N2 Grammar · Test 23

「お探しでしたら」is the correct honorific expression. 「お～です」(お探しです) is the sonkeigo (honorific) form of 探す, showing respect to the customer. 「なら」is the conditional 'if.' So 「何かお探しでしたら、ご案内いたしますが」= 'If you are looking for something, I can guide you.' The store clerk uses honorific language for the customer's action and humble language (ご案内いたします) for their own action.

• 2「探してくださいましたら」is ungrammatical. It incorrectly mixes the polite causative-passive form with honorific forms, and does not exist as a valid expression.
• 3「お探ししましたら」uses the humble pattern お～する (お探しする), which is wrong here because the person searching is the customer, not the clerk. Humble forms should be used for one's own actions, not the customer's.
• 4「探させていただきましたら」is an overly complex humble causative-passive form meaning 'if I may be allowed to search,' which is completely wrong — the clerk is not the one searching.

• お～です — honorific form (sonkeigo) used to describe the listener's action respectfully
• ご案内いたします（ごあんないいたします） — I will guide you (humble form: ご～する + いたします)
• 探さがす — to search for; to look for

Option 2 「ならないかな」is correct. The pattern V-ないかな expresses the speaker's wish or hope that something will happen soon, like 'I wish…' or 'I can't wait for…'. B is saying 'I wish summer vacation would come soon (早く夏休みにならないかな).' The negative form + かな conveys this sense of eager anticipation.

• 1「なるかな」simply means 'I wonder if it will become…' – a neutral question to oneself, lacking the eager 'I wish it would hurry up and happen' nuance needed here.
• 3「なるんだね」means 'it will become (summer vacation), won't it' – an agreement/confirmation, not a wish, and doesn't fit the context of wanting it to come quickly.
• 4「ならないんだね」means 'it won't become (summer vacation), will it' – semantically odd and expresses confirmation of a negative, not a wish.

• 〜ないかな — I wish…; I hope… (expresses the speaker's desire for something to happen soon)
• 夏休なつやすみ — summer vacation
• なる — to become

Option 2 「にでも」is correct. 来週にでも means 'by sometime next week' or 'say, by next week.' The particle にでも softens the time expression, giving a sense of 'at least by around next week' or 'sometime around next week.' The section chief is saying there's no rush, so 'sometime next week is fine.'

• 1「になら」is ungrammatical in this context. なら is a conditional form attached to nouns/na-adjectives, but 来週になら does not produce a natural meaning here.
• 3「でなら」– で would mark the means/state, but with a time word like 来週, the correct particle is に (time point). でなら is unnatural here.
• 4「ででも」similarly uses で instead of に with a time expression, making it unnatural. にでも is the correct combination for 'sometime around (a time point).'

• 〜にでも — sometime around; by around (softens a time expression, suggesting 'at least by' or 'say, by')
• 出張しゅっちょう — business trip
• 急いそぎ — hurry; rush (noun form of 急ぐ)

Option 4 「というように」is correct. The sentence lists four examples (spring: flower viewing, summer: river play, autumn: autumn leaves, winter: skiing) and then summarizes with 一年中自然を楽しむことができます. The phrase というように means 'in this way / like this,' connecting the list of examples to the general statement that follows.

• 1「のことかと」is not a valid grammatical pattern and makes no sense in this context.
• 2「かのゆえに」is not a valid expression. 〜のゆえに means 'because of,' but かの is not a proper modifier here.
• 3「ということと」means 'the fact that… and' – it would connect two noun phrases with と (and), but the sentence needs a phrase meaning 'in this way' to link the examples to the conclusion.

• 〜というように — in this way; like this (used to introduce a manner/example and connect it to a general statement)
• お花見（おはなみ） — flower viewing (cherry blossom viewing)
• 紅葉もみじ / こうよう — autumn leaves; autumn foliage
• 一年中いちねんじゅう — all year round; throughout the year

Option 3 「取り出そうとしているうちに」is correct. The pattern V-ようとしているうちに means 'while (I) was in the process of trying to do…' – something happened during that time. 取り出そうとしているうちに飛んでいってしまった = 'While I was trying to take (the camera) out, (the bird) flew away.' The volitional form 取り出そう + としている shows the attempt was in progress, and うちに indicates something unexpected happened during that span.

• 1「取り出そうとしたまま」– まま means 'leaving something in a certain state,' but here the bird flew away during the attempt, not while leaving the camera in a taken-out state. The nuance doesn't fit.
• 2「取り出すようにしたまま」– ようにする means 'to make a habit of doing,' which doesn't fit a one-time action. Combined with まま, it's doubly wrong.
• 4「取り出すようにしているうちに」– ようにしている means 'making an effort/habit to do,' which implies a repeated or habitual action, not a single moment of trying to take out a camera.

• 〜ようとする — to try to do; to be about to do (volitional form + とする)
• 〜うちに — while…; during the time that… (something happens during that period)
• 取り出す（とりだす） — to take out; to pull out
• 飛とんでいく — to fly away (direction away from speaker)

This is an internal phone call. The receptionist Kimura is reporting to Yamada that a visitor (Mr. Nakagawa from X Company) has arrived. The visitor is a client/guest, so respectful language (尊敬語/sonkeigo) for 来る is required. お越しになりました is the honorific form of 来る, so 中川様がお越しになりました = 'Mr. Nakagawa has come (to visit).' Yamada replies わかりました。すぐ行きます ('Understood. I'll go right away'), confirming that a visitor has arrived.

• 1伺いました is humble language (謙譲語) for 行く/来る ('I went/I came'). The receptionist cannot use humble language for the visitor's action of coming — that would be disrespectful to the guest.
• 2お目にかかりました is humble language (謙譲語) for 会う ('I met/had the honor of meeting'). It refers to the speaker's own action, not the visitor's arrival, and doesn't fit 'Mr. Nakagawa has come.'
• 3ございました is simply the polite form of あった/だった ('there was'). 中川様がございました is not a proper way to say a visitor has arrived; ござる is for existence/being, not for the action of coming to visit.

• お越しになる（おこしになる） — honorific (尊敬語) for 来る — to come (respectful)
• 伺う（うかがう）（うかがう） — humble (謙譲語) for 行く/来る/聞く — to go/come/ask (humble)
• お目にかかる（おめにかかる） — humble (謙譲語) for 会う — to meet (humble)
• ござる — polite/formal for ある/いる/だ — to be (very formal)
• 内線電話（ないせんでんわ） — internal phone call, intercom

The pattern 仮に（かりに）…とする means 'suppose/assume that…'. The sentence says 'Suppose a person sleeps 8 hours a day and lives to 80. Then, the sleep time comes to about 233,600 hours…' The form とします ('let us assume') correctly sets up the hypothetical scenario that the following すると ('then') clause builds upon.

• 1となりました means 'it became (that)…' (past tense of となる). This describes a factual past change, not a hypothetical assumption, so it does not pair with 仮に.
• 3とされていました means 'it was considered/said that…' (passive of とする in past progressive). This reports a past belief, not a hypothetical setup, and does not fit 仮に.
• 4と見られます means 'it is expected/seen that…' (from と見える). This expresses an inference or expectation, not a deliberate assumption, so it does not pair with 仮に.

• 仮かりに — suppose; hypothetically; for the sake of argument
• 〜とする — to assume/suppose that ~ (used with 仮に to set up a hypothetical)
• すると — then; in that case (connects a hypothetical to its consequence)

だけなら means 'if it is only ~' and sets up a contrast with the second clause. The sentence means 'If it is only talking about dreams, anyone can do it, but making them come true is not easy.' The structure 〜だけなら…（が／けど）… is a standard N2 pattern expressing 'doing X is easy/possible, but doing Y is not.'

• 1だけでは means 'just by (doing) ~' and implies insufficiency ('just talking about dreams won't accomplish anything'). While plausible, it does not naturally pair with the contrast 誰にでもできるが ('anyone can do it, but…'); だけでは would lead to a negative consequence, not a positive capability.
• 3ためしか is not a grammatical pattern. ためには means 'in order to ~' and would require a volitional/action verb, but here 語る is the action being evaluated, not a purpose clause.
• 4ためには means 'in order to ~'. Inserting it gives 'In order to talk about dreams, anyone can do it,' which is ungrammatical and nonsensical in this context.

• 〜だけなら — if it is only ~; if it's just a matter of ~ (sets up contrast with a harder/contrary clause)
• 語かたる — to talk about; to speak of
• 実現じつげんさせる — to make (something) come true; to realize (causative of 実現する)

抜いてからにしてください means 'please make sure to do it after unplugging (the plug).' The pattern 〜てからにする means 'to do something only after doing X first' and is commonly used with してください in instructions to emphasize doing a prerequisite action before proceeding. Here, the instruction is: unplug the cord first, then clean the AC.

• 1抜いたことをしてください is ungrammatical. こと cannot follow a past-tense verb directly in this instruction pattern; the correct instruction form would be 抜いてから or 抜いたことにする (pretend to have unplugged), neither of which fits.
• 2抜いたことがしてください is also ungrammatical. 抜いたことがある means 'have unplugged before' (experience), which cannot connect to してください in an instruction context.
• 4抜いてからは uses は, which marks a topic/contrast and turns the clause into a topic frame ('as for after unplugging…'). This does not work as an instruction ending with してください; the に in てからにする is essential for connecting to してください.

• 〜てからにする — to do (something) only after doing ~ first; to make it a rule to do ~ first
• コンセント — electrical outlet; plug (from 'concentric plug')
• 安全上あんぜんじょう — for safety reasons; from a safety standpoint

することになってしまって means 'I ended up being scheduled/expected to do (a speech).' The pattern 〜ことになる means a decision has been made (often by circumstances or others), and 〜てしまう expresses regret/unfortunate outcome. Combined with 〜のに ('even though'), the sentence means 'Even though I'm bad at speeches, I've ended up having to give one at my friend's wedding party, and I'm troubled.' This perfectly captures the speaker's distress about an unwanted obligation.

• 1しにくくて means '(the speech) is hard to do, and…'. This would describe the speech itself being difficult, not the speaker being forced to do it. It does not connect logically to 困っている in the context of being asked/chosen to speak.
• 2してほしくて means 'I want (someone) to do (the speech),' which is the opposite of the intended meaning—the speaker does NOT want to give the speech.
• 3させてみたくて means 'I want to try being made to do (a speech),' which would express a desire to be forced to speak—contradicting the 困っている ('troubled') sentiment entirely.

• 〜ことになる — it has been decided that ~; it turns out that one will ~ (passive decision, often by others/circumstances)
• 〜てしまう — to do something with regret; to end up doing (something undesirable)
• 苦手にがて — bad at; not good at (something)