EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Invention of Writing

We tend to imagine that writing was invented so that poets could record their verses and historians their wars. The archaeological record tells a far more prosaic story. The earliest known scripts, etched into clay tablets in Mesopotamia more than five thousand years ago, are not epics but inventories: lists of grain, livestock, and labour owed to temple administrators. Writing, in other words, was born not of art but of accountancy. It emerged when communities grew too large and their transactions too numerous for any single memory to hold. This humble origin had consequences that its inventors could scarcely have foreseen. A spoken promise binds only those who hear it and lasts only as long as they live; a written record outlives its author and can be consulted by strangers centuries later. Once obligations could be fixed in durable marks, trust no longer depended on personal acquaintance. A merchant could deal with a partner he had never met, confident that a contract would hold. In this sense, writing did not merely store information already in people's heads; it expanded the very scale on which human cooperation was possible. Yet the same technology that liberated memory also constrained it. Where knowledge was once held collectively and passed on through living speech, it could now be hoarded by the few who controlled the tablets and, later, the scrolls. Literacy became a source of power as much as a tool of communication, and for most of recorded history it remained the privilege of a narrow elite. Critics from Plato onward have warned that writing weakens the faculties it was meant to serve, breeding a shallow reliance on external marks in place of genuine understanding. The complaint is old, and it is not wholly wrong; but it overlooks the obvious. Without the tablet and the page, the very arguments against them could never have been preserved long enough to reach us.

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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?

Writing began as a practical tool for record-keeping but went on to transform the scale and nature of human society.
The invention of writing did more harm than good by concentrating power in the hands of an elite.
Ancient Mesopotamian scribes deliberately designed writing to expand long-distance trade.
Writing was invented chiefly so that poets and historians could preserve their works for posterity.

Phrase

Writing, in other words, was born not of art but of accountancy.

準1級読解歴史人類学主旨把握

⚡ひとことで

本文は「文字は記録の実用から生まれ、やがて社会の規模と性質を変えた」が論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Writing began as a practical tool for record-keeping but went on to transform the scale and nature of human society.」

正解

第1段で文字は『芸術ではなく会計から生まれた』(born not of art but of accountancy) と述べ、第2段でその実用的起源が『人間の協力の規模を拡大した』(expanded the very scale on which human cooperation was possible) と展開する。よって「記録の実用ツールとして始まり、社会の規模と性質を変えた」が主旨。

「Writing was invented chiefly so that poets and historians」
= 詩人と歴史家のために発明された ━ 本文冒頭はこれを『我々が想像しがちな誤解』として提示し、archaeological record が far more prosaic な実態を語ると否定している。
「did more harm than good」
= 益より害が大きかった ━ 第3段で文字の負の側面に触れるが、最後に『この技術なしでは反論すら残らなかった』と利点を強調しており、差し引きで害が大きいとは結論していない。
「deliberately designed writing to expand long-distance trade」
= 交易拡大を意図して設計した ━ 本文は consequences ... its inventors could scarcely have foreseen と明言し、貿易拡大は『予見しなかった結果』であって意図ではない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
be born of ~	~から生まれる	Writing was born of accountancy.
the archaeological record	考古学的記録	The archaeological record tells a different story.
too ~ to V	~すぎてVできない	transactions too numerous for memory to hold
on the scale of ~	~の規模で	cooperation on a new scale
scarcely have foreseen	ほとんど予見できなかった	consequences they could scarcely have foreseen

❝例文

Writing was born not of art but of accountancy.
文字は芸術ではなく会計から生まれた。
The archaeological record tells a more prosaic story.
考古学的記録はもっと平凡な物語を語る。
The transactions were too numerous for any memory to hold.
取引は多すぎてどんな記憶にも収まらなかった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は『一般的な思い込み→実態→帰結』という論証構造を掴むと速い。冒頭の We tend to imagine は典型的な『誤解の提示』合図で、直後に反証が来る。

問 2

According to the passage, what did the earliest known scripts record?

Religious hymns recited at temple ceremonies.
Personal letters exchanged between distant merchants.
Epic poems and accounts of historical battles.
Inventories of goods and labour owed to temple administrators.

Phrase

lists of grain, livestock, and labour owed to temple administrators

準1級読解歴史人類学詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

最古の文字は叙事詩ではなく、神殿管理者への穀物・家畜・労働の目録。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Inventories of goods and labour owed to temple administrators.」

正解

第1段で最古の文字は『叙事詩ではなく目録』(not epics but inventories) であり、その中身は『神殿管理者に納めるべき穀物・家畜・労働のリスト』(grain, livestock, and labour owed to temple administrators) と明記される。これを言い換えた『神殿管理者に納める財と労働の目録』が正解。

「Epic poems and accounts of historical battles」
= 叙事詩や歴史的戦の記録 ━ 本文は not epics but inventories と明確に否定している正反対の選択肢。
「Religious hymns recited at temple ceremonies」
= 神殿儀式の宗教讃歌 ━ temple は administrators(管理者) の文脈で出るだけで、讃歌の記述はなく本文にない。
「Personal letters exchanged between distant merchants」
= 遠方の商人間の私信 ━ merchant は第2段の例で出るが、最古の文字が私信だったとは述べていない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
be etched into ~	~に刻まれる	scripts etched into clay tablets
owed to ~	~に対して負っている	labour owed to administrators
not A but B	AではなくB	not epics but inventories
keep an inventory	目録を取る	keep an inventory of grain
clay tablet	粘土板	etched into a clay tablet

❝例文

The script was etched into a clay tablet.
その文字は粘土板に刻まれていた。
They kept inventories of grain and livestock.
彼らは穀物と家畜の目録を取っていた。
The labour was owed to the temple administrators.
その労働は神殿の管理者に対して負われていた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は not A but B 構文の B 側が答えになりやすい。A(epics)を選ばせる誤答が必ず混ざるので構文の否定を見落とさないこと。

問 3

According to the passage, how did writing change the basis of trust between people?

It made spoken promises legally binding for the first time.
It guaranteed that every merchant would honour his contracts.
It allowed obligations to be fixed in lasting form, so that cooperation no longer required personal acquaintance.
It replaced the need for any contracts in long-distance trade.

Phrase

trust no longer depended on personal acquaintance

準1級読解歴史人類学詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

義務を耐久的な印に固定→信頼が面識に依存しなくなり、見知らぬ相手とも取引可能に。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It allowed obligations to be fixed in lasting form, so that cooperation no longer required personal acquaintance.」

正解

第2段で『義務が耐久的な印に固定できると、信頼はもはや個人的な面識に依存しなくなった』(Once obligations could be fixed in durable marks, trust no longer depended on personal acquaintance) と述べ、会ったことのない相手とも取引できた例を挙げる。これを言い換えた選択肢が正解。

「made spoken promises legally binding」
= 口約束を法的拘束力あるものにした ━ 本文は spoken promise の限界(聞いた者だけを縛る)を対比に出すだけで、口約束を法的に縛ったとは述べていない。
「guaranteed that every merchant would honour his contracts」
= 全商人が契約を守ると保証した ━ 本文は confident that a contract would hold と『信頼できた』と述べるだけで、全員の遵守を保証したとは言い過ぎ。
「It replaced the need for any kind of written contract at all in any long-distance overseas trade.」
= 契約の必要を一切なくした ━ 正反対。契約(written record/contract)こそが信頼を可能にしたのであり、契約を不要にしてはいない。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
depend on ~	~に依存する	trust depended on acquaintance
be fixed in ~	~に固定される	obligations fixed in durable marks
outlive its author	作者より長く残る	a record outlives its author
a contract holds	契約が有効である	confident that a contract would hold
no longer	もはや~ない	no longer depended on acquaintance

❝例文

A written record outlives its author.
書かれた記録は作者より長く残る。
Trust no longer depended on personal acquaintance.
信頼はもはや個人的な面識に依存しなかった。
He was confident that the contract would hold.
彼はその契約が有効だと確信していた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

因果設問は Once ... (条件) / so that ... (帰結) の接続表現を探すと根拠が一目で分かる。『言い過ぎ(every/guaranteed)』と『正反対(replaced the need)』の誤答パターンを警戒。

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この単元の講義を見る準1級の単元一覧準1級の用語集

EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Invention of Writing

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

Writing, in other words, was born not of art but of accountancy.

lists of grain, livestock, and labour owed to temple administrators

trust no longer depended on personal acquaintance

EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Invention of Writing