・113.0 The jagged rocks off Oshima ...
次の英文を読み、設問(21)～(30)の答えを(a)～(d)から選びなさい。
The jagged rocks off Oshima Island break the surface of the ocean like so many knives strewn across the shallow water. Even on a calm day, they are a menacing reminder of the maze of reefs that surround this island in the Pacific just off the coast of Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, in central Honshu.
It was into these treacherous waters that the Ottoman frigate Ertugrul was blown one stormy night 118 years ago. Thrown against the reefs, the ship split apart and sank, taking with it more than 500 men and leaving just 69 survivors, says Kiyoshi Oishi, director of theTurkish Museum on Oshima.
Ironically, the tragic shipwreck helped cement a friendly relationship betweenTurkey and Japan that has continued to this day.
“Ertugrul is the Titanic of Turkey,” says Tufan Turanli, 56, the director of a project to excavate, or dig up, some of the most important relics of the wreck still remaining on the seabed.
“It has so much importance [because] it was on a voyage just for the sake of friendship.”
In 1887, Japan’s Prince and Princess Komatsu visited Istanbul and presented the Ottoman sultan with the Order of the Chrysanthemum, Japan’s highest award. Three years later, the Ottoman government dispatched the Ertugrul on a reciprocal mission to bestow the Ottoman Medal of High Honor on Emperor Meiji. The ship arrived in Yokohama in June 1890, and its commander, Admiral Osman Pasha, presented the medal and other gifts to the Imperial family. For the rest of the summer, the ship and its crew remained in Japan.
Then, on Sep. 15, 1890, the ship set sail for Turkey from Yokohama. On board the 79-meter frigate were more than 600 sailors and officers. Some records indicate that they were warned it was the typhoon season, but they decided to head home anyway.
In the event, that day started out clear, but soon the weather turned and the Ertugrul found itself caught in a typhoon. Over the next day, it was battered by fierce winds, waves and rain.
By nightfall on Sept. 16, the Ertugrul had suffered so much damage that the sailors were unable to control it, and it drifted at the mercy of the storm toward the rocky coast of Wakayama Prefecture. At around midnight, the ship smashed to pieces against the reef off Oshima Island and sank.
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Although the current excavation has brought renewed attention to the Ertugrul, it has never been forgotten on Oshima Island, where a memorial stands next to a cemetery for the drowned sailors. A ceremony every five years commemorates the accident.
“Everyone on the island knows the story,” says Oishi, director of the Turkish Museum. On the night of the accident, some of the sailors were by luck washed up onto the shore of the island, according to Oishi. It was there that local fisherman found them and cared for them.
“In those days, this island was a very inaccessible place,” he notes. Oshima was connected to the mainland by bridge for the first time just nine years ago.
The people here pooled their food and cared for the injured until they could be taken to Kobe. All 69 of the rescued sailors eventually recovered.
However, the rescue isn’t a point of pride among the islanders, Oishi says. “Fishing is dangerous work. Today you may save someone, but tomorrow it might be you who’s being saved.”
Nevertheless, the wreck, the rescue and the ensuing return of the survivors to Turkey on Japanese ships laid the ground for more than a century of friendly diplomatic and economic relations.
“Ertugrul played an important role in establishing a special emotional relationship between the people of Japan and Turkey,” says Bogac Ulker an adviser to the Turkish embassy in Japan. Official diplomatic relations between the two countries began in 1924, following World War I and the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.
“History under the waves: Japan’s tragic “Titanic of Turkey” by Winifred Bird (The Japan Times Sunday, April 13, 2008)
(21) What do the jagged rocks around Oshima Island warn us of?
(a) a calm day
(b) the shallow water
(c) hidden rocks
(d) the Pacific Ocean
(22) How many men were on board the Ertugrul when it sank 118 years ago?
(a) about 500
(b) 569
(c) 600
(d) over 600
(23) What is the purpose of the project led by Tufan Turanli?
(a) to retrieve the most significant objects of the wreck of the Ertugrul
(b) to establish a museum dedicated to the Ertugrul on Oshima
(c) to promote friendly cultural exchanges between Turkey and Japan
(d) to investigate the cause of the shipwreck of the Ertugrul
(24) What was the main purpose of the Ertugrul’s visit to Japan in 1890?
(a) to receive the Order of the Chrysanthemum presented to the Ottoman sultan
(b) to send back Prince and Princess Komatsu who visited Istanbul
(c) to bring the Ottoman Emperor to Japan to see the Imperial Family
(d) to present the Ottoman Medal of High Honor to Emperor Meiji
(25) What was the warning given to the crew of the Ertugrul before they set sail for Turkey from Yokohama according to some records?
(a) that they should leave Yokohama as soon as possible
(b) that it was the time of year for dangerous storms
(c) that they should be very careful when they pass by the seacoast of Wakayama
(d) that there were too many sailors and officers on board the ship
(26) How was the weather when the Ertugrul left Yokohama on Sep. 15, 1890?
(a) It was fine when they started, but soon turned into a terrible storm.
(b) It was fine when they started, and continued to be so for about a day.
(c) It was very windy from the beginning and soon it started to rain hard.
(d) The wind was very strong and the waves were high but it did not rain.
(27) When did the Ertugrul finally sink in 1890?
(a) soon after it left Yokohama on September 15
(b) by the nightfall on September 16
(c) during the late hours of September 15
(d) late September 16 to early September 17
(28) Which of the following statements is not true?
(a) The interest in the Ertugrul accident among the islanders of Oshima was recently renewed thanks to the excavation project.
(b) People of Oshima have never lost their memories of the Ertugrul accident that happened more than 100 years ago.
(c) Oshima Island has a memorial of the Ertugrul accident and a cemetery for the drowned sailors.
(d) The islanders of Oshima hold a ceremony every year to commemorate the accident.
(29) Which of the following statements is not true?
(a) On the night of the accident, some surviving sailors washed onto the shore of Oshima.
(b) The surviving sailors found the house of a fisherman and asked for food and shelter.
(c) The fishermen of Oshima rescued the survivors of the accident, taking care of the injured and giving food to the Turkish sailors.
(d) When the sailors had become well enough, they were taken to Kobe.
(30) Which of the following statements is not true?
(a) In 1890, Oshima island was a very inaccessible place but the bridge connecting the island to mainland was built nine years after the Ertugrul accident.
(b) According to Mr. Oishi, the fishermen of Oshima might have thought that in the future they themselves might be shipwrecked and saved by others.
(c) The survivors of the Ertugrul accident were sent home to Turkey aboard Japanese ships.
(d) Official diplomatic relations between Turkey and Japan started after the Republic of Turkey was established.
