7.2  使役表現＜get+O+C(to-不定詞～)＞： 「Oに～させる」「Oに～してもらふ」

7.2       in order to-不定詞(～)         ～するために

7.3  假定法表現（主部に條件）： 主部に「もし a doppelgänger avatar を使へば」といふ意味がこめられてゐます。might be～はその歸結節を形成します。

 

[意味把握チェック]

7.1 アバターは、それほど高潔ではない目的に使ふことも可能である。例へば、（アバターにより）ある製品を、アバターを使はない場合よりも氣に入らせる、など。

7.2 すでに宣傳では、目當てとする地域社會の人々に似た容貌、語り、振舞ひの俳優を登場させてゐる、自分が特定製品の持主や使用者だと消費者に想像させるために。

7.3 分身アバターは（俳優を使ふより）同一目標を達成する尚一層強力な方法であらう(/かもしれない)。

・124.6 Your favorite coffee shop is …

⑥

     Afterward, participants filled out a survey, which was placed next to a bowl of chocolates.  The female participants who witnessed their avatars gaining and losing weight and felt absorbed in the scenario consumed less of the available chocolate than did those ( Z ) avatars did not change or who did not buy into the virtual experience.  Many of the women thought the visual reinforcement had altered their attitude and behavior.  “Even though I really dislike carrots,” one said, “I liked watching myself get thinner, so watching the weight ( あ ) take ( い ) ( う ) me ( え ) ( お ) eat more healthily.”

I－C  空所(Y)と(Z)に入るもっとも適切なものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (Z)

  1  among    2  of    3  who    4  whose

I－E  破線部の空所(あ)～(お)に次の1～5の単語を入れて文を完成させた時、(い)と(え)に入る単語の番号を記入しなさい。ただし、同じ単語を二度使ってはいけません。

  watching the weight ( あ ) take ( い ) ( う ) me ( え ) ( お ) eat more healthily

  1  loss    2  made    3  place    4  to    5  want

 

【解答・解説】

[番號付英文]

6.1  Afterward, participants filled out a survey, which was placed next to a bowl of chocolates.

6.2  The female participants / who witnessed their avatars gaining and losing weight / and felt absorbed in the scenario / consumed less of the available chocolate / than did those / whose avatars did not change / or who did not buy into the virtual experience.

6.3  Many of the women thought the visual reinforcement had altered their attitude and behavior.

6.4  “Even though I really dislike carrots,” one said, “I liked watching myself get thinner, so watching the weight loss take place made me want to eat more healthily.”

 

[設問]

I－C  空所(Y)と(Z)に入るもっとも適切なものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (Z)

  1  among    2  of    3  who    4  whose

 

I－E  破線部の空所(あ)～(お)に次の1～5の単語を入れて文を完成させた時、(い)と(え)に入る単語の番号を記入しなさい。ただし、同じ単語を二度使ってはいけません。

  watching the weight ( あ ) take ( い ) ( う ) me ( え ) ( お ) eat more healthily

  1  loss    2  made    3  place    4  to    5  want

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

I－C (Z)  of と among では文が全く成立しませんから who と whose に絞られます。關係代名詞の知識が必要となります。

  關係詞節の多くは前出の名詞に説明を加へる働きをします（限定的な場合と追加的な場合があります）。ここは thoseについての説明を加へてゐます。those は指示代名詞で、「人々」の意味でせう。(Z) 以下の説明……どんな those なのか？……「その avatars が變化しなかつた人々」とすると文が成立します。「その」に該當してかつ文をつなげてくれる關係代名詞は所有格の whose といふことになります。

  なほ than 以下で、Sが長い爲に倒置を起こしてゐることも設問を難しくしてゐます。

 

I－E  第五文型の知識が必要です。＜知覺動詞 watch ＋目的語＋原形不定詞＞のかたちが主部を形成し、＜使役動詞 make ＋目的語＋原形不定詞＞が續きますから、第五文型がふたつ重なることになります。知覺動詞の使ひ方には直前の watching myself get thinner がヒントになつてゐるのかもしれません。なほ、take place は「起こる/生ずる」の意味で使はれてゐます。設問箇所は、下のやうになります。

  watching the weight loss take place made me want to eat more healthily

□參考例文

124.5    I pulled the stopper out of the sink and watched the water go down the drain.

               私は流しの留栓を引き拔いて、水が排水管へと流れて行くのをじつと見てゐた。

□參考例文： 英文讀解のヒント(4)（2014年5月28日付から）

4.2       What made her cry?

              何で彼女は泣いたの？

4.3       I wish to make this matter known to the general public.

              この事柄を廣く世間に知らせたいと願つてゐる。

（※その他の使役動詞についても、「英文讀解のヒント(4)」に解説があります）

 

[解答]

I－C (Z)  4

I－E  (い)  3

     (え)  5

 

[語句・構文等]

6.1       fill out ～                        ～に必要事項を記入する

6.1       next to ～                       ～の隣に

 6.2  長めの文を讀む時は、前から順に、意味的まとまりを持つグループ（參考例を[番號付英文6.2]でスラッシュ表示）の語句を頭に放りこんでゆくやうな讀み方をすると讀み間違ひが少なくなるやうに思ひます。（※和譯を求められてゐる場合は、くみとつた意味を頭のなかで反芻・確認し、それを自然な日本語で表現すれば良いわけです。

  その際に、英語に共通の文章構造－主語があり動詞がある－を意識しておくと讀みやすくなります。「何がどうしたのか？」と自問しながら讀み進みます。6.2の文では「被驗者がチョコレートを食べた」と述べてゐます。被驗者やチョコレートの量に説明がつけ加へられて長くなつてゐるのです。

  關係代名詞の讀み方については文法書のほか、2012年5月23日付拙稿、whose については2012年6月13日付の拙稿が參考になるかもしれません。（※ブログ畫面右側の Back Numbers で該當の月・年をクリックし、次いでCalendar で該當日をクリックしてご利用ください）

6.2       absorbed in ～              ～に熱中して/～に夢中で

6.2       buy into ～                    ～に參加する

 6.3  the visual reinforcement は、先の實驗で起こつた代理強化－自分の分身アバターがチョコレートを食べて太るのを觀察することにより自分の行動を改めようと考へる、など－のことを指してゐます。

6.4      take place                   起こる/生ずる

 

[意味把握チェック]

6.1 その後被驗者たちは調査表に必要事項を記入したが、それはチョコレートの鉢の隣に置かれてゐた。

6.2 自分のアバターが太つたり痩せたりするところをまのあたりにし、その筋書に夢中になつた女性の被驗者たちは、自分のアバターが變はらなかつた人たち、（或は）假想體驗に參加しなかつた人たちに比べて、食べてもいいチョコレートを食べる量が少なかつた。

6.3 そんな女性被驗者の多くが、目に見える代理強化により自分の態度や行動が變はつた、と考へた。

6.4 ある人は「人參は大嫌ひなんだけど、自分自身が痩せていくのを見るのは氣に入つたの、だから體重減少が起こる（/體重が減る）のを觀ると一層健康的な食事をしたくなつたのよ」と言つた。

・124.5 Your favorite coffee shop is …

⑤

     In addition to giving people a new perspective, doppelgänger avatars may be able to modify behavior _(イ) by providing substitute reinforcement.  Jesse Fox, a communications researcher at Ohio State University, and her colleagues created avatar doubles for 69 college and graduate students who then watched their artificial selves eat in a virtual-reality environment.  The avatar sat in front of a bowl of carrots and a bowl of chocolates.  When the avatar ate chocolate, it got fat, and when it snacked on carrots, it slimmed down.

I－B  波線部(ア)～(エ)の意味・内容をもっとも的確に示すものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (イ)  by providing substitute reinforcement

  1  by creating a less interesting environment for their digital selves

  2  by demonstrating the value of exercising regularly

  3  by making them excited about controlling others intentionally

  4  by offering positive and negative scenarios through their alternative selves

 

【解答・解説】

[番號付英文]

5.1  In addition to giving people a new perspective, doppelgänger avatars may be able to modify behavior by providing substitute reinforcement.

5.2  Jesse Fox, a communications researcher at Ohio State University, and her colleagues created avatar doubles for 69 college and graduate students who then watched their artificial selves eat in a virtual-reality environment.

5.3  The avatar sat in front of a bowl of carrots and a bowl of chocolates.

5.4  When the avatar ate chocolate, it got fat, and when it snacked on carrots, it slimmed down.

 

 [設問]

I－B  波線部(ア)～(エ)の意味・内容をもっとも的確に示すものを次の1～4の中からそれぞれ一つ選びなさい。

 (イ)  by providing substitute reinforcement（代理強化を提供することにより）

  1  by creating a less interesting environment for their digital selves（デジタル畫像の自分に一層興味の持てない環境を作り出すことによつて）

  2  by demonstrating the value of exercising regularly（定期的に運動する意義を明らかにすることにより）

  3  by making them excited about controlling others intentionally（他者を意圖的に操ることについて彼らを熱狂させることにより）

  4  by offering positive and negative scenarios through their alternative selves（身代はりの自分を通して、肯定的な筋書と否定的な筋書とを提供することにより）

 

[正答へのアプロウチ]

・substitute reinforcement の手法として、具體的な内容が5.3及び5.4のシナリオで示されてゐます。slim down を肯定的筋書、get fat を否定的筋書と解すれば 4 が妥當と考へられます。

 

[解答]

I－B (イ)  4

 

[語句・構文等]

5.1  substitute reinforcement： この部分はややわかりにくいのですが、他者の行動や發言、態度と、その評價を觀察することにより、望ましい言動の獲得が強化される、といつたことを指してゐると思はれます。たとへば、人が襃められるのを目にして自分の振舞ひを改めたり、人が叱られるのを觀て自分の行動を規制する、といつたやうなことです。

  この部分は vicarious reinforcement （心理學の用語で「代理強化」）の vicarious を筆者が平易な語 substitute に置き換へたのではないかと推測し、「代理強化」といふ譯語をあててみました（※テクストのをはりに adapted と斷つてゐます）。

5.1       in addition to ～           ～に加へて

5.3       in front of ～                 ～の前に

5.4      get fat                         太る

5.4       snack on ～                   ～で輕食をとる/～をつまむ

5.4       slim down                  痩せる

 

[意味把握チェック]

5.1 分身アバターは、人々に新しい展望を與へるのに加へて、代理強化を提供することにより行動を變化させることができるかもしれない。

5.2 オハイオ州立大學のコミュニケイション研究者  と彼女の同僚研究者たちは69人の學部學生と大學院生の複製アバターをこしらへ、彼らはそれから人工の自分(/自分のアバター)が假想現實環境で食事をするのを觀察した。

5.3 アバターは人參とチョコレートの鉢の前に坐つた。

5.4 アバターがチョコレートを食べると太り、人參で輕食をとると（/人參をつまむと）痩せた。