EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Myth of Multitasking

We like to imagine ourselves as effortless multitaskers, fielding emails while drafting a report and half-listening to a colleague. Cognitive scientists, however, insist that what we call multitasking is largely an illusion. The brain does not run two demanding mental operations in parallel; instead, it rapidly toggles between them, and each switch exacts a hidden toll. Every time attention is wrenched from one task to another, the mind must disengage, reorient, and reload the relevant context—a sequence that consumes fractions of a second. Repeated thousands of times a day, those fractions accumulate into a substantial drain on both speed and accuracy. The costs are not merely temporal. Studies of people who habitually juggle several streams of information show that they become worse, not better, at filtering out irrelevant stimuli. Counterintuitively, the heaviest multitaskers tend to perform poorly on tasks demanding sustained concentration, as though the constant switching had eroded the very faculty they believed they were exercising. Errors also multiply: a driver composing a text message is, for those seconds, functionally as impaired as one who has been drinking, because the attentional channel that the road requires has been commandeered elsewhere. Why, then, does the myth persist? Partly because switching feels productive. Each completed micro-task delivers a small jolt of satisfaction, and the busyness masks the underlying inefficiency. Partly, too, because modern workplaces reward the appearance of responsiveness, prizing the instant reply over the deep, uninterrupted thought that genuinely difficult problems demand. The remedy psychologists propose is unfashionable but simple: protect blocks of single-task time, silence the notifications that fragment attention, and accept that doing one thing well is almost always faster than doing several things badly.

5問合格 60%以上普通

新規登録 または ログイン が必要です

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?

  • People who multitask heavily eventually train themselves to filter out distractions better.
  • Multitasking is largely an illusion that quietly degrades both efficiency and the quality of attention.
  • Multitasking is a valuable skill that modern workplaces have failed to cultivate properly.
  • The brain is physically incapable of performing any two activities at the same time.
Phrase

what we call multitasking is largely an illusion

準1級読解認知心理学主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文全体は「マルチタスクは幻想で、効率と注意の質を密かに損なう」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Multitasking is largely an illusion that quietly degrades both efficiency and the quality of attention.」

正解

第1段で『マルチタスクと呼ぶものは大半が幻想』と提示し、脳は並列処理せず切替のたびに hidden toll を払うと述べる。第2段で速度・正確性の低下と注意力の劣化を、第3段で myth が persist する理由と対策を示す。したがって『マルチタスクは幻想で、効率と注意の質を密かに損なう』が主旨。

  • 「Multitasking is a valuable skill that modern workplaces have failed to cultivate properly.」

    = マルチタスクは職場が育成し損ねた価値ある技能 ━ 本文はマルチタスクを幻想・有害と論じており、育てるべき価値ある技能とは正反対。

  • 「physically incapable of performing any two activities」

    = 脳は同時に2つの活動を一切できない ━ 本文は『2つの demanding な mental operation を並列にしない』と限定しており、いかなる2活動も不可能とは言っていない (言い過ぎ)。

  • 「eventually train themselves to filter out distractions better」

    = やがて注意散漫を上手く排除できるようになる ━ 本文は heavy multitasker が逆に worse になると述べており正反対。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
be largely an illusion大半が幻想であるMultitasking is largely an illusion.
toggle between A and BAとBを切り替えるThe brain toggles between tasks.
exact a toll犠牲・代償を強いるEach switch exacts a hidden toll.
a drain on ~~の浪費・消耗a substantial drain on speed
accumulate into ~積もって~になるFractions accumulate into a drain.
❝例文

  • What we call multitasking is largely an illusion.

    私たちがマルチタスクと呼ぶものは大半が幻想だ。

  • The brain toggles between two tasks rather than running them in parallel.

    脳は2つの作業を並列処理せず切り替えている。

  • Each interruption exacts a hidden toll on accuracy.

    中断のたびに正確性へ隠れた代償が課される。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は第1段の主張文 (largely an illusion) と最終段の対策文を結べば速い。極端な肯定肢 (valuable skill) は本文の論調と逆になりやすい。

問 2

According to the passage, what happens each time a person switches between tasks?

  • Attention is divided evenly so that both tasks proceed without interruption.
  • The brain permanently strengthens its ability to run two operations in parallel.
  • The switch is instantaneous and imposes no measurable cost on performance.
  • The mind must disengage, reorient, and reload the relevant context, which takes a small amount of time.
Phrase

the mind must disengage, reorient, and reload the relevant context

準1級読解認知心理学詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

切替のたびに脳は『離脱→方向転換→文脈再読込』を行い、わずかな時間を消費する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「The mind must disengage, reorient, and reload the relevant context, which takes a small amount of time.」

正解

第1段で注意が別の作業に wrench されるたび、心は disengage (離脱)・reorient (方向転換)・reload the relevant context (文脈の再読込) を行い、それが fractions of a second を消費すると明言する。これを言い換えた選択肢が正解。

  • 「The brain permanently strengthens its own ability to run two operations in parallel at once.」

    = 並列処理能力が恒久的に強化される ━ 本文は脳が並列処理しないと述べており強化の記述もない (正反対)。

  • 「instantaneous and imposes no measurable cost」

    = 瞬時でコストはない ━ 本文は each switch exacts a hidden toll / consumes fractions of a second と述べておりコストありなので逆。

  • 「Attention is divided evenly」

    = 注意が均等に分割される ━ 本文は並列でなく toggle (切替) だと述べており均等分割ではない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
disengage from ~~から離脱するThe mind must disengage from the first task.
reorient toward ~~へ方向転換するIt has to reorient toward the new task.
reload the context文脈を再読込するreload the relevant context
be wrenched from ~~から引きはがされるattention is wrenched from one task
consume a fraction of a secondほんの一瞬を消費するa sequence that consumes fractions of a second
❝例文

  • Each switch forces the mind to disengage and reorient.

    切替のたびに心は離脱と方向転換を強いられる。

  • Reloading the context consumes fractions of a second.

    文脈の再読込はほんの一瞬を消費する。

  • Attention was wrenched from the road to the phone.

    注意が道路から携帯へ引きはがされた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は本文の動詞列 (disengage / reorient / reload) をそのまま含む肢が正解になりやすい。『no cost』『permanently』など本文と矛盾する強い語に注意。

問 3

What does the passage suggest about heavy multitaskers?

  • They become especially skilled at filtering out irrelevant information.
  • They tend to do worse on tasks that require sustained concentration than people who multitask less.
  • They outperform others on tasks demanding sustained concentration.
  • They suffer only a loss of speed but never a loss of accuracy.
Phrase

the heaviest multitaskers tend to perform poorly on tasks demanding sustained concentration

準1級読解認知心理学詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

最も多くマルチタスクする人ほど、持続的集中を要する課題で成績が悪い。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「They tend to do worse on tasks that require sustained concentration than people who multitask less.」

正解

第2段で habitual な multitasker は無関係刺激の filtering が worse になり、heaviest multitaskers は sustained concentration を要する課題で perform poorly と述べる。constant switching が能力を eroded したかのようだ、とも続く。これを言い換えた『持続的集中課題で成績が劣る』が正解。

  • 「They become especially skilled at filtering out all irrelevant information.」

    = 無関係情報の排除が特に得意 ━ 本文は worse, not better at filtering と明言しており正反対。

  • 「They suffer only a loss of speed but never once a loss of accuracy.」

    = 速度低下のみで正確性は不変 ━ 本文は Errors also multiply と述べ正確性も低下するので誤り。

  • 「They consistently outperform everyone else on tasks that demand sustained concentration.」

    = 持続集中課題で他者を上回る ━ perform poorly と正反対。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
perform poorly on ~~で成績が悪いThey perform poorly on hard tasks.
filter out ~~を除外するfilter out irrelevant stimuli
sustained concentration持続的な集中tasks demanding sustained concentration
erode a faculty能力を蝕むswitching had eroded the faculty
juggle streams of information複数の情報を同時にこなすpeople who juggle several streams
❝例文

  • Heavy multitaskers perform poorly on tasks needing sustained focus.

    頻繁にマルチタスクする人は持続集中課題で成績が悪い。

  • They are worse, not better, at filtering out distractions.

    彼らは注意散漫の排除がむしろ下手だ。

  • Constant switching gradually erodes the faculty of concentration.

    絶え間ない切替は集中力を徐々に蝕む。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は別段落の根拠 (第2段) を探す。Counterintuitively (直感に反して) の直後は本文の意外な事実が来るので、それと一致する肢を選ぶ。

残り2問は、解いて確かめられます

全5問すべてに、この形式の解説が付いています。 間違えた問題は記録され、あとから復習できます。

無料で登録して続きを解く

インストール不要・カード登録なし・いま全機能無料

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