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
