センター本試験 １９９４年度 第６問 単語
センター単語は基本的なものだと言われますが、それほど簡単ではありません。単語の意味を想像しながら読むのは大切ですが、一文の中にいくつも知らない単語があっては想像も何もあったものではありません。わからない単語は長文１つあたり５個程度までにしないと、高得点は望めないでしょう。
この記事は１９９４年のセンター本試験の第６問（最後の長文読解）の単語をまとめました。単語を丸暗記するのではなく、文中で実際にどのように使われているかに注意しましょう。
【問題】 下線部の単語について、文中での意味を答えなさい。
Douglas Corrigan (1)peered out of the window of his airplane. Below, a (2)thick blanket of (3)fog hid the ground from view. Earlier that morning on July 17, 1938, Corrigan had (4)taken off from New York. He hoped to fly nonstop to the West Coast.
Flight across the (5)continent was still (6)unusual, and in a plane like Corrigan’s, it was a (7)daring (8)venture. Corrigan had bought the plane (9)secondhand. It had been a (10)four-seater built to fly short (11)distances, but he had (12)replaced three of the seats with (13)extra (14)fuel tanks and changed the original engine for one with more (15)horsepower. Corrigan had worked (16)diligently on (17)every inch of the plane he called Sunshine
Ever since he had been a boy (18)hanging around the Los Angeles (19)airfields doing (20)odd jobs, he had loved flying. Corrigan had no money and very little (21)formal education. His father had (22)abandoned the family, and a few years later his mother died. By working hard and doing without many things, (23)including breakfast and sometimes lunch, he saved enough money to take flying lessons at the age of eighteen.
Corrigan’s dream was to fly across the (24)Atlantic, as his hero, Charles Lindbergh, had done. But when Corrigan (25)applied for a (26)license to fly to Europe, the (27)inspectors (28)took one look at the condition of the plane and (29)refused to (30)issue him one. However, Corrigan did (31)talk them into giving him a license to fly nonstop from Los Angeles to New York and, (32)if things went well, to try the return trip from New York back to the (33)West Coast.
Things went well. (34)In spite of (35)rough weather, Corrigan made the trip east in twenty-seven hours. He was (36)confident that both he and Sunshine could cross the continent a second time.
(37)Spectators (38)gathered as Corrigan climbed into the plane. Few (39)supplies were (40)aboard. (41)Except for a box of cookies and some candy bars, he wasn’t taking much with him, not even a (42)parachute. Sunshine was already carrying (43)a heavy load of fuel, so he didn’t want to add any more weight.
As (44)dawn was breaking, the overweight plane rose (45)with difficulty into the sky. Within a few minutes, Corrigan and his plane were (46)swallowed by the fog. He soon noticed that one of his (47)compasses didn’t (48)work. But he wasn’t worried. A second compass on the floor of the plane was set for a (49)westerly course. Corrigan (50)swung the plane around to (51)match the compass setting, and climbed above the fog. Ten hours later he was still flying above the fog.
As darkness closed around the plane, Corrigan’s feet began to feel wet and (52)chilled. He turned on his (53)flashlight. The floor of the (54)cabin was covered with gasoline that had (55)leaked from the main tank. With a (56)screwdriver, Corrigan (57)poked a hole through the cabin floor so that the gasoline could safely drain into the (58)open air. He wasn’t too worried about the loss of fuel. (59)After all, he thought, he could always (60)land if he (61)ran out of gasoline.
Hour after hour, Corrigan flew on through the night, following his compass needle. His muscles (62)ached from sitting too long in one position. His gasoline-soaked feet were (63)numb.
When daylight came, Corrigan was surprised to see water below him. He checked his compass and (64)realized that (65)in the poor light he had matched his course to the (66)wrong end of the compass needle. (67)Instead of flying west, toward California, he had flown east, out over the Atlantic Ocean.
He had no idea how far from land he was. He had no radio, no parachute, and he was running low on fuel. There was only one thing he could do: keep flying and hope he reached land before running out of gas.
Twenty-eight hours after takeoff, he (68)spotted land. At a large airfield, Corrigan brought Sunshine safely back to Earth. He was approached by an (69)army officer.
“Hi,” Corrigan said. “I got (70)turned around in the fog. I guess I flew the (71)wrong way.” He soon found out he had landed near Dublin, Ireland. And (72)it wasn’t long before the (73)whole world knew about “Wrong Way” Corrigan, the man who flew (74)backward into his dream.
単語は英語の基本です。ですが、単語帳で１８００とか２０００個の単語を丸暗記で詰め込んでも、意外と長文は読めないものです。
単語の丸暗記はすぐに忘れてしまいますし、単語の色々な意味の中から、文脈に沿った意味・訳をひっぱってこれないんですよね。単語帳の勉強と、長文の勉強は必ず平行して進めてください。
【解答】
- peer 〔動詞〕凝視する（「同輩」という意味もある）
- thick 〔形容詞〕分厚い、濃い
- fog 〔名詞〕霧
- take off 〔熟語〕離陸する
- continent 〔名詞〕大陸
- unusual 〔形容詞〕普通でない
- daring 〔形容詞〕大胆な、向こう見ずな
- venture 〔名詞〕冒険、リスクを伴う事業
- secondhand★ 〔副詞〕中古で
- fourseater 〔名詞〕４人乗り
- distance 〔名詞〕距離
- replace (A with B) 〔動詞〕(AをBに)取り換える
- extra 〔形容詞〕余分の、追加の
- fuel 〔名詞〕燃料
- horsepower 〔名詞〕馬力
- diligently 〔副詞〕勤勉に、こつこつと
- every inch 〔熟語〕すみずみ
- hang around★ 〔熟語〕ぶらつく、うろつく
- airfield 〔名詞〕飛行場（空港より小規模なもの）
- odd job▲ 〔熟語〕半端仕事、臨時の仕事
- formal education 〔熟語〕正式の教育
- abandon 〔動詞〕捨てる、（子供などを）置き去りにする
- including~ 〔前置詞〕～を含めて
- Atlantic 〔名詞〕大西洋
- apply for~ 〔熟語〕～に申し込む
- license 〔名詞〕許可証、ライセンス
- inspector 〔名詞〕検査官（『警部・警視正』という意味にも注意）
- take one look at~ 〔熟語〕～に一瞥をくれる、一目見る
- refuse 〔動詞〕拒絶する
- issue 〔動詞〕発行する、交付する（『問題』『論点』という意味にも注意）
- talk O into ~ing★ 〔熟語〕～するようOを説得する
- if things go well 〔熟語〕もし事が上手く運んだら
- West Coast 〔熟語〕（アメリカの）西海岸
- in spite of~ 〔熟語〕～にもかかわらず
- rough weather 〔熟語〕悪天候
- confident 〔形容詞〕自信がある、確信している
- spectator 〔名詞〕観客、見物人
- gather 〔動詞〕集まる
- supply★ 〔名詞〕物資（『供給する』という意味にも注意）
- aboard 〔副詞〕載っている、積み込まれている
- except for~★ 〔熟語〕～以外は、～を除いて
- parachute 〔名詞〕パラシュート
- a (heavy) load of~ 〔名詞〕たくさんの～、たっぷりの～（load：積み荷、積載量）（heavyがなくてもa load ofだけで『たくさんの』という意味）
- dawn is breaking 〔熟語〕夜が明け始めている
- with difficulty 〔熟語〕苦労して
- swallow 〔動詞〕飲み込む、吸い込む
- compass★ 〔名詞〕方位磁石、羅針盤（飛行機や船で方角を知るためのもの）
- work 〔動詞〕作動する（don’t work：故障している）
- westerly 〔形容詞〕西方に（lyがついていても形容詞であることに注意、ただし副詞の意味もある）
- swing the plane 〔熟語〕飛行機を方向転換させる（swing：素早く降る）
- match 〔動詞〕合致させる、合わせる
- chill 〔動詞〕凍える、冷える、冷たく感じる
- flashlight 〔名詞〕懐中電灯
- cabin 〔名詞〕機室（飛行機の客室や操縦室などのこと）
- leak 〔動詞〕漏れる
- screwdriver 〔名詞〕ドライバー
- poke 〔動詞〕突き刺す
- open air 〔熟語〕屋外（この文では機外）
- after all 〔熟語〕結局のところ、所詮は～なのだから
- land 〔動詞〕着陸する
- run out of 〔熟語〕使い果たす、切らす
- ache 〔動詞〕痛む
- numb 〔形容詞〕感覚がなくなった、麻痺した、かじかんだ
- realize 〔動詞〕認識する、気付く
- in the poor light 〔熟語〕明かりが不十分だったので（poor：とぼしい）
- wrong end of the compass needle 〔熟語〕コンパスの針の反対側（wrong：間違った、end：端）
- instead of~ 〔熟語〕～の代わりに
- spot★ 〔動詞〕見つける、発見する
- army officer 〔熟語〕陸軍の士官（navy：海軍、air force：空軍）
- turn around 〔熟語〕回れ右をする、転回する
- wrong way 〔熟語〕間違った方向
- it wasn’t long before~★ 〔熟語〕～するまでそれほど時間がかからなかった
- whole world 〔熟語〕世界中、世界全体
- backward 〔副詞〕逆に、後ろに
＊２語以上のものはすべて[熟語]と表記しています。
＊★マークは変わった意味で使われているなど、注意すべき単語です。
＊▲マークはセンターレベルとしては少し難しい単語です。
＊各単語の品詞と意味は文中で使われているものです。
*誤字やリンク抜けや質問などは、コメント欄かryujutanakake@yahoo.co.jpまでお気軽に。
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