約300語・3段落の英文を読み、90〜110語で要約します。本文の表現をそのまま写すと減点されるので、自分の言葉に言い換えます。具体例は「抽象的なまとめ」に置き換える必要があり、ここができずに語数が膨らむ人が多くいます。2025年度第1回からは、指示文が「Suggested length: 90-110 words」から「Summarize it between 90 and 110 words.」に変わり、語数は「目安」ではなく「指定」になりました。
採点はShort Speech・Interaction・Grammar and Vocabulary・Pronunciationの4項目で、各10点の合計40点とされています(詳しくは合格点の章)。602点に届く素点は27〜29点程度と推定されます。過去の二次試験の合格率は6割前後で、一次試験を突破した人の多くが合格しています。
For decades, the small island nation was held up as a model of economic stability. Its currency was strong, unemployment was low, and foreign investors poured money into its banks. These figures, however, ( ) an economy that depended almost entirely on a single industry. When global demand for its main export collapsed, the government found itself with few options.
reflected the strength of
resulted from the growth of
justified the reform of
masked the weaknesses of
正解と解説を見る
正解4masked the weaknesses of
空所の前後の関係がポイントです。前の文は「安定した経済」の数字を並べ、however のあとで「一つの産業に頼りきっていた」と続き、最後の文で輸出の崩壊が起きます。つまり「数字は、経済のもろさを覆い隠していた」という逆接の流れで、masked the weaknesses of が正解です。1の reflected the strength of では however の逆接が成り立ちません。
大問3 長文の内容一致選択
In 2019, the city of Norwell made its buses and trams free for all residents. Officials hoped the program would persuade drivers to leave their cars at home and reduce traffic in the city center. Ridership did rise sharply in the first year. However, a study published three years later found that car traffic had hardly changed. Most of the new passengers, the researchers concluded, were people who had previously walked or cycled to work. Meanwhile, the city lost a major source of income that had been used to maintain its aging tram lines.
According to the passage, why did the program fail to achieve its main goal?
Most of the people it attracted had not been using cars in the first place.
The number of people using buses and trams fell after the first year.
Drivers could not use the trams because the lines were too old.
The city had to start charging residents again to repair the tram lines.
正解と解説を見る
正解1Most of the people it attracted had not been using cars in the first place.
本文の「新しい乗客の多くは、以前は徒歩や自転車で通勤していた人だった」を言い換えた1が正解です。2は「最初の年に乗客は急増した」と合いません。3と4は本文の tram lines や income という語を使っていますが、書かれていない内容です。本文と同じ語を含む選択肢ほど、中身が本文と合っていないことがあります。
In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has shifted from a rare privilege to a standard arrangement at many companies. Improvements in video-conferencing software and online file sharing have made it possible for employees in fields such as software development, finance, and marketing to carry out most of their duties from home. Many workers now say they would like to continue working remotely for at least part of the week, and some firms even advertise flexible arrangements as a way to attract talented applicants.
Supporters argue that the benefits go far beyond convenience. Without long daily commutes, workers can reclaim hours that were previously lost on crowded trains, which may lower their stress levels and improve their overall well-being. Employers, meanwhile, can cut spending on expensive office space in city centers. Remote work also allows companies to hire skilled people who live far from major cities, including parents of young children and people with disabilities who may find a daily commute difficult.
Critics, however, point to costs that are less visible. Managers often find it harder to guide junior staff when they rarely meet in person, and new employees may struggle to learn the unwritten rules of their workplace. Some researchers also worry that casual conversations in hallways, which frequently lead to new ideas, happen far less often online. Furthermore, the boundary between work and private life can become blurred, and some remote workers end up working longer hours than they did in the office.
解答例と解説を見る
解答例(約100語)
Since the pandemic, working from home has become common at many companies because new technology allows much office work to be done remotely. This has clear benefits. Employees save time and suffer less stress because they no longer need to commute, companies spend less on offices, and employers can recruit capable people regardless of where they live or whether traveling to work is hard for them. However, critics warn of hidden drawbacks. It becomes more difficult to train inexperienced staff and pass on workplace customs, informal exchanges that generate ideas decrease, and the line between work and home may blur, leading to longer working hours.
講評:3つの段落(普及の背景・利点・懸念)を順に1〜2文でまとめています。「crowded trains」は「commute」に、「parents of young children and people with disabilities」は「whether traveling to work is hard for them」に、と具体例を抽象的な言葉に置き換えているのがポイントです。本文の表現をそのまま写さず、However で段落の対比を示しています。語数が指定の範囲に入っているかは、書き終えたら数えます。
TOPIC: Should governments impose taxes on sugary drinks?
解答例と解説を見る
解答例(約230語・賛成の立場)
Sugary drinks are cheap, easy to find, and heavily advertised, yet they add little to a healthy diet. I believe governments should impose taxes on them for three reasons: such taxes would improve public health, reduce the burden on medical systems, and provide money for useful programs.
First, a tax would change consumer behavior. When the price of a product rises, people tend to buy less of it, and sugary drinks are unlikely to be an exception. Because these beverages are a major source of added sugar for many people, even a modest drop in consumption could lower the risk of obesity, tooth decay, and diabetes, particularly among children.
Second, healthier citizens mean lower medical costs. Treating long-term illnesses linked to too much sugar is expensive, and in countries with public health insurance, these costs are shared by all taxpayers. Preventing disease is far cheaper than treating it for decades.
Third, the tax would create revenue that could be invested wisely. Governments could use the money to fund nutrition education in schools or to make fresh food more affordable for low-income families, who often suffer most from diet-related diseases.
Some people argue that such taxes limit personal freedom. However, consumers would still be free to buy these drinks; they would simply pay a price that better reflects the true cost to society. For these reasons, taxing sugary drinks is a sensible policy.
W: Honestly, Dan, if we keep eating out three times a week, we'll never save enough for the down payment on a house. M: I know, but cooking every night after work is exhausting. What if we did a big batch of cooking on Sundays? W: That could work. And we could cancel that streaming service we barely use. M: Fair enough. Let's sit down this weekend and go through all our monthly subscriptions.
Question: What will the couple probably do this weekend?
Look at houses that are for sale.
Try a restaurant that recently opened.
Review the services they pay for every month.
Sign up for a cooking class.
正解と解説を見る
正解3Review the services they pay for every month.
最後の発言の go through all our monthly subscriptions(毎月の定額サービスを全部見直す)を言い換えた3が正解です。1の houses は down payment(頭金)から連想させるひっかけです。1級のPart 1は仕事や家計の話題が多く、会話の流れを最後まで追う必要があります。
Part 2 文の内容一致選択
(放送文)
In recent years, some hospitals have started offering music therapy to patients recovering from surgery. Supporters say that listening to calm music can help patients relax and may reduce the amount of pain medication they request. However, some doctors remain cautious. They point out that many of the studies on music therapy have involved only small groups of patients, and that it is difficult to design experiments in which patients do not know whether they are receiving the treatment.
Question: What is one concern some doctors have about music therapy?
It may cause patients to request more medication.
Research supporting it has been limited in scale.
It is too expensive for most hospitals to offer.
Patients often find the music unpleasant.
正解と解説を見る
正解2Research supporting it has been limited in scale.
Situation: You are at a train station and need to reach the airport by 10:30. It is now 9:40.
Question: What should you do?
(放送文)
Attention, passengers. Due to signal trouble, the 9:45 airport limited express from Platform 4 has been canceled. Passengers heading to the airport are advised to take the 9:50 express from Platform 2 and change at Central Station, where a connecting airport shuttle departs every ten minutes. The whole journey will take approximately 40 minutes. Local trains on Platform 3 are running on schedule, but they do not connect with the shuttle.
Interviewer: You're now one of the country's best-known wildlife photographers. How did you get started? Woman: Actually, I trained as an accountant. I only took up photography as a hobby, mostly on weekends. What changed things was a small local competition. I entered a photo of a heron almost as a joke, and it won. An editor who was on the judging panel contacted me afterward and offered me my first paid assignment. Even then, I kept my office job for another four years, because I wasn't sure I could make a living from photography.
Question: What does the woman say about the beginning of her career?
A contest led to her first professional job.
She studied photography before working as an accountant.
She left her office job soon after winning a prize.
Is globalization beneficial to developing nations?
Should space exploration be publicly funded?
Is Japan doing enough to address its declining birthrate?
解答例と解説を見る
解答例(1を選び、反対の立場で話す場合・約160語)
I do not believe that voting should be made compulsory. Low turnout is certainly a problem, but forcing people to vote would create new problems of its own.
My first reason is that compulsory voting conflicts with individual freedom. In a democracy, citizens have the right to take part in elections, but I would argue that they also have the right not to. Choosing not to vote can itself be a political message, for example, a protest against all of the candidates.
My second reason is that compulsory voting may lower the quality of decisions. People with no interest in politics might choose a candidate at random or simply pick a famous name, and their votes would count as much as those of well-informed citizens.
Instead of punishing people who do not vote, governments should make voting easier, for instance by allowing online voting, and improve political education in schools. For these reasons, I believe voting should remain voluntary.