「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から学ぶ大学入試・英検・TOEIC頻出語彙と読解(31)

　著作権の切れた童話「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から、シンプルで、大学入試にもTOEICにも英検にも有効な練習問題を作成しています。新聞小説感覚で楽しみながら英語力を伸ばしていただければ幸いです。

(31)
Then the dog shut his eyes tight, poked his nose straight up in the air and ①(hard / sniffed / his / with) mouth half-open.

For a long time he said nothing. He kept as still as a stone. He hardly seemed to be ②*(breathing : assuring : comparing : concluding) at all. When at last he began to speak, it ③*(entertained : sounded : condemned : varied) almost as though he were singing, sadly, in a dream.

"Bricks," he whispered, very low—"old yellow bricks, ④(with / crumbling / in / age) a garden-wall; the sweet breath of young cows standing in a mountain-stream; the lead roof of a dove-cote—or perhaps a granary—with the mid-day sun on it; black kid gloves lying in a bureau-drawer of walnut-wood; a dusty road with a horses' drinking-trough beneath the sycamores; little mushrooms bursting through the rotting leaves; and—and—and—"

"Any parsnips?" asked Gub-Gub.

"No," said Jip. "You always think ⑤(eat / of / to / things). No parsnips whatever. And no snuff—plenty of pipes and cigarettes, and a few cigars. But no snuff. We must wait ⑥(by : when : till : where) the wind changes to the South."

"Yes, it's a poor wind, that," said Gub-Gub. "I think you're a fake, Jip. Who ⑦(of / ever / finding / heard) a man in the middle of the ocean just by smell! I told you you couldn't do it."

"Look here," said Jip, getting really angry. "You're going to ⑧(on / bite / a / get) the nose in a minute! You needn't think that just because the Doctor won't let us give you what you ⑨**(negotiate : signify : deserve : extinguish), that you can be as cheeky as you like!"

"Stop quarreling!" said the Doctor—"Stop it! Life's too short. Tell me, Jip, where do you think those ⑩(from / are / smells / coming)?"

"From Devon and Wales—most of them," said Jip—"The wind is coming that way."

"Well, well!" said the Doctor. "You know that's really quite ⑪*(general : remarkable : financial : typical)—quite. I must make a note of that for my new book. I wonder if you could ⑫(to / train / smell / me) as well as that.... But no—perhaps I'm ⑬(off / better / way / the) I am. 'Enough is as good as a feast,' they say. Let's go down to supper. I'm quite hungry."

"So am I," said Gub-Gub.

THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER
THE ROCK
UP they got, early next morning, out of the silken beds; and they saw that the sun was shining brightly and that the wind was blowing from the South.

Jip smelt the South wind for half an hour. Then he came to the Doctor, shaking his head.

"I smell⑭(yet / as / snuff / no) ," he said. "We must wait till the wind changes to the East."

But even when the East wind came, at three o'clock that afternoon, the dog could not catch the smell of snuff.

The little boy was terribly disappointed and began to cry again, ⑮(that / saying / one / no ) seemed to be able to find his uncle for him. But all Jip said to the Doctor was,

"Tell him that when the wind changes to the West, I'll find his uncle even though he be in China—so ⑯(is / long / he / as) still taking Black Rappee snuff."

Three days they had to wait before the West wind came. This was on a Friday morning, early—just as it was getting light. A fine rainy mist lay on the sea like a thin fog. And the wind was soft and warm and wet.

As soon as Jip awoke he ran upstairs and poked his nose in the air. Then he got most frightfully excited and rushed down again to wake the Doctor up.

"Doctor!" he cried. "I've ⑰(gave : put : got : left) it! Doctor! Doctor! Wake up! Listen! I've got it! The wind's from the West and it smells of nothing but snuff. Come upstairs and start the ship—quick!"

So the Doctor ⑱(bed / of / out / tumbled) and went to the rudder to ⑲***(immigrate : steer : withstand : extract) the ship.

"Now I'll go up to the front," said Jip; "and you watch my nose—whichever ⑳(point / I / way / it), you turn the ship the same way. The man cannot be far off—with the smell as strong as this. And the wind's all lovely and wet. Now watch me!"

※(31)の解答①(sniffed hard with his)②(breathing)③(sounded) ④(crumbling with age in)⑤(of things to eat)⑥(till)⑦(ever heard of finding)⑧(get a bite on)⑨(deserve)⑩(smells are coming from)⑪(remarkable)⑫(train me to smell)⑬(better off the way)⑭(no snuff as yet)⑮(saying that no one)←分詞構文⑯(long as he is)⑰(got)⑱(tumbled out of bed)⑳(way I point it)

「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から学ぶ大学入試・英検・TOEIC頻出語彙と読解(32)

　著作権の切れた童話「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から、シンプルで、大学入試にもTOEICにも英検にも有効な練習問題を作成しています。楽しみながら英語力を伸ばしていただければ幸いです。コロンで区切られているのが四語選択問題、スラッシュで区切られているのが四語整序問題です。

(32)
So all that morning Jip stood in the front part of the ship, sniffing the wind and pointing the way for the Doctor to steer; while all the animals and the little boy stood round ①(wide / eyes / their / with) open, watching the dog in wonder.

About lunch-time Jip asked Dab-Dab to tell the Doctor that he was getting worried and wanted to speak to him. So Dab-Dab went and ②**(fetched : exclaimed : frustrated : resented) the Doctor from the other end of the ship and Jip said to him,

"The boy's uncle is ③**(chattering : oppressing : assenting : starving). We must make the ship go as fast as we can."

"How do you know he is starving?" asked the Doctor.

"Because there is no other smell in the West wind but snuff," said Jip. "If the man were cooking or eating food of any kind, I would be ④(it / bound / smell / to) too. But he hasn't even fresh water to drink. All he is taking is snuff—in large pinches. We are getting nearer to him all the time, because the smell grows stronger every minute. But make the ship go as fast as you can, ⑤(I / for / certain / am) that the man is starving."

"All right," said the Doctor; and he sent Dab-Dab to ask the swallows to pull the ship, the same as they had done when the pirates were chasing them.

So the stout little birds came down and once more ⑥***(obstructed : fostered : confined : harnessed) themselves to the ship.

And now the boat went bounding through the waves at a terrible speed. It went so fast that the fishes in the sea had to ⑦(their / jump / lives / for) to get out of the way and not be run over.

And all the animals got tremendously excited; and they gave up looking at Jip and turned to watch the sea in front, to spy out any land or islands ⑧(which : where : what : when) the starving man might be.

But hour after hour went by and still the ship went rushing on, over the same flat, flat sea; and no land anywhere came in sight.

And now the animals gave up ⑨**(irritating : insulting : chattering : exploiting) and sat around silent, anxious and miserable. The little boy again ⑩(took : grew : made : came)sad. And on Jip's face there was a worried look.

At last, late in the afternoon, just as the sun was going down, the owl, Too-Too, who was perched on the tip of the mast, suddenly ⑪**(discriminated : startled : betrayed : excuted) them all by crying out at the top of his voice,

"Jip! Jip! I see a great, great rock in front of us—look—way out there where the sky and the water ⑫(seat : meet : have : make). See the sun shine on it—like gold! Is the smell coming from there?"

And Jip called back,

"Yes. That's it. That is where the man is.— At last, at last!"

And when they got nearer they could see ⑬(which : that : what : when)the rock was very large—as large as a big field. No ⑭(grew / trees / it / on), no grass—nothing. The great rock was as smooth and as bare as the back of a tortoise.

Then the Doctor sailed the ship right round the rock. But ⑮(could / it / on / nowhere) a man be seen. All the animals screwed up their eyes and looked as hard as they could; and John Dolittle got a telescope from downstairs.

But not one living thing could they spy—not even a gull, nor a star-fish, nor a shred of sea-weed.

They all stood still and listened, ⑯**(grabbing : thrusting : casting : straining) their ears for any sound. But the ⑰(heard / only / they / noise) was the gentle lapping of the little waves against the sides of their ship.

Then they all started calling, "Hulloa, there!—HULLOA!" till their voices were hoarse. But only the ⑱(from / echo / back / came) the rock.

And the little boy burst into tears and said,

"I am ⑲*(accustomed : obliged : seized : afraid) I shall never see my uncle any more! What shall I tell them when I get home!"

But Jip called to the Doctor,

"He must be there—he must—HE MUST! The smell goes on no further. He must be there, I tell you! Sail the ship close to the rock and let me ⑳(it / jump / on / out)."

※(32)の解答①(with their eyes wide)②(fetched)③(starving)④(bound to smell it)⑤(for I am certain)⑥(harnessed)⑦(jump for their lives) ⑧(where)⑨(chattering)⑩(grew)⑪(startled)⑫(meet)⑬(that)←接続詞のthatで後ろには完全な文が来る。⑭(trees grew on it)⑮(nowhere on it could)⑯(straining)⑰(only noise they heard)⑱(echo came back from)⑲(afraid)⑳(jump out on it)

「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から学ぶ大学入試・英検・TOEIC頻出語彙と読解(33)

　著作権の切れた童話「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から、シンプルで、大学入試にもTOEICにも英検にも有効な練習問題を作成しています。楽しみながら英語力を伸ばしていただければ幸いです。

(33)
So the Doctor brought the ship as close as he could and let down the anchor. Then he and Jip ①(made : put : gave : got) out of the ship on to the rock.

Jip at once ②(took : put : smelled : sat) his nose down close to the ground and began to run all over the place. Up and down he went, back and forth—zig-zagging, twisting, doubling and turning. And everywhere he went, the Doctor ran behind him, ③(his / close / heels / at)—till he was terribly out of breath.

At last Jip let out a great bark and sat down. And when the Doctor ④(running / came / to / up) him, he found the dog staring into a big, deep hole in the middle of the rock.

"The boy's uncle is down there," said Jip quietly. "No wonder those ⑤*(silly : naked : complex : visual) eagles couldn't see him!—It ⑥(makes : gives : takes : gets)a dog to find a man."

So the Doctor got down into the hole, which seemed to be a kind of cave, or tunnel, running a long way under the ground. Then he struck a match and started to ⑦(along / make / way / his) the dark passage with Jip following behind.

The Doctor's match soon ⑧(turned : went : pulled : set) out; and he had to strike another and another and another.

At last the passage came to an end; and the Doctor ⑨(gave : made : found : went)himself in a kind of tiny room ⑩(rock / of / walls / with).

And there, in the middle of the room, his⑪(resting / his / on / head) arms, lay a man with very red hair—fast asleep!

Jip went up and sniffed at something lying on the ground beside him. The Doctor stooped and picked it up. It was an ⑫*(ultimate : immediate : enormous : absolute) snuff-box. And it was full of Black Rappee!

THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER
THE FISHERMAN'S TOWN
GENTLY then—very gently, the Doctor woke the man up.

But just at that moment the match went out again. And the man thought it was Ben Ali coming back, and he began to ⑬*(fulfill : punch : respect : appreciate) the Doctor in the dark.

But when John Dolittle told ⑭(who / him / was / it), and that he had his little nephew safe on his ship, the man was tremendously glad, and said he was sorry he had fought the Doctor. He had not ⑮*(consumed : hurt : ceased : prevented) him much though—⑯(unless : so : because : but) it was too dark to punch properly. Then he gave the Doctor a pinch of snuff.

And the man told how the Barbary Dragon had ⑰(on / put / to / him) this rock and left him there, when he ⑱(mustn't : wouldn't : shouldn't : couldn't) promise to become a pirate; and how he used to sleep down in this hole because there was no house on the rock to keep him warm.

And then he said,

"For four days I have had nothing to eat or drink. I have lived on snuff."

"There you are!" said Jip. "What did I tell you?"

So they struck some more matches and made their way out through the ⑲*(biology : passage : origin : procedure) into the daylight; and the Doctor ⑳*(worried : exhausted : hurried : amazed) the man down to the boat to get some soup.

※(33)の解答①(got)②(put)③(close at his heels)④(came running up to)⑤(silly)⑥It (takes)a dog to find a man.←このtakeは「必要とする」という意味の重要表現⑦(make his way along)⑧(went)⑨(found )⑩(with walls of rock)⑪(head resting on his)⑫(enormous) ⑬(punch)⑭(him who it was)⑮(hurt)⑯(because)⑰(put him on to)⑱(wouldn't)⑲(passage)⑳(hurried)←ここのhurryは、「急がせる」という意味の他動詞

「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から学ぶ大学入試・英検・TOEIC頻出語彙と読解(34)

　著作権の切れた童話「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から、シンプルで、大学入試にもTOEICにも英検にも有効な練習問題を作成しています。楽しみながら英語力を伸ばしていただければ幸いです。コロンで区切られているのが四語選択問題、スラッシュで区切られているのが四語整序問題です。
(34)
When the animals and the little boy saw the Doctor and Jip coming back to the ship with a red-headed man, they began to cheer and ①**(lament : yell : bully : breed) and dance about the boat. And the swallows up ②(at / above / whistling / started) the top of their voices—thousands and millions of them—to show that they too were glad that the boy's brave uncle had been found. The noise ③(made / they / so / was) great that sailors far out at sea thought that a terrible storm was coming. "Hark to that gale howling in the East!" they said.

And Jip was awfully proud of himself—though he tried hard not to look ④***(conceited : affirmative : clumsy : perpetual). When Dab-Dab came to him and said, "Jip, I had ⑤(some : any : no : one) idea you were so clever!" he just tossed his head and answered,

"Oh, that's nothing special. But it takes a dog to find a man, you know. Birds are no good for a ⑥(fight : game : war : flight) like that."

Then the Doctor asked the red-haired fisherman where his home was. And when he had told him, the Doctor asked the swallows to guide the ship there first.

And when they had come to the land ⑦(where : which : what : that) the man had spoken of, they saw a little fishing-town at the ⑧(head : body : foot : leg) of a rocky mountain; and the man pointed out the house where he lived.

And while they were letting down the anchor, the little boy's mother (who was also the man's sister) came running down to the shore to meet them, laughing and crying ⑨(on : in : from : at) the same time. She had been sitting on a hill for twenty days, watching the sea and waiting ⑩(return / to / them / for).

And she kissed the Doctor many times, so that he giggled and blushed like a school-girl. And she tried to kiss Jip too; but he ran away and hid inside the ship.

"It's a silly business, this kissing," he said. "I don't hold by it. Let her go and kiss Gub-Gub—if she MUST kiss something."

The fisherman and his sister didn't want the Doctor to go away again in a hurry. They ⑪*(investigated : begged : contained : owed) him to spend a few days with them. So John Dolittle and his animals had to stay at their house a ⑫(by : whole : when : till) Saturday and Sunday and half of Monday.

And all the little boys of the fishing-village went down to the beach and pointed at the great ship anchored there, and said to one another in whispers,

"Look! That was a pirate-ship—Ben Ali's—the most terrible pirate that ⑬(never : hardly : ever : while) sailed the Seven Seas! That old gentleman with the high hat, who's staying up at Mrs. Trevelyan's, HE took the ship away from The Barbary Dragon—and made him ⑭(from : of : by : into) a farmer. Who'd have thought it of him—him so gentle—like and all!... Look at the great red sails! Ain't she the wicked-looking ship—and fast?—My!"

All those two days and a half that the Doctor stayed at the little fishing-town the people kept ⑮(him / asking / to / out) teas and luncheons and dinners and parties; all the ladies sent him boxes of flowers and candies; and the village-band ⑯(his / played / under / tunes ) window every night.

At last the Doctor said,

"Good people, I must go home now. You have really been most kind. I shall always remember it. But I must go home—for I have things to do."

Then, just as the Doctor was ⑰(around : down : about : under) to leave, the Mayor of the town came down the street and a lot of other people in grand clothes with him. And the Mayor stopped before the house where the Doctor was living; and everybody in the village gathered round to see what was going to happen.

After six page-boys had blown on shining trumpets to make the people stop talking, the Doctor came out on to the steps and the Mayor spoke.

"Doctor John Dolittle," said he: "It is a great pleasure for me to present to the man who ⑱***(resigned : transplanted : rid : soaked) the seas of the Dragon of Barbary this little token from the grateful people of our worthy Town."

And the Mayor took from his pocket a little tissue-paper packet, and opening it, he handed to the Doctor a perfectly beautiful ⑲(diamonds / watch / real / with) in the back.

※(34)の解答①(yell)②(above started whistling at)③(they made was so) ④(conceited)⑤I had (no) idea you were so clever!←「君がこれほど賢いとは全然わからなかった」という意味⑥(game)←英語のgameは多様な意味を持ちここでは「もくろみ、計略」くらいの意味⑦(which)⑧(foot)⑨(at)⑩(for them to return)⑪(begged)⑫(whole)⑬(ever)⑭(into)⑮(him asking out to)⑯(played tunes under his)⑰(about)⑱(rid)⑲(watch with real diamonds)

「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」から学ぶ大学入試・英検・TOEIC頻出語彙と読解(35)「最終回」

　著作権の切れた童話「ドリトル先生アフリカゆき」（原題THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE）から、シンプルで、大学入試にもTOEICにも英検にも有効な練習問題を作成して公開します。楽しみながら英語力を伸ばしていただければ幸いです。コロンで区切られているのが四語選択問題、スラッシュで区切られているのが四語整序問題です。

(35)
Then the Mayor pulled out of his pocket a still larger parcel and said,

"Where is the dog?"

Then everybody ①(hunt / started / for / to) Jip. And at last Dab-Dab found him on the other side of the village in a stable-yard, where all the dogs of the country-side were standing round him speechless with admiration and respect.

When Jip was brought to the Doctor's side, the Mayor opened the larger parcel; and inside was a dog-collar made of solid gold! And a great murmur ②(up / went / wonder / of) from the village-folk as the Mayor bent down and fastened it round the dog's neck with his own hands.

For written on the collar in big letters were these words: "JIP-THE CLEVEREST DOG IN THE WORLD."

Then the whole crowd moved down to the beach ③(off / to / them / see ). And after the red-haired fisherman and his sister and the little boy had thanked the Doctor and his dog over and over and over again, the great, swift ship with the red sails was turned once more towards Puddleby and they sailed out to sea, while the village-band played music on the shore.

THE LAST CHAPTER
HOME AGAIN
MARCH winds had come and gone; April's showers were over; May's buds ④(opened / had / flower / into); and the June sun was shining on the pleasant fields, when John Dolittle at last got back to his own country.

But he did not yet go home to Puddleby. First he went traveling through the land with the pushmi-pullyu in a gipsy-wagon, stopping at all the country-fairs. And there, with the acrobats on one side of them and the Punch-and-Judy show on the other, they would ⑤(drop : hang : stand : come)out a big sign which read, "COME AND SEE THE MARVELOUS TWO-HEADED ANIMAL FROM THE JUNGLES OF AFRICA. Admission SIXPENCE."

And the pushmi-pullyu would stay inside the wagon, while the other animals would lie about underneath. The Doctor sat in a chair in front taking the sixpences and smiling on the people ⑥(went / as / in / they ); and Dab-Dab was kept busy all the time scolding him because he would let the children in for ⑦(nothing : something : anything : nobody) when she wasn't looking.

And menagerie-keepers and circus-men came and asked the Doctor to sell them the strange creature, ⑧(pay / would / they / saying) a tremendous lot of money for him. But the Doctor always shook his head and said.

"No. The pushmi-pullyu shall never be shut up in a cage. He shall be free always to come and go, like you and me."

Many curious sights and happenings they saw in this ⑨**(assigning : wandering : commuting : blooming) life; but they all seemed quite ⑩*(particular : ordinary : political : exact) after the great things they had seen and done in foreign lands. It was very interesting at first, being sort of part of a circus; but after a few weeks they all got dreadfully tired of it and the Doctor and all of them were ⑪(lasting : meeting : longing : showing) to go home.

But so many people came ⑫**(boasting : flocking : surrendering : retreating) to the little wagon and paid the sixpence to go inside and see the pushmi-pullyu that very soon the Doctor was able ⑬(up / to / being / give) a showman.

And one fine day, when the hollyhocks ⑭(in / were / bloom / full), he came back to Puddleby a rich man, to live in the little house with the big garden.

And the old lame horse in the stable was glad to see him; and so were the swallows who had already built their nests under the eaves of his roof and had young ones. And Dab-Dab was glad, too, to get back to the house she knew so well—⑮(because : so : when : although) there was a terrible lot of dusting to be done, with cobwebs everywhere.

And after Jip had gone and shown his golden collar to the conceited collie next-door, he came back and began running round the garden like a crazy thing, looking for the bones he had ⑯*(buried : bothered : exported : exploded) long ago, and chasing the rats out of the tool-shed; while Gub-Gub dug up the horseradish which had grown three feet high in the corner by the garden-wall.

And the Doctor went and saw the sailor who had lent him the boat, and he bought two new ships for him and a rubber-doll for his baby; and he paid the grocer for the ⑰(lent / had / he / food) him for the journey to Africa. And he bought another piano and put the white mice back in it—because they said the bureau-drawer was drafty.

Even when the Doctor had filled the old money-box on the dresser-shelf, he still had a lot of money left; and he had to get three more money-boxes, just as big, to put the rest in.

"Money," he said, "is a terrible ⑱**(doctrine : nuisance : prestige : congress). But it's nice not to have to worry."

"Yes," said Dab-Dab, who was toasting muffins for his tea, "it is indeed!"

And when the Winter came again, and the snow flew against the kitchen-window, the Doctor and his animals would sit round the big, warm fire after supper; and he would read aloud to them out of his books.

But far away in Africa, where the monkeys chattered in the palm-trees before they went to bed under the big yellow moon, they would say to one another,

"I wonder what The Good Man's doing now—over there, in the Land of the White Men! Do you think he ever will come back?"

And Polynesia would squeak out from the vines,

"I think he will—I guess he will—I hope he will!"

And then the crocodile would grunt up at them from the black mud of the river,

"I'm SURE he will—Go to sleep!"

※(35)の解答①(started to hunt for)②(of wonder went up)③(to see them off)④(had opened into flower)⑤(hang)⑥(as they went in)⑦(nothing)⑧(saying they would pay)⑨(wandering)⑩(ordinary)⑪(longing)⑫(flocking)⑬(to give up being)⑭(were in full bloom)⑮(although)⑯(buried)⑰(food he had lent)⑱(nuisance)

※May's buds ④(had opened into flower)といった美しい詩的な表現に親しみながら学べば英語習得は順調になると思います。