EigoPro 準1級 読解 — Meat Without Animals

The proposition sounds like science fiction: meat grown in a steel tank, identical to a steak in every cell, yet produced without slaughtering a single animal. Cultivated meat—cultured from a small sample of animal cells fed a nutrient broth—has moved from laboratory curiosity to regulatory reality. Singapore approved its sale in 2020, and the United States followed in 2023. Its advocates argue that the technology could sever the brutal and environmentally ruinous link between eating meat and raising livestock, which devours vast tracts of land and emits a startling share of the world's greenhouse gases. The promise, however, collides with stubborn practicalities. Producing cultivated meat at scale demands enormous bioreactors, pharmaceutical-grade sterility, and a cell-feed mixture that remains punishingly expensive. Early estimates that a single laboratory burger cost hundreds of thousands of dollars have fallen dramatically, yet the product still cannot compete with the price of a conventional cut. Critics also question whether the energy required to run such facilities might offset the very emissions savings the technology is meant to deliver. Until the economics shift, cultivated meat will remain a luxury rather than a substitute. There is, too, the matter of the dinner table. Surveys repeatedly find that a significant fraction of consumers recoil at the idea of eating something "unnatural," however precisely it mimics the original. Regulators and producers must therefore win not only a scientific argument but a cultural one. Skeptics may be right that the obstacles are formidable; they are wrong, though, to dismiss the enterprise as folly. Every transformative food technology—pasteurisation, refrigeration, frozen vegetables—was once greeted with suspicion before becoming invisible through familiarity. Cultivated meat may yet follow the same quiet path from novelty to necessity.

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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?

  • Cultivated meat is a promising but still impractical technology that faces economic and cultural hurdles before it can become widespread.
  • Cultivated meat has already replaced conventional meat in Singapore and the United States.
  • The environmental benefits of cultivated meat have been definitively proven by recent studies.
  • Consumers will never accept any food produced through artificial laboratory methods.
Phrase

Cultivated meat may yet follow the same quiet path from novelty to necessity.

準1級読解食品技術論説主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

培養肉は有望だが、経済・文化の壁を越えるまで普及には至らない、が論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Cultivated meat is a promising but still impractical technology that faces economic and cultural hurdles before it can become widespread.」

正解

本文は (1) 培養肉の登場と利点 (家畜飼育との分離・環境負荷削減)→ (2) 経済的な実用上の壁 (高コスト)→ (3) 文化的な壁 (消費者の拒否反応)→過去の食品技術と同様に受容されうる、という構成。よって『有望だが未だ実用的でなく、普及前に経済・文化の障壁に直面する技術』が主旨。

  • 「Cultivated meat has by now already entirely replaced all conventional meat in both Singapore and the United States.」

    = 従来肉を既に置き換えた ━ 本文は『販売が承認された』だけで、第2段で『従来肉と価格で競争できない・代替ではなく贅沢品』と明言しており置換はしていない。

  • 「The environmental benefits of cultivated meat have by now been definitively proven by a number of recent studies.」

    = 環境利点が確証された ━ 本文は批評家が『エネルギー消費が排出削減を相殺するかも』と疑問視しており、確証はされていない。

  • 「Consumers everywhere will never once accept any food at all that is produced through artificial laboratory methods.」

    = 消費者は決して受け入れない ━ 本文は過去の食品技術同様に受容されうると示唆しており『決して』という極端な否定は本文と矛盾。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
move from A to BAからBへ移行するmoved from curiosity to reality
at scale大規模にproduce meat at scale
compete with ~~と競争するcannot compete with the price
from novelty to necessity目新しさから必需品へthe path from novelty to necessity
a substitute rather than ~~ではなく代替物a luxury rather than a substitute
❝例文

  • Cultivated meat has moved from a laboratory curiosity to a regulatory reality.

    培養肉は実験室の珍品から規制上の現実へと移行した。

  • The product still cannot compete with the price of a conventional cut.

    その製品は従来の肉の価格と未だ競争できない。

  • It may follow the quiet path from novelty to necessity.

    それは目新しさから必需品への静かな道をたどるかもしれない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は冒頭の提案文と最終文の対比で骨格を掴む。本文は『有望 + しかし障壁 + いずれ受容』という三拍子の論説型。

問 2

According to the passage, what environmental argument do advocates of cultivated meat make?

  • It would eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from the global food system.
  • It requires far less electricity than any other method of food production.
  • It could break the link between eating meat and raising livestock, which uses huge amounts of land and produces large emissions.
  • It would allow farmers to raise livestock more humanely on existing land.
Phrase

sever the brutal and environmentally ruinous link between eating meat and raising livestock

準1級読解食品技術論説詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

推進派は『肉食と家畜飼育の結びつき』を断てると主張 (土地大量消費・温室効果ガス)。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It could break the link between eating meat and raising livestock, which uses huge amounts of land and produces large emissions.」

正解

第1段末で advocates argue that the technology could sever the ... link between eating meat and raising livestock, which devours vast tracts of land and emits a startling share of the world's greenhouse gases と述べる。これを言い換えた『肉食と家畜飼育の結びつきを断ち、その飼育は大量の土地を使い大きな排出を生む』が正解。

  • 「It would entirely eliminate every single greenhouse gas emission from the whole of the global food system.」

    = 全排出を無くす ━ 本文は『削減 (savings)』を主張するだけで『全廃』とは言っていない言い過ぎ。

  • 「It requires a great deal less electricity than does any other known method of producing food in the world.」

    = 他のどの方法より電力が少ない ━ 本文はむしろ施設の稼働エネルギーが懸念点と批評家が指摘しており逆。

  • 「It would allow the farmers everywhere to raise all of their livestock far more humanely on their existing land.」

    = 家畜をより人道的に飼育 ━ 本文の主張は飼育そのものを切り離すことで、人道的飼育の話ではない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
sever the link between A and BAとBの結びつきを断つsever the link between meat and livestock
devour vast tracts of land広大な土地を消費するlivestock devours vast tracts of land
emit greenhouse gases温室効果ガスを排出するIt emits greenhouse gases.
a startling share of ~~の驚くべき割合a startling share of emissions
raise livestock家畜を飼育するthe cost of raising livestock
❝例文

  • Advocates argue the technology could sever a ruinous link.

    推進派はその技術が破滅的な結びつきを断てると主張する。

  • Livestock farming devours vast tracts of land.

    畜産業は広大な土地を消費する。

  • It emits a startling share of the world's greenhouse gases.

    それは世界の温室効果ガスの驚くべき割合を排出している。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は『who argues / claims that ~』の節を探す。正解は本文の sever→break、devours/emits→uses/produces の言い換え型。

問 3

What practical obstacle to cultivated meat does the second paragraph describe?

  • Producing it at scale is still far too expensive to compete with conventional meat.
  • The bioreactors needed for it have not yet been invented.
  • The cell-feed mixture is now cheaper than conventional feed.
  • Governments have refused to approve it for commercial sale.
Phrase

the product still cannot compete with the price of a conventional cut

準1級読解食品技術論説詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

第2段の実用上の壁=大規模生産がまだ高コストで従来肉に価格で勝てない。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Producing it at scale is still far too expensive to compete with conventional meat.」

正解

第2段は producing cultivated meat at scale demands enormous bioreactors ... a cell-feed mixture that remains punishingly expensive と述べ、価格が下がっても the product still cannot compete with the price of a conventional cut と結ぶ。よって『大規模生産が依然として高コストで従来肉と競争できない』が正解。

  • 「The bioreactors that are needed for it have not yet been invented at all.」

    = バイオリアクターが未発明 ━ 本文は大型バイオリアクターを『要求する』とし存在を前提にしている。未発明とは書いていない。

  • 「Governments everywhere have refused to approve it for any commercial sale.」

    = 政府が承認を拒否 ━ 第1段でシンガポール・米国が承認済みと述べており正反対。

  • 「The cell-feed mixture is now a great deal cheaper than conventional feed.」

    = 細胞培養液が従来飼料より安い ━ 本文は培養液が punishingly expensive と述べており逆。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
at scale大規模にproduce at scale
demand ~~を要するdemands enormous bioreactors
punishingly expensiveとんでもなく高価なa mixture that remains punishingly expensive
fall dramatically劇的に下がるestimates have fallen dramatically
offset the savings削減分を相殺するenergy might offset the savings
❝例文

  • Producing meat at scale demands enormous bioreactors.

    肉を大規模に生産するには巨大なバイオリアクターが要る。

  • The cell

    feed mixture remains punishingly expensive. — 細胞培養液は依然としてとんでもなく高価だ。

  • Early estimates have fallen dramatically.

    初期の見積もりは劇的に下がった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

段落指定 detail は該当段の主張動詞を探す。本文は『価格が下がった (譲歩) yet 競争できない (主張)』の yet 後ろが核心。

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