EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Spread of Microplastics

Plastic does not so much disappear as disperse. Bottles, bags, and synthetic fabrics that escape the waste stream are battered by sunlight and waves until they fragment into particles smaller than five millimetres—the so-called microplastics. Unlike the conspicuous islands of floating debris that periodically alarm the public, these fragments are largely invisible, and it is precisely their invisibility that makes them so insidious. They have now been detected in Arctic ice, on the floor of the deepest ocean trenches, in rainfall over remote mountains, and, increasingly, in the tissues of living organisms. The pathway into the food chain is depressingly straightforward. Plankton ingest the smallest particles, mistaking them for food; small fish eat the plankton; larger fish eat the small fish; and humans, sitting at the top of this chain, consume the accumulated burden. Researchers estimate that the average person may swallow tens of thousands of microplastic particles each year, through seafood, bottled water, and even the dust that settles on a dinner plate. What such particles actually do once inside the body remains an open question, and that uncertainty is itself a cause for concern. Caution, however, should not curdle into fatalism. The chemistry of plastic is not destiny. Some governments have begun to ban the microbeads once added to cosmetics, and engineers are designing filters capable of trapping the fibres that shed from clothing in the wash. Critics object that such measures address only a sliver of the problem, and they are right—but a sliver is not nothing. The harder truth is that the particles already loose in the environment will outlast everyone now living. The realistic goal is not to undo the contamination but to stop making it worse, and on that narrower battlefield, modest victories are still within reach.

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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

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

  • Microplastics have been proven to cause severe and immediate harm to the human body.
  • Floating islands of plastic debris are the most urgent environmental threat facing the oceans.
  • Microplastics have spread pervasively and entered the food chain, and while they cannot be removed, their further growth can be curbed.
  • Banning microbeads in cosmetics has already solved most of the microplastic problem.
Phrase

The realistic goal is not to undo the contamination but to stop making it worse

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文は「微小プラスチックが遍在し食物連鎖に入ったが、除去は不可能でも悪化は止められる」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Microplastics have spread pervasively and entered the food chain, and while they cannot be removed, their further growth can be curbed.」

正解

本文は (1) 微小プラスチックがあらゆる場所で検出され不可視ゆえ厄介→ (2) 食物連鎖を通じ人体に到達→ (3) 既存の汚染は除去できないが悪化は止められる、という構成。最終段の The realistic goal is not to undo the contamination but to stop making it worse がこれを集約しており、遍在・食物連鎖・除去不能だが抑制可能、を述べた選択肢が主旨。

  • 「The floating islands of plastic debris are by far the most urgent environmental threat now facing the world's oceans.」

    = 浮遊する漂着ゴミの島が最大の脅威 ━ 本文は浮遊ゴミの島を『目立つが、不可視の微粒子こそ厄介』と対比しており、島が最大の脅威とは言っていない。

  • 「Microplastics have by now been proven to cause severe and immediate harm to the human body itself.」

    = 人体に重大かつ即時の害が証明済み ━ 本文は『体内で何をするかは未解明 (an open question)』と明言しており、証明済みではない。

  • 「Banning the microbeads used in cosmetics has by now already solved most of the microplastic problem.」

    = 微小ビーズ禁止で問題の大半が解決済み ━ 本文は対策は『問題の一片 (a sliver) にすぎない』とし、大半が解決とは述べていない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
not so much A as BAというよりむしろBPlastic does not so much disappear as disperse.
fragment into ~~に砕けるfragment into particles
undo the contamination汚染を元に戻すnot to undo the contamination
make it worse事態を悪化させるto stop making it worse
within reach手の届く範囲にmodest victories are still within reach
❝例文

  • Plastic does not so much disappear as disperse.

    プラスチックは消えるというより拡散する。

  • The bottles fragment into tiny particles over time.

    ボトルは時間をかけて微小な粒子に砕ける。

  • The realistic goal is to stop making it worse.

    現実的な目標は悪化を止めることだ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は最終段の対比構文 (not A but B) に著者の結論が凝縮されやすい。極端肯定・極端否定の肢は本文の留保表現と矛盾しやすい。

問 2

According to the passage, what makes microplastics especially dangerous compared with larger plastic debris?

  • They float together into islands that alarm the public.
  • They are confined to the deepest ocean trenches.
  • Their near-invisibility allows them to spread undetected.
  • They are larger than five millimetres and easy to track.
Phrase

it is precisely their invisibility that makes them so insidious

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

目立つ漂着ゴミと違い、微粒子は不可視ゆえに気づかれず広がる点が危険。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Their near-invisibility allows them to spread undetected.」

正解

第1段で Unlike the conspicuous islands of floating debris ... these fragments are largely invisible と対比し、it is precisely their invisibility that makes them so insidious と強調構文で核心を述べる。続けて北極の氷・深海・雨水・生体内で『検出された』と広範な拡散を列挙。よって『ほぼ不可視ゆえ気づかれず拡散する』が正解。

  • 「They float together into islands that alarm the public.」

    = 島状に浮かび世間を驚かせる ━ それは微粒子ではなく conspicuous islands of floating debris の特徴で、本文は両者を対比している。

  • 「They are larger than five millimetres and easy to track.」

    = 5mmより大きく追跡が容易 ━ 本文は smaller than five millimetres と定義しており正反対。

  • 「They are confined to the deepest ocean trenches.」

    = 深海の海溝に限られる ━ 北極の氷・山岳の雨水・生体内など広範に検出されており『限定』は誤り。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
unlike ~~とは違ってUnlike the conspicuous islands of debris
it is X that ~~なのはまさにXだ (強調)It is their invisibility that makes them insidious.
be detected in ~~で検出されるdetected in Arctic ice
smaller than ~~より小さいparticles smaller than five millimetres
the so-called ~いわゆる~the so-called microplastics
❝例文

  • It is precisely their invisibility that makes them dangerous.

    危険なのはまさにその不可視性だ。

  • Microplastics have been detected in Arctic ice.

    微小プラスチックは北極の氷で検出されている。

  • Unlike larger debris, these fragments go unnoticed.

    大きな漂着ゴミと違い、これらの破片は気づかれない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は対比 (Unlike / whereas) と強調構文 (it is X that) を狙う。本文の語を別語に置換した肢 (invisibility→near-invisibility, insidious→spread undetected) が正解になりやすい。

問 3

According to the passage, how do microplastics reach humans?

  • They are absorbed only through the skin during swimming.
  • They are deliberately added to most processed foods by manufacturers.
  • They enter the body solely through bottled water.
  • They accumulate up the food chain from plankton to fish and reach people through seafood, water, and dust.
Phrase

Plankton ingest the smallest particles ... humans ... consume the accumulated burden

準1級読解科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

プランクトン→小魚→大魚→人間と濃縮され、海産物・水・埃を通じて摂取する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「They accumulate up the food chain from plankton to fish and reach people through seafood, water, and dust.」

正解

第2段は食物連鎖の経路を段階的に描く: Plankton ingest ... small fish eat the plankton ... larger fish eat the small fish ... humans ... consume the accumulated burden。さらに through seafood, bottled water, and even the dust と摂取経路を挙げる。よって『食物連鎖を遡って蓄積し、海産物・水・埃を通じ人に届く』が正解。

  • 「They are deliberately added to nearly all processed foods by the food manufacturers themselves.」

    = 加工食品に意図的に添加される ━ 本文は意図的添加ではなく食物連鎖での蓄積を述べる (化粧品の microbeads 添加には触れるが食品ではない)。

  • 「They are absorbed only through the skin while a person is swimming.」

    = 遊泳中に皮膚からのみ吸収 ━ 皮膚吸収の記述はなく、摂取 (swallow/consume) が経路。

  • 「They enter the human body solely through drinking bottled water.」

    = ボトル水のみから侵入 ━ 海産物・埃も挙げられており『~のみ (solely)』は言い過ぎ。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
ingest ~~を摂取するPlankton ingest the smallest particles.
mistake A for BAをBと取り違えるmistaking them for food
the accumulated burden蓄積した負荷consume the accumulated burden
sit at the top of ~~の頂点にいるhumans sitting at the top of this chain
tens of thousands of ~数万の~tens of thousands of particles
❝例文

  • Plankton mistake microplastics for food.

    プランクトンは微小プラスチックを餌と間違える。

  • Humans sit at the top of the food chain.

    人間は食物連鎖の頂点にいる。

  • The average person may swallow tens of thousands of particles a year.

    平均的な人は年に数万個の粒子を飲み込みうる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

経路・過程の設問は『only / solely / most』など限定語を含む肢を疑う。本文が複数経路を列挙していれば、単一経路に絞る肢はほぼ誤答。

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