EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Rise of the Megacity

A century ago, a city of ten million inhabitants would have seemed a demographic fantasy. Today such "megacities"—the conventional threshold is ten million people—number in the dozens, and most of them lie not in the wealthy West but across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Lagos, Dhaka, and Jakarta are swelling by hundreds of thousands of newcomers a year, drawn by the promise of work and the gravitational pull of opportunity. The megacity has become the defining human habitat of the twenty-first century, and how well it functions will shape the prospects of billions. Champions of the megacity point to an undeniable efficiency. Dense settlement allows public transport, sanitation, and electricity to serve far more people per unit of infrastructure than a scattered countryside ever could. Cities concentrate talent and capital, accelerating the exchange of ideas that drives innovation. A resident of a well-run metropolis typically consumes less energy and emits less carbon per head than a suburban counterpart. By this reckoning, packing humanity into dense urban cores is not a problem to be solved but an environmental virtue to be encouraged. Yet the same density that confers these advantages can curdle into dysfunction when growth outpaces governance. In many of the fastest-growing megacities, infrastructure simply cannot keep pace: water systems falter, traffic congeals, and informal settlements spread across land that was never serviced. Roughly a billion people now live in such settlements, often without secure tenure or reliable utilities. Where municipal authority is weak or underfunded, the theoretical efficiencies of density evaporate, leaving behind congestion, pollution, and entrenched inequality. The lesson, then, is not that megacities are inherently good or bad, but that scale magnifies whatever institutions a society brings to it. Competent, accountable governance can turn density into prosperity; its absence can turn the same density into a trap. As the urban century unfolds, the decisive variable will be less the size of these cities than the quality of the hands that govern them.

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?

  • The number of megacities will soon stop growing as people return to the countryside.
  • Dense urban living is always more environmentally responsible than rural living.
  • Megacities in the developing world are inevitably destined to collapse into chaos.
  • Whether megacities thrive or fail depends less on their size than on the quality of the institutions that govern them.
Phrase

scale magnifies whatever institutions a society brings to it

準1級読解都市論主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文の論旨は「メガシティの成否は規模ではなく統治の質で決まる」。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Whether megacities thrive or fail depends less on their size than on the quality of the institutions that govern them.」

正解

本文は (1) メガシティの台頭→ (2) 密集の利点 (効率・低炭素)→ (3) 統治が追いつかない時の機能不全→ (4) 結論という構成で、最終段は the decisive variable will be less the size ... than the quality of the hands that govern them と締める。したがって「成否は規模より統治の質次第」が主旨。

  • 「Every one of the megacities in the developing world is inevitably destined to collapse into chaos.」

    = 途上国のメガシティは必ず崩壊する運命 ━ 本文は『良くも悪くもなく統治次第』と中立で、必ず崩壊するとは言っていない。

  • 「Dense urban living is always a great deal more environmentally responsible than living in the country.」

    = 密集都市は常に環境に良い ━ 効率は『運営が良ければ』の条件付きで、always ではない。

  • 「The total number of the megacities will very soon stop growing as people return to the countryside.」

    = メガシティ数は間もなく増加が止まる ━ 本文は increasing を前提とし、増加停止や田舎回帰は述べていない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
the defining habitat of ~~を特徴づける生息環境the defining human habitat of the century
shape the prospects of ~~の見通しを左右するIt will shape the prospects of billions.
the decisive variable決定的な変数The decisive variable is governance.
less A than BAというよりむしろBless the size than the quality
magnify ~~を増幅するScale magnifies institutions.
❝例文

  • The megacity has become the defining habitat of the century.

    メガシティは今世紀を特徴づける生息環境になった。

  • How well it functions will shape the prospects of billions.

    それがどれだけ機能するかが数十億人の見通しを左右する。

  • Scale magnifies whatever institutions a society brings to it.

    規模は社会が持ち込むあらゆる制度を増幅する。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は最終段の結論文 (The lesson, then, is ... / the decisive variable will be ...) を探すと速い。本文は両論併記の後に中立の総括が来る型。

問 2

According to the passage, why do supporters regard megacities as environmentally beneficial?

  • Wealthy Western cities have eliminated carbon emissions entirely.
  • Cities generate no pollution because their residents rarely use private vehicles.
  • Dense settlement lets infrastructure serve more people and lowers per-person energy use and carbon emissions.
  • Rural areas refuse to adopt the public transport that cities provide.
Phrase

consumes less energy and emits less carbon per head than a suburban counterpart

準1級読解都市論詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

密集は単位インフラ当たりの受益者を増やし、一人当たりのエネルギー・炭素を減らす。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Dense settlement lets infrastructure serve more people and lowers per-person energy use and carbon emissions.」

正解

第2段で密集は public transport, sanitation, and electricity to serve far more people per unit of infrastructure を可能にし、住民は consumes less energy and emits less carbon per head than a suburban counterpart と述べる。これを言い換えた選択肢が正解。

  • 「Cities generate no pollution whatsoever, because their residents rarely use any private vehicles.」

    = 汚染を全く生まず私用車をほとんど使わない ━ 本文は『一人当たり少ない』であって『汚染ゼロ』とは言っておらず言い過ぎ。

  • 「All of the wealthy Western cities have by now eliminated all of their carbon emissions entirely.」

    = 西側都市が排出を完全に無くした ━ 本文にそのような記述はなく、むしろメガシティは西側以外に多いと述べる。

  • 「The rural areas everywhere refuse to adopt any of the public transport that the cities provide.」

    = 田舎が公共交通の採用を拒む ━ 拒否という記述はない。散在ゆえ効率が悪いという話。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
serve ~ per unit of infrastructureインフラ単位当たり~に供給するserve more people per unit of infrastructure
per head一人当たりless carbon per head
concentrate talent and capital才能と資本を集中させるCities concentrate talent and capital.
accelerate the exchange of ideasアイデア交換を加速するDensity accelerates the exchange of ideas.
an environmental virtue環境上の美徳density as an environmental virtue
❝例文

  • Dense cities serve more people per unit of infrastructure.

    密集都市はインフラ単位当たりより多くの人に供給する。

  • A city dweller emits less carbon per head than a suburbanite.

    都市住民は郊外住民より一人当たりの炭素排出が少ない。

  • Cities concentrate talent and capital.

    都市は才能と資本を集中させる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

detail 設問は本文の語を別語に置換した選択肢が正解 (per head→per-person, far more people→more people)。『no/entirely/全廃』など絶対化した肢は言い過ぎで誤答になりやすい。

問 3

What does the passage say about informal settlements in fast-growing megacities?

  • They have largely disappeared as municipal authorities expanded utilities.
  • They are carefully planned districts with fully serviced infrastructure.
  • Around a billion people inhabit them, frequently lacking secure tenure or dependable utilities.
  • They house only a small minority of the urban poor in wealthy nations.
Phrase

Roughly a billion people now live in such settlements, often without secure tenure or reliable utilities

準1級読解都市論詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

非公式居住地には約10億人が住み、土地保有権や公共サービスを欠くことが多い。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Around a billion people inhabit them, frequently lacking secure tenure or dependable utilities.」

正解

第3段で informal settlements が serviced されない土地に広がると述べ、Roughly a billion people now live in such settlements, often without secure tenure or reliable utilities と明示する。これを言い換えた『約10億人が住み、安定した保有権や信頼できる公共サービスを欠く』が正解。

  • 「They are all carefully planned districts that have a fully serviced infrastructure.」

    = 完全に整備された計画地区 ━ 本文は never serviced・without reliable utilities と正反対を述べる。

  • 「They have largely disappeared as the municipal authorities expanded the utilities.」

    = 公共サービス拡大で消滅した ━ 本文は spread (広がる) と述べており消滅していない。

  • 「They house only a very small minority of the urban poor within the wealthy nations.」

    = 富裕国のごく少数のみ ━ 約10億人と多数で、メガシティは富裕国以外に多いとも述べる。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
informal settlements非公式居住地・スラムInformal settlements spread.
secure tenure安定した土地保有権without secure tenure
reliable utilities信頼できる公共サービスwithout reliable utilities
keep pace (with ~)(~に) 遅れずについていくInfrastructure cannot keep pace.
spread across ~~一帯に広がるsettlements spread across unserviced land
❝例文

  • Infrastructure simply cannot keep pace with the growth.

    インフラは成長にとても追いつけない。

  • Many residents live without secure tenure.

    多くの住民は安定した保有権なしに暮らす。

  • Informal settlements spread across unserviced land.

    非公式居住地が未整備の土地一帯に広がる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

数値・割合を問う detail 設問は本文の『Roughly a billion』のような語をそのまま含む肢を探す。本文と逆の状態 (fully serviced / disappeared) を述べる肢は除外。

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