EigoPro 1級 読解 — The Vanishing Ledger: Why Rational Fishers Empty the Sea

The collapse of a fishery rarely announces itself in advance. Unlike a felled forest, whose ragged absence scars the landscape for all to see, a depleted ocean retains its placid, opaque surface, concealing the attrition unfolding beneath. This invisibility is not incidental to the catastrophe; it is the very engine of ruin. Because no fisher can survey the dwindling stock directly, each is obliged to judge abundance by the day's catch, and a catch sustained only by ever-more-ingenious technology masquerades as a healthy population. The sea, in effect, flatters its own plunderers, rewarding their persistence with a haul that betrays nothing of its diminishing source. Compounding this opacity is a perverse dynamic that ecologists call "fishing down the food web." As the large, slow-breeding predators atop the marine hierarchy are stripped away, fleets pivot to the smaller, faster-reproducing species below, then lower still. Each descent feels, locally, like sensible adaptation rather than degradation; the nets remain full, the ledgers balance, and the systemic erosion of the ecosystem's upper tiers passes entirely unremarked. What looks like resilience is in truth the orderly dismantling of an entire trophic structure, one rung at a time. The deeper paradox is that the incentive to conserve, however obvious in the abstract, dissolves under scrutiny. A fisher who restrains himself merely surrenders the spared fish to a competitor unburdened by such scruples. Conservation thus demands not individual virtue but collective constraint—precisely the coordination that open access forecloses. Where the resource belongs to everyone, it is effectively defended by no one, and prudence becomes a private sacrifice with no private reward. The consequence is a tragedy whose logic is impeccable even as its outcome is catastrophic. Each actor, behaving with unimpeachable rationality, contributes to an aggregate irrationality that beggars belief. To avert collapse, then, requires more than data or moral exhortation; it requires institutions capable of converting a shared liability into a shared stake. Absent that architecture, the ledger of the sea will continue to be balanced right up to the moment it is found, irretrievably, to be empty.

5問合格 60%以上普通

新規登録 または ログイン が必要です

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?

  • Fisheries could easily be saved if individual fishers simply chose to exercise greater personal restraint and moral virtue.
  • Fisheries collapse because depletion is hidden from view and rational self-interest, under open access, overrides the evident benefits of conservation.
  • Fisheries collapse primarily because fishing technology has advanced faster than scientists can measure fish populations.
  • Fisheries collapse is an unpredictable phenomenon that strikes without warning and defies any coherent explanation.
Phrase

the incentive to conserve, however obvious in the abstract, dissolves under scrutiny

1級読解主旨把握論旨
⚡ひとことで

枯渇の不可視性と、共有資源下での個人の合理性が崩壊を招く。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Fisheries collapse because depletion is hidden from view and rational self-interest, under open access, overrides the evident benefits of conservation.」

正解

本文は二本柱で論じる。第一に海の枯渇は「retains its placid, opaque surface」で見えず錯覚を生む。第二に open access では自制は競争相手に魚を譲るだけで、保全の利益が「dissolves under scrutiny」する。両者が合わさり崩壊を導く点が主旨。

  • 「Fisheries collapse primarily because fishing technology has advanced faster than scientists can measure fish populations.」

    = 崩壊は技術が測定を上回った結果 ━ 技術は満杯の網による錯覚を強める一要素に過ぎず、本文の核は不可視性＋合理性であり技術単独ではない。。

  • 「Fisheries could easily be saved if individual fishers simply chose to exercise rather greater personal restraint and moral virtue.」

    = 各漁師の自制と徳で容易に救える ━ 本文は自制が競争相手への譲渡に終わると明言し『not individual virtue but collective constraint』を要求する点と矛盾する。。

  • 「Fisheries collapse is an unpredictable phenomenon that strikes without warning and defies any coherent explanation.」

    = 崩壊は理由なく突然襲う ━ 本文は崩壊の論理を『impeccable』と呼び明快に説明しており、説明不能とする点が逆。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
dissolve under scrutiny精査すると消えるIts appeal dissolved under scrutiny once the costs were tallied.
override the benefits利益を覆すShort-term incentives can override the long-term benefits of restraint.
open access自由参入のUnder open access, no single user is accountable for the stock.
hidden from view視界から隠れてThe damage stayed hidden from view until the catch finally crashed.
rational self-interest合理的自己利益Rational self-interest, unchecked, can produce collective disaster.
❝例文

  • The argument hinges on a single, counterintuitive premise.

    その論証は一つの直感に反する前提に依っている。

  • What looks like prudence is, on closer reading, plunder.

    思慮深さに見えるものは、よく読めば略奪である。

  • No fisher can directly survey a stock he cannot see.

    漁師は見えない資源を直接調査できない。

  • Collective constraint, not private virtue, averts the loss.

    損失を防ぐのは個人の徳ではなく集団的制約だ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問では本文が掲げる『二つの原因』を取りこぼさないこと。片方（技術・徳）だけに飛びつく選択肢は典型的な引っかけ。

問 2

According to the passage, why does a sustained daily catch mislead fishers about the health of a stock?

  • Because fishers deliberately falsify their catch records to qualify for government subsidies.
  • Because larger predators are easier to locate and so dominate every reported catch.
  • Because the daily catch is measured in weight rather than in the number of individual fish.
  • Because the catch is propped up by increasingly sophisticated technology, it appears robust even as the underlying population shrinks.
Phrase

a catch sustained only by ever-more-ingenious technology masquerades as a healthy population

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

技術が支える漁獲が健全な個体群を装う。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Because the catch is propped up by increasingly sophisticated technology, it appears robust even as the underlying population shrinks.」

正解

本文は『a catch sustained only by ever-more-ingenious technology masquerades as a healthy population』と述べる。漁獲が維持されるのは技術の進歩ゆえであり、それが減少する個体群を健全に見せかける。よって持続した漁獲は誤った安心を与える。

  • 「Because fishers deliberately falsify their own catch records in order to qualify for further government subsidies.」

    = 補助金目的で漁獲を偽る ━ 本文に記録の偽造や補助金への言及はなく、錯覚は技術由来であって不正ではない。。

  • 「Because the daily catch is measured in weight rather than in the number of individual fish.」

    = 重量で測るから誤る ━ 計量単位の話は本文に存在せず、誤解の原因は技術が支える漁獲である。。

  • 「Because larger predators are easier to locate and so dominate every reported catch.」

    = 大型捕食者は見つけやすく漁獲を占める ━ 本文では大型捕食者は『stripped away』され下位種へ移行する流れで、発見容易性が原因とは述べていない。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
masquerade as～を装うDecline masqueraded as stability for a decade.
prop up下支えするSubsidies propped up an otherwise unprofitable fleet.
sustained by～に支えられたYields sustained by new gear concealed the collapse.
ever-more-ingeniousますます巧妙なEver-more-ingenious sonar tracked the last shoals.
a healthy population健全な個体群A full net is not proof of a healthy population.
❝例文

  • The instrument flattered the data it was meant to check.

    その計器は検証すべきデータをかえって美化した。

  • Technology masked the decline it had accelerated.

    技術はそれが加速させた減少を覆い隠した。

  • A full hold says nothing about what remains below.

    満杯の船倉は海中に何が残るかを何も語らない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『masquerade as』『prop up』など『見せかけ・下支え』の語が出たら、表面の数字と実態の乖離を問う設問を予想せよ。

問 3

What does the passage mean by "fishing down the food web"?

  • Fishers intentionally release small fish to allow the largest predators to recover their numbers.
  • The total weight of fish caught steadily increases as fleets exploit untouched grounds.
  • Fishing is gradually moved into deeper waters where larger species are thought to congregate.
  • After depleting large top predators, fleets progressively target smaller, faster-reproducing species lower in the marine hierarchy.
Phrase

fleets pivot to the smaller, faster-reproducing species below, then lower still

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

上位捕食者枯渇後、下位の小型種へ次々移行する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「After depleting large top predators, fleets progressively target smaller, faster-reproducing species lower in the marine hierarchy.」

正解

本文は大型捕食者が『stripped away』された後、艦隊が『pivot to the smaller, faster-reproducing species below, then lower still』と説明する。つまり食物網の上位を取り尽くしつつ段階的に下位へ降りる現象を指す。

  • 「Fishers intentionally release the small fish so as to allow the largest predators to recover their former numbers.」

    = 小魚を逃がし大型を回復させる ━ 本文は逆に小型・下位種へ移行すると述べており、放流による回復策ではない。。

  • 「Fishing is gradually moved into deeper waters where larger species are thought to congregate.」

    = より深い水域へ移る ━ 『lower still』は栄養段階の下方であり水深ではない。深海への移動は本文にない。。

  • 「The total weight of fish caught steadily increases as fleets exploit untouched grounds.」

    = 総漁獲量が着実に増える ━ 本文の主旨は段階的な生態系の解体であり、漁獲量の純増を意味しない。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
pivot to～へ転換するAs tuna vanished, fleets pivoted to sardines.
strip away剥ぎ取るTrawling stripped away the reef's apex predators.
the food web食物網Removing predators reshapes the entire food web.
trophic structure栄養構造The trophic structure unravelled from the top down.
lower stillさらに下へWhen sardines failed, they fished lower still.
❝例文

  • Each rung of the ladder was harvested in turn.

    梯子の各段が順に収穫されていった。

  • The hierarchy was dismantled from its summit downward.

    階層はその頂点から下へと解体された。

  • What remained were the species no one had wanted.

    残ったのは誰も欲しがらなかった種だった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

専門用語が引用符付きで定義される箇所は設問頻出。直後の説明文（ここでは pivot to ... lower still）が正解の根拠になる。

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。

無料で登録して続きを解く

インストール不要・カード登録なし・いま全機能無料

この単元の講義を見る1級の単元一覧1級の用語集