N1 Grammar · Test 16

を機に (をきに) means 'taking ~ as an opportunity / on the occasion of ~.' The sentence says: 'Yamakawa Railway, taking the occasion of its 90th anniversary in March, will introduce new model trains and start commercial operation from the 15th.' The 90th anniversary is the trigger/opportunity for introducing the new trains, so を機に fits perfectly.

• 1を限りに (をかぎりに) means 'as of / ending with ~,' marking the end of something (e.g., 今日を限りにタバコをやめる). Here the railway is starting something new, not ending anything, so it doesn't fit.
• 2を皮切りに (をかわきりに) means 'starting with ~ (and continuing in a series),' implying a sequence of events beginning with the named item. The 90th anniversary is not the first in a series of events; it is a single occasion that triggers an action, so this is unnatural here.
• 3をよそに (をよそに) means 'ignoring / disregarding / despite ~,' expressing that something happens contrary to or ignoring something else. This makes no sense in this context.

• を機に（をきに） — taking ~ as an opportunity / on the occasion of
• を限りに（をかぎりに） — as of ~ / ending with ~ (marks a final point)
• を皮切りに（をかわきりに） — starting with ~ (and continuing in a series)
• をよそに — ignoring / disregarding / despite
• 開業かいぎょう — founding / opening (of a business)
• 導入どうにゅう — introduction / adoption
• 営業運転えいぎょううんてん — commercial operation (of trains)

The subject of the passive verb is 理論 ('theory'), which is accepted by people: 受け入れられる ('be accepted'). The pattern 〜はしない is an emphatic negative. So 受け入れられはしない means '(it) will absolutely not be accepted.' The full sentence: 'No matter what the theory, if it is not proven by data, it will not be accepted by many people.'

• 1受け入れはしない uses the active form. Since the subject is 理論 (the thing being accepted, not the one accepting), the passive form is required. Active voice would mean the theory is doing the accepting, which is illogical.
• 3受け入れられてはしない inserts the て-form (受け入れられて) before はしない. The て-form cannot connect to はしない in this emphatic-negative pattern; the correct form attaches は directly to the 仮定形 or the potential stem.
• 4受け入れられることはしない uses ことはしない, which is not the correct emphatic-negative pattern here. The standard N1 pattern is 〜（ら）れはしない, meaning 'absolutely will not ~.' ことはしない does not convey the same emphatic refusal/negation.

• 受け入れる（うけいれる） — to accept / to receive
• 受け入れられる（うけいれられる） — to be accepted (passive/potential)
• いかなる — any / no matter what
• 実証じっしょう — empirical proof / demonstration
• 〜はしない — emphatic negative: absolutely will not ~

いっさい (一切) means 'completely / entirely' and when used with a negative, いっさい〜ない means 'not at all / completely not.' いっさい使用していない = 'not using (additives) at all.' This is a very common pattern in product descriptions and commercials.

• 2とても means 'by no means / cannot possibly' but is used with potential-negative verbs (とても〜できない/〜られない), not with 〜ていない. It doesn't collocate naturally here.
• 3きっと means 'surely / certainly' and is used for positive conjecture, not with negatives. It would mean 'certainly not using,' which is an unnatural collocation in this context.
• 4まさか means 'surely not / it can't be that ~' and expresses surprise or disbelief, typically with 〜ないだろう/〜ないだろうな. It is completely out of place in a product advertisement making a factual claim.

• いっさい — completely / entirely (with negative: not at all)
• 添加物てんかぶつ — additive (food/preservative)
• とても — by no means / cannot possibly (with potential negative)
• まさか — surely not / it can't be that

思い (おもい) here means 'feeling / sentiment / thought.' 身が引き締まる思いです is a fixed expression meaning 'I feel a sense of nervous determination / I feel braced and alert.' The speaker, entrusted with a project, feels the weight of responsibility and expresses that inner feeling with 思い.

• 1考え (かんがえ) means 'idea / thought (logical).' 身が引き締まる考え is not a natural collocation; 考え refers to intellectual reasoning, not an emotional/physical sensation.
• 2見込み (みこみ) means 'prospect / likelihood / expectation.' 身が引き締まる見込み is unnatural; 見込み is used for predictions about future events, not for describing one's emotional state.
• 4始末 (しまつ) means 'situation / state of affairs' (often negative, as in 〜始末だ = 'it has come to the point where ~'). 身が引き締まる始末 would imply a negative, undesirable situation has developed, which contradicts the positive tone of feeling motivated by responsibility.

• 身が引き締まる（みがひきしまる） — to feel braced / to feel a sense of nervous determination
• 思おもい — feeling / sentiment / thought (emotional)
• 任まかされる — to be entrusted with (passive)
• 見込みこみ — prospect / likelihood / expectation
• 始末しまつ — state of affairs / situation (often negative)

おわび申し上げます is the correct humble (謙譲語) expression for 'I humbly apologize.' お/ご + (noun) + 申し上げる is a humble pattern, and here おわび (ご+謝び→おわび) + 申し上げます means 'I humbly offer my apology.' This is the appropriate polite form for a company apologizing to a customer.

• 1わびていただきます is grammatically broken. いただく is humble for receiving, so わびていただく would mean 'I receive (someone's) apologizing,' which reverses the direction. The form わびていただきます is not a valid apology expression.
• 2わびていらっしゃいます uses いらっしゃる, which is respectful (尊敬語) for someone else's state/action. This would describe a third party's apologizing respectfully, not the speaker's own apology. It is completely wrong for first-person humble speech.
• 3おわびいただきます uses いただく (humble for receiving), so this means 'I humbly receive your (the customer's) apology' — the opposite of what is needed. The company should be apologizing to the customer, not receiving an apology from them.

• おわび申し上げる（おわびもうしあげる） — to humbly apologize (謙譲語)
• お/ご〜申し上げる（お/ご〜もうしあげる） — humble pattern: to humbly do ~
• 迷惑めいわくをかける — to cause trouble/inconvenience
• 深ふかく — deeply / sincerely

Option 2 is correct. 「理由のいかんにかかわらず」means 'regardless of the reason.' The sentence states: 'We cannot accept returns or exchanges for products that have been used once, regardless of the reason.' The pattern Nのいかんにかかわらず is a formal expression meaning 'no matter what N is / regardless of N,' which fits perfectly here.

• 1によっては means 'depending on ~,' which would imply that some reasons might be accepted, contradicting 一切応じることができません (cannot accept at all).
• 3をよそに means 'ignoring / disregarding (feelings or efforts),' used when someone acts indifferent to something. It does not mean 'regardless of' in this sense and does not pair with いかん.
• 4をものともせず means 'without being daunted by / undeterred by,' used for overcoming obstacles or hardships. It does not fit the context of 'regardless of the reason.'

• 理由りゆうのいかんにかかわらず — regardless of the reason
• 返品へんぴん — return (of a product)
• 一切いっさい — entirely, completely (with negative: not at all)

Option 1 is correct. 「～かたわら」means 'while doing X (as a main activity), also doing Y.' It is used when someone simultaneously engages in two significant, often professional, activities. The sentence means: 'Alongside his activities as a singer, he is also active as a novelist.' This perfectly fits the pattern Nのかたわら.

• 2うちに means 'while / during the time that,' indicating a temporal window. It does not convey the sense of two parallel ongoing professional activities.
• 3ところ means 'just as / about to,' indicating a point in time or an action in progress. It does not fit the context of two concurrent careers.
• 4そばで means 'beside / next to (someone),' indicating physical proximity. It does not convey the meaning of simultaneously pursuing two activities.

• かたわら — while doing ~ (as a main activity), also doing ~; alongside
• 活躍かつやくする — to be active, to be successful in one's field

Option 3 is correct. 「努力なくして成功はない」means 'Without effort, there is no success.' The pattern Nなくして～ない means 'without N, ~ is impossible / cannot exist.' This is a formal, emphatic expression that fits the proverb-like tone of the grandfather's favorite saying.

• 1にとどまらず means 'not limited to ~ / not stopping at ~,' used to say something extends beyond a certain scope. It does not fit the 'without X, no Y' structure.
• 2に限らず means 'not only ~ / not limited to ~,' used to expand a category. It does not convey the meaning 'without effort, no success.'
• 4をもって means 'by means of / with (a method or tool),' or 'as of (a date).' It would mean 'with effort, there is no success,' which is the opposite of the intended meaning.

• なくして — without ~ (formal); Nなくして～ない = without N, ~ is impossible
• 口癖くちぐせ — habitual saying, catchphrase

Option 1 is correct. 「たとえ不合格だとしても」means 'even if you fail.' The pattern たとえ～としても means 'even if ~,' expressing a hypothetical concession. The sentence means: 'Even if you fail, your efforts so far are not wasted.' たとえ pairs with としても (or ても) to express 'even if.'

• 2だったら means 'if ~' (conditional), but it does not pair with たとえ. たとえ requires a concessive form like ても or としても.
• 3でないことには means 'unless ~ / if it is not the case that ~,' which would mean 'unless you fail,' the opposite of the intended meaning.
• 4であるなら means 'if it is the case that ~' (formal conditional). Like option 2, it is a plain conditional and does not pair with たとえ, which requires a concessive form.

• たとえ～としても — even if ~ (hypothetical concession)
• 不合格ふごうかく — failure (in an exam), not passing
• 無駄むだ — waste, useless

Option 4 is correct. 「～ようになってからというもの」means 'ever since ~ happened, (a state has continued).' The pattern Vてからというもの expresses that since a certain change occurred, a particular state has persisted. The sentence means: 'Ever since I started using email, I have hardly written letters anymore.' This perfectly captures the cause-and-continuing-effect relationship.

• 1なろうとも means 'even if ~ happens / even if I become ~,' a concessive expression. It does not convey 'since X happened, Y has been the case.'
• 2なるともなれば is not a standard grammatical pattern. The correct form ともなれば means 'when it comes to ~, naturally ~,' which does not fit this context.
• 3なったことだから means 'because ~ happened,' giving a reason or cause. While it expresses causality, it does not convey the sense of a continuing state that has persisted since the change, which is the key nuance needed here.

• ～てからというもの — ever since ~ happened, (a state has continued)
• ほとんど — almost, hardly (with negative)