問1
問題次の文章とグラフを読み、下の問いに対する答えとして最も適当なものを、下の1～4のうちから1つ選べ。
What do you like to drink when you get thirsty? Since 1987, the popularity of different types of packaged soft drinks in Japan has changed considerably.
During the late 80s, carbonated drinks of all sorts (such as sodas and colas) were the leaders in popularity, with fruit juices a close second and coffee-based drinks a bit further back in the competition. By 2004, however, those drinks had lost their lead to the newest entry into this market: tea-based drinks of all types.
Tea drinks, which include green teas, took the lead over both carbonated drinks and coffee-based drinks. The total production of tea-based drinks was nearly double that of the nearest competitors: carbonated drinks and coffee drinks. Fruit juices had fallen to fourth in popularity with a drop in production of nearly one fourth since their highest levels in the late 80s. Fifth place was held by sports drinks, which in 1987 were in fourth place ahead of tea drinks. At about the same time that green tea became a packaged product, vegetable juices also began to appear on the market.
They have had a very small but relatively consistent place in the market since then.
One of the reasons for the popularity of tea-based drinks might be that many people like to have a non-sweetened green tea drink with the rice balls that they but at convenience stores. Many other types of packaged soft drinks contain some amount of sugar which doesn’t really fit people’s taste when eating rice.
問1
In the graph, which type of drink does “X” stand for?
1. Carbonated drinks / 2. Fruit juices / 3. Green teas / 4. Vegetable juices
【解説】
グラフで「X」に当てはまるドリンクの種類は何ですか? という問題ですね。グラフの「X」の何に注目するかですが、やはり、1987年の時点でトップであったことでしょう。
本文にはこうあります。
80年代後半、あらゆる種類の炭酸飲料（ソーダやコーラなど）が人気のリーダーでした。
これは簡単ですね。正解は 1. しかありません。(というか「Y」を問題にした方が面白いと思うのだが、なんでセンター試験の出題者はそうしなかったのだろう・・・)
【正解】1
問2
問題次の文章とグラフを読み、下の問いに対する答えとして最も適当なものを、下の1～4のうちから1つ選べ。
What do you like to drink when you get thirsty? Since 1987, the popularity of different types of packaged soft drinks in Japan has changed considerably.
During the late 80s, carbonated drinks of all sorts (such as sodas and colas) were the leaders in popularity, with fruit juices a close second and coffee-based drinks a bit further back in the competition. By 2004, however, those drinks had lost their lead to the newest entry into this market: tea-based drinks of all types. Tea drinks, which include green teas, took the lead over both carbonated drinks and coffee-based drinks.
The total production of tea-based drinks was nearly double that of the nearest competitors: carbonated drinks and coffee drinks. Fruit juices had fallen to fourth in popularity with a drop in production of nearly one fourth since their highest levels in the late 80s. Fifth place was held by sports drinks, which in 1987 were in fourth place ahead of tea drinks. At about the same time that green tea became a packaged product, vegetable juices also began to appear on the market. They have had a very small but relatively consistent place in the market since then.
One of the reasons for the popularity of tea-based drinks might be that many people like to have a non-sweetened green tea drink with the rice balls that they but at convenience stores. Many other types of packaged soft drinks contain some amount of sugar which doesn’t really fit people’s taste when eating rice.
問2
According to the passage, which statement is true?
1. Carbonated drinks were still leading in popularity in 2004.
2. Production of coffee drinks had increased dramatically since their introduction.
3. Production of fruit juices declined from 1987.
4. Vegetable juices took over a considerable portion of the soft drink market.
【解説】
選択肢のどの文が正しいか? という問題ですね。選択肢を1つ1つ見ていきましょう。
1. Carbonated drinks were still leading in popularity in 2004.
「carbonated drinks(炭酸飲料)は2004年の今でも一番人気がある」
これは、問1が正解していれば大丈夫ですね。グラフの「X」が Carbonated drinks (炭酸飲料) だから、2004年では Tea drinks に負けてますね。
2. Production of coffee drinks had increased dramatically since their introduction.
2.「coffee drinks (コーヒー飲料) の生産は導入から劇的に増えている」
coffee drinks (コーヒー飲料) をグラフで見てみると、徐々に増えていますが、「dramatically / 劇的に」増えているわけではありませんね。
3. Production of fruit juices declined from 1987.
3.「fruit juices の生産は1987年から減っている」
本文にこうあります。
「80年代後半、あらゆる種類の炭酸飲料（ソーダやコーラなど）が人気のリーダーであり、フルーツジュースは近い2位」
とありますので、グラフの「Y」が、フルーツジュースとわかります。徐々に減っているので、これが正解のようですね。
Fruit juices had fallen to fourth in popularity という文も本文にありますしね。
4. Vegetable juices took over a considerable portion of the soft drink market.
「vegetable juices はソフトドリンク市場のかなりの部分を引継ぎました」
野菜ジュースに関しては本文に次のような文があります。
野菜ジュースも市場に現れ始めた
これはその前の方を見ていくとわかりますが、1987年のことを言っています。つまりグラフで言うところの「Z」のことですね。グラフをどう見てもソフトドリンク市場の、かなりの部分を引き継いだようには見えませんね。
【正解】3
このような増減をあらわす英単語は、特にセンター試験第4問Aの図表読解では重要です。
問3
問題次の文章とグラフを読み、下の問いに対する答えとして最も適当なものを、下の1～4のうちから1つ選べ。
What do you like to drink when you get thirsty? Since 1987, the popularity of different types of packaged soft drinks in Japan has changed considerably.
During the late 80s, carbonated drinks of all sorts (such as sodas and colas) were the leaders in popularity, with fruit juices a close second and coffee-based drinks a bit further back in the competition. By 2004, however, those drinks had lost their lead to the newest entry into this market: tea-based drinks of all types. Tea drinks, which include green teas, took the lead over both carbonated drinks and coffee-based drinks. The total production of tea-based drinks was nearly double that of the nearest competitors: carbonated drinks and coffee drinks. Fruit juices had fallen to fourth in popularity with a drop in production of nearly one fourth since their highest levels in the late 80s. Fifth place was held by sports drinks, which in 1987 were in fourth place ahead of tea drinks. At about the same time that green tea became a packaged product, vegetable juices also began to appear on the market. They have had a very small but relatively consistent place in the market since then.
One of the reasons for the popularity of tea-based drinks might be that many people like to have a non-sweetened green tea drink with the rice balls that they but at convenience stores. Many other types of packaged soft drinks contain some amount of sugar which doesn’t really fit people’s taste when eating rice.
問3
Which statement would the writer agree with?
1. Tea-based drinks are the oldest kind of packaged drinks in the market.
2. Overall production of soft drinks has decreased since 1987.
3. Green teas have become popular because they aren’t sweetened.
4. Vegetable juices will gain popularity in the near future.
【解説】
1. Tea-based drinks are the oldest kind of packaged drinks in the market.
「お茶ベースの飲み物は缶飲料市場で古くからある種類だ」
本文にこうあります。
この市場への最新の参入：お茶ベースの飲み物
「ニューエントリー」とありますね。これは違いますね。
2. Overall production of soft drinks has decreased since 1987.
「ソフトドリンク全体の生産は1987年以来減っている」
グラフから見るとそんなことないですね。お茶がめちゃめちゃ伸びているので全体としては増えていますね。
3. Green teas have become popular because they aren’t sweetened.
「甘くないので、緑茶は人気になった」
多くの人はおにぎりと一緒に甘くない緑茶を飲むのが好き
たしかにおにぎりと一緒に飲むものは、やっぱりお茶ですね。
4. Vegetable juices will gain popularity in the near future.
「野菜ジュースは近い将来人気になるだろう」
もしかするとそうなるかもしれないですが、この文にはそんなことは少しも書いていないですね。個人的に言えば、野菜ジュースは大好きです。
【正解】3
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