EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Age of Humans

Geologists divide the history of the Earth into named intervals—epochs, periods, eras—each marked by a distinct signature preserved in rock. For roughly the last twelve thousand years we have lived in the Holocene, the stable, temperate window in which agriculture and civilisation arose. Yet a growing chorus of scientists argues that the Holocene is effectively over, and that we have entered a new epoch defined not by orbital wobbles or volcanic upheaval but by a single species: our own. They call it the Anthropocene, the age of humans. The case is, on its face, compelling. Concrete, plastics, and aluminium—materials with no natural precedent—now blanket the planet. The burning of fossil fuels has loaded the atmosphere with carbon at a rate unseen in geological records, while nitrogen fertilisers have doubled the amount of reactive nitrogen circulating through ecosystems. Perhaps most strikingly, the radioactive fallout from mid-twentieth-century nuclear tests left a thin, globally synchronous layer in sediments everywhere—a marker as crisp as any that defines older boundaries. Proponents contend that, tens of millions of years hence, a geologist examining these strata would read in them an unmistakable rupture. Critics, however, are unconvinced—not by the evidence of human impact, which few dispute, but by the proposal to formalise it. Some argue that the changes, however dramatic, are too recent to constitute a true geological unit; a few centimetres of sediment cannot be weighed against epochs spanning millions of years. Others worry that a single "golden spike" dated to 1950 misrepresents a process that began with the first farms and forest clearances millennia earlier. In 2024, a key scientific body voted against ratifying the Anthropocene as a formal epoch—a decision that settled the bureaucratic question while leaving the deeper one untouched. Whatever the geologists decide, the term has already escaped the laboratory. It now frames how a generation thinks about its own weight upon the world, and that cultural reality may prove more durable than any line drawn in the rock.

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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?

  • Geologists have conclusively proven that the Holocene ended in 1950.
  • Human activity has had no measurable effect on the Earth's rock record.
  • Scientists disagree about whether to formally recognise a human-defined epoch, even as the concept already shapes wider thinking.
  • The naming of geological epochs should be left entirely to non-scientists.
Phrase

Whatever the geologists decide, the term has already escaped the laboratory.

準1級読解地球科学論争主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文は『人新世を正式な地質年代と認めるか』を巡る賛否両論と、概念が既に文化に浸透した事実を論じる。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Scientists disagree about whether to formally recognise a human-defined epoch, even as the concept already shapes wider thinking.」

正解

本文は (1) 人新世という新概念の提唱→ (2) 賛成派の根拠 (コンクリート・炭素・核実験の堆積層)→ (3) 批判派の異論 (時間が浅い・1950年起点は不適切)→ (4) 2024年の否決と『それでも概念は研究室の外へ広がった』という結論、という構成。よって『科学者は人為的年代の正式承認を巡って意見が割れているが、概念は既に広く思考を形作っている』が主旨。

  • 「Geologists everywhere have by now conclusively proven that the Holocene epoch came to an end in the year 1950.」

    = 完新世が1950年に終わったと地質学者が確証した ━ 本文はむしろ2024年に正式承認が否決されたと述べており、確証されてはいない。

  • 「Human activity of any kind has had no measurable effect whatsoever upon the geological rock record of the Earth.」

    = 人間活動は岩石記録に測定可能な影響を与えていない ━ 正反対。コンクリート・炭素・核実験層など影響の証拠を多数挙げており few dispute と明言。

  • 「The naming of all of the geological epochs ought to be left entirely to non-scientists and to the wider public.」

    = 地質年代の命名は非科学者に完全に委ねるべき ━ 本文にそのような主張はない。命名は科学的機関が投票で決めている。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
a growing chorus of ~~の声が高まっているa growing chorus of scientists argues
on its face一見するとThe case is, on its face, compelling.
escape the laboratory研究室の外へ広がるThe term has escaped the laboratory.
frame how ~~の捉え方を枠づけるIt frames how a generation thinks.
prove more durable than ~~より長持ちすると分かるThe reality may prove more durable than any line.
❝例文

  • A growing chorus of scientists argues that the epoch is over.

    その年代は終わったと主張する科学者の声が高まっている。

  • The idea has already escaped the laboratory.

    その考えは既に研究室の外へ広がっている。

  • The term frames how a generation thinks about the world.

    その言葉は一世代の世界観の捉え方を枠づけている。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は最終段の結論文に注目。本文は逆接 (Whatever ... decide) の後に『投票の結論を超えて概念が残る』という著者の中心メッセージが置かれる型。

問 2

According to the passage, which marker is described as exceptionally clear and globally synchronous?

  • The orbital wobbles that defined earlier geological boundaries.
  • The natural deposits of concrete and aluminium found in older rock.
  • The first farms and forest clearances of several millennia ago.
  • The radioactive fallout from mid-twentieth-century nuclear tests left in sediments.
Phrase

the radioactive fallout from mid-twentieth-century nuclear tests left a thin, globally synchronous layer in sediments everywhere

準1級読解地球科学論争詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

核実験の放射性降下物が世界同時の薄い層を残し『最も鮮明な目印 (as crisp as any)』とされる。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「The radioactive fallout from mid-twentieth-century nuclear tests left in sediments.」

正解

第2段で Perhaps most strikingly と強調し、核実験の放射性降下物が a thin, globally synchronous layer (薄く世界同時の層) を残し、これを a marker as crisp as any that defines older boundaries (古い境界を画す目印に劣らず鮮明) と評する。よって『核実験由来の放射性降下物』が正解。

  • 「The very first farms and the forest clearances of several millennia ago.」

    = 最初の農地と森林伐採 ━ これは批判派が起点として挙げるもので、globally synchronous な鮮明な目印としては述べられていない。

  • 「The orbital wobbles that had defined all the earlier geological boundaries.」

    = 古い地質境界を画した軌道のゆらぎ ━ 軌道のゆらぎは『人新世はそれとは異なる』という対比で言及されただけで人為的目印ではない。

  • 「The naturally occurring deposits of concrete and aluminium found in older rock.」

    = コンクリートやアルミの自然堆積物 ━ 本文はコンクリート等を materials with no natural precedent (自然界に前例のない素材) と述べており natural は矛盾。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
radioactive fallout放射性降下物fallout from nuclear tests
globally synchronous世界同時のa globally synchronous layer
as crisp as anyどれにも劣らず鮮明なa marker as crisp as any
leave a layer in ~~に層を残すleave a layer in sediments
with no natural precedent自然界に前例のないmaterials with no natural precedent
❝例文

  • Nuclear tests left a globally synchronous layer in sediments.

    核実験は世界同時の層を堆積物に残した。

  • The marker is as crisp as any that defines older boundaries.

    その目印は古い境界を画すどれにも劣らず鮮明だ。

  • Concrete is a material with no natural precedent.

    コンクリートは自然界に前例のない素材だ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

強調副詞 (Perhaps most strikingly) の直後が答えの根拠になりやすい。選択肢は本文の『人為的・世界同時』という条件を満たすか一つずつ照合する。

問 3

Why do some critics object to dating the new epoch to 1950?

  • They feel a single 1950 marker misrepresents a transformation that began with farming and forest clearance much earlier.
  • They insist that nuclear fallout never reached global sediments.
  • They deny that humans have had any impact on ecosystems.
  • They believe the Holocene actually began in the twentieth century.
Phrase

a single "golden spike" dated to 1950 misrepresents a process that began with the first farms and forest clearances millennia earlier

準1級読解地球科学論争詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

批判派の一部は『1950年の単一起点は、数千年前の農耕・森林伐採から始まった過程を歪める』と主張。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「They feel a single 1950 marker misrepresents a transformation that began with farming and forest clearance much earlier.」

正解

第3段で Others worry that a single "golden spike" dated to 1950 misrepresents a process that began with the first farms and forest clearances millennia earlier と述べる。つまり人間の影響は数千年前の農耕・森林伐採に始まるのに、1950年の単一目印で代表させるのは過程を歪める、という異論。これを言い換えた選択肢が正解。

  • 「They deny outright that human beings have ever had any impact at all upon any of the world's ecosystems.」

    = 人間が生態系に影響を与えたことを否定する ━ 本文は批判派も影響の証拠は not by the evidence ... which few dispute と認めており、否定していない。

  • 「They believe that the Holocene epoch itself actually began only during the middle of the twentieth century.」

    = 完新世は実は20世紀に始まったと考える ━ 完新世は約1万2千年前に始まったと本文にあり、20世紀起点は誤り。論点は人新世の起点。

  • 「They insist that the radioactive fallout from the tests never once reached the global sediments anywhere.」

    = 核降下物は世界の堆積物に到達しなかったと主張する ━ 本文は核降下物が世界同時の層を残したと述べており、批判派もこれは争っていない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
golden spike(地質境界の) 基準点a single golden spike dated to 1950
misrepresent a process過程を歪めて伝えるIt misrepresents the process.
date A to BAをBの年代とするa spike dated to 1950
millennia earlier数千年前にbegan millennia earlier
forest clearance森林伐採the first forest clearances
❝例文

  • A single date misrepresents a process that began millennia earlier.

    単一の年代は数千年前に始まった過程を歪めて伝える。

  • The boundary is dated to 1950.

    その境界は1950年とされている。

  • Forest clearance began long before industry.

    森林伐採は産業よりずっと前に始まった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

詳細設問では『誰が・何を懸念しているか』を本文の主語 (Others worry that ~) で特定する。誤答は影響そのものを否定する『言い過ぎ』型が混じるので注意。

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