N2 Grammar · Test 26

「しがたい（難い）」attached to the verb stem 理解する → 理解しがたい means 'hard to understand / difficult to accept.' The sentence means: 'Despite the economy being this bad, trying to raise taxes is hard for us citizens to understand (accept).' This expresses that understanding/acceptance is difficult.

• 1「しすぎる」means 'to do too much.' 'Understand too much' does not fit the context — the citizens cannot understand, not that they understand excessively.
• 3「しかねない」means 'might do / there is a danger of doing.' 理解しかねない would mean 'might understand,' which is the opposite of the intended meaning.
• 4「しがちだ」means 'tend to do / liable to do.' 理解しがちだ would mean 'tend to understand,' which contradicts the context where citizens find it hard to accept.

• 理解りかいしがたい — hard to understand, difficult to accept
• しがたい — hard to do (attached to verb stem)
• しかねない — might do, there is a danger of
• しがちだ — tend to do, liable to do
• 景気けいき — economy, business conditions

Option 2 「やらせていただけないでしょうか」is correct. The causative form やらせる means 'to let (someone) do,' and 〜ていただけないでしょうか is a polite request for permission. Together: 'Could you please let me do it?' The context shows Tanaka wants to do the speech himself (ぜひわたしに = 'by all means, me'), so he is asking for permission to do it, not asking the other person to do it.

• 1「やっていただけないでしょうか」means 'Could you please do it?' — this asks the recipient to perform the action, which contradicts ぜひわたしに (he wants to do it himself).
• 3「やってもよろしいでしょうか」means 'Is it alright if you do it?' — again this refers to the other person doing it, not Tanaka. Also, よろしいでしょうか is less natural with causative requests.
• 4「やらせてもよろしいでしょうか」is grammatically awkward. The pattern 〜てもよろしいでしょうか ('Is it alright if I…?') does not combine naturally with the causative やらせる in this context. The standard polite permission request uses 〜ていただけないでしょうか.

• やらせる — to let/make someone do (causative of やる)
• 〜ていただけないでしょうか — could you please (do/let me do) — polite request for permission or action

Option 4 「行かされたばかり」is correct. 行かされる is the causative-passive of 行く, meaning 'to be made to go / to be sent.' 〜ばかり means 'just recently.' Together: 'I was just sent on a business trip recently.' The speaker's tone (そうなんですよ…なんですけどねえ) conveys mild complaint about being sent again so soon, which matches the causative-passive (conveys being ordered/sent) and ばかり (just happened recently).

• 1「行かれたまま」— まま indicates a continuing state ('still in the state of…'), which doesn't fit the temporal context of ついこの前も ('just recently too'). Also, 行かれた (passive) is less natural than 行かされた (causative-passive) for 'being sent on a trip.'
• 2「行かされたまま」— while 行かされた (causative-passive) is correct, まま ('remaining in that state') does not fit. The sentence needs ばかり ('just recently'), not a continuing-state expression.
• 3「行かれたばかり」— 行かれた could be read as honorific ('went') or passive ('was affected by going'). As honorific, it's odd for one's own action. As passive (迷惑の受身), it's possible but less natural than the causative-passive 行かされた, which directly conveys 'was made/sent to go,' fitting the complaining tone.

• 行いかされる — to be made to go / to be sent (causative-passive of 行く)
• 〜ばかり — just (did); only just happened

Option 2 「ようにしたところ」is correct. ようにする means 'to make it a habit to / to try to.' 〜たところ means 'when I did… (I found that / as a result).' Together: 'As a result of making it a habit to look far away occasionally during work breaks, my eyes became less easily tired.' The 〜たところ construction expresses discovering a result after taking an action.

• 1「ようにしたところに」— ところに means 'just when / at the moment when,' indicating timing or interruption (e.g., 'just as I was doing X, Y happened'). This does not express the result-relationship needed here.
• 3「までになったところに」— までになった ('it even reached the point of') is unnatural with 遠くを見る (looking far away is a simple habit, not something that progresses to a degree). Also, ところに is the wrong particle (same issue as option 1).
• 4「までになったところ」— までになった is unnatural for the same reason as option 3. While ところ is correct, the phrase までになった does not fit the context of a simple habitual action.

• ようにする — to make it a habit to; to try to do
• 〜たところ — when I did… (I found/discovered that); as a result of doing

Option 3 「にすぎないとはいえ」is correct. にすぎない means 'is nothing more than / is only.' とはいえ means 'although / even though.' Together: 'Although what has been clarified is still only a small part, the research has steadily progressed.' The sentence needs a concessive relationship: acknowledging a limitation (only a small part) while affirming progress.

• 1「にすぎないとすると」— とすると means 'if we assume/suppose that,' creating a conditional, not a concessive. The sentence needs 'although… (still),' not 'if… then.'
• 2「にかかわらないとすると」— にかかわらない means 'does not relate to / regardless of,' which makes no sense here. The research findings being 'a small part' is not about unrelatedness.
• 4「にかかわらないとはいえ」— にかかわらない ('does not relate to') is semantically wrong here, even though とはいえ is the correct concessive particle. The combination is nonsensical in this context.

• 〜にすぎない — is nothing more than; is only
• 〜とはいえ — although; even though; despite the fact that

The correct answer is 2 (直しようがない). 「こんなにひどく壊れていると、直しようがないですね」= 'When it's broken this badly, there's no way to fix it.' The pattern V-ようがない means 'there is no way to do V / it is impossible to do V.' Here, 直しようがない = 'there is no way to repair it,' which perfectly matches the clerk's assessment that the damage is too severe.

• 1直しかねない uses V-かねない ('might end up doing ~, liable to do ~'), which typically expresses a negative possibility. It would mean 'might end up fixing it,' which is the opposite of the intended meaning and does not fit the clerk's pessimistic assessment.
• 3直してはならない means 'must not fix (it).' The clerk is not saying it's forbidden to fix it; rather, they are saying it's impossible to fix.
• 4直してもかまわない means 'I don't mind fixing it.' This contradicts the clerk's hesitation (うーん) and the description of severe damage.

• 〜ようがない — there is no way to ~; it is impossible to ~
• 〜かねない — might end up doing ~; liable to do ~ (negative outcome)

The speaker (私ども, the company) is apologizing to the customer for a shipping mistake. The correct humble form is おわび申し上げます (謙譲語: humble form of わびる, 'to apologize'). The structure ご迷惑をおかけしましたことを深くおわび申し上げます means 'we deeply apologize for causing you great inconvenience.' おわび申し上げます is the standard humble expression used when a company apologizes to a customer.

• 2おわびいただきます is 尊敬語/謙譲語 receiving form meaning 'we have you apologize,' which reverses the direction — the customer would be apologizing, not the company. This makes no sense in context.
• 3わびていただきます is grammatically incorrect. The verb わびる does not conjugate to わびて in this humble context, and いただく here would imply receiving the customer's apology, which is wrong.
• 4わびていらっしゃいます is an honorific (尊敬語) form meaning 'you (the customer) are apologizing,' which is the opposite of what is needed.

• おわび申し上げます（おわびもうしあげます） — to apologize (humble form, used by a company/speaker toward a customer)
• 私わたくしども — we (humble first-person plural, used in business)
• 深ふかく — deeply, sincerely

The pattern 〜てはいないでしょうか is a soft, indirect way of expressing concern: 'I wonder if it isn't the case that…' The full sentence means: 'What you did thinking it was for their sake — I wonder if it hasn't actually become a bother to them.' The てはいないでしょうか construction expresses the speaker's gentle suspicion that something undesirable has happened, which fits the context perfectly.

• 2おかないでしょう would attach to 迷惑になっては, but なる (to become) does not take を, so おかない (causative of おく) does not fit grammatically with なっては.
• 3こないでしょう would mean 'it probably won't become a bother,' which contradicts the sentence's intent — the speaker is worried that it HAS become a bother, not that it won't.
• 4みないでしょうか does not form a grammatical pattern with なっては. 〜てはみないでしょうか is not a standard construction.

• 迷惑めいわくになってはいないでしょうか — I wonder if it hasn't become a bother (soft expression of concern)
• 相手あいてのため — for the other person's sake

The subject is この湖 (this lake), which reflects various scenery on its water surface and entertains our eyes. 楽しませてくれます is the causative form (楽しませる = 'to let/make someone enjoy') + くれます ('does for us'). So 私たちの目を楽しませてくれます means 'the lake lets our eyes enjoy (the scenery) (and does so for us).' The lake is the actor doing a favor for us, which matches くれます.

• 1楽しんでくれます means 'the lake enjoys (something) for us,' making the lake itself the one experiencing enjoyment — nonsensical, since a lake cannot enjoy.
• 2楽しんでもらいます means 'we receive the favor of the lake enjoying' — again the lake would be the one enjoying, which is wrong, and the subject この湖は does not align with もらう perspective.
• 4楽しませてもらいます means 'we receive the favor of being allowed to enjoy' — but the subject is この湖は, and this form would require the speaker as subject, creating a mismatch with the sentence structure.

• 楽たのしませてくれます — lets (us) enjoy (something) and does so for us (causative + くれる)
• 水面みなも — water surface
• 映うつして — reflecting

The sentence has two parallel clauses joined by し: 'You surely wouldn't understand my feelings, and I don't want you to understand them either.' わかってほしくもない uses ほしい (desire for someone else to do something) + も ('also/either') + ない (negation). わかってほしい = 'I want you to understand'; わかってほしくもない = 'I don't want you to understand either.' The も connects to the preceding clause (わからないだろうし), expressing 'not only can you not understand, but I also don't want you to.'

• 1わかりたくもない means 'I (the speaker) don't want to understand either' — but わかる is intransitive and here the speaker doesn't want to BE understood, not to understand. This reverses the subject.
• 3わかりたくはないだろう means 'you probably don't want to understand' — again this is about the listener's desire to understand, not the speaker's desire to not be understood. Also, だろう adds conjecture that doesn't match the speaker's own feeling.
• 4わかってほしくはないだろう means 'I probably don't want you to understand' — the だろう (conjecture) is inappropriate because the speaker is stating their own feeling directly, not guessing. Also, without も, it loses the 'either' connection to the first clause.

• わかってほしくもない — I don't want you to understand (it) either (〜てほしい: want someone to do something + も: also/either + ない: negation)
• 気持きもち — feelings