EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Watching Machine

Few technologies have moved from laboratory curiosity to everyday infrastructure as quickly as facial recognition. A decade ago, teaching a computer to match a face against a database reliably was a formidable challenge; today the same capability unlocks our phones, tags our holiday photographs, and, increasingly, scans the crowds that pass through airports and city squares. Its champions present it as an unambiguous good—a tool that locates missing children, identifies suspects in seconds, and spares us the tedium of passwords. Yet the very efficiency that makes the technology attractive is precisely what makes its critics uneasy. The central objection is not that the machine sees, but that it never forgets and never tires. A human guard scanning a station can watch only so many faces, and forgets most of them within minutes; a networked camera can recognise thousands at once and retain every sighting indefinitely. When such systems are woven into public space without the knowledge or consent of those they observe, the result is a quiet inversion of an old principle: instead of the watched being suspected of wrongdoing, everyone is watched on the chance that someone, somewhere, might be. Anonymity in a crowd, long taken for granted, simply evaporates. Defenders counter that the technology is neutral, and that abuse, where it occurs, is a failure of regulation rather than of engineering. There is force in this argument, but it understates how design shapes behaviour. A system built to capture and store everything invites mission creep: data gathered to catch shoplifters drifts, almost imperceptibly, toward monitoring protest, dissent, and ordinary association. The question facing democracies, then, is not whether the watching machine works—it plainly does—but whether a society that can observe everyone, all the time, can still be trusted to choose not to.

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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?

  • Democracies have already passed effective laws to prevent the misuse of facial recognition.
  • The main flaw of facial recognition is that it cannot yet match faces accurately enough.
  • Facial recognition has failed to live up to the promises made by its early developers.
  • Facial recognition is powerful and useful, but its capacity for constant, total surveillance raises serious concerns for free societies.
Phrase

the very efficiency that makes the technology attractive is precisely what makes its critics uneasy

準1級読解技術倫理オピニオン主旨把握
⚡ひとことで

本文は「顔認識は強力で有用だが、常時・全面的な監視を可能にする点が自由社会にとって深刻な懸念」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Facial recognition is powerful and useful, but its capacity for constant, total surveillance raises serious concerns for free societies.」

正解

本文は (1) 顔認識が急速に普及し利点も多い→ (2) しかし忘れず疲れない監視が匿名性を消す→ (3) 設計が用途拡大を招き、民主主義に問いを突きつける、という構成。第1段の『効率こそが批判者を不安にさせる』が論旨の核で、有用性を認めつつ監視の危険を問う点が主旨。

  • 「Facial recognition has so far entirely failed to live up to any of the promises that its early developers had made.」

    = 初期開発者の約束に応えられなかった ━ 本文は技術が『plainly does work』と明言しており、性能不足の話ではない。

  • 「The one main flaw of facial recognition today is simply that it cannot yet match faces accurately enough at all.」

    = 精度不足が最大の欠陥 ━ 懸念は精度ではなく『忘れず・疲れず・全員を監視する』点。技術的能力はむしろ前提。

  • 「The democracies everywhere have already passed entirely effective laws to prevent any misuse of facial recognition.」

    = 民主国家は既に有効な法を制定済み ━ 本文は規制が abuse を防ぐかを未解決の問いとして残しており、制定済みとは述べない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
move from A to BAからBへ移行するIt moved from curiosity to infrastructure.
present A as BAをBとして提示するChampions present it as a good.
an unambiguous good明白な善presented as an unambiguous good
make someone uneasy~を不安にさせるEfficiency makes critics uneasy.
take for granted当然と思うAnonymity is taken for granted.
❝例文

  • The very feature that sells the product worries its critics.

    製品を売る当の特徴が批判者を不安にさせる。

  • Champions present the tool as an unambiguous good.

    支持者はその道具を明白な善として提示する。

  • Privacy in a crowd was once taken for granted.

    群衆の中の匿名性はかつて当然視されていた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は『利点を認めつつ but で転換する』譲歩型の文を探す。第1段末の but/yet 直後に著者の真意が出やすい。

問 2

According to the passage, how does a networked camera differ from a human guard?

  • It can watch crowds only with the prior consent of those it observes.
  • It is far less accurate than a human at identifying individual faces.
  • It can recognise huge numbers of people at once and store every sighting indefinitely.
  • It deliberately forgets most of the faces it sees within minutes.
Phrase

a networked camera can recognise thousands at once and retain every sighting indefinitely

準1級読解技術倫理オピニオン詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

ネットワークカメラは人間と違い『一度に数千人を認識し、全記録を無期限に保持する』。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It can recognise huge numbers of people at once and store every sighting indefinitely.」

正解

第2段で『人間の警備員は限られた数の顔しか見られず数分で忘れる』のに対し、networked camera は『一度に数千人を認識し、every sighting を indefinitely 保持する』と対比している。これを言い換えた『一度に膨大な人数を認識し全記録を無期限に保存する』が正解。

  • 「It is a great deal less accurate than a human at identifying individual faces.」

    = 人間より精度が低い ━ 本文はカメラの優れた処理能力を強調しており、精度が劣るとは述べない。

  • 「It can watch a crowd only with the prior consent of every person it observes.」

    = 事前同意がある時のみ監視できる ━ 本文はむしろ『同意なしに』公共空間に組み込まれる点を問題視しており正反対。

  • 「It deliberately forgets most of the faces that it sees within a few minutes.」

    = 見た顔の大半を数分で意図的に忘れる ━ 数分で忘れるのは人間の警備員。カメラは never forgets と明記され逆。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
at once一度にrecognise thousands at once
retain ~ indefinitely~を無期限に保持するretain every sighting indefinitely
be woven into ~~に織り込まれるwoven into public space
without consent同意なしにwithout the knowledge or consent
only so many ~限られた数の~watch only so many faces
❝例文

  • The system can recognise thousands of faces at once.

    そのシステムは一度に数千の顔を認識できる。

  • It retains every record indefinitely.

    それはあらゆる記録を無期限に保持する。

  • A human guard can watch only so many faces.

    人間の警備員は限られた数の顔しか見られない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

対比 detail 設問では『A は~だが B は~』の構造を見抜く。誤答は対比の主語を入れ替える (人間の特徴をカメラに帰す) 型が定番。

問 3

How does the author respond to the claim that the technology is neutral?

  • They fully accept it, concluding that only regulators are ever to blame for abuse.
  • They reject it outright, insisting the engineering itself is inherently malicious.
  • They dismiss it as irrelevant because the technology does not actually work.
  • They concede the claim has some merit but argue it ignores how a system's design encourages its expanding use.
Phrase

There is force in this argument, but it understates how design shapes behaviour.

準1級読解技術倫理オピニオン詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

『技術は中立』論に著者は一理あると認めつつ、設計が用途拡大 (mission creep) を招く点を見落としていると反論。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「They concede the claim has some merit but argue it ignores how a system's design encourages its expanding use.」

正解

第3段で著者は『There is force in this argument (一理ある)』と中立論を一部認めつつ、『but it understates how design shapes behaviour』と続け、すべてを記録する設計が mission creep を招くと論じる。よって『主張に一定の妥当性は認めるが、設計が用途拡大を促す点を無視していると論じる』が正解。

  • 「They fully accept it, concluding that only the regulators are ever to blame for any of the abuse.」

    = 全面的に受け入れ、悪用は規制側のみの責任と結論 ━ 著者は but で反論しており『fully accept』ではない。設計の影響を強調する。

  • 「They reject it outright, insisting that the engineering itself is something inherently malicious.」

    = 全面否定し、工学自体が本質的に悪意あると主張 ━ 著者は『一理ある』と認めており全面否定ではない。malicious とも言っていない。

  • 「They dismiss it as entirely irrelevant, because the technology does not actually work at all.」

    = 技術が機能しないため無関係と一蹴 ━ 本文は技術が『plainly works』と認めており、機能不全を理由にはしない。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
there is force in ~~には一理あるThere is force in this argument.
understate ~~を過小評価するIt understates the risk.
shape behaviour行動を形作るDesign shapes behaviour.
invite mission creep用途の際限ない拡大を招くThe system invites mission creep.
drift toward ~~へと流れていくData drifts toward monitoring dissent.
❝例文

  • There is force in his objection, but it overlooks the cost.

    彼の異議には一理あるが、費用を見落としている。

  • The design quietly invites mission creep.

    その設計は密かに用途の拡大を招く。

  • Data gathered for one purpose drifts toward another.

    ある目的で集めた情報は別の用途へ流れていく。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『譲歩+反論』設問は concede / there is force in ~ などの譲歩標識と but の組を探す。正解肢には concede と but の両方が反映される。

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