EigoPro 2級読解 — The Promise of Renewable Energy

The Promise of Renewable Energy For most of the last two hundred years, the world has run on fossil fuels — coal, oil, and natural gas. These fuels powered factories, cars, and homes, and helped create the modern world. They have a serious drawback, however. Burning them releases gases that warm the planet, and one day the supplies will run out. For these reasons, many countries are turning to renewable energy. Renewable energy comes from sources that nature replaces naturally, such as sunlight, wind, and flowing water. Unlike coal or oil, these sources will not run out, and they produce little or no harmful gas. The sun alone sends more energy to the Earth in a single hour than the whole world uses in a year. Thanks to rapid improvements in technology, the cost of capturing this energy, especially from the sun and the wind, has fallen dramatically in recent years. Renewable energy is not without its challenges. The most obvious is that the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. A country cannot run on solar power at night or on a still, cloudy day. This means that clean energy must be stored for later use, usually in large batteries, and the technology for doing this on a huge scale is still developing and can be expensive. Despite these difficulties, the shift is clearly under way. In many places, electricity from the sun and wind is now cheaper than electricity from fossil fuels. Governments, businesses, and ordinary households are installing solar panels and building wind farms at a remarkable pace. The change will not happen overnight, but most experts now agree that the future of energy is renewable — and that future is arriving faster than many people expected.

5問合格 60%以上普通

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

2級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

Renewable energy is impossible and will never be used.
The world has always run mainly on solar and wind power.
Because fossil fuels cause problems, the world is shifting to renewable energy.
Fossil fuels have no problems and will last forever.

Phrase

many countries are turning to renewable energy

多くの国が再生可能エネルギーへ転換しつつある

2級読解環境記事主旨

⚡ひとことで

記事の主旨は「化石燃料には温暖化と枯渇という欠点があり、各国が利点ある再生可能エネルギーへ転換しつつある(課題はあるが未来は再エネ)」。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Because fossil fuels cause problems, the world is shifting to renewable energy.」

正解

第1段落 "Burning them releases gases that warm the planet, and one day the supplies will run out. For these reasons, many countries are turning to renewable energy" が主旨。記事は化石燃料の欠点 → 再エネの利点 → 課題 → 転換と展開。run on ~ = 「〜で動く」、turn to ~ = 「〜に頼る・転じる」、a drawback = 「欠点」。

「Fossil fuels cause no problems at all and will last for ever and ever.」
= 化石燃料に問題はなく永遠に続く ━ 本文 "a serious drawback" "supplies will run out" と矛盾。
「Renewable energy is impossible and will never be used on a large scale.」
= 再エネは不可能で決して使われない ━ 本文 "the shift is clearly under way" と矛盾。
「The world has always run mainly on solar power and on the power of wind.」
= 世界は常に太陽・風力で動いてきた ━ 本文 "run on fossil fuels" (過去200年) と矛盾。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
run on ~	〜で動く	the world has run on fossil fuels
a serious drawback	重大な欠点	a serious drawback
run out	尽きる	the supplies will run out
turn to ~	〜に頼る・転じる	turning to renewable energy
for these reasons	これらの理由で	For these reasons

❝例文

The world has run on fossil fuels.
世界は化石燃料で動いてきた。
They warm the planet and will run out.
それらは地球を温め、尽きる。
So countries turn to renewable energy.
だから各国は再エネに転じる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問の鉄則 ―― 化石燃料の欠点 "For these reasons, ... turning to renewable energy" が主旨。誤答は本文と矛盾 (問題なし / 不可能 / 常に太陽風力) で誘導。欠点→転換を含む選択肢が正解。

問 2

What are the advantages of renewable energy?

It comes from sources that never run out and produce little or no harmful gas.
It can only be made by burning natural gas.
It comes from sources that will soon run out.
It produces far more harmful gas than coal or oil.

Phrase

sources nature replaces naturally; will not run out; produce little or no harmful gas

自然が補う源、尽きず、有害ガスをほぼ出さない

2級読解環境記事詳細 (再エネの利点)

⚡ひとことで

再生可能エネルギーは太陽・風・流水など自然が自ら補う源から来る。化石燃料と違い尽きず、有害ガスをほぼ出さない。太陽は1時間で世界の1年分以上のエネルギーを送り、技術進歩で発電コストも急落した。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It comes from sources that never run out and produce little or no harmful gas.」

正解

第2段落 "sources that nature replaces naturally, such as sunlight, wind, and flowing water. Unlike coal or oil, these sources will not run out, and they produce little or no harmful gas" より、利点 = 尽きない自然の源 + 有害ガスをほぼ出さない。replace ~ = 「〜を補充する」、unlike ~ = 「〜と違って」。

「It produces far more harmful gas than either coal or oil ever does.」
= 石炭や石油より多く有害ガスを出す ━ 本文 "little or no harmful gas" と逆。
「It comes from a few sources that will very soon run out completely.」
= まもなく尽きる源から来る ━ 本文 "will not run out" と矛盾。
「It can only be produced by burning natural gas, coal or oil in a plant.」
= 天然ガスを燃やしてのみ作れる ━ 本文は太陽・風・水、天然ガス燃焼ではない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
replace naturally	自然に補充する	nature replaces naturally
unlike ~	〜と違って	Unlike coal or oil
will not run out	尽きない	will not run out
harmful gas	有害ガス	little or no harmful gas
fall dramatically	急落する	has fallen dramatically

❝例文

Renewable energy comes from sun and wind.
再エネは太陽と風から来る。
These sources will not run out.
これらの源は尽きない。
They produce little harmful gas.
有害ガスをほとんど出さない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

利点設問の鉄則 ―― "Unlike coal or oil, these sources will not run out, and ... little or no harmful gas" を拾う。誤答は本文を逆転 (ガス多い / 尽きる / 天然ガス燃焼) で誘導。

問 3

What is the main challenge of renewable energy?

The sun and wind are always available everywhere all the time.
Storing clean energy is now cheap and completely solved.
Solar power works perfectly well at night.
The sun and wind are not always available, so energy must be stored, which is still costly.

Phrase

the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow; must be stored, usually in batteries

太陽は常に照らず風も常に吹かない、蓄電が必要

2級読解環境記事詳細 (課題)

⚡ひとことで

再エネの最大の課題は、太陽が常に照らず風も常に吹かないこと。夜や無風で曇った日には太陽光で動かせない。だからクリーンな電気を後で使うため大型電池等に蓄える必要があり、その大規模技術はまだ発展途上で高価。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「The sun and wind are not always available, so energy must be stored, which is still costly.」

正解

第3段落 "the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. A country cannot run on solar power at night ... clean energy must be stored for later use, usually in large batteries, and the technology ... is still developing and can be expensive" より、課題 = 太陽・風が常に利用できず、蓄電が必要だが高価。store ~ for later use = 「後で使うため蓄える」、on a huge scale = 「大規模に」。

「The sun and the wind are always available everywhere and at every time of day.」
= 太陽と風は常にどこでも利用可能 ━ 本文 "does not always shine ... not always blow" と逆。
「Storing clean energy is now cheap, and the problem has been completely solved.」
= 蓄電は安く完全解決済み ━ 本文 "still developing and can be expensive" と矛盾。
「Solar power works perfectly well during the night and on the cloudiest of days.」
= 太陽光は夜も完璧に機能する ━ 本文 "cannot run on solar power at night" と逆。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
not always ~	常に〜とは限らない	does not always shine
run on ~	〜で動く	run on solar power
store ~ for later use	後で使うため蓄える	stored for later use
on a huge scale	大規模に	on a huge scale
still developing	まだ発展途上	still developing

❝例文

The sun does not always shine.
太陽は常に照るとは限らない。
Clean energy must be stored.
クリーンな電気は蓄える必要がある。
Large
scale storage is still expensive. — 大規模蓄電はまだ高価だ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

課題設問の鉄則 ―― "not without its challenges. The most obvious is ..." 以下 (sun/wind not always + storage) を拾う。誤答は本文を逆転 (常に利用可 / 蓄電は安い / 夜も機能) で誘導。

残り2問は、解いて確かめられます

全5問すべてに、この形式の解説が付いています。間違えた問題は記録され、あとから復習できます。

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この単元の講義を見る 2級の単元一覧 2級の用語集

EigoPro 2級 読解 — The Promise of Renewable Energy

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

many countries are turning to renewable energy

sources nature replaces naturally; will not run out; produce little or no harmful gas

the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow; must be stored, usually in batteries

EigoPro 2級読解 — The Promise of Renewable Energy