著作権の切れた童話「ドリトル先生航海記」に、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組込んでみました。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。＊印は難易度の目安で、＊印が多いほど難しい単語になっています。無印は語法・文法等の問題です。
ついに今回が最終回となります。気まぐれな連載におつき合い頂き有り難うございました。
数十年前の高校時代を振り返ってみますと、国語が得意な面々は問題集をやる生徒ではなく本をよく読む生徒でした。残念ながら英語に関しては、読書という効率的で楽しい学習法が現在もあまり普及していないようです。試験勉強だけではなく、読書に目を向ける英語学習者が増えることを願ってやみません。
※(91)の解答①(occupied)②(willing to take him)③(carry on his proper)④(shame)⑤(try out his mended)⑥(of his own accord)⑦(his way to drop)⑧(examine)⑨(forlorn about him as)⑩(persuasive)⑪(accept)⑫(what you're doing here)⑬(desert)⑭(growing)⑮(fetch) ⑯(pondered)⑰(provisions)⑱(excuses)⑲(be of wider use)⑳(linger)
(92)
Great decisions often take no more than a moment in the making. Against the now paling sky I saw the Doctor's figure suddenly stiffen. Slowly he lifted the Sacred Crown from off his head and laid it on the sands.
And when he spoke his voice was ①**(multiplied : choked : coincided : impaired) with tears.
"They will find it here," he murmured, "when they come to search for me. And they will know that I have gone.... My children, my poor children!—I wonder will they ever understand why it was I left them.... I wonder will they ever understand—and ②*(praise : improve : resist : forgive)."
He took his old hat from Bumpo; then facing Long Arrow, gripped his outstretched hand in silence.
"You decide aright, oh Kindly One," said the Indian—"though none will miss and mourn you more than Long Arrow, the son of Golden Arrow—Farewell, and may good ③*(fortune : creature : origin : remark) ever lead you by the hand!"
It was the first and only time I ever saw the Doctor weep. Without a word to any of us, he turned and moved down the beach into the shallow water of the sea.
The snail humped up its back and made an opening between its shoulders and the edge of its shell. The Doctor clambered up and passed within. We followed him, after handing up the baggage. The ④(with / tight / shut / opening) a whistling suction noise.
Then turning in the direction of the East, the great creature began moving smoothly forward, down the slope into the deeper waters.
Just as the swirling dark green surf was closing in above our heads, the big morning sun popped his rim up over the edge of the ocean. And through our ⑤***(inborn : reckless : prudent : transparent) walls of pearl we saw the watery world about us suddenly light up with that most wondrously colorful of visions, a daybreak beneath the sea.
The rest of the story of our homeward voyage is soon told.
Our new quarters we found very satisfactory. Inside the spacious shell, the snail's wide back was extremely comfortable to sit and lounge on—better than a sofa, when you ⑥(got / once / to / accustomed) the damp and clammy feeling of it. He asked us, shortly after we started, if we wouldn't ⑦*(present : mind : punish : appear) taking off our boots, as the hobnails in them hurt his back as we ran excitedly from one side to another to see the different sights.
The motion was not unpleasant, very smooth and even; in fact, ⑧(and : since : not : but)for the landscape passing outside, you would not know, on the level going, that you were moving at all.
I had always thought for some reason or other that the bottom of the sea was flat. I found that it was just as ⑨**(irregular : respectable : irrelevant : perpetual) and changeful as the surface of the dry land. We climbed over great mountain-ranges, with peaks towering above peaks. We ⑩(way / threaded / through / our) dense forests of tall sea-plants. We crossed wide empty stretches of sandy mud, like deserts—so vast that you went on for a whole day with nothing ahead of you but a dim horizon. Sometimes the scene was moss-covered, rolling country, green and restful to the eye like rich pastures; so that you almost looked to see sheep cropping on these underwater downs. And sometimes the snail would roll us forward inside him like peas, when he suddenly dipped downward to descend into some deep ⑪***(alleged : conceded : secluded : addicted) valley with steeply sloping sides.
In these lower levels we often came upon the shadowy shapes of dead ships, wrecked and sunk Heaven ⑫(knows / many / only / how) years ago; and passing them we would speak in hushed whispers like children seeing monuments in churches.
Here too, in the deeper, darker waters, monstrous fishes, feeding quietly in caves and hollows would suddenly spring up, ⑬(approach / our / at / alarmed), and flash away into the gloom with the speed of an arrow. While other bolder ones, all sorts of unearthly shapes and colors, would come right up and peer in at us through the shell.
"I suppose they think we are a sort of sanaquarium," said Bumpo—"I'd hate to be a fish."
It was a thrilling and ever-changing show. The Doctor wrote or sketched incessantly. Before long we had ⑭*(shared : filled : folded : conserved) all the blank note-books we had left. Then we searched our pockets for any odd scraps of paper ⑮(which / on / jot / to) down still more observations. We even went through the used books a second time, writing in between the lines, scribbling all over the covers, back and front.
Our greatest difficulty was getting enough light to see by. In the lower waters it was very dim. On the third day we passed a band of fire-eels, a sort of large, marine glow-worm; and the Doctor asked the snail to get them to come with us for a way. This they did, swimming alongside; and their light was very helpful, though not brilliant.
How our giant shellfish found his way across that vast and gloomy world was a great puzzle to us. John Dolittle asked ⑯(means / him / what / by ) he navigated—how he knew he was on the right road to Puddleby River. And what the snail said in reply got the Doctor so excited, that having no paper left, he tore out the lining of his precious hat and covered it with notes.
By night of course it was impossible to see anything; and during the hours of darkness the snail used to swim instead of crawl. When he did so he could travel at a terrific speed, just by waggling that long tail of his. This was the reason why we ⑰*(delivered : purchased : completed :fascinated) the trip in so short a time five and a half days.
The air of our chamber, not having a change in the whole voyage, got very close and stuffy; and for the first two days we all had headaches. But after that we got used to it and didn't mind it in the least.
Early in the afternoon of the sixth day, we noticed we were climbing a long gentle slope. As we went upward it grew lighter. Finally we saw that the snail had crawled right out of the water altogether and had now come to a dead stop on a long strip of gray sand.
Behind us we saw the surface of the sea rippled by the wind. On our left was the mouth of a river with the tide running out. While in front, the low flat land ⑱*(stretched : deprived : claimed : removed) away into the mist—which prevented one from seeing very far in any direction. A pair of wild ducks with craning necks and whirring wings passed over us and disappeared like shadows, seaward.
As a landscape, it was a great change from the hot brilliant sunshine of Popsipetel.
With the same whistling suction sound, the snail made the opening for us to crawl out by. As we stepped down upon the marshy land we ⑲*(predicted : noticed : devised : affected) that a fine, drizzling autumn rain was falling.
"Can this be Merrie England?" asked Bumpo, peering into the fog—"doesn't look like any place in particular. Maybe the snail hasn't brought us right after all."
"Yes," sighed Polynesia, shaking the rain oft her feathers, "this is England all right—You can tell it by the beastly climate."
"Oh, but fellows," cried Jip, as he sniffed up the air in great gulps, "it has a SMELL—a good and glorious smell!—Excuse me a minute: I see a water-rat."
"Sh!—Listen!" said Chee-Chee through teeth that chattered with the cold. "There's Puddleby church-clock striking four. Why don't we divide up the baggage and get moving. We've got a long way to foot it home across the marshes."
"Let's hope," I put in, "that Dab-Dab has a nice fire burning in the kitchen."
"I'm sure she will," said the Doctor as he picked out his old handbag from among the bundles—"With this wind from the East she'll need it to keep the animals in the house warm. Come on. Let's hug the river-bank so we don't miss our way in the fog. You know, there's something rather ⑳*(vacant : fluent : trivial : attractive) in the bad weather of England—when you've got a kitchen-fire to look forward to.... Four o'clock! Come along—we'll just be in nice time for tea."
End
※(92)の解答①(choked)②(forgive)③(fortune)④(opening shut tight with)⑤(transparent)⑥(once got accustomed to)⑦(mind)⑧(but)⑨(irregular)⑩(threaded our way through)⑪(secluded)⑫(only knows how many)⑬(alarmed at our approach)⑭(filled)⑮(on which to jot) ⑯(him by what means)⑰(completed)⑱(stretched)⑲(noticed) ⑳(attractive)
ご意見、ご要望等はsuzuyasu@wmail.plala.or.jpでも承っております。
ついに今回が最終回となります。気まぐれな連載におつき合い頂き有り難うございました。
数十年前の高校時代を振り返ってみますと、国語が得意な面々は問題集をやる生徒ではなく本をよく読む生徒でした。残念ながら英語に関しては、読書という効率的で楽しい学習法が現在もあまり普及していないようです。試験勉強だけではなく、読書に目を向ける英語学習者が増えることを願ってやみません。
※(91)の解答①(occupied)②(willing to take him)③(carry on his proper)④(shame)⑤(try out his mended)⑥(of his own accord)⑦(his way to drop)⑧(examine)⑨(forlorn about him as)⑩(persuasive)⑪(accept)⑫(what you're doing here)⑬(desert)⑭(growing)⑮(fetch) ⑯(pondered)⑰(provisions)⑱(excuses)⑲(be of wider use)⑳(linger)
(92)
Great decisions often take no more than a moment in the making. Against the now paling sky I saw the Doctor's figure suddenly stiffen. Slowly he lifted the Sacred Crown from off his head and laid it on the sands.
And when he spoke his voice was ①**(multiplied : choked : coincided : impaired) with tears.
"They will find it here," he murmured, "when they come to search for me. And they will know that I have gone.... My children, my poor children!—I wonder will they ever understand why it was I left them.... I wonder will they ever understand—and ②*(praise : improve : resist : forgive)."
He took his old hat from Bumpo; then facing Long Arrow, gripped his outstretched hand in silence.
"You decide aright, oh Kindly One," said the Indian—"though none will miss and mourn you more than Long Arrow, the son of Golden Arrow—Farewell, and may good ③*(fortune : creature : origin : remark) ever lead you by the hand!"
It was the first and only time I ever saw the Doctor weep. Without a word to any of us, he turned and moved down the beach into the shallow water of the sea.
The snail humped up its back and made an opening between its shoulders and the edge of its shell. The Doctor clambered up and passed within. We followed him, after handing up the baggage. The ④(with / tight / shut / opening) a whistling suction noise.
Then turning in the direction of the East, the great creature began moving smoothly forward, down the slope into the deeper waters.
Just as the swirling dark green surf was closing in above our heads, the big morning sun popped his rim up over the edge of the ocean. And through our ⑤***(inborn : reckless : prudent : transparent) walls of pearl we saw the watery world about us suddenly light up with that most wondrously colorful of visions, a daybreak beneath the sea.
The rest of the story of our homeward voyage is soon told.
Our new quarters we found very satisfactory. Inside the spacious shell, the snail's wide back was extremely comfortable to sit and lounge on—better than a sofa, when you ⑥(got / once / to / accustomed) the damp and clammy feeling of it. He asked us, shortly after we started, if we wouldn't ⑦*(present : mind : punish : appear) taking off our boots, as the hobnails in them hurt his back as we ran excitedly from one side to another to see the different sights.
The motion was not unpleasant, very smooth and even; in fact, ⑧(and : since : not : but)for the landscape passing outside, you would not know, on the level going, that you were moving at all.
I had always thought for some reason or other that the bottom of the sea was flat. I found that it was just as ⑨**(irregular : respectable : irrelevant : perpetual) and changeful as the surface of the dry land. We climbed over great mountain-ranges, with peaks towering above peaks. We ⑩(way / threaded / through / our) dense forests of tall sea-plants. We crossed wide empty stretches of sandy mud, like deserts—so vast that you went on for a whole day with nothing ahead of you but a dim horizon. Sometimes the scene was moss-covered, rolling country, green and restful to the eye like rich pastures; so that you almost looked to see sheep cropping on these underwater downs. And sometimes the snail would roll us forward inside him like peas, when he suddenly dipped downward to descend into some deep ⑪***(alleged : conceded : secluded : addicted) valley with steeply sloping sides.
In these lower levels we often came upon the shadowy shapes of dead ships, wrecked and sunk Heaven ⑫(knows / many / only / how) years ago; and passing them we would speak in hushed whispers like children seeing monuments in churches.
Here too, in the deeper, darker waters, monstrous fishes, feeding quietly in caves and hollows would suddenly spring up, ⑬(approach / our / at / alarmed), and flash away into the gloom with the speed of an arrow. While other bolder ones, all sorts of unearthly shapes and colors, would come right up and peer in at us through the shell.
"I suppose they think we are a sort of sanaquarium," said Bumpo—"I'd hate to be a fish."
It was a thrilling and ever-changing show. The Doctor wrote or sketched incessantly. Before long we had ⑭*(shared : filled : folded : conserved) all the blank note-books we had left. Then we searched our pockets for any odd scraps of paper ⑮(which / on / jot / to) down still more observations. We even went through the used books a second time, writing in between the lines, scribbling all over the covers, back and front.
Our greatest difficulty was getting enough light to see by. In the lower waters it was very dim. On the third day we passed a band of fire-eels, a sort of large, marine glow-worm; and the Doctor asked the snail to get them to come with us for a way. This they did, swimming alongside; and their light was very helpful, though not brilliant.
How our giant shellfish found his way across that vast and gloomy world was a great puzzle to us. John Dolittle asked ⑯(means / him / what / by ) he navigated—how he knew he was on the right road to Puddleby River. And what the snail said in reply got the Doctor so excited, that having no paper left, he tore out the lining of his precious hat and covered it with notes.
By night of course it was impossible to see anything; and during the hours of darkness the snail used to swim instead of crawl. When he did so he could travel at a terrific speed, just by waggling that long tail of his. This was the reason why we ⑰*(delivered : purchased : completed :fascinated) the trip in so short a time five and a half days.
The air of our chamber, not having a change in the whole voyage, got very close and stuffy; and for the first two days we all had headaches. But after that we got used to it and didn't mind it in the least.
Early in the afternoon of the sixth day, we noticed we were climbing a long gentle slope. As we went upward it grew lighter. Finally we saw that the snail had crawled right out of the water altogether and had now come to a dead stop on a long strip of gray sand.
Behind us we saw the surface of the sea rippled by the wind. On our left was the mouth of a river with the tide running out. While in front, the low flat land ⑱*(stretched : deprived : claimed : removed) away into the mist—which prevented one from seeing very far in any direction. A pair of wild ducks with craning necks and whirring wings passed over us and disappeared like shadows, seaward.
As a landscape, it was a great change from the hot brilliant sunshine of Popsipetel.
With the same whistling suction sound, the snail made the opening for us to crawl out by. As we stepped down upon the marshy land we ⑲*(predicted : noticed : devised : affected) that a fine, drizzling autumn rain was falling.
"Can this be Merrie England?" asked Bumpo, peering into the fog—"doesn't look like any place in particular. Maybe the snail hasn't brought us right after all."
"Yes," sighed Polynesia, shaking the rain oft her feathers, "this is England all right—You can tell it by the beastly climate."
"Oh, but fellows," cried Jip, as he sniffed up the air in great gulps, "it has a SMELL—a good and glorious smell!—Excuse me a minute: I see a water-rat."
"Sh!—Listen!" said Chee-Chee through teeth that chattered with the cold. "There's Puddleby church-clock striking four. Why don't we divide up the baggage and get moving. We've got a long way to foot it home across the marshes."
"Let's hope," I put in, "that Dab-Dab has a nice fire burning in the kitchen."
"I'm sure she will," said the Doctor as he picked out his old handbag from among the bundles—"With this wind from the East she'll need it to keep the animals in the house warm. Come on. Let's hug the river-bank so we don't miss our way in the fog. You know, there's something rather ⑳*(vacant : fluent : trivial : attractive) in the bad weather of England—when you've got a kitchen-fire to look forward to.... Four o'clock! Come along—we'll just be in nice time for tea."
End
※(92)の解答①(choked)②(forgive)③(fortune)④(opening shut tight with)⑤(transparent)⑥(once got accustomed to)⑦(mind)⑧(but)⑨(irregular)⑩(threaded our way through)⑪(secluded)⑫(only knows how many)⑬(alarmed at our approach)⑭(filled)⑮(on which to jot) ⑯(him by what means)⑰(completed)⑱(stretched)⑲(noticed) ⑳(attractive)
ご意見、ご要望等はsuzuyasu@wmail.plala.or.jpでも承っております。
新たな読解語彙問題、楽しみにしています。