N2 Reading · Test 22

The sentence says: 'Whether choosing clothes or planning holidays, the weather is (48).' The following sentence, 'Many people probably check the weather forecast every morning,' confirms that weather is something people naturally care about. Option 1, 気になるもの, completes the sentence as 天気は気になるものだ ('Weather is something that concerns you / that you naturally care about'). The grammar ～ものだ expresses a general truth or the natural way of things, which fits perfectly here as a broad statement about human behavior.

• 2気になるだけ means 'only that it concerns you' or 'just worrying about it.' The だけ ('only/just') adds an unnecessary limiting nuance and does not form a natural general statement like ものだ does.
• 3気になるかどうか means 'whether or not it concerns you.' This would make the sentence 'Weather is whether or not it concerns you,' which is grammatically incomplete and nonsensical in this context.
• 4気になるかのよう means 'as if it concerns you.' This would imply the weather only seems to matter but actually doesn't, contradicting the passage's message that weather is genuinely important.

• 気きになる — to be concerned about; to care about; to worry one
• ～ものだ — grammar pattern expressing a general truth or the natural/expected way things are

The preceding sentences explain the problem: food demand is greatly influenced by weather, and if demand prediction is wrong, excess production leads to food loss. The sentence with (49) then states that the government started an initiative to provide high-level demand prediction. This is a cause-and-then-action relationship: because of this problem, the government took action. そこで ('therefore; so; then') is the correct conjunction for this situation, indicating that an action was taken in response to the preceding circumstance.

• 1なお means 'furthermore; additionally; by the way' and is used to add supplementary information, not to indicate a consequence or action taken in response to a problem.
• 2たとえば means 'for example.' While the government initiative could be seen as an example, the logical relationship here is problem→response, not illustration. The government's action is the main response to the issue, not merely an example.
• 4ところが means 'however; but' and introduces a contrast or unexpected development. There is no contradiction here; the government's initiative is a natural response to the problem described.

• そこで — therefore; so; then (used when taking action in response to a situation)
• なお — furthermore; additionally; by the way
• たとえば — for example
• ところが — however; but; unexpectedly

The sentence with (50) introduces the first experiment conducted under the government initiative described in the preceding paragraph. この取り組みは ('this initiative') correctly refers back to the specific initiative just mentioned—the government's effort to provide demand prediction. The sentence then says that, as a first step, the experiment focused on 'tofu' and 'mentsuyu.' This is a direct, proximate reference to the initiative discussed immediately before.

• 2そういった取り組みも means 'such initiatives also.' The そ ('that kind') makes it sound like a general category of initiatives rather than the specific one just described, and も ('also') implies there are other initiatives being discussed, which is not the case here.
• 3あのような取り組みは means 'that kind of initiative.' あの/あのような refers to something distant in time, space, or context—something both speaker and listener know about from before. The initiative was just introduced in the previous paragraph, so あの is inappropriate.
• 4どちらの取り組みも means 'both initiatives.' There is only one initiative being discussed (the government's demand-prediction project), not two, so this does not fit.

• 取り組み（とりくみ） — initiative; effort; undertaking
• この — this (refers to something close to the speaker/just mentioned)
• 絞しぼる — to narrow down; to focus on

The final sentence is: 今後、より大きな成果が（51）('Going forward, greater results are (51)'). This is a forward-looking, optimistic conclusion to the column. 期待できそうだ ('it seems we can expect (them)') fits perfectly, expressing a reasonable expectation that even bigger results will come. The そうだ here is the conjectural/suffix form meaning 'it appears that; it seems likely that,' which matches the tone of a newspaper column's closing prediction.

• 1期待できるからだ means 'because we can expect (them).' The からだ ('because') structure requires a preceding reason or explanation, but this sentence is a standalone concluding statement, not providing a reason for something stated before.
• 3期待できるはずだった means 'we should have been able to expect (them)'—the past tense だった implies the expectation was in the past and likely unfulfilled, which contradicts the forward-looking, positive tone of the conclusion.
• 4期待できればよかった means 'it would have been good if we could have expected (them)'—this expresses regret about a past hypothetical, which is completely opposite to the optimistic tone of the passage's ending.

• 成果せいか — result; achievement; fruit
• 期待きたいできる — can be expected; can look forward to
• ～そうだ — it seems that; it looks like (conjecture based on appearance/reasoning)

Option 2 is correct because the passage explicitly states that if parents dislike a food and complain about it, children will not be able to like it either. Conversely, if adults eat a food with a smile and say it is delicious, children can become interested and learn to eat it. This shows that the adults' attitude toward food directly influences the children's likes and dislikes.

• 1The passage does not suggest that adults should ignore children's picky eating. Instead, it emphasizes that adults' behavior and attitudes are key to solving the problem.
• 3The passage actually states that children who initially disliked a food can become able to eat it after seeing adults enjoy it, meaning likes and dislikes can change.
• 4The passage states that enjoying meals together is the trick (コツ) to eliminating picky eating, not that enjoying meals is more important than eliminating picky eating.

• 偏食へんしょく — picky eating, unbalanced diet
• 無理むりに — forcibly, by force
• 興味が湧く（きょうみがわく） — to become interested, to have one's interest aroused
• コツ（こつ） — trick, knack, know-how