EigoPro 1級 読解 — The Asphalt Greenhouse: Heat, Cities, and the Geography of Disadvantage

That cities are warmer than the countryside is no meteorological accident but a predictable consequence of how we build. Asphalt and masonry absorb solar radiation through the day and release it sluggishly after dusk, while the dense canyons of high-rise streets trap heat that would otherwise dissipate into open sky. Vegetation, which cools its surroundings by transpiring moisture, is scarce; air conditioners and engines exhaust their warmth into the very air they seek to escape. Each of these factors is individually modest, yet together they compound into a persistent thermal surplus that lingers long after night has fallen. The cumulative effect, the so-called urban heat island, can leave a downtown several degrees hotter than the fields beyond the ring road, and on still summer nights the gap widens further still. Yet to describe this purely as physics is to overlook its profoundly uneven distribution. The intensity of the effect tracks with remarkable fidelity the contours of historical neglect. Neighbourhoods once redlined and starved of investment tend to be the ones paved over, stripped of canopy, and crowded with industry; their wealthier counterparts, by contrast, enjoy the leafy boulevards and pocket parks that blunt the sun's assault. A phenomenon born of materials science thus inscribes itself onto the map of inequality, so that the poor endure not merely cramped housing but a measurably hotter, more lethal climate. When heatwaves strike, it is precisely these districts that record the gravest tolls in hospital admissions and premature deaths. This recasting matters because it reframes the remedy. If heat were merely an engineering nuisance, white roofs and reflective pavements might suffice. But once we concede that exposure mirrors the distribution of wealth, mitigation becomes a question of justice, demanding that trees and shade be planted where they have long been withheld rather than where property values already command them. To treat the heat island as a technical glitch is to mistake the symptom for the disease, and to leave the most vulnerable sweltering while the comfortable cool themselves in green.

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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 statement best captures the central argument of the passage?

  • Installing white roofs and reflective pavements is the most cost-effective way to eliminate the urban heat island.
  • Wealthy neighbourhoods suffer the worst effects of urban heat because they contain the densest concentrations of high-rise buildings.
  • Cities are unavoidably warmer than rural areas because of weather patterns that no amount of design can alter.
  • The urban heat island is a designed outcome that disproportionately harms disadvantaged communities, making its remedy a matter of justice rather than mere engineering.
Phrase

mitigation becomes a question of justice

1級読解主旨把握論旨
⚡ひとことで

都市の高温は設計の産物であり、不平等に重なるため、対策は工学ではなく公正の問題だという主張。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「The urban heat island is a designed outcome that disproportionately harms disadvantaged communities, making its remedy a matter of justice rather than mere engineering.」

正解

筆者は冒頭で高温が「no meteorological accident but a predictable consequence of how we build」だと述べ、後半でそれが歴史的不平等の地図に重なると論じる。最終的に「mitigation becomes a question of justice」と結論し、技術的修正では不十分だと主張する。したがって設計の産物かつ公正の問題という二重の捉え方が中心。

  • 「Cities are unavoidably warmer than rural areas because of weather patterns that no amount of design can alter.」

    = 都市の高温は天候のせいで設計では変えられないとする説 ━ 本文は冒頭で「no meteorological accident」と明確に否定し、建て方の結果だとしているため逆。

  • 「Installing white roofs and reflective pavements is the most cost-effective way to eliminate the urban heat island.」

    = 白い屋根や反射舗装で熱島を解消できるとする説 ━ 本文は「white roofs ... might suffice」を仮定法で退け、それだけでは不十分だと論じている。

  • 「Wealthy neighbourhoods suffer the very worst effects of urban heat because they contain the densest concentrations of tall high-rise buildings.」

    = 高層ビルが集中する富裕地区が最も高温に苦しむとする説 ━ 本文は富裕地区が「leafy boulevards and pocket parks」で守られ、貧困地区こそ高温だと述べる。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
a question of justice公正の問題Access to clean water has become a question of justice, not charity.
a consequence of〜の結果The flooding was a direct consequence of unchecked development.
disproportionately harm不均衡に害するPollution disproportionately harms those living near factories.
reframe the remedy対策を捉え直すHer study reframes the remedy as prevention rather than cure.
mistake the symptom for the disease症状を病気と取り違えるTreating only the fever, they mistook the symptom for the disease.
❝例文

  • The heat island is not an accident but a consequence of how cities are built.

    熱島は偶然ではなく都市の建て方の結果である。

  • Framing the issue as justice changes which solutions we pursue.

    問題を公正として捉えると追求すべき解決策が変わる。

  • The poor endure a hotter and more lethal climate than the rich.

    貧困層は富裕層より高温で致命的な気候に耐えている。

  • Engineering fixes alone cannot address an inequality of exposure.

    工学的修正だけでは曝露の不平等に対処できない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問では、本文が明示的に否定している命題（ここでは「気象不可避論」）が誘導肢になりやすい。冒頭の but 構文と結論の言い換えを結びつけて判断する。

問 2

According to the passage, why do urban surfaces keep cities warm after sunset?

  • Rural vegetation continues to radiate stored warmth toward the city after dark.
  • High-rise buildings reflect moonlight back onto the streets, raising the temperature.
  • Asphalt and masonry absorb solar radiation during the day and release it slowly once the sun has gone down.
  • Air conditioners are switched off at night, allowing trapped daytime heat to escape upward.
Phrase

release it sluggishly after dusk

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

アスファルトや石材が日中に太陽放射を吸収し、日没後にゆっくり放出するため。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Asphalt and masonry absorb solar radiation during the day and release it slowly once the sun has gone down.」

正解

本文は「Asphalt and masonry absorb solar radiation through the day and release it sluggishly after dusk」と述べる。日中に蓄えた熱が夜にゆっくり放出されることが夜間の高温の原因である。したがって昼間蓄熱と緩やかな放出の組み合わせが正しい。

  • 「Air conditioners are switched off at night, allowing trapped daytime heat to escape upward.」

    = 夜にエアコンが切れて熱が逃げるとする説 ━ 本文ではエアコンは熱を空気中に排出するもので、夜の高温原因として停止には触れていない。

  • 「Rural vegetation continues to radiate stored warmth toward the city after dark.」

    = 農村の植生が夜に都市へ熱を放射するとする説 ━ 本文の植生は蒸散で「冷やす」役割であり、都市へ熱を送るとは述べていない。

  • 「High-rise buildings reflect moonlight back onto the streets, raising the temperature.」

    = 高層ビルが月光を反射して気温を上げるとする説 ━ 本文に月光への言及はなく、ビルは熱を逃さず閉じ込めるとされる。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
absorb solar radiation太陽放射を吸収するDark roofs absorb solar radiation more readily than pale ones.
release heat熱を放出するThe bricks release heat long after the sun has set.
after dusk日没後にThe streets remained stifling well after dusk.
trap heat熱を閉じ込めるNarrow streets trap heat between tall facades.
dissipate into〜に拡散するOpen fields let warmth dissipate into the night sky.
❝例文

  • Concrete soaks up sunlight all day and gives it back slowly at night.

    コンクリートは日中ずっと日光を吸収し夜にゆっくり戻す。

  • By midnight the pavement was still radiating the day's heat.

    真夜中になっても舗装は日中の熱を放射していた。

  • Materials with high thermal mass cool down only gradually.

    熱容量の大きい素材はゆっくりとしか冷えない。

  • The brick wall stayed warm hours after the sun went down.

    レンガの壁は日没後何時間も暖かいままだった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

詳細設問は本文の動詞句をそのまま追う。「absorb ... through the day / release ... after dusk」という時間的対比をそろえている選択肢を選ぶ。

問 3

What does the passage say about the spatial distribution of urban heat?

  • It is most severe in the green boulevards favoured by wealthier residents.
  • Its intensity closely follows the boundaries of neighbourhoods historically deprived of investment.
  • It depends solely on a district's distance from the surrounding ring road.
  • It is spread evenly across a city regardless of a district's history or wealth.
Phrase

the contours of historical neglect

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

熱島の強度は歴史的に投資を奪われた地区の境界線と忠実に重なる。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Its intensity closely follows the boundaries of neighbourhoods historically deprived of investment.」

正解

本文は「The intensity of the effect tracks with remarkable fidelity the contours of historical neglect」と述べ、かつてレッドライニングされ投資を奪われた地区ほど舗装され緑を奪われると説明する。よって熱の強度は歴史的剥奪の境界に沿うのが正しい。

  • 「It is spread evenly across a whole city regardless of a district's history or its wealth.」

    = 熱は歴史や富に関係なく市内に均等に広がるとする説 ━ 本文は分布が「profoundly uneven」だと明言しており均等ではない。

  • 「It is most severe in the green boulevards favoured by wealthier residents.」

    = 富裕層の緑の大通りで最も深刻だとする説 ━ 本文では緑の大通りは「blunt the sun's assault」と熱を和らげる側。

  • 「It depends solely on a district's distance from the surrounding ring road.」

    = 熱は環状道路からの距離だけで決まるとする説 ━ 環状道路は田園との比較地点として一度触れるのみで、分布の決定要因とはされない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
track with fidelity忠実に一致するInfection rates tracked with fidelity the lines of poverty.
historical neglect歴史的な放置The district still bears the scars of historical neglect.
starved of investment投資を奪われたSchools starved of investment fell into disrepair.
blunt the assault攻撃を和らげるSea walls blunt the assault of winter storms.
inscribe onto〜に刻み込むOld injustices inscribe themselves onto the modern map.
❝例文

  • The hottest blocks coincide with the formerly redlined districts.

    最も暑い街区はかつてレッドライニングされた地区と重なる。

  • Investment, or its absence, left a lasting thermal signature.

    投資の有無が長く残る熱の痕跡を残した。

  • Wealthier areas were buffered by parks and tree

    lined streets. — 富裕地区は公園や並木道に守られていた。

  • Heat mapping revealed a pattern shaped by past decisions.

    熱の地図化は過去の決定が形づくった模様を明らかにした。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

分布を問う設問では「uneven」「tracks ... neglect」など不均一を示す語に注目。均等を主張する肢は本文の核心と矛盾するので除外できる。

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