医学部合格応援団◇息子のための英文法演習ブログ

ロンドン単身赴任の米国公認会計士が、息子のために医学部受験向けに英語を解説しています。

センター長文読解問題 ─ テクノロジー関連

医学部の長文では、医学系・科学系の論文がよく出されます。似た分野で、テクノロジー関連の論文からの出題もあり得ます。テクノロジー系の文章は数字が入ることが多いから、センター試験でも出やすいです。

ということで今日は、とある新テクノロジーについての文章を、雑誌Inc.から抜粋しました。インターネット以来のインパクトを与えると言われています。といっても、ビッグデータフィンテックではありませんよ。

 

問題はタイプAとBの2種で、8問ずつです。下線部Aは、似た意味の単語を選択肢から選び、空欄Bは、与えてある文字から始まる単語を自力で書いてください。活用や時制にも気をつけましょう。

難しめの単語には*マークをつけ、解説を付しました。長文を読む際のヒントでいつも書いている通り、あらかじめ解説してある言葉と問題文、そして選択肢は、本文より先に最初に読んでくださいね。制限時間は20分です。Let’s take a look!

f:id:medicpress-harada:20170318050119j:plain 

The term “trust” and “cyber technology” are not often used in the same (A-1) sentence. The past year has seen an onslaught* of cyber hacks, forcing everyone to question security on the web. (B-1) L    , the growing Blockchain movement has the potential to reverse this (A-2) course of distrust.

Blockchain has been gaining awareness (B-2) t    to the support of major technology and financial institutions, but there is still a great (B-3) d         of misunderstanding swirling* around the (A-3) term. Blockchain is an open, distributed ledger* that seamlessly records transactions between two parties, thus increasing trust in the transfer of assets. Blockchain technology, most notably recognized for powering Bitcoin, is on the (B-4) v         of becoming one of 2017’s most transformational transactional applications.

Why does Blockchain matter?

The Internet (B-5) c                 the foundation of our existence; almost every aspect of today’s culture runs on the web and relies on its ability to store information and transactions. Since the Internet’s (A-4) inception, the way that information has been stored and retrieved* has been largely untouched – until Blockchain (A-5) came along. As the Harvard Business Review recently expounded*, the goal of Blockchain is to decentralize data, (B-6) t    creating a shared, globally accessible network; this decentralization of data has the power to revolutionize the world.

Early conceptions of the Internet imagined a virtual structure free of hierarchy. That promise has been (B-7) h  -delivered; while it’s true that the Internet is widely accessible (given that those attempting to access it live in an environment with infrastructure built for the Internet) technology corporations and governments have largely been in control. An open system is especially (A-6) intriguing for burgeoning* entrepreneurs and small business owners because it solves many of the problems (A-7) plaguing small businesses today: payment scams, transactional (A-8) disputes, and data storage. Blockchain provides business owners (B-8) w            the opportunity to enhance internal operational and external customer satisfaction.

 

用語解説(*でマークしたもの)

  • onslaught: 猛攻撃
  • swirl: 渦を巻く
  • ledger: 記帳システム
  • retrieve: 回収する
  • expound: 解説する
  • burgeon: 芽が出る

設問 

Q1: For each of the underlines marked with (A), which of the following word is closest in meaning?

(A-1) sentence: [collateral, controversy, breath, betrayal]

(A-2) course: [visualisation, strategy, injection, state]

(A-3) term: [letter, word, sentence, context]

(A-4) inception: [start, end, middle, finish]

(A-5) came along: [kicked, appeared, called, exited]

(A-6) intriguing: [attractive, inquisitive, surprizing, amazing]

(A-7) plaguing: [sticking, cleaning, touching, troubling]

(A-8) disputes: [concerns, fights, punches, quarrels]

 

Q2: For each of the underlines marked with (B), fill in the appropriate word starting with the letter provided.