N1 Vocabulary · Test 17

「かねがね（予て）」means 'for a long time now' or 'for some time already.' Option 4「以前から」(since before / for some time) matches this meaning perfectly: 'I have been wanting to meet Takahashi-san for some time now.'

• 1「直接（ちょくせつ）」means 'directly.' かねがね does not carry the nuance of doing something directly.
• 2「ぜひ」means 'by all means / definitely,' expressing strong desire but not the 'for a long time' sense of かねがね.
• 3「早く（はやく）」means 'early / quickly.' かねがね is not about speed but about a state continuing from the past.

• かねがね — for a long time now; for some time already (予て)
• 以前いぜんから — since before; for some time

「故意に（こいに）」means 'intentionally / deliberately.' Option 1「わざと」also means 'deliberately / on purpose,' making it the closest paraphrase: 'It seems Hayashi-san threw it away on purpose.'

• 2「うっかり」means 'carelessly / inadvertently,' the opposite of doing something intentionally.
• 3「いやいや」means 'reluctantly / unwillingly,' which implies reluctance rather than deliberate intent.
• 4「さっさと」means 'promptly / without hesitation,' describing manner/speed, not intentionality.

• 故意こいに — intentionally; deliberately
• わざと — deliberately; on purpose

「おわびした（お詫びした）」means 'apologized.' Option 4 is intended to be「詫った（わびた）」, the plain form of 詫びる, meaning 'to apologize.' This matches the meaning of お詫びした.

• 1「文句を言った（もんくをいった）」means 'complained / expressed dissatisfaction,' the opposite of apologizing.
• 2「お礼を言った（おれいをいった）」means 'expressed gratitude / thanked,' not apologized.
• 3「断った（ことわった）」means 'declined / refused,' unrelated to apologizing.

• お詫びする（おわびする） — to apologize (humble form of 詫びる)
• 詫わびる — to apologize

「意気込み（いきごみ）」means 'eagerness / enthusiasm / strong motivation to do something.' Option 3「意欲（いよく）」means 'motivation / willingness / eagerness,' which is the closest paraphrase: 'Strong eagerness comes through in Nakamura-san's words.'

• 1「敬意（けいい）」means 'respect / reverence,' a completely different concept from eagerness.
• 2「自信（じしん）」means 'self-confidence,' which is related to belief in oneself but not the same as eager motivation.
• 4「信頼（しんらい）」means 'trust / reliance,' unrelated to eagerness or motivation.

• 意気込いきごみ — eagerness; enthusiasm; strong motivation (意気込む → noun form)
• 意欲いよく — motivation; willingness; eagerness

「おびえている」means 'is frightened / is terrified.' Option 2「怖がって（こわがって）」means 'is feeling afraid / is being frightened,' which is the closest paraphrase: 'My little sister seemed to be a bit frightened.'

• 1「焦って（あせって）」means 'being impatient / being flustered,' which is about anxiety over time, not fear.
• 3「悩んで（なやんで）」means 'worrying / being troubled,' a mental distress rather than fear.
• 4「悔やんで（くやんで）」means 'regretting / feeling chagrined,' unrelated to being frightened.

• おびえる — to be frightened; to be terrified
• 怖こわがる — to be afraid of; to feel frightened

閑静 (かんせい) means 'quiet and peaceful,' and it is used to describe a place or location that is calm and secluded. Option 1 says the restaurant is in a quiet location away from the busy district — this is the correct usage of 閑静な as an adjective modifying a place (場所).

• 2閑静 describes a place/environment, not how a person spends time. Saying 家で閑静にしていた ('stayed home quietly') is unnatural; you would use おとなしく or 静かに instead.
• 3閑静 modifies physical places, not time. 閑静な時間 ('quiet time') is incorrect; you would say 空いた時間 or ひまな時間.
• 4While a park at night could be described as 閑静な, the expression 閑静になる ('becomes quiet') is not natural. 閑静 is used to describe the inherent character of a place, not a state that changes. You would say 静かになる instead.

• 閑静かんせい — quiet, peaceful, secluded (used to describe a place/location)
• 繁華街はんかがい — downtown, busy commercial district

たやすい (容易い) means 'easy, not difficult to do.' Option 4 says the problem was more complex than imagined and was not something that could be たやすく (easily) solved — this is the correct usage of たやすい as an adverb meaning 'easily, without difficulty.'

• 1たやすい物 ('easy thing') applied to food is nonsensical here. The sentence seems to intend something like 手軽な ('simple/light') or 軽い ('light') — たやすい does not describe food items.
• 2たやすい関係 ('easy relationship') is not a natural collocation. The intended meaning seems to be 気軽な ('casual, relaxed') or 親しい ('close') relationship.
• 3たやすく過ごそう ('spend time easily') is unnatural. The intended meaning is 'relax and spend time comfortably,' which would be ゆったりと or のんびりと. たやすい refers to something being not difficult to accomplish, not to a relaxed manner of spending time.

• たやすい — easy, not difficult (to accomplish/do)

察する (さっする) means 'to infer, surmise, guess (someone's feelings or situation) from context without being told explicitly.' Option 3 says Suzuki-san, without me saying anything, 察して (sensed/inferred) my feelings and comforted me — this is the textbook usage of 察する.

• 1A treatment method is something you determine or devise through discussion, not something you 'infer.' You would use 決定した or 考案した instead of 察した.
• 2Weather forecasts are predictions based on data, not inferences from subtle cues. A 気象予報士 would 予報する ('forecast'), not 察する.
• 4An idea is something you think of or that flashes into your mind — you would use 思いついた or ひらめいた, not 察した. 察する is about reading a situation or someone's feelings, not about having ideas.

• 察さっする — to infer, surmise, guess (someone's feelings or a situation from context without explicit information)
• 慰なぐさめる — to comfort, console

内訳 (うちわけ) means 'breakdown, itemized details' — the detailed division of a total amount into its component parts, especially costs or expenses. Option 2 says 'When I looked at the 内訳 (breakdown) of the previous business trip expenses, the proportion of transportation costs was unexpectedly high' — this is the correct usage.

• 1内訳 refers to a breakdown of items/costs, not a schedule. 来週の内訳 ('next week's breakdown') is unnatural; you would say 予定 or スケジュール.
• 3For a ceremony's order of events, you would use 進行表 or 手順, not 内訳. 内訳 is about breaking down amounts/figures, not procedural steps.
• 4While one could loosely think of 'nutritional breakdown,' the natural expression for considering nutrition in meal planning is 栄養のバランス ('nutritional balance'), not 栄養の内訳. 内訳 is primarily used for financial/cost breakdowns.

• 内訳うちわけ — breakdown, itemized details (of costs, expenses, amounts)
• 出張費しゅっちょうひ — business trip expenses

食い違う (くいちがう) means 'to differ, be inconsistent, conflict' — used when multiple accounts, opinions, or pieces of information do not match each other. Option 1 says 'In this case, multiple witnesses' accounts each 食い違って (conflict/differ), so there are many unclear points' — this is the correct usage.

• 2Keys either fit or don't fit a lock — you would say 鍵が合わない ('the key doesn't fit'). 食い違う is about information/opinions not matching, not about physical objects not fitting.
• 3Wearing sandals on the wrong feet is described as 左右が逆 ('left and right are reversed'), not 食い違う. 食い違う is not used for mixing up left and right.
• 4When food tastes different from usual, you say 味が違う ('the taste is different'). 食い違う specifically means accounts/opinions/information conflicting with each other, not a single thing being different from expectations.

• 食い違う（くいちがう） — to differ, conflict, be inconsistent (between accounts, opinions, or pieces of information)
• 目撃者もくげきしゃ — eyewitness