N1 Reading · Test 50

The correct answer is 4 「思ったのである」. The sentence recalls the narrator's feelings from about thirty years ago: 'I wanted to become a woman worthy of receiving roses in a box — that is what I thought.' The pattern 「〜のである」(also 「〜のだ」) is commonly used in essays to state a fact with explanatory or emphatic force, especially when reflecting on one's own past. The past tense 「思った」matches the retrospective context ('thirty years ago, I was young and shallow'). Together, 「思ったのである」naturally closes the recollection with a tone of realization/confirmation.

• 1「思うようだ」('it seems I think') uses the present tense 思う, which clashes with the clearly past context ('三十年ばかり前のわたし'). Also, ようだ expresses appearance/hearsay, which is unnatural for stating one's own past thought in an essay.
• 2「思うからだ」('because I think') again uses present tense 思う, mismatching the past setting. Furthermore, からだ gives a reason, but the sentence is not explaining a cause — it is simply stating what the narrator thought.
• 3「思ったそうだ」('I heard that (someone) thought') uses そうだ for hearsay/reporting. One does not use hearsay form for one's own internal thoughts; you know your own mind directly. This makes it semantically impossible here.

• 浅あさはか — shallow, thoughtless, foolish
• 憧あこがれる — to yearn for, to long for
• ふさわしい — worthy of, fitting, appropriate
• 〜のである — emphatic/explanatory sentence-ending pattern (written style); 'it is that…'

The correct answer is 2 「なら」. The sentence reads: 'さて、この目の前の長細い箱のなかみ なら、開ける前からわかっている。' Here なら functions as a topic/conditional particle meaning 'if it's about X' or 'as for X.' The narrator is saying, 'As for the contents of this long, narrow box in front of me, I know them even before opening it.' The なら particle naturally sets up なかみ as the topic about which the statement applies, and the following sentence '長ねぎである' reveals what those contents are.

• 1「も」('also/too') would give なかみも…わかっている, meaning 'I also know the contents.' This implies the narrator knows other things too, but there is no prior mention of knowing something else, so the 'also' sense is unmotivated and unnatural.
• 3「さえ」('even') would give なかみさえ…わかっている, meaning 'I even know the contents.' This suggests knowing the contents is surprising or extreme, but the context is casual and matter-of-fact — the narrator simply knows what is inside because her father-in-law regularly sends negi. The nuance of 'even' is inappropriate.
• 4「だけ」('only') would give なかみだけ…わかっている, meaning 'I only know the contents.' This restricts knowledge to just the contents, but the sentence is not contrasting the contents with other unknown aspects. It simply states that the contents are known before opening.

• なかみ — contents (of a box/container)
• なら — if it is ~; as for ~ (topic/conditional particle)
• 開あける — to open (a box, door, etc.)

The correct answer is 3 「とはいえ」. The preceding paragraph ends with the narrator's broad statement: 'どの季節のねぎも、おいしい' ('The negi are delicious in every season.'). The paragraph beginning with the blank then says: 'Be that as it may, my rough

• 大雑把おおざっぱ — rough, approximate, careless
• 丹精たんせい — dedication, painstaking effort (丹精して: with painstaking care)
• とはいえ — be that as it may; having said that; nevertheless
• むしろ — rather, instead
• とすると — if that is the case, then…

The correct answer is 1 「こうして」. The sentence reads: 'このあいだもらってきたばかりなのに、また こうして 送ってくれたところを見ると、よほどの自信作なのだろう。' The long, narrow box has just arrived at the narrator's home (the essay opens with '長細い箱が届いた'). 「こうして」('in this way / like this') refers to the very act of sending that is happening now — the box that has just been delivered. The structure 「〜ところを見ると、…のだろう」means 'seeing that (he) did ~, it must be…'. So: 'Seeing that he sent (negi) again like this even though I just received some the other day, it must be a work he is quite confident about.'

• 2「そんなに」('so much / that much') does not fit grammatically. そんなに送ってくれたところを見る is unnatural; そんなに normally modifies adjectives/adverbs (e.g., そんなにたくさん) and cannot directly precede 送ってくれた in this construction.
• 3「あのように」('like that') refers to something distant from both speaker and listener. But the box is right in front of the narrator ('この目の前の長細い箱'), so the demonstrative should be こ-series (close), not あ-series (distant). This makes あのように contextually wrong.
• 4「どれも」('all of them / every one') does not fit. The sentence is about a single act of sending (one box that just arrived), not about multiple items all being sent. どれも送ってくれたところを見ると is both grammatically and semantically unnatural here.

• こうして — in this way, like this
• ところを見ると（ところをみると） — seeing that ~; judging from the fact that ~
• 自信作じしんさく — a work one is confident about; a piece one is proud of
• 花束はなたば — bouquet

Option 2 is correct. The passage states 「多くの者が模倣してはじめて流行は成立する」—trends are established only when many people imitate. Option 2, 「多くの者に真似られることなしには始まらない」(trends cannot begin without being imitated by many people), directly restates this key idea.

• 1The passage mentions 模倣を誘発させる (inducing imitation), not 購買意欲 (desire to purchase). The focus is on imitation as the foundation of trends, not on stimulating buying desire.
• 3The passage says the opposite: if only a specific designer's items sell, it will NOT become a trend (「特定のデザイナーのものだけが売れるのでは、流行にはならない」). A specific designer's induction is not what makes a trend.
• 4The passage does not say a specific designer's work must be imitated. It says many people must imitate for a trend to form—the emphasis is on the many imitators, not on a particular designer being copied.

• 模倣もほう — imitation, copying
• 誘発ゆうはつ — inducing, triggering
• 織り込み済み（おりこみずみ） — already built in, already factored in
• 流行りゅうこう — trend, fad