EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Loneliness Epidemic

We tend to picture loneliness as a private affliction—a matter of individual temperament or misfortune. Yet a growing body of research suggests that it has become a structural feature of modern life, widespread enough that several governments now treat it as a public-health priority on a par with smoking or obesity. The paradox is hard to ignore: we have never been more connected, in the literal sense of being reachable, and yet surveys across affluent nations report rising numbers of people who say they lack anyone to confide in. Part of the explanation lies in how prosperity reshapes the way we live. As incomes rise, people marry later, move farther from their families for work, and increasingly live alone—arrangements that earlier generations could rarely afford. Digital communication, often blamed for the trend, plays a more ambiguous role. A video call can sustain a distant friendship, but a feed of curated highlights can also leave the viewer feeling that everyone else is thriving. The danger is not the technology itself so much as its tendency to substitute thin, frictionless contact for the slower, sometimes awkward encounters that build genuine intimacy. What elevates loneliness from a sorrow to a medical concern is its measurable toll on the body. Chronic isolation keeps the body's stress response switched on, raising the risk of heart disease, weakening the immune system, and accelerating cognitive decline; some epidemiologists now rank its mortality effect alongside that of heavy smoking. Crucially, the problem is not solitude, which many people choose and enjoy, but the gap between the relationships a person has and the ones they want. That distinction matters for policy. Throwing people together does little good; what helps is rebuilding the everyday institutions—choirs, libraries, neighbourhood associations—where ordinary connection once took root. The remedy, in other words, is social as much as personal.

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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?

Loneliness has become a structural, society-wide problem with serious health consequences that call for social, not merely personal, remedies.
Digital technology is the single cause of rising loneliness in wealthy countries.
Loneliness is best understood as a private matter of individual temperament.
People who choose to live alone are inevitably destined to become lonely and ill.

Phrase

it has become a structural feature of modern life ... a public-health priority

準1級読解社会科学健康主旨把握

⚡ひとことで

本文の論旨は「孤独は社会構造的・健康上の問題であり、対策も社会的でなければならない」。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Loneliness has become a structural, society-wide problem with serious health consequences that call for social, not merely personal, remedies.」

正解

本文は (1) 孤独は個人の問題ではなく『構造的な現代生活の特徴』で公衆衛生上の優先課題、(2) 豊かさとデジタル接触がその背景、(3) 身体への実害が大きい、(4) よって対策は personal というより social である、と展開する。最終文 The remedy ... is social as much as personal がこれを集約しており、主旨に一致する。

「Digital technology on its own is the one single cause of all of the rising loneliness in the wealthier countries today.」
= デジタル技術が唯一の原因 ━ 本文は技術の役割を『より曖昧 (ambiguous)』とし、豊かさによる生活様式の変化も主因に挙げているので『唯一の原因』は言い過ぎ。
「Every single one of the people who chooses to live alone is inevitably destined to become both lonely and ill in time.」
= 一人暮らしを選ぶ人は必ず孤独で病む運命 ━ 本文は『多くの人が選び楽しむ solitude』と孤独を明確に区別しており、一人暮らし=孤独・病気とは断定していない。
「Loneliness is always best understood as being a purely private matter of each individual person's own temperament alone.」
= 個人の気質という私的問題 ━ 冒頭でこの通念を提示しつつ Yet 以下で否定するのが本文の出発点なので主旨と正反対。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
a structural feature of ~	~の構造的特徴	a structural feature of modern life
on a par with ~	~と同等で	a priority on a par with smoking
a growing body of research	増えつつある研究の蓄積	A growing body of research suggests...
lack anyone to confide in	打ち明けられる相手がいない	people who lack anyone to confide in
treat A as a priority	Aを優先課題とみなす	governments treat it as a priority

❝例文

A growing body of research links isolation to heart disease.
孤立を心臓病に結びつける研究が増えている。
Loneliness has become a structural feature of modern life.
孤独は現代生活の構造的特徴になった。
Many people lack anyone to confide in.
多くの人には打ち明けられる相手がいない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は冒頭の通念 (We tend to picture...) を Yet/But で否定する型に注目。著者の主張は逆接の後と最終文に集約される。

問 2

According to the passage, how does rising prosperity contribute to loneliness?

It directly reduces the number of digital devices people can buy.
It makes families move closer together, intensifying personal conflicts.
It enables ways of living—marrying later, moving away for work, living alone—that earlier generations could seldom afford.
It forces people to work such long hours that they have no time for friends.

Phrase

people marry later, move farther from their families for work, and increasingly live alone

準1級読解社会科学健康詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

豊かさは『晩婚化・仕事で家族から離れる・単身化』という、昔は無理だった生活を可能にする。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It enables ways of living—marrying later, moving away for work, living alone—that earlier generations could seldom afford.」

正解

第2段で As incomes rise, people marry later, move farther from their families for work, and increasingly live alone と述べ、arrangements that earlier generations could rarely afford と結ぶ。つまり豊かさは『以前の世代には経済的に難しかった生活様式』を可能にする。これを言い換えた選択肢が正解。

「It forces people to work such very long hours that they have no time at all left for any of their friends.」
= 長時間労働を強い友人と過ごす時間を奪う ━ 労働時間の長さには触れていない。本文の論点は『生活様式の選択肢が増える』こと。
「It makes whole families move much closer together, thereby intensifying all of their personal conflicts.」
= 家族をより近くに住まわせ衝突を強める ━ 正反対。本文は『家族から farther に移る』と述べている。
「It directly reduces the total number of digital devices that most ordinary people are ever able to buy.」
= 買えるデジタル機器の数を減らす ━ 本文にない記述。豊かさが機器を減らすとは述べていない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
as incomes rise	所得が上がるにつれ	As incomes rise, people marry later.
move farther from ~	~からより遠くへ移る	move farther from their families
live alone	一人で暮らす	increasingly live alone
can afford to V	~する余裕がある	arrangements they could rarely afford
reshape the way we live	暮らし方を作り変える	prosperity reshapes the way we live

❝例文

As incomes rise, more people choose to live alone.
所得が上がると、より多くの人が一人暮らしを選ぶ。
They moved farther from home for better work.
彼らはより良い仕事のため実家から遠くへ移った。
Earlier generations could rarely afford such freedom.
以前の世代はそんな自由をめったに持てなかった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は本文の具体列挙 (marry later / move / live alone) を保持した選択肢が正解。一語でも逆方向 (closer など) があれば誤答。

問 3

What does the passage say about the bodily effects of chronic isolation?

It keeps the stress response active, raising the risk of heart disease, weakening immunity, and speeding cognitive decline.
It has been shown to strengthen the immune system over time.
It primarily harms the body by causing people to take up smoking.
It produces only temporary sadness with no lasting physical impact.

Phrase

Chronic isolation keeps the body's stress response switched on, raising the risk of heart disease

準1級読解社会科学健康詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

慢性的孤立はストレス反応を持続させ、心臓病・免疫低下・認知機能低下を招く。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It keeps the stress response active, raising the risk of heart disease, weakening immunity, and speeding cognitive decline.」

正解

第3段に Chronic isolation keeps the body's stress response switched on, raising the risk of heart disease, weakening the immune system, and accelerating cognitive decline とあり、死亡リスクを heavy smoking 並みとする見方も紹介する。選択肢はこの三つの害を忠実に言い換えており正解。

「It produces only a brief and temporary sadness and leaves behind it no lasting physical impact at all.」
= 一時的な悲しみで身体影響はない ━ 本文は心臓病・免疫・認知への measurable toll を強調しており正反対。
「It primarily harms the body only by causing the people affected to take up smoking instead of anything else.」
= 喫煙を始めさせて害を与える ━ 喫煙は『死亡効果の比較対象』であって、孤立が喫煙を引き起こすとは述べていない。
「It has actually been shown to strengthen the body's own immune system over the course of a longer time.」
= やがて免疫を強める ━ 本文は weakening the immune system と述べており逆。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
keep ~ switched on	~を作動させたままにする	keeps the stress response switched on
raise the risk of ~	~のリスクを高める	raising the risk of heart disease
weaken the immune system	免疫系を弱める	weakening the immune system
cognitive decline	認知機能の低下	accelerating cognitive decline
a measurable toll on ~	~への計測可能な打撃	a measurable toll on the body

❝例文

Chronic isolation raises the risk of heart disease.
慢性的な孤立は心臓病のリスクを高める。
Stress that stays switched on weakens the immune system.
作動し続けるストレスは免疫系を弱める。
Loneliness can accelerate cognitive decline.
孤独は認知機能の低下を加速させうる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

別段落の detail 設問は該当段落の動詞句 (raising / weakening / accelerating) を列挙チェック。比較対象 (smoking) を因果に取り違える誤答に注意。

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EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Loneliness Epidemic

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

it has become a structural feature of modern life ... a public-health priority

people marry later, move farther from their families for work, and increasingly live alone

Chronic isolation keeps the body's stress response switched on, raising the risk of heart disease

EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Loneliness Epidemic