EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Vanishing Pollinators

Few creatures are as easy to overlook, or as consequential, as the bee. Roughly three-quarters of the world's leading food crops depend, to some degree, on animal pollination, and bees do the lion's share of that work. Yet across Europe and North America, managed honeybee colonies and wild pollinators alike have been thinning out for decades. The losses are uneven and the data imperfect, but the broad trajectory is no longer seriously disputed. What remains contested is the cause—and, by extension, the cure. For a time, a single culprit dominated headlines. Neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides absorbed into a plant's tissues, were shown to impair bees' navigation and memory even at doses too low to kill them outright. Several jurisdictions duly restricted their use. Yet the decline did not halt, which exposed the appeal, and the limits, of monocausal thinking. Researchers now speak instead of a synergy of stresses: habitat loss as wildflower meadows give way to uniform fields, the parasitic Varroa mite, novel diseases, and a warming climate that nudges flowers into bloom before their pollinators have stirred. This tangle of causes is precisely what makes the problem so intractable. A pesticide can be banned by decree; a fragmented landscape cannot. Still, the picture is not uniformly bleak. Modest interventions—hedgerows left unmown, strips of wildflowers sown along field margins, urban gardens planted with an eye to forage—have measurably lifted local pollinator numbers. The lesson is sobering but not despairing: there is no single lever to pull, yet many small ones, pulled together, can still bend the curve.

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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?

  • Pollinator decline stems from several interacting causes, so it requires many combined remedies rather than a single fix.
  • The decline of bees has been exaggerated and is not supported by reliable data.
  • Neonicotinoid pesticides are the sole cause of the worldwide collapse of bee populations.
  • Wild pollinators are thriving while only managed honeybee colonies are at risk.
Phrase

there is no single lever to pull, yet many small ones, pulled together, can still bend the curve

準1級読解生態学主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文の論旨は「送粉者の減少は複数要因の相乗作用→単一の解決策はなく、多くの小さな対策の総和で改善できる」。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Pollinator decline stems from several interacting causes, so it requires many combined remedies rather than a single fix.」

正解

本文は (1) 送粉者が減っている事実→ (2) 原因は単一ではなく『a synergy of stresses (ストレスの相乗作用)』→ (3) ゆえに単一の解決策はないが小さな対策の積み重ねで『bend the curve (曲線を曲げる)』と結論する。最終段の no single lever to pull, yet many small ones ... can still bend the curve がそのまま主旨を表す。

  • 「The neonicotinoid pesticides are the single sole cause of the worldwide collapse of all bee populations.」

    = ネオニコチノイドが唯一の原因 ━ 本文は monocausal thinking (単一原因論) の限界を明示し、規制後も減少は止まらなかったと述べるので逆。

  • 「The reported decline of the bees has been greatly exaggerated and is not supported by any reliable data.」

    = 減少は誇張でデータ裏付けがない ━ the broad trajectory is no longer seriously disputed とあり、減少自体は争われていない。

  • 「Wild pollinators everywhere are thriving while only the managed honeybee colonies are at any real risk.」

    = 野生送粉者は繁栄し家畜ミツバチだけが危機 ━ managed honeybee colonies and wild pollinators alike (両方とも) が減っていると明記。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
do the lion's share of ~~の大半を担うBees do the lion's share of that work.
thin out(数が) 次第に減るColonies have been thinning out for decades.
a synergy of stressesストレスの相乗作用a synergy of stresses, not one cause
bend the curve(傾向の) 曲線を曲げる・好転させるSmall efforts can bend the curve.
by extensionひいては・延長線上でthe cause—and, by extension, the cure
❝例文

  • Bees do the lion's share of crop pollination.

    ミツバチは作物の送粉の大半を担う。

  • Many small measures, taken together, can bend the curve.

    多くの小さな対策を合わせれば傾向を好転させられる。

  • The problem stems from a synergy of stresses.

    その問題は複数のストレスの相乗作用から生じている。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は最終段の結論文を探すと速い。本文は逆接 (yet) の後に著者の主張『many small ones ... can still bend the curve』が来る型。

問 2

According to the passage, what effect did neonicotinoids have on bees?

  • They improved bees' foraging efficiency in treated fields.
  • They impaired bees' navigation and memory even at doses too low to kill them.
  • They killed entire colonies instantly wherever they were applied.
  • They had no measurable effect on bees at any dose.
Phrase

were shown to impair bees' navigation and memory even at doses too low to kill them outright

準1級読解生態学詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

ネオニコは『致死量未満でも』ミツバチの方向感覚と記憶を損なうと示された。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「They impaired bees' navigation and memory even at doses too low to kill them.」

正解

第2段で Neonicotinoids ... were shown to impair bees' navigation and memory even at doses too low to kill them outright と述べる。すなわち『殺すには至らない低用量でも航行・記憶を損なう』が要点で、これを言い換えた選択肢が正解。

  • 「They killed entire colonies instantly wherever they were applied.」

    = 散布先で群を即死させた ━ 本文は doses too low to kill them outright (即死には至らない量) と明言しており逆。

  • 「They improved bees' foraging efficiency in treated fields.」

    = 採餌効率を高めた ━ impair (損なう) であって improve ではない。正反対。

  • 「They had no measurable effect on bees at any dose.」

    = どの用量でも影響なし ━ navigation と memory を損なうと示されたので『影響なし』は誤り。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
impair memory記憶を損なうPesticides can impair memory.
be absorbed into ~~に吸収されるabsorbed into a plant's tissues
kill ~ outright~を即死させるdoses too low to kill them outright
restrict the use of ~~の使用を制限するjurisdictions restricted their use
at low doses低用量でharmful even at low doses
❝例文

  • The chemical is absorbed into the plant's tissues.

    その化学物質は植物の組織に吸収される。

  • It impaired their navigation even at low doses.

    それは低用量でも彼らの方向感覚を損なった。

  • The dose was too low to kill them outright.

    その用量は即死させるには低すぎた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は本文の語を別語に置換した選択肢が正解になりやすい (even at doses too low to kill them outright → even at doses too low to kill them)。極端な副詞 instantly / no ... at all を含む肢は誇張・否定のことが多い。

問 3

According to the passage, which of the following has been shown to raise local pollinator numbers?

  • Banning all forms of insecticide by decree.
  • Leaving hedgerows unmown and sowing strips of wildflowers along field margins.
  • Replacing wildflower meadows with uniform crop fields.
  • Introducing the Varroa mite into managed colonies.
Phrase

hedgerows left unmown, strips of wildflowers sown along field margins ... have measurably lifted local pollinator numbers

準1級読解生態学詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

効果が確認された対策=刈らずに残す生垣・畑の縁に蒔く野花の帯・採餌を意識した都市の庭。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Leaving hedgerows unmown and sowing strips of wildflowers along field margins.」

正解

第3段で Modest interventions—hedgerows left unmown, strips of wildflowers sown along field margins, urban gardens ...—have measurably lifted local pollinator numbers と列挙する。生垣を刈らず残し畑の縁に野花を蒔く対策が『測定可能なほど数を増やした』と明記されているので正解。

  • 「Replacing all the wildflower meadows with uniform fields of crops.」

    = 野花の草地を均一な畑に置換する ━ これは habitat loss の原因として挙げられた減少要因であり、対策ではない。

  • 「Deliberately introducing the Varroa mite into the managed colonies.」

    = バロアダニを群に導入する ━ Varroa mite はストレス要因 (寄生) であって解決策ではない。

  • 「Banning every form of insecticide outright by a government decree.」

    = 全殺虫剤を勅令で禁止 ━ 本文は『a pesticide can be banned by decree』と言うが断片化した景観は禁止できないと述べ、禁止だけでは数増加の根拠にならない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
give way to ~~に取って代わられるmeadows give way to uniform fields
lift numbers数を増やすinterventions lifted pollinator numbers
with an eye to ~~を意識してgardens planted with an eye to forage
along the margins of ~~の縁に沿ってwildflowers along field margins
leave ~ unmown~を刈らずに残すhedgerows left unmown
❝例文

  • Wildflower meadows gave way to uniform fields.

    野花の草地は均一な畑に取って代わられた。

  • Strips of wildflowers were sown along the field margins.

    野花の帯が畑の縁に沿って蒔かれた。

  • The garden was planted with an eye to pollinator forage.

    その庭は送粉者の採餌を意識して植えられた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『どれが効果があったか』を問う設問は、本文で because/原因として並ぶ語 (habitat loss, Varroa mite) を解決策と取り違えさせる罠が定番。動詞 lifted / improved に直結する主語だけを選ぶ。

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