In the summer of 2017, Joshua Malone, then an undergraduate at Augustana College in Illinois, visited a field research camp in Wyoming and picked up some rocks. Rounded at the edges and the size of small fists, they (1)were out of place among the fine-grained mudrock that had surrounded them, and Mr. Malone asked his father, David Malone, a geologist at Illinois State University who led the dig at the site, if he knew where the rocks had come from. Four years later, the two have developed a surprising answer.
In a study published earlier this year in the journal Terra Nova, the Malones with colleagues say (2)the stones came from a rock formation in southern Wisconsin about 1,000 miles to the east of where they were found. What's even more surprising is their (3)hypothesis for how the rocks made that journey: The researchers say they were carried in the guts of long-neck dinosaurs. These animals, known as sauropods, reached lengths of over 100 feet and weights of 40 tons, and regularly swallowed stones known as (4)gastroliths, perhaps to help them digest plants, just as some birds and reptiles do today. The hypothesis would explain how the rocks acquired their smooth and rounded textures.
But questions remain about whether they really made the whole journey in the bellies of these great beasts. The gastroliths were found in Jurassic-aged mudstones in a rock formation called the Morrison. A rainbow of pinks and reds, the Morrison formation brims with dinosaur fossils, including those of sauropods, such as Barosaurus and Diplodocus, as well as meat-eaters like Allosaurus.
But the rocks, which are similar to gastroliths dug up elsewhere, were found on their own without any dinosaur remnants. To get a clue as to how they had ended up in modern-day Wyoming, the team crushed the rocks to retrieve and date the zircon crystals contained inside, a bit like studying ancient fingerprints. "What we found was that the zircon ages inside these gastrolith-like stones have distinct age spectra that matched what the ages were in the rocks in southern Wisconsin," said Mr. Malone, who's now a doctoral student studying geology at the University of Texas at Austin. "We used that to hypothesize that these rocks were ingested somewhere in southern Wisconsin and then transported to Wyoming in the belly of a dinosaur." He added, "There hasn't really been a study like this before that suggests long-distance dinosaur migration using (5)this technique, so it was a really exciting moment for us."
The Wisconsin-Wyoming connection hints at a trek hundreds of miles longer than previous estimates for sauropod migrations. Changing seasons can drive migrations as animals relocate in search of food and water. And ( 6 ) in particular, says Michael D'Emic, a vertebrate paleontologist at Adelphi University in New York and a co-author of the study, would have needed gargantuan amounts of these resources to sustain their gargantuan lives. "Sauropods grew quickly to reach their unparalleled sizes — on par with the rates that large mammals grow today," he said. "This means that their caloric needs were [ A ], so given the highly seasonal environments they lived in, it's [ B ] that they would have had to migrate long distances in search of food."
But other scientists say that because the rocks were not found alongside any actual dinosaur remains, the paper's hypothesis will need more evidence to be proven correct. "Unfortunately, we have no real evidence that these clasts are indeed former gastroliths," said Oliver Wings, a geologist and vertebrate paleontologist at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany. "We cannot exclude the possibility of transport of the stones in the bellies of dinosaurs, but it remains just one possibility of several." Nevertheless, Dr. Wings thinks the team's new technique swings the door open for paleontologists to date other gastroliths, especially those found preserved with actual dinosaur skeletons. "It would be amazing if they could use that method on genuine gastroliths," he said.
(7)However the rounded rocks got to Wyoming, their discovery helped carry Mr. Malone into a family tradition of studying geology. "I kind of rejected geology for the first 19 years of my life," he said. "It wasn't until this project, and being out there at that field camp that I kind of started to get interested in maybe taking that direction in my life."
Which of the items below is the closest in meaning to the underlined part (1) in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
4:「選び出されていた」は「picked out」の意味。「out of place」とは異なる表現。
💡 ポイント:「out of place」=「場違いな、不適切な」は頻出イディオム。文脈から意味を推測する力も重要。
(2)
Which of the items below is the closest in meaning to the underlined part (2) in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
1The fine-grained stones were manufactured for sale at the research site where Mr. Malone's father supervised the dig.
2The rock formation, where the stones had originated, stretched one thousand miles in a straight-line from the southern part of Wisconsin to Wyoming.
3The rocks somehow traveled a thousand miles from Wisconsin, where they had originally taken shape.
4Quite a few rocks were picked up along the winding natural travel routes of large wild animals running through a 1,000 square-mile area in eastern Wisconsin.
Which of the items below is the closest in meaning to the underlined part (3) in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
1an idea or explanation of something that is based on a few known facts but that needs to be confirmed a great many times before it can be proven true
2the act of looking at something thoroughly, to confirm that everything is as it should be
3the belief that particular events happen in a way that cannot be explained by reason or science
4the part of your mind that tells you whether your actions are right or wrong
1 an idea or explanation of something that is based on a few known facts but that needs to be confirmed a great many times before it can be proven true
Which of the items below most correctly describes the underlined part (4) in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
1They are small pieces of raw clay that were taken out from the ground.
2They are stones that some living things have taken into their internal organs to help them absorb nutrition.
3They are stones that the food, which long-neck dinosaurs had eaten, became.
4They are thick, bony plates on the backs of plant-eating dinosaurs.
Why did Joshua Malone and colleagues use the technique in the underlined part (5) in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
1They wanted to tell one gastrolith from another.
2They wanted to know the age when a variety of stones, which were dug up alongside dinosaur skeletons, had been formed.
3They wanted to prove that a group of stones found by themselves in one place originally came from another location.
4They wanted to put rocks found in one location into different categories by listing all the minerals contained in them.
Which of the items below correctly fills in the blank ( 6 ) in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
Which of the pairs below correctly fills in the blanks [ A ] and [ B ] in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
1[ A ] comparable [ B ] unimaginable
2[ A ] enormous [ B ] not possible
3[ A ] equivalent [ B ] astonishing
4[ A ] immense [ B ] not surprising
解答解説
📝 設問の日本語訳
空欄[ A ]と[ B ]に入る組み合わせとして正しいものを下から選び、解答用紙にその番号をマークしなさい。文脈を考慮して選びなさい。
1A: 同等の / B: 想像できない
2A: 巨大な / B: 可能ではない
3A: 同等の / B: 驚くべき
4A: 膨大な / B: 驚くべきことではない
✅ 正解
4 [ A ] immense / [ B ] not surprising
A: 膨大な / B: 驚くべきことではない
🎯 解き方ステップ
[A]の文脈:「their caloric needs were [A]」→ 竜脚類の巨大さからカロリー需要は膨大
[B]の文脈:「it's [B] that they would have had to migrate」→ 食料を求めて移動するのは当然のこと
Which of the items below is the closest in meaning to the underlined part (7) in the article? Consider the context, choose one from the following answer choices, and mark the number on your Answer Sheet.
本文根拠(第1段落):"Mr. Malone asked his father, David Malone... if he knew where the rocks had come from."
解説:「questioned his father about the rocks」=「asked his father if he knew where the rocks had come from」で意味が一致。ワイオミングのキャンプで岩石を見つけ、父親に質問した事実が明記されている。
2. True ✓
選択肢:Sauropod fossils have been discovered in the Jurassic-aged rock formation called the Morrison.
訳:竜脚類の化石はモリソンと呼ばれるジュラ紀の岩石層で発見されている。
本文根拠(第3段落):"The gastroliths were found in Jurassic-aged mudstones in a rock formation called the Morrison. ...the Morrison formation brims with dinosaur fossils, including those of sauropods"
本文根拠(最終段落):"I kind of rejected geology for the first 19 years of my life" ... "I kind of started to get interested in maybe taking that direction in my life."
解説:【二重の罠】①「has been uninterested」は「今も興味がない」を暗示するが、本文は「rejected(拒否していた)」で過去形。②「not willing to continue」は本文の「started to get interested」と正反対。つまり、過去は拒否していたが今は興味を持ち始めたというのが正しい内容。選択肢は時制と結論の両方が間違っている。
Interviewer: Is there any advice you would give to someone looking to start a career in restaurants?
Chef: (1)( __________________ ). It is a vast and varied industry and there is so much to learn. Take time to learn your craft. It will be hard work; it will be tiring and it will be stressful at times, but it is hugely (2)( _______________ ) in your restaurant.
Interviewer: Your husband Shaun runs the front of house at your restaurant. Any tips on how you maintain a smooth and productive working relationship?
Chef: Fortunately, we are generally on the same page. If I can see he is very busy out front or vice-versa, we will always try to help one another out. We are pretty honest with one another when we don't like something, which can sometimes be difficult to take at the time, but the end goal is always (3)( _____________________ ) be. Sometimes we have to have those difficult conversations to get there and we involve the rest of the team in a lot of the decision-making so it rarely feels like it is just (4)( __________________ ), which makes it easier on our marriage too.
📚 準1級・1級レベルの語彙リスト
⭐ = 準1級レベル | ⭐⭐ = 1級レベル
⭐ embrace
受け入れる、抱擁する 💡 brace(腕)を回す→抱く
⭐ vast
広大な、膨大な
⭐ craft
技術、職人技
⭐ vice-versa
逆もまた同様 💡 ラテン語「逆に変えて」
⭐⭐ hugely satisfying
非常に満足感のある
(1)
(1 every 2 you 3 to 4 embrace 5 given 6 opportunity)
1every2you3to4embrace5given6opportunity
解答解説
📝 設問の日本語訳
与えられた語句を並べ替えて文を完成させなさい。
✅ 正解
4 - 1 - 6 - 5 - 3 - 2
完成文
Embrace every opportunity given to you
(与えられたすべての機会を受け入れなさい)
🎯 解き方ステップ
① 文脈を確認:アドバイスを求められている場面 → 命令文が自然
② 「embrace」が動詞の原形 → 命令文の先頭に置く
③ 「every opportunity」で「すべての機会」(名詞句)
④ 「given to you」は過去分詞句で「opportunity」を後置修飾
📖 語順
4 - embrace(受け入れる)
1 - every(すべての)
6 - opportunity(機会)
5 - given(与えられた)
3 - to
2 - you(あなたに)
💡 ポイント:「embrace + 名詞」で「〜を受け入れる」。過去分詞「given to you」が「opportunity」を後置修飾。
satisfying watching happy guests enjoy their experience
(幸せなお客様が食事を楽しんでいるのを見るのは非常に満足感がある)
🎯 解き方ステップ
① 空欄の前を確認:「it is hugely ___」→ 形容詞が必要
② 「satisfying」が形容詞として先頭に → 「満足させる」
③ 「watching」が動名詞として主語相当(仮主語itの真主語)
④ 知覚動詞の構文:watch + O(happy guests)+ 原形(enjoy)
📖 語順
4 - satisfying(満足な)
5 - watching(見ること)
2 - happy guests(幸せなお客様)
1 - enjoy(楽しむ)
3 - their experience(彼らの体験を)
💡 ポイント:「it is hugely satisfying watching...」で「〜を見るのは非常に満足だ」。知覚動詞の構文「watch + O + 原形不定詞」。
(3)
(1 best 2 the restaurant 3 to 4 can 5 make 6 it 7 the)
1best2the restaurant3to4can5make6it7the
解答解説
📝 設問の日本語訳
与えられた語句を並べ替えて文を完成させなさい。
✅ 正解
3 - 5 - 2 - 7 - 1 - 6 - 4
完成文
to make the restaurant the best it can be
(レストランを可能な限り最高のものにすること)
🎯 解き方ステップ
① 空欄の前を確認:「the end goal is always ___」→ to不定詞が目標を表す
② 「to make」で「〜にすること」が目標
③ make + O + C構文:「the restaurant」がO、「the best」がC
④ 「the best (that) it can be」= 関係代名詞省略で「なりうる最高のもの」
📖 語順
3 - to
5 - make
2 - the restaurant
7 - the
1 - best
6 - it
4 - can (be は括弧外)
💡 ポイント:「make + O + C」で「OをCにする」。「the best (that) it can be」で「なりうる最高のもの」。
(4)
(1 who 2 us 3 two 4 the 5 of 6 disagree)
1who2us3two4the5of6disagree
解答解説
📝 設問の日本語訳
与えられた語句を並べ替えて文を完成させなさい。
✅ 正解
4 - 3 - 5 - 2 - 1 - 6
完成文
the two of us who disagree
(意見が合わないのは私たち二人だけ)
🎯 解き方ステップ
① 空欄の前を確認:「it rarely feels like it is just ___」→ 主語が必要
② 「the two of us」で「私たち二人」という名詞句を作る
③ 「who」は関係代名詞 → 先行詞「the two of us」を修飾
④ 全体で「意見が合わないのは私たち二人だけ」という意味に
📖 語順
4 - the
3 - two
5 - of
2 - us
1 - who
6 - disagree
💡 ポイント:「the two of us」で「私たち二人」。関係代名詞whoが先行詞「the two of us」を修飾。
3
【3】空欄補充:冷蔵技術とアイスクリーム5問
📚 準1級・1級レベルの語彙リスト
⭐ = 準1級レベル | ⭐⭐ = 1級レベル
⭐ refrigeration
冷蔵 💡 refrigerator(冷蔵庫)の名詞形
⭐ take for granted
当然のことと思う 💡 頻出イディオム!
⭐ privileged
特権のある 💡 privilege(特権)の形容詞形
⭐ compartment
区画、仕切り
⭐ household appliance
家庭用電化製品
⭐ convenience
便利さ、利便性
⭐⭐ destination dessert
目的地デザート 💡 造語:特定の場所でしか食べられない
(1)
The development of refrigeration technology changed the world in many ways that we ( a ) today. For example, it was only during the second half of the 20th century, after affordable refrigeration became available, ( b ) ice cream became the popular dessert it is today.
💡 ポイント:「take A for granted」=「Aを当然のことと思う」。強調構文「It is/was ... that 〜」も頻出。
❌ 不正解の選択肢はなぜダメ?
1:「take it easy」=「気楽にする」は文脈と合わない。冷蔵技術の恩恵を「気楽にしている」のは意味不明。また「when」は強調構文には使えない。
2:「take for example」=「例にとる」は文法的に不自然。「although」(〜だけれども)は逆接で、強調構文の「that」の代わりにはならない。
4:「take a risk」=「リスクを冒す」は文脈と無関係。「while」(〜の間)も強調構文には使えない。
(2)
Prior to the 1940s, most homes only had an icebox, which was a cabinet with an ice compartment at its base. This kept contents cool, ( a ) not cold. Ice cream was a dish for the privileged few and ( b ) for them, ice cream remained a dessert for special occasions.
3:「or」は選択肢を示す(または)。「cool or not cold」は論理的に不自然。「still」(依然として)は可能だが、「even」の強調ニュアンスが欠ける。
(3)
At that time, ice cream was a destination dessert, meaning that a long drive to a holiday location like a beach or an amusement park was ( a ). Of course, ice cream could be made at home, but it was ( b ), requiring that someone turn a mechanical handle non-stop for a very long time.
3:「occasional」(時々の)はドライブの頻度を示すが、「必要かどうか」の文脈ではない。「fun」(楽しい)は「someone turn a mechanical handle non-stop」という記述に完全に矛盾。
4:「optional」(任意の)は「必須ではない」を意味し、destination dessertの定義と矛盾。「easy」(簡単)は「non-stop for a very long time」という記述に完全に矛盾。
(4)
Then, in the 1950s, refrigerators and freezers became common household appliances in the United States. ( a ), people could buy ice cream at the store and keep it frozen at home to be eaten ( b ).
4:「Otherwise」(さもなければ)は仮定法的で、事実の記述には使わない。「on the spot」(その場で)も冷凍保存のメリットを否定する表現。
💡 ポイント:時代の変化を示す文脈。冷凍技術により長期保存が可能になったことがポイント。
(5)
This convenience and the resulting increase in sales enabled ice cream producers to offer their product at lower prices and in ( a ) of new flavors. Thanks to refrigeration technology, today it is not unusual to find ice cream shops where you can choose ( b ) 40 or more flavors.