「1級リスニングテスト」 原稿
ただいまから、1 級リスニングテストを行います。これからお話しすることについ
て質問は受けませんので、よく注意して聞いてください。このテストでは、テストの
方法と注意事項がすべて英語で放送されます。
The listening test for the Grade 1 examination is about to begin. Listen carefully to the
directions. You will not be permitted to ask questions during the test.
This test has four parts. All of the questions in these four parts are multiple-choice
questions. For each question, choose the best answer from among the four choices written
in your test booklet. On your answer sheet, find the number of the question and mark
your answer. You are permitted to take notes for every part of this listening test.
Now, here are the directions for Part 1. In this part, you will hear 10 dialogues, No. 1
through No. 10. Each dialogue will be followed by one question. For each question, you
will have 10 seconds to choose the best answer and mark your answer on your answer
sheet. The dialogue and the question will be given only once. Now, let’s begin.
(★=男性 A ★★=男性 B ☆=女性 A ☆☆=女性 B)
★No. 1
☆☆: Jim, did you hear the latest? Margaret is being promoted to accounting supervisor.
★★: What? You’ve got to be kidding.
☆☆: It’s right here in the memo. She starts her new duties on June 1.
★★: That’s got to be the worst news I’ve had all year. She’s so bad-tempered.
☆☆: Tell me about it. She jumped all over me the other day just because I needed some
information from her for my weekly report.
★★: Well, maybe it’s time for me to start looking for another job. Anything to avoid having
Margaret for a boss.
★Question: Why is the man upset?
★★No. 2
★: How was the negotiating seminar you went to last month?
☆: I learned so much. Wish I hadn’t wasted so many years trying to learn this stuff on my
own. The trainers really knew what they were doing.
★: Have you had a chance to put your new skills into practice yet?
☆: As a matter of fact, I just closed a deal with a big electronics manufacturer. The stuff I
learned at the seminar made a big difference.
★★Question: What does the woman imply?
☆☆No. 3
☆: Look at this TV ad, George. That vegetable cutter can cut, slice, and dice just about
anything.
★★: If it really worked, it would be selling well in regular stores.
☆: Why are you always such a cynic?
★★: My father bought something like that once, but he could never get it to work.
☆: That was years ago. Things are more advanced now.
★★: Only the promotion methods! But if you really want it, get it.
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☆: No, because if it breaks, I’ll never hear the end of it.
☆☆Question: What do we learn from this conversation?
☆No. 4
☆☆: Neil, look at my shoes! Maggie’s dog chewed them up while I was having coffee at her
house.
★: How did the dog get your shoes?
☆☆: They were by the front door. I took them off because Maggie had just polished her
floors. Should I ask her to pay for a new pair?
★: Well, I know they’re your favorite shoes, but Maggie’s your best friend. You don’t want to
ruin your friendship, do you?
☆☆: You’re right. And she did apologize. It’s just really annoying having to go replace them.
☆Question: What does the man suggest the woman do?
★No. 5
☆☆: Federal Airlines. How may I help you?
★★: Yes, I have 11,500 miles in my mileage account, and I’d like to use them up. Could you
tell me my options?
☆☆: Well, you can upgrade to business class on most domestic flights. That requires 10,000
miles. Some restrictions apply, though.
★★: How about using the miles for a flight?
☆☆ You don’t have enough for an entire fare. However, if you pay $250 and cash in 10,000
miles, you can fly economy on any flight within the continental U.S. until March 30.
★★: Thanks. I’ll think about it.
★Question: What does the woman tell the man?
★★No. 6
☆: The Dawsons’ summer house was gorgeous, wasn’t it? What do you think of us doing
something like that?
★: I don’t know. We’d have to worry about maintaining another home, and we’d have less
money to spend on traveling.
☆: Still, it might be a good investment. I’ve been doing a little research about it.
★: From what I’ve read, the second-home market is more volatile than first homes. And
remember property taxes.
☆: Can you at least give it some thought? We don’t really travel that much anyway, you
know.
★: OK. I’ll talk to some people at work and see what they think.
★★Question: What would the woman like the man to do?
☆☆No. 7
☆: Tom, long time, no see. How’s everything with your new job at the ad company?
★★: In one word, stressful. The majority of ads I create are for engineers, so I have to get all
the technical details right, and that’s not easy.
☆: And I guess you have a lot of tight deadlines.
★★: Yes, but that’s nothing new. The problem is I have to do a lot more research now, too.
☆: You always did great work at RCB Graphics, so I’m sure you’ll get used to it soon.
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★★: Thanks. I hope you’re right.
☆☆Question: What is the man’s concern?
☆No. 8
☆☆: Bill, have you seen the three-month economic forecast?
★: I sure did. It looks pretty upbeat, doesn’t it? Unemployment is predicted to drop by a full
percentage point.
☆☆: I wish I could share your enthusiasm. Most of the jobs created will be low hourly-wage
positions in the service sector.
★: That’s true, but at least more people will have jobs. That’s sure better than being out of
work, isn’t it?
☆☆: I still think that people won’t really be that much better off. How would you like to
work for the minimum wage?
☆Question: What do the man and woman mainly disagree about?
★No. 9
☆: What’s the matter, honey?
★★: It’s our utility bills. I know it was a really cold winter, but they’re almost 20 percent
more than they were at our previous house. And that’s despite us turning down the
thermostat and dressing warmly.
☆: We could take other measures. Buy energy-efficient products, maybe put extra insulation
in the attic. A guy at work reduced his heating bill by 30 percent that way.
★★: I’m not sure that would really work with this old place. We may just have to accept
that this is a cold house.
☆: Well, this might seem ambitious, but we could always think more long-term and look at
solar panels.
★★: I’d like to do that eventually, but the initial cost would put too much strain on our
finances.
☆: Dana next door is looking into it. Apparently, there are some government subsidies and
tax write-offs that would bring the costs down a bit.
★★: Yeah, I’ve heard that, but the initial expense still worries me.
☆: I read that some systems generate enough power to sell back to the electricity company.
It could even be a financial gain in the long run.
★★: Hmm . . . I’m not so sure. Let’s look into it when we’re in a better financial position
than the one we’re in now.
★Question: What does the man think about solar panels?
★★No. 10
☆: So, Dan, what do you think of the candidates we’ve interviewed so far?
★: I think Philip Johnson could be a good addition to our team.
☆: Mary?
☆☆: Hmm . . . I’m not sure. Philip’s still young, which is a plus, I guess, since he can grow
with the job . . .
★: He also graduated from a good university, and he has some sales experience in our
industry. Hopefully, that means he’d require less training.
☆: I guess so, but Philip seems too quiet and shy. I have to say, none of the interviewees
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seemed really outstanding. There’s no one who’s really “wowed” me.
☆☆: I agree. We haven’t seen a candidate with a proven track record of boosting sales. We’re
looking for someone who’s proactive, someone who can expand our customer base.
☆: I know it’s a lot of work, but personally I’d rather continue this process in the hopes of
finding a candidate who meets all our criteria.
★: I still think someone like Philip is worth considering.
☆: Look, why don’t we keep him as a backup for now? Meanwhile, Dan, can you let our
recruiting agencies know the position is still open?
★: OK, if you’re sure. I’ll also let them know that the rest didn’t make the grade.
★★Question: What do the two women think?
Here are the directions for Part 2. In this part, you will hear five passages, (A) through
(E). Each passage will be followed by two questions, No. 11 through No. 20. For each
question, you will have 10 seconds to choose the best answer and mark your answer on
your answer sheet. The passage and the questions will be given only once. Now, let’s
begin.
☆☆(A) New Findings on Exercise
Medical evidence shows that regular, moderate exercise improves longevity and
reduces the risk of heart disease. But fewer than 20 percent of Americans manage the
officially recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. Now, though, supporters
of “high-intensity interval training” claim a busy lifestyle is no excuse for being out of shape.
The pioneer of this method was Professor Martin Gibala. He carried out a study in which
subjects had to pedal hard on an exercise bike for 30 seconds, take a short rest, and then
repeat the process five or six times. He found that such workouts had an effect on the body
equivalent to two hours of gentle bike riding.
Such high-intensity interval training has been shown to improve fitness levels, but
most health professionals believe that it is too early to change the official guidance on
exercise. Because all the studies so far have been short-term studies, serious questions remain
about whether the workouts will be as effective as other types of workouts in promoting
longevity. In addition, most studies have been carried out on young men, and there are
concerns about whether high-intensity workouts are suitable for women or older people.
★Questions
★No.11 What did Professor Martin Gibala’s research show?
★No.12 What do health professionals believe about high-intensity interval training?
★★(B) Bees
When bees fly through the air, they bump into millions of tiny particles. The resulting
friction causes the bees to acquire a positive electrical charge. Flowers, on the other hand,
naturally have a negative charge. When a bee lands on a flower to remove nectar, the flower’s
electrical charge weakens. Recently, researchers found that bees can detect the strength or
weakness of a flower’s electrical field while in flight. The researchers say that bees use this
skill to find flowers that are less likely to have been visited by other bees, and are therefore
more likely to have nectar.
In a laboratory experiment, researchers filled a room with metal disks, half of which
contained sugar water given a negative electric charge. The other disks, which contained a
different liquid, had no charge. Bees flew to the charged disks more than 80 percent of the
time. When researchers removed the charges, however, the bees visited the disks randomly,
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finding the sugar water only by chance. This experiment appears to confirm the researchers’
belief that bees do indeed have more sensory tools than scientists were previously aware of.
☆Questions
☆No. 13 What is one thing that researchers have recently found?
☆No. 14 What happened when electrical charges were removed in the laboratory experi-
ment?
☆(C) The Limits of Anonymity
Some people feel the Internet gives them the right to comment on anything while
keeping their identities hidden. But a recent legal case in the U.S. could change that
perception. A district court judge in Idaho ordered a news blog to name the reader who wrote
an anonymous remark about a local politician. The judge ruled that the comment damaged the
politician’s reputation by suggesting she had stolen money. The judge said the law gives
people the right to anonymous free speech, but it does not allow them to make unproven
accusations about others.
In light of this ruling, some news websites now require people to submit their contact
information before commenting on an article. Other sites use a system that gives preference to
comments written by readers who use their real names. Another reason news websites are
making these changes is that discussions between anonymous readers often become abusive
or offensive. News website owners fear this is scaring away advertisers, who do not want to
pay for space next to such remarks. They also believe that encouraging people to identify
themselves will build trust among readers.
★★Questions
★★No. 15 What did the district court judge in Idaho decide?
★★No. 16 What is one thing that some news websites are now doing?
★(D) Marijuana
Marijuana contains a compound called THC, and THC’s mind-altering properties are
the reason marijuana is illegal in many places. However, some medical researchers have long
believed that marijuana also has medicinal properties. More than two decades ago,
experiments on mice suggested that THC has the effect of slowing the growth of cancerous
tumors. In a subsequent study in 2007, THC reduced the number of lung tumors in mice by 60
percent. The study’s researchers believe THC does this by blocking the creation of blood
vessels within tumors.
Many mainstream medical authorities, though, remain reluctant to approve the use of
marijuana as a cancer drug beyond prescribing it to treat pain, loss of appetite, and nausea.
They argue that the evidence it can fight cancer is not compelling. Furthermore, they are
concerned that if marijuana is used, patients may delay the use of long and painful—but more
effective—conventional treatments. Nevertheless, some researchers are pursuing the creation
of a synthetic version of THC that lacks mind-altering properties. They are optimistic that
such a variant will one day be a legal and effective form of cancer treatment.
☆☆Questions
☆☆No. 17 What did the 2007 study suggest about THC?
☆☆No. 18 What are some researchers hoping to do?
☆☆(E) Natural Capital
Before governments and companies make decisions about development projects that
may affect the environment, they usually conduct an analysis based on direct economic costs
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and benefits. However, some conservationists believe that such calculations underestimate the
benefits gained from so-called natural capital. Natural capital refers to assets from nature,
such as water, air, land, and wood. According to conservationist Jonathan Hughes, the value
of a mangrove forest in Malaysia, for example, is usually based on the amount that the land
could be sold for on the open market. Hughes, however, argues that the protection which
mangroves offer from hurricanes and tsunamis makes them worth 20 times their market value.
Scotland has become the first place to attempt to accurately value its natural capital.
The government has brought together public, private, and voluntary organizations to do this.
Supporters hope it will lead to sustainable natural-resource management practices that will
preserve these assets for future generations. Some critics, however, fear that if publicly owned
areas such as national parks are given a monetary value, the government will allow such areas
to be sold off. Others simply believe that the value of nature can never really be measured in
monetary terms.
★★Questions
★★No. 19 What does Jonathan Hughes say about mangrove forests?
★★No. 20 Why are some critics opposed to Scotland’s initiative?
Here are the directions for Part 3. In this part, you will hear five passages, (F) through
(J). The passages represent real-life situations and may contain sound effects. Each passage
will have one question, No. 21 through No. 25. Before each passage, you will have 10
seconds to read the situation and question written in your test booklet. After you hear the
passage, you will have 10 seconds to choose the best answer and mark your answer on your
answer sheet. The passage will be given only once. Now, let’s begin.
☆(F) You have 10 seconds to read the situation and Question No. 21.
★Benham’s annual Autumn Sale starts today! In addition to unbeatable prices on home
appliances, we’ll be hosting some spectacular events you don’t want to miss. At the end of the
week, there will be a lottery drawing for a four-day, all-expenses-paid vacation in beautiful
Acapulco, Mexico. Customers who have made home-appliance purchases of $500 or more in
the last month are also eligible to participate. To receive your entry ticket, just show your
receipt at the Autumn Sale table, located near our store entrance. Customers who make
purchases during the Autumn Sale will also receive a coupon. This coupon is good for 10
percent off any regularly priced item in the store. Any Autumn Sale purchase over $900 also
qualifies you to receive a complimentary Supermatic Blender, which you can pick up at the
Customer Service counter.
☆Now mark your answer on your answer sheet.
★★(G) You have 10 seconds to read the situation and Question No. 22.
☆Here’s what’s to come this afternoon at the Winding River Literary Festival. At 12:30 in the
Rouge Room, teacher Lynn Chan will be giving a one-hour presentation for beginners on the
art of the short story. The presentation will include readings from her award-winning pieces. A
two-hour poetry session will start at the same time in Grace Gardens. Aspiring poets are
encouraged to join this. At 1 p.m. in the Big Tent, the festival’s pitching session will begin. At
this session, participants have five minutes to convince a panel of publishers’ agents to
publish their work. Pre-registration is required at the sign-in desk in the Big Tent, and there
are still a few slots left. Finally, at three o’clock in the Hume Lounge, industry analyst
Howard Rakov will discuss the changing face of publishing, including tips on self-publishing.
★★Now mark your answer on your answer sheet.
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☆☆(H) You have 10 seconds to read the situation and Question No. 23.
★★There are several possibilities for what’s making Charlie sick. For one, if he’s only
restricted to the house, it could be an allergy to something in his food. In that case, you might
try switching to a prescription diet. A one-month supply is $100. We could also run some tests
to determine the exact allergen, but they’re pricey—$300. Now, if he’s been outside, he
probably caught rodents or small birds. In that case, it’s more likely that he has a parasitic
infection. You could expect to pay about $100 to test for that, and if it were to come back
positive, we’d use a broad-spectrum antibiotic to remove the parasite. This would cost an
additional $80. There’s also a small chance he has a bacterial infection, but that’s difficult to
confirm without more extensive testing, which would add up to $250.
☆☆Now mark your answer on your answer sheet.
★(I) You have 10 seconds to read the situation and Question No. 24.
☆☆The traditional 4-S plan, which you have all probably heard of, is only available for
company employees, not the self-employed. There are, however, several other tax-favorable
options available. The LLP plan resembles a traditional 4-S in that you have the option to
borrow from your account in emergencies. While it allows high contributions, it’s restricted to
one contributor only. The Active-3 plan is a useful plan for self-employed business owners
and their spouses to contribute to. It’s also possible to borrow money using this plan, but you
should only do this if you’re really struggling, as you will lose some benefits. Finally, the
Savings Match plan offers the best interest rates, but the downside is that you cannot borrow
money from it, and only the plan-holder can contribute.
★Now mark your answer on your answer sheet.
☆(J) You have 10 seconds to read the situation and Question No. 25.
★I know you hope to move on and become a sales manager, but that requires at least four
years’ experience as a sales rep. So, for the next year, you should work on getting your
numbers up. OK, let’s look at some of the details. You’re meeting your monthly sales quota
85 percent of the time, which is pretty good. You’ve mainly gone after new clients and
achieved a reasonable number of first-time sales. Your efforts to improve your product
expertise have also paid off here, as first-time clients appreciate communicating with someone
who has such knowledge. However, your sales to existing customers are below target. I think
that building stronger relationships with them would push your overall sales beyond your
monthly quota. By doing that, you’ll be in a better position to get a promotion next year.
☆Now mark your answer on your answer sheet.
Finally, here are the directions for Part 4. In this part, you will hear an interview. The
interview will be followed by two questions, No. 26 and No. 27. For each question, you will
have 10 seconds to choose the best answer and mark your answer on your answer sheet. The
interview and the questions will be given only once.
★★Now let’s listen to the interview. This is an interview with Peter Joyce, who is an
operations manager for a water company in the U.K.
Interviewer (I): Peter, thank you for coming to the studio.
Peter Joyce (PJ): Great, it’s a pleasure.
I: Could you briefly tell us what you do?
PJ: I’m an operations manager for a water company in the U.K.
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I: What are the biggest issues facing the water supply business at the moment?
PJ: The biggest one for us is probably competition at the moment. So we’ve got some new
regulations going through Parliament which will bring in competition. So all of the water
companies act on a monopoly basis at the moment, so they each have their different part of
the country that they can sell water to. Competition will open up completely, so it means we
compete with each other. And that’s a real challenge, ’cause each water company will have to
operate differently, and we’re, we have to allow other companies to come in and potentially
run our network, which obviously we don’t want them to do.
I: So they could come in, and they could utilize the same network of pipes that you guys put
in?
PJ: Yeah, they could.
I: What effect does environmental pollution have on your company’s work?
PJ: The biggest impact is more so on the water, water abstraction side, so we have to be very
careful about that, water not getting polluted. So if there was any chemicals or oil or anything
like that got into the water table, it could get into our water pipes and into water supply. So
we’ve got to be very careful about that, and we never get that water to the people’s houses if
we thought it was contaminated in any way.
I: Do you think current water consumption levels are sustainable?
PJ: No, actually, in short, I don’t think they are. Because we had a drought last year and it
kind of showed the vulnerability in some of the, the areas, particularly where, where I work in
East Anglia. So we’re doing a lot of work with our customers, particularly the industrial
customers, to try and get them to use water in a different way and conserve it better.
I: What other programs do you have in place to encourage water conservation?
PJ: Well, we’ve got one called Drop Twenty, which we’ve tried to push with our domestic
customers, so our, our, just household customers, and it’s basically saying, can you reduce
your water use by 20 liters a day? And the best way to do it is really simple things, like turn
the tap off when you clean your teeth, or don’t have a shower for so long, so time your shower,
which sounds a bit strange but you have a little sort of music playing, and then when it stops
you have to get out. And things like that just to encourage people to think “oh, right, OK, I’m
perhaps using too much,” just—and it’s amazing what you can reduce with just little things.
I: I understand that you’re involved in an interesting conversion project. Could you tell us a
little bit about that?
PJ: Yes, that’s up in Grimsby, which is a, a town in the north, and we’ve got what we call a
combined heat and power plant. And that basically treats human waste. So it’s, it’s a gas
called methane that comes off of that plant, and we recycle that. We turn it into electricity, and
that goes out into people’s houses, and it can obviously light their homes. It’s, it’s, the process
that we do to create that gas is something called anaerobic digestion. That’s something that
happens in a tank, so we put all the waste into a tank, and there’s no oxygen in there, but we
heat it up, and that causes it to break down into its constituent parts, so carbon, and methane,
and things like that. And that’s what we use, then, for our heat and power engines.
I: All right. Well, Peter, thank you very much for coming in to the studio today.
PJ: Thank you, it was a pleasure.
★★Questions:
★★No.26 What is one issue Peter says the water supply business is facing?
★★No.27 What is one thing Peter says regarding the conversion project?
Your time is up. Stop writing and wait quietly until the answer sheets have been collected.
では、時間です。筆記用具を置いて答えの記入をやめてください。試験監督者に連絡いたします。
これより最終の受験者数を確認してください。その後、解答用紙を回収し枚数の確認を行ってく
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ださい。なお、問題冊子は回収しません。受験者数と解答用紙の枚数の一致を確認してから、解
散の指示を出してください。受験者の皆さんは、身のまわりをよく点検し、忘れものがないよう
に注意してください。受験者の皆さんが退出するときは、別の教室が試験中の場合もありますの
で、声を出さず、校舎出口まで静かに退出してください。それでは、解散の指示を出すまで静か
にお待ちください。
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