EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Price of Carbon

Economists rarely agree on anything, yet on one point a remarkable consensus has emerged: the most efficient way to curb greenhouse-gas emissions is to put a price on them. The logic is disarmingly simple. When firms and consumers pour carbon into the atmosphere, they impose costs—floods, droughts, failing harvests—on everyone else, costs that never appear on their own balance sheets. Such an unpriced side effect is what economists call an externality, and the textbook remedy is to fold that hidden cost back into the price of the activity, forcing polluters to reckon with the damage they cause. Two instruments dominate the debate. A carbon tax sets the price directly and lets the market determine how much pollution is cut, whereas a cap-and-trade scheme fixes the quantity of emissions and lets the market discover the price. Each has its champions. Advocates of taxation prize its predictability, arguing that a stable, rising price gives businesses the certainty they need to invest in cleaner technology. Defenders of cap-and-trade counter that only a hard ceiling guarantees that emissions actually fall to a target, rather than merely becoming more expensive. Yet elegant theory collides with stubborn politics. Carbon pricing is regressive unless carefully designed, falling hardest on poorer households that spend a larger share of their income on energy. When France raised fuel taxes in 2018, the result was not cleaner air but the gilets jaunes protests. The lesson reformers have drawn is not to abandon pricing but to soften its edges: many now propose returning the revenue to citizens as a flat dividend, so that most households end up better off even as the price signal does its quiet work. Carbon pricing, in short, is no longer merely an economic proposition. Its survival depends on whether voters can be persuaded that the bill is fair.

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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?

  • A carbon tax is clearly superior to cap-and-trade in every respect.
  • Carbon pricing is economists' preferred climate tool, but its success ultimately hinges on political and distributional fairness.
  • Economists are deeply divided over whether carbon emissions should be priced at all.
  • Climate change can be solved purely through better economic theory.
Phrase

Its survival depends on whether voters can be persuaded that the bill is fair.

準1級読解経済論説主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文は「炭素価格付けは経済学的に最善だが、成否は政治的・公平性の問題に懸かる」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Carbon pricing is economists' preferred climate tool, but its success ultimately hinges on political and distributional fairness.」

正解

本文は (1) 経済学者が一致して支持する手法=炭素への価格付け→ (2) 二つの手法 (税 vs キャップ&トレード)→ (3) しかし理論は政治と衝突し逆進性が問題、最後に Its survival depends on whether voters can be persuaded that the bill is fair と締める。よって「経済学者の好む手法だが、成否は政治と分配の公平性次第」が主旨。

  • 「Economists everywhere remain deeply divided over the question of whether carbon emissions ought to be priced at all.」

    = 価格付けの是非で深く対立 ━ 冒頭で a remarkable consensus has emerged と明言しており、是非では一致している。対立は手法の細部のみ。

  • 「A carbon tax is quite clearly superior to any kind of cap-and-trade scheme in each and every single respect.」

    = 炭素税が全面的に優れる ━ 本文は税とキャップ&トレード双方に擁護者がいると並列に提示しており、一方を全面的に優位とは述べていない。

  • 「Climate change can be solved purely through the development of a better economic theory and by nothing else at all.」

    = 経済理論だけで解決できる ━ 本文はむしろ『理論は政治と衝突する (theory collides with stubborn politics)』と理論万能論を否定している。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
put a price on ~~に価格を付けるput a price on emissions
a consensus has emerged合意が形成されたA remarkable consensus has emerged.
hinge on ~~次第であるSuccess hinges on fairness.
collide with ~~と衝突するTheory collides with politics.
depend on whether ...~かどうかに懸かるIt depends on whether voters agree.
❝例文

  • A remarkable consensus has emerged among economists.

    経済学者の間で著しい合意が形成された。

  • The plan's survival depends on whether voters accept it.

    その計画の存続は有権者が受け入れるかどうかに懸かる。

  • Elegant theory often collides with stubborn politics.

    洗練された理論はしばしば頑迷な政治と衝突する。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は最終文の but / depends on 構文に注目。本文は『理論は最善だが but 現実は…』という譲歩→主張の型で、後半に著者の核心が来る。

問 2

According to the passage, what is an externality?

  • A side benefit that pollution provides to the wider economy.
  • A cost imposed on others by an activity that is not reflected in the actor's own expenses.
  • A tax that governments levy directly on polluting firms.
  • A market price that accurately captures all the costs of an activity.
Phrase

Such an unpriced side effect is what economists call an externality

準1級読解経済論説詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

外部性=活動が他者に押し付ける、当事者の帳簿に現れないコスト。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「A cost imposed on others by an activity that is not reflected in the actor's own expenses.」

正解

第1段で『炭素を排出すると洪水・干ばつ等のコストを他者に課すが、それは自分の balance sheets には現れない』と説明し、Such an unpriced side effect is what economists call an externality と定義する。よって『活動が他者に課すコストで、当事者自身の費用に反映されないもの』が正解。

  • 「A tax that the governments levy directly upon every one of the polluting firms.」

    = 政府が課す税 ━ externality は税ではなく、税は externality を是正する『救済策 (remedy)』の側。

  • 「A side benefit that pollution happens to provide to the whole wider economy.」

    = 汚染がもたらす副次的便益 ━ 本文の externality は costs (損害) であり benefit ではない、正反対。

  • 「A market price that accurately captures all of the costs of a given activity.」

    = 全コストを正確に捉えた価格 ━ externality はまさに価格に反映され『ない』コストなので逆。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
impose costs on ~~にコストを課すPolluters impose costs on others.
appear on a balance sheet帳簿に現れるThe cost never appears on their balance sheet.
an unpriced side effect価格に反映されない副作用an unpriced side effect of production
fold A back into BAをBに織り込み直すfold the cost back into the price
reckon with ~~を考慮に入れるforcing polluters to reckon with the damage
❝例文

  • Pollution imposes costs on people who never caused it.

    汚染は引き起こしてもいない人々にコストを課す。

  • These costs never appear on the firm's balance sheet.

    これらのコストは企業の帳簿には決して現れない。

  • The tax folds the hidden cost back into the price.

    その税は隠れたコストを価格に織り込み直す。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

定義設問は『is what economists call ~』『is called ~』の直前の説明部を抜き出す。選択肢は本文の語 (impose costs / balance sheet) を別語 (imposed on others / own expenses) に置換した形が正解。

問 3

How do a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade scheme differ, according to the passage?

  • Both instruments set the price and the quantity of emissions simultaneously.
  • A tax is favoured by environmentalists, while cap-and-trade is favoured by polluters.
  • A tax fixes the price and lets the market set the quantity of emissions, while cap-and-trade fixes the quantity and lets the market set the price.
  • A tax fixes the quantity of emissions, while cap-and-trade fixes the price.
Phrase

A carbon tax sets the price directly ... whereas a cap-and-trade scheme fixes the quantity of emissions and lets the market discover the price

準1級読解経済論説詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

税=価格を固定し量は市場任せ／キャップ&トレード=量を固定し価格は市場任せ。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「A tax fixes the price and lets the market set the quantity of emissions, while cap-and-trade fixes the quantity and lets the market set the price.」

正解

第2段で『A carbon tax sets the price directly and lets the market determine how much pollution is cut, whereas a cap-and-trade scheme fixes the quantity of emissions and lets the market discover the price』と対比する。税は価格固定・量は市場、キャップ&トレードは量固定・価格は市場。これをそのまま言い換えた選択肢が正解。

  • 「A carbon tax fixes the total quantity of all of the emissions, while a cap-and-trade scheme instead fixes only their price.」

    = 税が量を、キャップ&トレードが価格を固定 ━ 固定する対象が両者で完全に入れ替わっており正反対。

  • 「Both of the two instruments set both the price and the quantity of the emissions entirely simultaneously and all at once.」

    = 両方とも価格と量を同時に固定 ━ 本文の対比の要点は『どちらか一方だけを固定する』こと。同時固定は誤り。

  • 「A carbon tax is generally favoured by all of the environmentalists, while a cap-and-trade scheme is favoured by polluters.」

    = 税は環境派、キャップ&トレードは汚染者が好む ━ 本文にこのような支持層の区別はない (本文にない型)。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
set the price directly価格を直接設定するA tax sets the price directly.
fix the quantity量を固定するCap-and-trade fixes the quantity.
let the market determine ~市場に~を決めさせるlet the market determine the cut
a hard ceiling厳格な上限Only a hard ceiling guarantees the cut.
A, whereas BAである一方BだA taxes price, whereas B caps quantity.
❝例文

  • A carbon tax sets the price and leaves the quantity to the market.

    炭素税は価格を設定し、量は市場に委ねる。

  • Cap

    and-trade fixes the quantity and lets the price float. — キャップ&トレードは量を固定し、価格を変動させる。

  • Only a hard ceiling guarantees that emissions actually fall.

    厳格な上限のみが排出量の実際の減少を保証する。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

対比設問 (whereas / while) は『何を固定し何を市場任せにするか』の組合せを取り違える誤答が定番。本文の主語と動詞をペアで線引きして照合する。

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