N1 Grammar · Test 9

The correct answer is 4: よそに. The pattern Nをよそに means 'ignoring / unmindful of / disregarding N.' The sentence describes a man who calmly works on his laptop, completely ignoring the crowded train around him. 車内の混雑をよそに = 'unmindful of the congestion in the car,' which fits perfectly with 平然と ('calmly') and 没頭していた ('was absorbed in').

• 1含めて ('including') would mean 'including the congestion,' which makes no sense here — you cannot 'include' congestion and then ignore it.
• 2もとに ('based on') would give 車内の混雑をもとに, meaning 'based on the congestion,' which is semantically nonsensical in this context.
• 3除いて ('except for') would mean 'except for the congestion,' which doesn't connect logically to the idea of someone calmly working despite the crowd.

• 〜をよそに — ignoring / unmindful of / disregarding (a situation); behaving as if something doesn't exist
• 平然へいぜんと — calmly, without being disturbed
• 没頭ぼっとうする — to be absorbed in, to be engrossed in
• 混雑こんざつ — congestion, crowding

The correct answer is 2: 読み. The pattern V-ます stem + もしないで means 'without even doing V.' 読みもしないで = 'without even reading.' The father criticizes manga without even reading it, which is why the speaker finds it annoying. The V-stem is required before もしないで.

• 1読まない is the negative form. 読まないもしないで is ungrammatical — you cannot attach もしないで to a negative form.
• 3読もう is the volitional form. 読もうもしないで is ungrammatical — もしないで attaches to the V-ます stem, not the volitional.
• 4読んで is the te-form. 読んでもしないで is ungrammatical — the pattern requires the V-ます stem (読み), not the te-form.

• 〜もしないで — without even doing ~ (attached to the V-ます stem); emphasizes that even the basic action was not done
• 批判ひはんする — to criticize

The correct answer is 3: もっとも. As a conjunction, もっとも means 'that said / however / mind you' and is used to add a qualifying or correcting remark to what was just said. Tanaka says he learned the importance of teamwork in the rugby club, then adds a qualification: 'That said, I only realized that for the first time when I became the leader of the planning team last year.' The ですが at the end also signals this is a concessive addition.

• 1要するに ('in short / to sum up') is used to summarize or restate something, not to add a qualifying comment.
• 2あるいは ('or / alternatively') presents an alternative possibility, which doesn't fit here — there is no alternative being offered.
• 4については ('regarding / as for') is used to introduce a topic, not to add a qualifying remark to a previous statement.

• もっとも — (conjunction) that said / however / mind you; used to add a qualification or correction to a preceding statement
• 痛感つうかんする — to feel deeply / to realize acutely
• 要ようするに — in short, to sum up
• あるいは — or, alternatively

The correct answer is 1: おいでになり. The subject who remembers is the former village head Higashiyama-san (a respected elder), so an honorific (尊敬語) form is needed. おいでになる is an honorific form of いる/行く/来る. 覚えておいでになり = 'was (honorifically) remembering,' i.e., 'he had vividly remembered.' The speaker then expresses surprise at his memory, which is consistent with the speaker being in a lower social position.

• 2差し上げ is a humble (謙譲語) form of あげる ('to give'). Using a humble form here would imply the speaker themselves is doing the remembering, which is incorrect — it is Higashiyama-san who remembers.
• 3まいり is a humble form of 行く/来る ('to go/to come'). It is a humble form and cannot be used for the respected elder's action.
• 4申し上げ is a humble form of 言う ('to say'). It is also a humble form and does not fit the action of remembering, nor the social direction (should be honorific toward the elder).

• おいでになる — (honorific) to be / to go / to come; here used as 覚えておいでになる = to be remembering (honorific)
• 鮮明せんめいに — vividly, clearly
• 差し上げる（さしあげる） — (humble) to give (to a superior)
• 申し上げる（もうしあげる） — (humble) to say (to a superior)

The correct answer is 3: に越したことはありません. The pattern 〜に越したことはありません means 'there is nothing better than ~ / it would be ideal to ~.' The company says: 'Having knowledge is of course best (に越したことはありません), but more than that, we value personality and attitude toward work.' This concedes that knowledge is desirable while emphasizing that other qualities matter more, which fits the context of reassuring an applicant who lacks knowledge.

• 1にすぎません ('is nothing more than / merely') would mean 'knowledge is merely present,' which sounds dismissive and doesn't fit the concessive structure 'it's good, BUT we value other things more.'
• 2ことは否めません ('cannot be denied that') would give 知識はあることは否めませんが, which is grammatically awkward and semantically odd — it's not about denying that knowledge exists.
• 4といっても過言ではありません ('it would not be an exaggeration to say') would give 知識はあるといっても過言ではありませんが, meaning 'it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say knowledge is important, but...' — this doesn't fit the concessive nuance needed here.

• 〜に越したことはない（〜にこしたことはない） — there is nothing better than ~; it would be ideal/best to ~
• 人柄ひとがら — personality, character
• にすぎない — is nothing more than, is merely
• 否いなめない — cannot be denied

The correct order is 3 → 2 → 1 → 4, making the full sentence: 「家族の時間を大切にする夫は、つい[3. 仕事に夢中になりすぎる][2. 私に][1. 本当に大切なものは何なのか][4. 気づかせてくれる]ありがたい存在です。」(My husband, who values family time, is a precious person who makes me—who tends to get too absorbed in work—realize what is truly important.) Option 1, 「本当に大切なものは何なのか」, is an embedded question that connects directly to the causative verb 「気づかせてくれる」 (makes me realize). Therefore, it fits perfectly into the ★ position.

• 2「私に」 (to me) is the target of the verb 「気づかせてくれる」 (makes realize), but it is modified by the phrase 「仕事に夢中になりすぎる」. Thus, it must follow option 3 to form 「仕事に夢中になりすぎる私に」 (to me, who gets too absorbed in work). Placing it at the ★ position would break this modifying relationship and create an ungrammatical sequence.
• 3「仕事に夢中になりすぎる」 (gets too absorbed in work) is a relative clause that modifies the noun 「私」 (me). It must come immediately before option 2. If placed at the ★ position, it would separate the embedded question from the verb it modifies.
• 4「気づかせてくれる」 (makes (someone) realize) is the main verb of the relative clause that modifies 「ありがたい存在です」 (a precious existence). In Japanese, the verb of a modifying clause must come immediately before the noun it modifies, so it must be placed in the final blank, right before 「ありがたい存在です」.

• つい — unintentionally, inadvertently, tend to (do something one should not)
• 夢中むちゅうになる — to be absorbed in, to be crazy about
• 気きづかせてくれる — to make someone realize/notice (causative form of 気づく + くれる, indicating someone does this favor for the speaker)
• ありがたい — precious, welcome, something to be grateful for

The correct order is 2 → 3 → ★(4) → 1, producing: 「週刊誌で、脱税を行った[2]疑いがあるなどと[3]報じられた[4]ことに対し[1]事実とは全く異なり、名誉を傷つけられたとして、発行元の X 社を相手取り訴訟を起こした。」The sentence means: 'Governor Hayashi sued publisher X Co. for damaging his reputation, because the weekly magazine reported that there was suspicion of tax evasion—something completely different from the facts.' The key structure is 「～と報じられたことに対し、事実とは全く異なり」('in response to being reported ~, which is completely different from the facts'). Option 4 「ことに対し」connects the reported content (報じられた) to the governor's reaction, and then 「事実とは全く異なり」follows naturally to state that the report diverges entirely from reality.

• 1「事実とは全く」must come immediately before 「異なり」to form the set phrase 「事実とは全く異なり」(completely different from the facts). Placing it in the ★ position would break this unit and yield 「報じられた事実とは全く異なり」, which severs the necessary connection between 「ことに対し」and the rest of the clause.
• 2「疑いがあるなどと」must follow 「脱税を行った」to form 「脱税を行った疑いがあるなどと」(that there was suspicion of having committed tax evasion). Placing it at ★ would give 「報じられた疑いがあるなどと」, which is grammatically incoherent.
• 3「報じられた」must follow the quoted content ending in 「などと」to form 「～と報じられた」(was reported that ~). Placing it at ★ would produce 「ことに対し報じられた異なり」, which makes no sense.

• 脱税だつぜい — tax evasion
• 名誉を傷つける（めいよをきずつける） — to damage one's reputation
• 発行元はっこうもと — publisher (the entity that published something)
• 相手取あいてどる — to take (someone) to court / to sue (someone)
• 訴訟を起こす（そしょうをおこす） — to file a lawsuit
• 異ことなる — to differ (from); to be different
• ことに対し — in response to / regarding the matter of ~

The correct option is 3 (ことだ). The full phrase formed by the four parts is 「判断してのことだという」 (4-2-3-1). This translates to 'They say it was a decision based on the judgement that...'. The structure 「〜してのことだ」 means 'it is something that came about as a result of doing ~'. Here, the railway company raised fares as a result of judging that they could no longer cope with expenses through management efforts alone. The final 「という」 (option 1) attributes the statement to a source, commonly used in news reporting to mean 'it is said that...'.

• 1という is placed in the fourth blank. It functions as a hearsay marker at the end of the sentence, indicating that the information is reported by the railway company or a news source ('They say that...'). It cannot be placed in the ★ position because the phrase needs the core noun 'こと' before it.
• 2の is placed in the second blank. It is a nominalizer connecting the te-form 「して」 to the noun 「こと」. Together, 「しての」 means 'based on doing ~'. Placing it in the ★ position would break the grammatical link between the verb and the noun.
• 4して is placed in the first blank. It is the te-form of する, attached to 判断 to form 「判断して」 (judging / having judged). It cannot go in the ★ position because the sentence requires a noun phrase to follow the verb before the hearsay marker.

• 踏み切る（ふみきる） — to make a decision to do something; to take the plunge
• 値上ねあげ — price/fare increase
• 高騰こうとう — soaring, sharp rise (in prices)
• 対応たいおうしきれない — unable to fully cope with / handle
• 判断はんだんしてのことだ — it is something that was decided/judged (based on ~)

The correct order is 1 → 3 → 4 → 2, making the sentence: 「資格を取った だけ で 希望の職につける ほど 世間は甘くないらしい。」 This uses the grammar pattern 「〜ほど〜ない」 (not so... that...). The phrase 「資格を取っただけで」 (just by getting a qualification) modifies 「希望の職につける」 (can get one's desired job), and 「ほど」 connects this to the negative ending 「世間は甘くない」 (the world is not easy). Thus, the word that goes into the ★ (the fourth blank) is 2. ほど.

• 1If 'だけ' were placed at the ★, the sentence would become '資格を取った で 希望の職につける ほど だけ 世間は甘くない', which is completely ungrammatical. 'だけ' must directly follow '資格を取った' to form '取っただけ' (just by getting).
• 3If 'で' were placed at the ★, the sentence would become '資格を取った だけ 希望の職につける ほど で 世間は甘くない', which is ungrammatical. 'で' must follow 'だけ' to form 'だけで' (just by doing...).
• 4If '希望の職につける' were placed at the ★, the sentence would become '資格を取った だけ で ほど 希望の職につける 世間は甘くない', which is ungrammatical. 'ほど' must directly precede '世間は甘くない' to form the '〜ほど〜ない' pattern.

• ほど — to the extent that ~ (used with a negative to mean 'not so ~ that ~')
• だけで — just by doing ~
• 希望の職（きぼうのしょく） — desired job
• 世間せけん — the world, society, the public
• 甘あまくない — not easy, not lenient, not naive