EigoPro 1級 読解 — The Resurgence of Nationalism: Atavism or Modern Symptom?

It has become fashionable to lament the resurgence of nationalism as though it were a fever the body politic ought long since to have shaken off. Yet to dismiss it as a mere atavistic relapse—a reversion to the tribal loyalties of an earlier age—is to misunderstand both its character and its causes. The nationalism convulsing contemporary democracies is not the unreconstructed creed of the nineteenth century, with its romantic mythologies of blood and soil. It is, paradoxically, a thoroughly modern phenomenon, shaped at every turn by the very forces of globalisation it professes to repudiate. Consider its geography. Were nationalism simply the revolt of the economically dispossessed, one would expect it to flourish only where trade and technology had hollowed out local industry. But the movement has taken root even in regions that have flourished under global commerce, a fact that confounds the tidy economism of much commentary. The explanation lies elsewhere: material prosperity, however abundant, does not assuage the hunger for belonging and recognition. As traditional sources of identity—parish, guild, nation-state—have been eroded by the centrifugal logic of global markets, many citizens have come to experience cosmopolitan abundance as a kind of homelessness. Nationalism offers them, however illusively, a narrative of rootedness. To this psychological substrate, digital technology adds an accelerant. The algorithmic architecture of contemporary media amplifies grievance-laden narratives while eroding the common discursive space in which such narratives might once have been scrutinised. The result is a public sphere at once hyper-connected and profoundly fragmented, in which rival communities inhabit incommensurable versions of reality. Resentment, ceaselessly recirculated, hardens into identity. None of this is to romanticise the phenomenon, whose exclusionary impulses can curdle into something genuinely sinister. It is, rather, to insist on a sober reckoning. The nationalism of our moment cannot be exorcised by liberal exhortation alone, for it answers to needs—for solidarity, for meaning, for a horizon of belonging—that the prevailing order has too often neglected to address. To treat it merely as ignorance to be corrected, or bigotry to be condemned, is to mistake the symptom for the disease. Until its deeper grievances are met on their own terms, the appeals of cosmopolitan reason will continue to fall, as they have so conspicuously fallen, on unpersuaded ears.

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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

1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

Which of the following best expresses the central argument of the passage?

  • Contemporary nationalism is less a regression to older forms than a reactive phenomenon shaped by the very globalisation it claims to oppose.
  • The revival of nationalist sentiment proves that the post-war liberal order was fundamentally illusory from its inception.
  • Nationalism has resurged primarily because economic inequality has worsened in every industrialised democracy over the past decade.
  • Modern nationalism is identical to its nineteenth-century antecedents and should be analysed using the same historical framework.
Phrase

reactive phenomenon shaped by globalisation; not a mere regression

1級読解主旨把握論旨の核
⚡ひとことで

今日のナショナリズムは過去への単純な回帰ではなく、グローバル化への反応として再構成された現象だという主張が核。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Contemporary nationalism is less a regression to older forms than a reactive phenomenon shaped by the very globalisation it claims to oppose.」

正解

本文は冒頭で「単なる時代錯誤的な回帰として片付けるのは誤り (mistaken to dismiss it as a mere atavistic relapse)」と述べ、結びで「自らが拒絶すると公言するグローバル秩序によって形作られている」と論じる。つまり、ナショナリズムを過去の反復ではなく、グローバル化との相互作用の産物として捉える点が論旨の中心である。

  • 「Nationalism has resurged primarily because economic inequality has worsened in every industrialised democracy over the past decade.」

    = 格差悪化だけが再興の理由とする ━ 本文は格差を一要因として挙げるが「唯一・あらゆる民主国で」とは限定せず、文化・帰属の不安など複数要因を併置している。

  • 「The revival of nationalist sentiment proves that the post-war liberal order was fundamentally illusory from its inception.」

    = リベラル秩序が当初から虚構だったと断じる ━ 本文はそこまで強い否定をしておらず、秩序の「限界」や「反動」を論じるにとどまる過度の一般化。

  • 「Modern nationalism is identical to its nineteenth-century antecedents and should be analysed using the same historical framework.」

    = 現代と19世紀ナショナリズムは同質とする ━ 本文は明示的に両者の差異 (reconfigured / novel) を強調しており本文と矛盾。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
dismiss A as BAをBとして退けるIt is mistaken to dismiss it as nostalgia.
a reaction against ~〜への反動a reaction against rootless cosmopolitanism
far from being ~〜どころかFar from being archaic, it is strikingly modern.
shaped by ~〜によって形作られるan identity shaped by the forces it resists
claim to V〜すると公言するthe order it claims to oppose
❝例文

  • The movement is far from being a simple return to the past.

    その運動は過去への単純な回帰どころではない。

  • Critics dismiss the phenomenon as mere nostalgia.

    批評家はその現象を単なる郷愁として退ける。

  • The backlash is itself a reaction against globalisation.

    その反発自体がグローバル化への反動である。

  • Their identity is shaped by the very forces they resist.

    彼らのアイデンティティは、まさに抵抗している当の力によって形作られている。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問では、冒頭の問題提起と最終段落の結論を結ぶ「対立軸」を特定するのが要。本文は『回帰 vs 再構成』という対比で展開しており、極端な断定 (only/proves/identical) を含む選択肢は C2 でもほぼ誤答。筆者の留保 (hedging) と一致する選択肢を選ぶ。

問 2

According to the passage, why do nationalist movements gain traction in regions that have prospered under global trade?

  • Because such regions have suffered the steepest declines in employment and real wages.
  • Because material prosperity does not satisfy the desire for a stable sense of collective belonging and recognition.
  • Because global trade agreements have stripped these regions of all political autonomy.
  • Because their populations have been deliberately misled by demagogues about the benefits of trade.
Phrase

prosperity does not satisfy the need for belonging/recognition

1級読解詳細繁栄地域での支持の理由
⚡ひとことで

繁栄していても帰属と承認への欲求が満たされないため支持が広がる、と本文は説明する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Because material prosperity does not satisfy the desire for a stable sense of collective belonging and recognition.」

正解

本文は「経済的恩恵を最も受けた地域でさえ運動が根を張る (take root even in regions that have flourished)」と指摘し、その理由を「物質的繁栄は帰属と承認への渇望を埋め合わせない (prosperity does not assuage the hunger for belonging and recognition)」と述べる。よって経済要因では説明しきれない心理的・文化的欲求が鍵である。

  • 「Because such regions have suffered the steepest declines in employment and real wages.」

    = 最も雇用と賃金が落ち込んだから ━ 本文は『繁栄した地域でさえ』と述べており、賃金急落説と正反対。

  • 「Because their populations have been deliberately misled by demagogues about the benefits of trade.」

    = デマゴーグに騙されたから ━ 本文に欺瞞・扇動を原因とする記述はなく、もっともらしいが無関係。

  • 「Because global trade agreements have stripped these regions of all political autonomy.」

    = 貿易協定で自治を全て奪われた ━ 本文は『all autonomy を奪われた』とまで述べておらず、過度の断定で部分的。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
take root根を張るThe movement takes root in prosperous areas.
assuage the hunger for ~〜への渇望を和らげるWealth cannot assuage the hunger for belonging.
a sense of belonging帰属感People crave a sense of belonging.
even in ~〜においてさえeven in regions that have flourished
account for ~〜を説明するEconomics alone cannot account for it.
❝例文

  • Prosperity alone does not assuage the hunger for recognition.

    繁栄だけでは承認への渇望は和らがない。

  • The movement has taken root even in affluent regions.

    その運動は豊かな地域においてさえ根を張った。

  • People crave a stable sense of belonging.

    人々は安定した帰属感を渇望する。

  • Material gain cannot substitute for collective identity.

    物質的利得は集団的アイデンティティの代わりにはならない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

「even in ~ (〜においてさえ)」という譲歩標識の後ろには、常識的予測を裏切る筆者の主張が来る。C2 では因果を問う設問で『最も単純な経済説明』を反射的に選ばず、本文が明示的に退けている説明 (ここでは賃金低下) を消去する。

問 3

What does the passage suggest about the relationship between digital technology and nationalist sentiment?

  • Digital platforms accelerate the spread of nationalist narratives while fragmenting the shared public sphere needed to scrutinise them.
  • Technology firms have openly endorsed nationalist parties to increase their market share.
  • Social media has, on balance, strengthened citizens' capacity for reasoned democratic debate.
  • Digital technology has proven largely irrelevant to the rise of nationalist movements.
Phrase

platforms accelerate spread yet fragment the public sphere

1級読解詳細技術とナショナリズムの関係
⚡ひとことで

デジタル技術は物語を増幅すると同時に共有された公共圏を断片化する両義的作用を持つ、と本文は示唆する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Digital platforms accelerate the spread of nationalist narratives while fragmenting the shared public sphere needed to scrutinise them.」

正解

本文は「アルゴリズム化された網が、これらの物語を増幅すると同時に、それらを精査しうる共通の言説空間を侵食する (amplify these narratives while eroding the common discursive space)」と述べる。技術が拡散を速めつつ、検証の基盤たる公共圏を断片化するという二重の作用が示されている。

  • 「Digital technology has proven largely irrelevant to the rise of nationalist movements.」

    = 技術は再興とほぼ無関係 ━ 本文はアルゴリズム網の役割を明確に論じており正反対。

  • 「Social media has, on balance, decisively strengthened ordinary citizens' capacity for reasoned democratic debate and deliberation.」

    = SNSが理性的討論を強めた ━ 本文は公共圏の『侵食 (eroding)』を述べており逆。

  • 「Technology firms have openly endorsed nationalist parties to increase their market share.」

    = IT企業が党を公認支持 ━ 本文に企業の党派支持の記述はなく、もっともらしいが無関係。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
amplify ~〜を増幅するPlatforms amplify partisan narratives.
erode the public sphere公共圏を侵食するAlgorithms erode the shared public sphere.
at once A and BAであると同時にBIt is at once liberating and corrosive.
scrutinise ~〜を精査するCitizens can no longer scrutinise claims.
a discursive space言説空間a common discursive space for debate
❝例文

  • The platforms amplify resentment while eroding shared norms.

    それらのプラットフォームは怨恨を増幅しつつ共有規範を侵食する。

  • Algorithms fragment the public sphere into echo chambers.

    アルゴリズムは公共圏をエコーチェンバーへと断片化する。

  • Citizens can no longer scrutinise rival claims.

    市民はもはや対立する主張を精査できない。

  • The medium is at once liberating and corrosive.

    その媒体は解放的であると同時に蝕むものでもある。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

技術を論じる C2 評論は二項対立 (利点と害) を併置することが多い。『largely irrelevant / on balance strengthened』のような一方向の断定は、本文の両義的トーン (at once ... while ...) と衝突するので除外する。逆接接続詞 while/yet の前後をペアで読む。

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