N2 Vocabulary · Test 1

「拡充」 reads 「かくじゅう」. 「拡」(かく) means to expand/enlarge, and 「充」(じゅう) means to fill/supply. Together it means 'expansion/enlargement (of an organization, facilities, etc.)'. In the sentence, the company expanded its sales department in order to advance into overseas markets.

• 1「こうじゅ」 would correspond to kanji like 「工事」 or 「恒久」, not 「拡充」. The first kanji 「拡」 is read 「かく」, not 「こう」.
• 2「かくじゅ」 has the correct first kanji reading but the second kanji 「充」 is read 「じゅう」 (long vowel), not 「じゅ」.
• 3「こうじゅう」 has the correct second kanji reading but the wrong first kanji reading; 「拡」 is 「かく」, not 「こう」.

• 拡充かくじゅう — expansion, enlargement (of facilities/departments)
• 進出しんしゅつ — advance into (a market)
• 販売部門はんばいぶもん — sales department

「著しい」 reads 「いちじるしい」, meaning 'remarkable, striking, significant'. The sentence says that in recent years, science and technology have shown remarkable progress.

• 1「かやがかしい」 is a garbled/incorrect reading; no such word exists. It resembles 「かがやかしい」 but is malformed.
• 2「かがやかしい」 resembles 「輝かしい」(かがやかしい, brilliant/splendid), which is a real word but is not the reading of 「著しい」.
• 4「いちるじるしい」 is a malformed version of the correct 「いちじるしい」, with an extra 「る」 inserted; no such reading exists.

• 著いちじるしい — remarkable, striking, significant
• 近年きんねん — in recent years
• 科学技術かがくぎじゅつ — science and technology
• 進歩しんぽ — progress, advancement

「声援」 reads 「せいえん」, meaning 'cheering, vocal support (from spectators/fans)'. 「声」(せい, voice) + 「援」(えん, support). The sentence says the speaker was encouraged by everyone's cheering.

• 2「しえん」 is the reading of 「支援」, meaning 'support/assistance' — a near-synonym, but not the reading of 「声援」.
• 3「せいいん」 would correspond to 「生音」 or similar; it is not the reading of 「声援」. The second kanji 「援」 is 「えん」, not 「いん」.
• 4「しいん」 is not a valid reading of 「声援」; both kanji readings are wrong.

• 声援せいえん — cheering, vocal support
• 力ちからづけられる — to be encouraged/empowered

「傾いて」 reads 「かたむいて」 (te-form of 「傾く」, かたむく), meaning 'to tilt, to lean, to incline'. The sentence says 'Before I knew it, it had become tilted/leaning.'

• 1「きずついて」 is the te-form of 「傷つく」(きずつく, to be hurt/damaged) — a lookalike verb, but not the reading of 「傾く」.
• 3「かわいて」 is the te-form of 「乾く」(かわく, to dry up) — a different verb with similar appearance, not the reading of 「傾く」.
• 4「ういて」 is the te-form of 「浮く」(うく, to float) — another different verb, not the reading of 「傾く」.

• 傾かたむく — to tilt, to lean, to incline
• いつのまにか — before one knows it, unnoticed

「破片」 reads 「はへん」, meaning 'fragment, shard, broken piece'. 「破」(は, break) + 「片」(へん, piece). The sentence warns that glass fragments are on the ground, so please be careful.

• 1「ひがた」 is not a valid reading of 「破片」. Both kanji readings are wrong; 「破」 is 「は」, not 「ひ」.
• 2「はがた」 has the correct first kanji but the wrong second kanji reading; 「片」 here is 「へん」, not 「がた」. 「はがた」 would resemble 「歯型」(tooth mark).
• 3「ひへん」 has the correct second kanji but the wrong first kanji reading; 「破」 is 「は」, not 「ひ」.

• 破片はへん — fragment, shard, broken piece
• ガラス — glass
• 気きをつけて — please be careful

「ゆたか」is read as「ゆたか」and written「豊か」. It means 'rich/abundant' and collocates naturally with「自然が豊か」(nature is abundant). The kanji 豊 carries the core meaning of plenty/abundance.

• 2「恵」appears in words like「恵まれる（めぐまれる）」(to be blessed) and「恩恵（おんけい）」, but there is no adjective form「恵か」. The okurigana and word structure do not match.
• 3「富」means wealth/riches and appears in「富む（とむ）」(to be rich in), but「富か」is not a valid adjective form.
• 4「福」means fortune/blessing and appears in「福（ふく）」「幸福（こうふく）」, but「福か」is not a valid word.

• 豊ゆたか — abundant, rich, plentiful

「へんぴん」is written「返品」, meaning 'return (of goods)'. The sentence says that within one week of purchase you can return the product. 「返（へん）」= return/send back,「品（ひん/ぴん）」= goods/article, giving「返品（へんぴん）する」= to return merchandise.

• 2「変品」is not a real word.「変（へん）」means strange/change, but this compound does not exist.
• 3「逆品」is not a real word.「逆（ぎゃく）」means reverse/opposite, and the reading does not match「へんぴん」.
• 4「戻品」is not a real word.「戻（もど）る」means to return, but the kanji compound and reading are invalid.

• 返品へんぴん — returning merchandise, returning a product

「らんぼう」is written「乱暴」, meaning 'rough/violent/careless'.「道具を乱暴に使う」= to use tools roughly/carelessly.「乱（らん）」= disorder,「暴（ぼう）」= violent/rough.

• 1「荒暴」is not a standard word.「荒（あら/こう）」appears in「荒い（あらい）」but the compound「荒暴」does not exist as the reading「らんぼう」.
• 3「乱亡」is not a real word.「亡（ぼう）」means death/perish, and this compound is invalid.
• 4「荒亡」is not a real word; neither kanji combination nor reading is valid.

• 乱暴らんぼう — rough, violent, careless (na-adjective/noun)

「きそって」is the te-form of「競う（きそう）」, written「競って」. It means 'to compete/rival'. The sentence says these two people have always competed as rivals. Note that in this orthography question the reading「きそって」uniquely maps to「競って」.

• 1「争って」is read「あらそって」(from 争う), meaning 'to fight/quarrel'. Wrong reading and somewhat different nuance.
• 2「戦って」is read「たたかって」(from 戦う), meaning 'to fight/battle'. Wrong reading.
• 4「討って」is read「うって」(from 討つ), meaning 'to attack/strike down'. Wrong reading.

• 競きそう — to compete, to vie, to rival

「じゃくてん」is written「弱点」, meaning 'weak point/weakness'. The sentence says there is no particularly noticeable weakness.「弱（じゃく）」= weak,「点（てん）」= point.

• 1「悪点」is not a standard word.「悪（あく）」means bad, but this compound is not used; the reading would also not be「じゃくてん」.
• 2「欠点」is read「けってん」, meaning 'fault/defect/shortcoming'. It is a very plausible distractor, but the reading does not match「じゃくてん」.
• 3「低点」is read「ていてん」, meaning 'low score' (e.g. on a test). Wrong reading and meaning for this context.

• 弱点じゃくてん — weak point, weakness
• 欠点けってん — fault, defect, shortcoming