こんにちは、SOLO IELTS TOEFLのルークです。
TOEFLリーディングの「代名詞の問題」の練習を一緒に例題で確認していきましょう
目次：
リーディングと代名詞問題
TOEFL iBTリーディングの代名詞の問題は、その名の通り代名詞が何を指しているとか答える問題です。
it / they / them / these / those / this / that / its / their / the former / the latter / one / ones / another / other
様々な形の代名詞が出題されますが、TOEFLリーディング10の問のパターンでは最も簡単な形式です。
下線部の代名詞の2文前まで読むと解答可能となっています。必ず代名詞の前に答えがあります。
このタイプは4つの例題に慣れておくと30秒で解答可能です
例題1. ピリオドで区切り型
最初の例題は代名詞が、ピリオドで区切られているパターンです。
Q. 1: A huge loss of life resulted from the introduction of Old World diseases into the Americas in the early sixteenth century . The inhabitants of the Americas were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe by rising oceans following Ice Ages. They were isolated by means of this watery barrier from numerous virulent epidemic diseases that had developed across the ocean, such as measles, smallpox, pneunomia and malaria. Pre-Columbian Americans had a relatively disease-free environment but also lacked that antibodies needed to protect them from bacteria and viruses brought to America by European explorers and colonists.
The word “They” in the passage refers to:
A. The inhabitants
B. Epidemic diseases
C. Rising oceans
D. The ice ages
Theyの前がピリオドで区切られているのが確認できますね。
このように代名詞がitやtheyの場合は、直前の文章中に答えがあります。
ただし、前文がIt is…that SVをとっている場合はthat説の中に答えがあります。
この場合は、前文の主語the inhabitantsが答えだとわかりますね。
例題2. 前文を示す代名詞
例題2では、特定の単語ではなく、前文の全てをさすパターンを確認してみましょう。
Q. Many millions of years after ferns evolved (but long before the Hawaiian Islands were born from the sea), another kind of flora evolved on Earth: the seed-bearing plants. This was a wonderful biological inventionThe seed has an outer coating that surrounds the genetic material of the new plant, and inside this covering is a concentrated supply of nutrients. Thus the seed’s chances of survival are greatly enhanced over those of the naked spore.
The word “This” in the passage refers to:
A. The spread of ferns and mosses in Hawaii
B. The creation of the Hawaiian Islands
C. The evolution of ferns
D. The development of plants that produce seeds
このように、this/that/these/thoseの4つの代名詞は前文のアイデアそのものをさします。
この場合は、another kind of flora evolved on Earth: the seed-bearing plantsを指すのでDが答えだと分かりますね。
例題3. コンマの前
例題3では、代名詞の前が長い複文で書かれた文章で、コンマがあるものを紹介します。
こういった際は必ずコンマの前の大主語が答えになります。
Q.At the upper timberline the trees begin to become twisted and deformed. This is particularly true for trees in the middle and upper latitudes, which tend to attain greater heights on ridges, whereas in the tropics the trees reach their greater heights in the valleys. This is because middle- and upper- latitude timberlines are strongly influenced by the duration and depth of the snow cover. Trees tends to attain greater heights on the ridges as the snow is deeper and lasts longer in the valleys, even though they are more exposed to high-velocity winds and poor, thin soil there. In the tropics, the valleys appear to be more favorable because they are less prone to dry out, they have less frost, and they have deeper soils.
The word “they” in the passage refers to:
A. valleys
B. trees
C. heights
D. ridges
theyの直前のコンマの前の長い複文の大主語はどれでしょうか？
当然treesですね、答えはBとなります。
例題4. 差し替え
今までの例題1-3とは違い、its / their / the former / the latter / one / ones / another / other / othersなどは選択肢をそのまま文章に当てはめます。
直接選択肢を当てはめてみることで文脈から判断をすることが可能です。
Q1. The arrival of gold and silver from the Americas, and the increasing trade with French, British, and Spanish colonies in the New World signified an important shift. The Mediterranean Sea lost its status as the focus of European trade, and the Atlantic Ocean took its place. This shift, combined with the creation of banking and money markets, marks the emerging dominance of what would come to be called capitalism, an economic system which would develop over the next four hundred years into the global economy that we see today. Compared with the slow rate of progress during the thousand years of the Middle Ages, the period from 1500 to 1700 in Europe appears rather miraculous.
The word “its” in the passage refers to:
A. European trade
B. the Atlantic Ocean
C. the Mediterranean Sea
D. the New World
itsのところに選択肢を全て入れていきます。
A. Ocean took [European trade’s] place….European Tradeの集中について話しているので除外できます。
B. Atlantic Ocean took [the Atlantic Ocean’s] place….Atlantic Ocean がAtlantic Oceanをとった…ありえないですね。
C. Atlantic Ocean took [the Mediterranean Sea’s] place…. 文章自体が地中海について話しているので正解ですね。
代名詞のコツは掴めたでしょうか
まとめ
TOEFL iBTリーディングの「代名詞の問題」の例題を一緒にみていきました。
例題の4パターンを知っておくことですぐに正答に辿り着くことができます。TOEFL iBTリーディングでは容易なタイプですので落とさないようにしたいところです。
次の記事: パラフレーズ問題をサンプル練習
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