N1 Vocabulary · Test 66

異色（いしょく）means 'of a different kind/type, contrasting, unconventional.' A soccer player and a physicist are an unusual, contrasting pairing — exactly what 異色の組み合わせ describes.

• 2大差（たいさ）means 'big difference/gap' (e.g., 大差で勝つ). It refers to a quantitative gap, not a qualitative contrast in pairing.
• 3変形（へんけい）means 'deformation, transformation.' It does not describe a pairing of two people from different fields.
• 4遠隔（えんかく）means 'remote, long-distance' (e.g., 遠隔操作). It is irrelevant to the idea of an unusual combination.

• 異色いしょく — of a different kind/type, contrasting, unconventional
• 対談たいだん — dialogue, talk session between two people
• 組み合わせ（くみあわせ） — combination, pairing

駆使（くし）する means 'to make full use of, to utilize (skills, technology, resources) actively and thoroughly.' The sentence says the beautiful imagery was created by fully utilizing the latest computer technology. 最新技術を駆使して is a standard collocation.

• 2引用（いんよう）する means 'to quote, to cite' (text, references). You don't 'quote' technology to create imagery.
• 3充当（じゅうとう）する means 'to allocate, to appropriate (funds/resources to a purpose).' Technology is not 'allocated' in this sense.
• 4摂取（せっしゅ）する means 'to take in, to ingest' (nutrition, calories, information). It does not collocate with technology for creating imagery.

• 駆使くし — making full use of, utilizing thoroughly
• 引用いんよう — quoting, citing
• 充当じゅうとう — allocating, appropriating (funds)
• 摂取せっしゅ — taking in, ingesting (nutrition, etc.)

揺らぎ (ゆらぎ) is the masu-stem of 揺らぐ (ゆらぐ), meaning 'to waver, shake, become unstable.' The phrase 信頼が揺らぎはじめた means 'trust began to waver.' This is a strong, natural collocation: when problems are revealed, people's trust in food safety starts to shake. The stem form is required here because it connects to はじめた (began to ~).

• 1震え (ふるえ) is the stem of 震える (ふれる), meaning 'to tremble, shiver' — used for physical shaking (body, ground) or fear, not for abstract 'trust.'
• 2浮かれ (うかれ) is the stem of 浮かれる (うかれる), meaning 'to be merry, make merry' — completely unrelated to trust declining.
• 4乱れ (みだれ) is the stem of 乱れる (みだれる), meaning 'to be disordered, disturbed.' While one might say 秩序が乱れる (order is disrupted), 信頼が乱れる is not a natural collocation; trust 'wavers' (揺らぐ), it does not 'become disordered.'

• 揺ゆらぐ — to waver, shake, become unstable
• 発覚はっかくする — to be revealed, come to light
• 数々かずかず — many, numerous

気掛かり (きがかり) means 'worrying, causing concern, on one's mind.' The closest synonym among the choices is 心配 (しんぱい), 'worry/concern.' そのことが一番気掛かりでした = 'That was what worried me most.'

• 1残念 (ざんねん) means 'regrettable, unfortunate' — describes disappointment about an outcome, not ongoing worry.
• 2意外 (いがい) means 'unexpected, surprising' — describes surprise, not concern.
• 4不満 (ふまん) means 'dissatisfaction, complaint' — describes discontent, not worry.

• 気掛きがかり — worrying, causing concern, on one's mind

案の定 (あんのじょう) means 'as expected, sure enough.' やはり (矢張り) here carries the sense 'as one might have expected / as predicted,' matching the nuance that the speaker anticipated Kawanishi-san would not come.

• 1なぜか means 'for some reason' — implies the cause is unknown, the opposite of 'as expected.'
• 3あいにく means 'unfortunately' — expresses regret about bad timing/luck, not expectation fulfilled.
• 4たしか means 'I think, if I remember correctly' — expresses uncertain recollection, not 'as expected.'

• 案の定（あんのじょう） — as expected, sure enough

荷（に）is used in the idiom 荷が重い（にがおもい）, meaning 'the burden/responsibility is too heavy (for someone).' The sentence says such an important business deal would be too heavy a responsibility for a second-year employee — 荷が重い is the fixed expression for this.

• 1頭（あたま）が重い means 'to have a heavy head / to have a headache,' a physical symptom. It is not used for responsibility being too great.
• 2肩（かた）が重い means 'to have stiff/heavy shoulders,' typically from tension or physical fatigue. It is not an idiom for excessive responsibility.
• 4職（しょく）が重い is not a standard Japanese idiom. While 職 means 'job/position,' this combination does not form the established expression for a burden being too heavy.

• 荷が重い（にがおもい） — the burden/responsibility is too heavy (for someone)
• 頭が重い（あたまがおもい） — to have a heavy head, to have a headache
• 肩が重い（かたがおもい） — to have stiff/heavy shoulders (from tension)

障る（さわる）means 'to offend / to displease / to hurt someone's feelings.' お気に障る（おきにさわる）is a fixed polite expression meaning 'to offend someone / to say something that displeases them.' The sentence is an apology for having said something offensive — this is the correct phrase.

• 2及ぶ（およぶ）means 'to reach / to extend to / to amount to.' お気に及ぶ is not a standard expression for offending someone.
• 3絡む（からむ）means 'to entangle / to pick a fight / to meddle.' お気に絡む is not a standard idiom and does not mean to offend.
• 4逆らう（さからう）means 'to go against / to disobey / to defy.' お気に逆らう is not a standard expression and carries the nuance of defying rather than offending.

• 障さわる — to offend, to displease, to hurt someone's feelings
• お気に障る（おきにさわる） — to offend someone, to say something displeasing
• 及およぶ — to reach, to extend to, to amount to
• 絡からむ — to entangle, to pick a fight, to meddle
• 逆さからう — to go against, to disobey, to defy

The sentence says it has been raining for days, the windows can't be opened, and the room feels unpleasant. じめじめ (じめじめ) means damp/humid/stuffy in a negative, unpleasant way — exactly what happens to a room when it rains continuously and you can't ventilate. The pattern じめじめする describes a space that is clammy and oppressive.

• 1からっと means dry and crisp/nice and dry (e.g., laundry dried in the sun). This is the opposite of what a rainy, closed room would be.
• 2しっとり means pleasantly moist/damp, with a positive nuance (e.g., moist cake, dewy skin). It does not fit the negative 気持ち悪い context.
• 4がさがさ means dry and rough (e.g., rough skin, dry leaves). Rain and humidity would not produce this state.

• じめじめ — damp, humid, clammy (negative nuance)
• からっと — nice and dry, crisp
• しっとり — pleasantly moist, dewy (positive nuance)
• がさがさ — dry and rough

従来の (じゅうらいの) means 'conventional, traditional, up to now' — referring to things that have existed or been done until the present. これまでの (up until now) is the closest paraphrase. The sentence is about Yamada expressing opinions on conventional management strategy in his book.

• 1長期的な means 'long-term.' 従来 refers to what has been done up to now, not the duration/time horizon of a strategy.
• 3これからの means 'from now on / future.' This is the opposite of 従来, which refers to the past up to now.
• 4短期的な means 'short-term.' Like option 1, this describes time span, not the 'conventional/up-to-now' meaning of 従来.

• 従来じゅうらい — conventional, traditional, up to now

あらかじめ (予め) means 'in advance, beforehand.' 事前に (じぜんに) also means 'in advance, beforehand.' The sentence says the meeting materials will be sent in advance, so 事前に is the correct paraphrase.

• 1早急に (そうきゅうに) means 'urgently, promptly.' This implies rushing, not simply doing something ahead of time.
• 2まとめて means 'all together, in bulk.' This refers to grouping things, not doing them beforehand.
• 3改めて (あらためて) means 'again, anew, on a separate occasion.' This implies redoing something later, not doing it in advance.

• あらかじめ — in advance, beforehand
• 事前じぜん — in advance, prior
• 早急そうきゅうに — urgently, promptly
• 改あらためて — again, anew