N1 Grammar · Test 54

禁じえなかった is the negative potential form of 禁じえる (to be able to suppress/control), meaning 'could not help but (feel).' 戸惑いを禁じえなかった = 'could not help feeling bewildered.' The full sentence: 'We could not help feeling bewildered at his sudden resignation.' This is a classic N1 grammar pattern: Nを禁じえない = 'cannot suppress/help N.'

• 1おぼえさせた is causative past of 覚える (to remember), meaning 'made (someone) remember.' 戸惑いをおぼえさせた would mean 'made (someone) feel bewildered,' but the subject 私たちは would then be the one causing bewilderment in others, which contradicts the intended meaning that WE were bewildered.
• 2余儀なくさせた means 'forced (someone) to do something unavoidably.' 戸惑いを余儀なくさせた is ungrammatical — 余儀なくする takes a noun like 退去 or 撤回 as its object (e.g., 退去を余儀なくさせる), not an emotional noun like 戸惑い.
• 3感じきれなかった is the negative potential of 感じきる (to feel completely), meaning 'could not completely feel.' 戸惑いを感じきれなかった would mean 'could not fully feel the bewilderment,' which is semantically nonsensical in this context.

• 禁きんじえない — cannot help but (feel), cannot suppress (emotion); Nを禁じえない
• 戸惑とまどい — bewilderment, confusion, perplexity
• 辞職じしょく — resignation (from a job/position)

信じまい is the negative volitional form of 信じる, meaning '(I/we) would not believe' or expressing strong refusal/intention. With 誰も, 誰も信じまい means 'no one would believe.' The full sentence: 'Unless you confirm with your own eyes, no one would believe such a terrible thing.' The V-まい form expresses strong negative intention/supposition, fitting perfectly here.

• 2信じかねない means 'might end up believing' (V-かねない = liable to, might). This gives the opposite meaning — 'no one might believe it' — which contradicts the intended meaning that people would NOT believe it.
• 3信じよう is the volitional form 'let's believe.' 誰も信じよう is ungrammatical — 誰も requires a negative predicate, and volitional form does not work here.
• 4信じきれる is the potential form of 信じきる (to believe completely), meaning 'can completely believe.' 誰も信じきれる lacks a negative and is ungrammatical with 誰も, which requires negation. Even if negated (信じきれない), it would mean 'no one can fully believe,' which is close but the form as given is grammatically incomplete.

• V-まい — negative volitional: would not do X; strong negative intention or supposition
• 信しんじる — to believe
• 確たしかめる — to confirm, to verify

ことではない means 'it is not the case that...' / 'it is not something that...' 驚くほどのことではない = 'it is not something to be surprised about' / 'it is not to the extent of being surprised.' The full sentence: 'This kind of result was fully predictable, and it is not something to be surprised about.' The pattern Nのことではない fits naturally after 驚くほどの.

• 1わけではない means 'it is not that...' (explaining that a certain conclusion is wrong). 驚くほどのわけではない is grammatically awkward — わけではない typically follows a verb/adjective clause (e.g., 驚くわけではない), not Nの.
• 2ようではない is not a standard grammatical expression. 驚くほどのようではない is ungrammatical and nonsensical.
• 3ところではない means 'it is not the time/place/situation for...' 驚くほどのところではない would mean 'it is not the situation for being surprised,' which is semantically off — the issue is not about timing/situation but about the degree of surprise being unwarranted.

• 〜ことではない — it is not something that...; it is not the case that...
• 驚おどろく — to be surprised, to be astonished
• 予想よそう — prediction, expectation, foreseeing

やらないものでもない is a concessive expression meaning 'it's not that I won't do it' (i.e., 'I might do it'). The full sentence: 'If you ask that much, it's not that I won't take over that job for you (i.e., I might do it).' The pattern V-ないものでもない = 'it's not impossible that... / I might...' expresses reluctant agreement, which fits the context of being persuaded.

• 1やらないものだ means 'one generally should not do' (general truth/moral statement). This does not fit the context of being persuaded to take on a job — it sounds like a general rule rather than a personal concession.
• 3やったものだ means 'I used to do' (past habitual) or 'I did do it' (emphatic past). Neither reading fits the context of responding to a request — the sentence is about a future/conditional action, not a past one.
• 4やったものでもない is not a natural Japanese expression. While やったものだ can mean 'I did do it,' adding でもない creates an ungrammatical form that does not convey any standard meaning.

• V-ないものでもない — it's not that I won't do X; I might do X (reluctant agreement)
• 代かわる — to take over, to substitute for, to replace
• 頼たのむ — to ask, to request, to entreat

The sentence means 'Only the cover is left to attach, so the class anthology is already as good as done.' The pattern ～も同然だ (～もどうぜんだ) means 'it is practically/as good as ～.' Since only the cover remains, the anthology is essentially complete, so できたも同然だ ('as good as done') fits perfectly.

• 1できないのも無理はない means 'it's no wonder it can't be done,' which contradicts the context — the anthology is almost finished, not impossible to finish.
• 2できないも同然だ means 'it's as good as not done,' which is the opposite of what the context requires.
• 3できるのも無理はない is grammatically/semantically awkward — 無理はない ('it's no wonder / it's not unreasonable') does not naturally pair with a positive achievement like できる here.

• も同然だ（もどうぜんだ） — it is practically the same as ～; as good as ～
• 文集ぶんしゅう — anthology, collection (of writings)
• 無理むりはない — it's no wonder; it's not unreasonable

「〜きわまりない」means 'extremely ~; beyond the utmost ~,' attaching to a noun to express that something is at an extreme degree. 危険きわまりない = 'extremely dangerous / nothing could be more dangerous.' The sentence reads: 'It is a road that children use to go to school, yet having no traffic light is extremely dangerous.' This is a standard, natural collocation.

• 1「しだいだ」means 'it depends on ~' or 'as soon as ~.' 危険しだいだ does not form a meaningful expression and does not convey 'extremely dangerous.'
• 2「にたえない」means 'unbearable; cannot bear to ~' and is used with emotional or sensory nouns (e.g., 感謝にたえない, 悲惨さにたえない). 危険にたえない is not a standard collocation — 危険 is not something one 'cannot bear' in the way this grammar requires.
• 3「かぎりない」means 'boundless; infinite; endless' and is typically used with abstract emotional nouns (e.g., 感謝のかぎり, 喜びかぎりない). 危険かぎりない is not a standard expression and sounds unnatural.

• きわまりない — extremely ~; it cannot be more ~ (attaches to a noun, expressing the utmost degree)
• 信号しんごう — traffic light

「〜のきわみだ」means 'the height of ~; the utmost of ~,' expressing that something has reached an extreme degree of emotion or feeling. 感激のきわみだ = 'the height of emotion / I am overwhelmed with emotion.' The sentence reads: 'To think I was able to shake hands with a world-famous actor — it is the height of emotion!' This is a standard celebratory expression.

• 1「せいだ」means 'it is because of ~' and typically carries a negative connotation (blaming a cause). It is completely inappropriate for expressing joy or gratitude.
• 2「ことだ」means 'it is a ~ thing' and is too plain and generic. While 感激することだ is grammatically possible, it lacks the emphatic 'height of emotion' nuance that the sentence clearly intends.
• 3「ところだ」means 'it is the situation/time of ~' (e.g., 〜しているところだ = 'in the middle of doing ~'). 感激のところだ is not a standard expression and does not convey the intended emotional climax.

• 〜のきわみだ — the height of ~; the utmost of ~ (expresses reaching an extreme degree, often of emotion)
• 感激かんげき — deep emotion; being deeply moved; overwhelming feeling

「〜一方だ」means 'continuing to ~ more and more; showing a one-sided trend.' It is used with verbs that express change (especially undesirable change) to indicate a continuing trend in one direction. 減る一方だ = 'keeps decreasing / is on a continuous decline.' The sentence reads: 'In recent years, this town's population has been decreasing steadily.'

• 1「上だ」means 'on top of ~; after doing ~' (e.g., 〜た上で = 'after doing ~'). 減る上だ is not a meaningful or grammatical expression in this context.
• 2「通りだ」means 'just as ~; according to ~' (e.g., 予想通りだ = 'as expected'). 減る通りだ does not form a natural expression and does not convey a continuing trend.
• 3「代わりだ」means 'instead of ~; as a substitute.' 減る代わりだ would imply 'instead of decreasing,' which is the opposite of the intended meaning.

• 〜一方だ（〜いっぽうだ） — continuing to ~ more and more; showing a steady one-directional trend (used with change verbs)
• 人口じんこう — population

Option 4「しきれない」means 'cannot fully manage to do / cannot completely do.' The pattern「とても…しきれない」expresses that even attempting the action is insufficient. Here, 'In just one class, I cannot possibly fully explain the contents of this book.' The verb する + きれない = しきれない.

• 1「しうる」means 'can do' (potential form of する, literary). It does not pair with とても…ない and would mean 'can explain,' contradicting the intended negative nuance.
• 2「しそうだ」means 'looks like (someone) is about to do.' It describes appearance/imminence and does not fit the とても…ない pattern.
• 3「したはずだ」means 'should have done / was supposed to have done.' It expresses expectation about a past event, not inability.

• しきれない — cannot fully do; cannot manage to complete (V-stem + きれない)
• とても — (with negative) cannot possibly; by no means

Option 3「ぐらいのものだ」is used to say 'only someone/something of that level would do such a thing.' The pattern「君ぐらいのものだ」implies 'only someone like you (would do something so foolish).' It fits the critical tone: paying 10 million yen for a useless machine is something only you would do.

• 1「だけのものだ」is not a standard grammar pattern for this context. だけ means 'only/as much as,' but だけのものだ does not convey the intended 'only someone like you' nuance.
• 2「ほどのものだ」would imply 'something to the extent of,' which doesn't fit the sentence structure 君ほどのものだ meaning-wise here.
• 4「ばかりのものだ」is not a standard pattern. ばかり means 'only/full of,' but 君ばかりのものだ is ungrammatical and nonsensical in this context.

• 〜ぐらいのものだ — only someone/something of that degree would (do such a thing); it's only ~ that would
• 役に立たない（やくにたたない） — useless; not helpful