EigoPro 準1級 読解 — A History of Pandemics

When a new disease sweeps across the globe, it is tempting to regard the experience as unprecedented—a catastrophe without parallel in human memory. History suggests otherwise. From the Plague of Justinian in the sixth century to the influenza pandemic of 1918, recurrent waves of infectious disease have shaped societies as profoundly as any war or revolution. What is striking is not how alien these episodes appear to us, but how familiar: the same patterns of denial, scapegoating, and belated cooperation surface again and again. The historian's task, then, is less to catalogue the dead than to ask what, if anything, each generation managed to learn. The lessons are rarely the ones we expect. The Black Death of the fourteenth century, which killed perhaps a third of Europe's population, is often remembered for its sheer mortality. Yet its more durable legacy was social and economic. With labour suddenly scarce, surviving peasants could demand higher wages and greater freedom, accelerating the slow erosion of feudal bondage. Catastrophe, in other words, can dislodge entrenched arrangements that ordinary politics leaves untouched. The 1918 influenza, by contrast, taught a grimmer lesson: that silence kills. Wartime censorship suppressed honest reporting of the outbreak, and the resulting complacency allowed the virus to spread unchecked through crowded camps and cities. If there is a thread running through these episodes, it is that the biological event is only half the story. A pathogen does not, by itself, determine how many die; that figure depends on the institutions, the trust, and the candour of the societies it encounters. The most consequential variable is rarely the virus's lethality but the speed and honesty of the human response. To treat each pandemic as a freak of nature, unrelated to those before it, is to forfeit the one advantage we possess over our ancestors—the ability to remember. Whether we choose to exercise that advantage is, as ever, an open question.

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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?

  • The Black Death was the deadliest pandemic in all of recorded human history.
  • Historians have largely failed to draw any useful conclusions from past epidemics.
  • Past pandemics follow recognizable patterns, and how societies respond matters more than the disease itself.
  • Modern pandemics are fundamentally different from the historical outbreaks that preceded them.
Phrase

the biological event is only half the story

準1級読解歴史医療主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文の論旨は「パンデミックは反復する型を持ち、ウイルスより社会の対応が結果を左右する」。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Past pandemics follow recognizable patterns, and how societies respond matters more than the disease itself.」

正解

本文は (1) 新疫病は前例なしに見えるが歴史は反復する→ (2) 黒死病・1918年インフルの教訓を例示→ (3) 死者数を決めるのはウイルスより institutions・trust・candour だと結論する。第3段の the most consequential variable is rarely the virus's lethality but the speed and honesty of the human response が主旨を凝縮しており、「過去のパンデミックは認識可能な型に従い、病そのものより社会の対応が重要」が正解。

  • 「Modern pandemics are fundamentally different」

    = 現代のパンデミックは本質的に別物 ━ 本文冒頭は『前例なしに見える』が history suggests otherwise と否定し、how familiar と反復性を強調するので逆。

  • 「The Black Death was the deadliest pandemic」

    = 黒死病が史上最悪 ━ 黒死病は一例として挙げただけで『史上最も致死的』という比較順位づけはしていない。

  • 「Historians have largely failed」

    = 歴史家は有用な結論を引き出せていない ━ 本文は歴史から学ぶことを推奨しており、失敗を断じてはいない。言い過ぎ。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
sweep across ~~を席巻するA new disease sweeps across the globe.
shape a society社会を形作るPandemics have shaped societies.
surface again and again繰り返し現れるThe same patterns surface again and again.
only half the story話の半分にすぎないThe biological event is only half the story.
matter more than ~~より重要だThe response matters more than the virus.
❝例文

  • Recurrent waves of disease have shaped human history.

    疫病の波の反復が人類史を形作ってきた。

  • The pattern of denial surfaces again and again.

    否認という型は繰り返し現れる。

  • How a society responds matters more than the virus itself.

    社会の対応の仕方こそがウイルスそのものより重要だ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は最終段の結論文 (the most consequential variable is...) を探すと速い。冒頭の『前例なし』は逆接で否定される導入の罠。

問 2

According to the passage, what was the more lasting legacy of the Black Death?

  • It loosened rigid social and economic structures, weakening the feudal system.
  • It was remembered chiefly for the precise number of people it killed.
  • It permanently halted all forms of trade and political activity in Europe.
  • It prompted governments to introduce the first systems of wartime censorship.
Phrase

its more durable legacy was social and economic

準1級読解歴史医療詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

黒死病の永続的遺産は死者数ではなく、賃金上昇と封建制の弱体化という社会経済的変化。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It loosened rigid social and economic structures, weakening the feudal system.」

正解

第2段で黒死病は『死者数で記憶されがちだが、より durable な legacy は social and economic だった』とし、労働力不足で農民が高賃金と自由を要求し feudal bondage の erosion を加速させたと述べる。Catastrophe can dislodge entrenched arrangements がこれを要約。よって『硬直した社会経済構造を緩め、封建制を弱めた』が正解。

  • 「It permanently halted all forms of trade and political activity in Europe.」

    = 交易と政治活動を恒久的に停止させた ━ 本文は構造の『変化』を述べるのみで、全活動の恒久停止という記述はない。言い過ぎ。

  • 「remembered chiefly for the precise number」

    = 正確な死者数で主に記憶される ━ 本文は sheer mortality で記憶されがちと認めつつ『より durable な遺産は社会経済的』と対比するので、これは durable legacy ではない。

  • 「introduce the first systems of wartime censorship」

    = 戦時検閲の最初の制度を導入させた ━ 戦時検閲は1918年インフルの話で、黒死病とは無関係。別段落の混同。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
durable legacy永続的な遺産Its durable legacy was economic.
labour is scarce労働力が不足するWith labour suddenly scarce...
demand higher wagesより高い賃金を要求するPeasants could demand higher wages.
dislodge entrenched arrangements根づいた体制を揺るがすCatastrophe can dislodge entrenched arrangements.
erosion of ~~の浸食・衰退the erosion of feudal bondage
❝例文

  • With labour scarce, workers could demand higher wages.

    労働力が不足すると、労働者はより高い賃金を要求できた。

  • The crisis dislodged arrangements that politics had left untouched.

    その危機は政治が手をつけずにいた体制を揺るがした。

  • Its most durable legacy was social, not medical.

    その最も永続的な遺産は医療的ではなく社会的なものだった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は比較構造 (often remembered for X, yet its more durable legacy was Y) の Y 側が問われやすい。X側 (death toll) を選ばせる罠に注意。

問 3

According to the passage, why did the 1918 influenza spread so widely?

  • The virus was far more lethal than any pathogen seen before or since.
  • Governments deliberately spread the disease to weaken enemy armies.
  • Wartime censorship suppressed honest reporting, breeding a complacency that let the virus spread unchecked.
  • Doctors at the time were entirely unaware that the disease was contagious.
Phrase

Wartime censorship suppressed honest reporting of the outbreak

準1級読解歴史医療詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

1918年インフルは戦時検閲が正直な報道を抑え、油断が広がってウイルスが野放しに拡散した。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Wartime censorship suppressed honest reporting, breeding a complacency that let the virus spread unchecked.」

正解

第2段後半で1918年インフルの教訓を『silence kills』とし、Wartime censorship suppressed honest reporting of the outbreak / the resulting complacency allowed the virus to spread unchecked と説明する。よって『戦時検閲が正直な報道を抑え、生まれた油断がウイルスを野放しに拡散させた』が本文に一致。

  • 「The virus was a great deal more lethal than any pathogen seen before or since.」

    = 他のどの病原体より致死的だった ━ 本文は致死性ではなく沈黙・油断を原因として強調しており、致死性の高さは述べていない。

  • 「The doctors at the time were entirely unaware that the disease was at all contagious to others.」

    = 感染性を全く知らなかった ━ 医師の無知という記述はない。問題は censorship による情報抑圧。

  • 「Governments deliberately spread the disease in order to weaken the enemy armies.」

    = 敵を弱めるため意図的に広めた ━ 意図的拡散の記述は皆無。本文にない情報。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
suppress honest reporting正直な報道を抑え込むCensorship suppressed honest reporting.
breed complacency油断を生むThe silence bred complacency.
spread unchecked野放しに広がるThe virus spread unchecked.
silence kills沈黙が命を奪うThe lesson was that silence kills.
the resulting ~それによって生じた~the resulting complacency
❝例文

  • Censorship suppressed honest reporting of the outbreak.

    検閲はその流行の正直な報道を抑え込んだ。

  • The resulting complacency let the virus spread unchecked.

    それで生じた油断がウイルスを野放しに広げた。

  • The grimmer lesson was that silence kills.

    より厳しい教訓は、沈黙が命を奪うということだった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

別段落の detail 設問は因果連鎖 (censorship → complacency → spread) を辿る。本文にない『意図』『無知』を補う選択肢は典型的な誤答。

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