N2 Vocabulary · Test 114

The sentence states: 'This summer the weather was very bad. ( ) the rice harvest will likely decrease considerably.' This is a cause-and-effect relationship — the bad weather is the cause, and the poor harvest is the result. したがって (従って) means 'therefore / accordingly' and correctly connects the cause to the consequence.

• 1あるいは (或いは) means 'or / perhaps.' It is used to present alternatives, not to express a consequence.
• 3ただし (但し) means 'however / provided that.' It introduces a condition or exception, which does not fit the cause-effect relationship here.
• 4ところで (所で) means 'by the way / incidentally.' It is used to change the topic, not to show a result.

• したがって — therefore, accordingly, consequently
• あるいは — or, perhaps
• ただし — however, provided that
• ところで — by the way, incidentally

The sentence states: 'There was a fire in the neighborhood, but the people of that house were fortunately ( ).' The word needed is one meaning 'safe / unharmed.' 無事 (ぶじ) means 'safe / without incident,' and 幸い無事だった means 'fortunately they were safe.' Option 3 is correct.

• 1安定 (あんてい) means 'stability / stable.' It describes a state of equilibrium, not personal safety from a fire.
• 2用心 (ようじん) means 'caution / vigilance.' Saying the people were 'caution' does not make sense grammatically or semantically in this context.
• 4不足 (ふそく) means 'insufficiency / shortage.' It is completely unrelated to being safe from a fire.

• 無事ぶじ — safe, unharmed, without incident
• 安定あんてい — stability, stable
• 用心ようじん — caution, vigilance
• 不足ふそく — insufficiency, shortage

The correct answer is 1. 「口がかたい」is a fixed idiom meaning 'tight-lipped' or 'discreet' — someone who can keep a secret. The sentence says 'She is tight-lipped, so it's fine to tell her a secret.' This is a classic JLPT vocabulary idiom question.

• 2きつい means 'tight, harsh, strict.' While it might seem plausible with 口, there is no established idiom 「口がきつい」meaning 'discreet.' It is not the correct collocation.
• 3おそい（遅い）means 'slow / late.' 「口がおそい」is not an idiom and makes no sense here.
• 4すくない（少ない）means 'few, scarce.' 「口がすくない」is not an idiom and does not fit the context.

• 口くちがかたい — tight-lipped; discreet; good at keeping secrets
• ひみつ — secret
• だいじょうぶ — safe; fine; okay

The correct answer is 2. 作業（さぎょう）means 'work, operation, task' — especially physical or mechanical work. 「機械を使った作業」= 'work using machines,' which is dangerous, so you should be careful. This is the natural collocation.

• 1動作（どうさ）means 'movement, motion' — refers to a single bodily or mechanical movement, not an ongoing work task. It doesn't fit the context of a dangerous work activity.
• 3作用（さよう）means 'action, effect (of a force/chemical).' It is used in scientific/physical contexts, not for human work activities.
• 4作品（さくひん）means 'a work of art, a creation.' Completely unrelated to operating machinery.

• 作業さぎょう — work; operation; task
• 機械きかい — machine
• 危険きけん — danger; dangerous

The correct answer is 4. 土地（とち）means 'land, ground (as property/real estate).' 「土地の値段が上がった」= 'land prices went up,' which logically causes rent (家賃) to rise. This is a real-estate cause-and-effect relationship.

• 1地帯（ちたい）means 'zone, district, belt' (e.g. 住宅地帯). It refers to a type of area, not something with a price that directly drives rent.
• 2地理（ちり）means 'geography.' Geography doesn't have a '値段' (price), so this is nonsensical.
• 3番地（ばんち）means 'address number, house number.' An address number doesn't have a price.

• 土地とち — land; real estate; ground
• 値段ねだん — price
• 家賃やちん — rent (for housing)

集中 (しゅうちゅう) means 'concentration, focus.' 勉強に集中できない means 'I can't concentrate on my studies.' This fits perfectly: the speaker is worried about their mother's illness and cannot focus on studying.

• 1熱心 (ねっしん) means 'enthusiastic, zealous.' It is a na-adjective/noun and does not fit the pattern 勉強に___できない. You would say 勉強に熱心だ (be enthusiastic about studying), not 熱心できない.
• 3上達 (じょうたつ) means 'improvement, progress.' 勉強に上達できない is unnatural; 上達する is intransitive and means 'to improve (one's skill),' not 'to concentrate.'
• 4専門 (せんもん) means 'specialty, expertise.' 勉強に専門できない is grammatically and semantically wrong.

• 集中しゅうちゅう — concentration, focus
• 熱心ねっしん — enthusiastic, zealous
• 上達じょうたつ — improvement, progress
• 専門せんもん — specialty, expertise

するどく is the adverbial form of 鋭い (するどい), meaning 'sharp, keen.' 鋭く指摘している means 'pointing out (the problems) sharply/keenly.' This fits: his opinion sharply identifies the problem points.

• 1まずしく is the adverbial form of 貧しい (まずしい), meaning 'poor, destitute.' 貧しく指摘している ('pointing out poorly') is unnatural and not the intended meaning.
• 2したしく is the adverbial form of 親しい (したしい), meaning 'close, intimate.' 親しく指摘している ('pointing out closely') does not fit the context of identifying problems.
• 3にぶく is the adverbial form of 鈍い (にぶい), meaning 'dull, blunt.' This is the opposite of what is needed — it would mean 'pointing out dully,' which contradicts the positive nuance of the sentence.

• 鋭するどい — sharp, keen
• 鈍にぶい — dull, blunt
• 貧まずしい — poor, destitute
• 親したしい — close, intimate
• 指摘してきする — to point out, to indicate

いまにも (今にも) means 'at any moment now; about to.' It pairs naturally with ～そうな (the volitional/sensory form indicating something is on the verge of happening), so いまにも雨が降り出しそうな天気です means 'The weather is such that it could start raining at any moment.'

• 1いつまで means 'until when' and is a question word asking about a time limit. It does not fit a statement about imminent weather.
• 3いままで (今まで) means 'until now; up to now.' It describes a duration up to the present, not something about to happen.
• 4いつから means 'since when' and is also a question word about a starting point. It does not fit this context.

• 今いまにも — at any moment now; on the verge of ~
• 降り出す（ふりだす） — to begin to fall (rain/snow)

なんとなく means 'for some reason; somehow; vaguely.' なんとなく元気がないようだ = 'For some reason he seems to be lacking energy lately.' It expresses a vague impression, which fits the tentative ようだ ending.

• 2なんとか means 'somehow; managing to.' It implies effort to accomplish something (なんとかする = to manage somehow), not a vague impression.
• 3なんで is a casual question word meaning 'why.' It cannot modify 元気がないようだ as an adverb.
• 4なんでも means 'anything; everything' or 'any kind of.' It does not express the vague feeling needed here.

• 何なんとなく — for some reason; somehow; vaguely
• 何なんとか — somehow; by some means

のりこえて (乗り越えて) is the te-form of 乗り越える, meaning 'to overcome; to get over (a difficulty/hardship).' 悲しみを乗り越えて = 'overcoming the sadness (of our father's death),' which fits perfectly with 今日までがんばってきた.

• 1のりかえて (乗り換えて) is from 乗り換える, meaning 'to transfer (trains/buses); to switch to something else.' You cannot 乗り換える a sadness.
• 2のりすぎて (乗りすぎて) would be from 乗りすぎる, 'to ride too much / to over-ride.' This is not a word used for overcoming hardship.
• 4のりあげて is not a standard verb in this context. 乗り上げる means 'to run aground; to go up onto (a shore/platform),' which is unrelated to overcoming grief.

• 乗り越える（のりこえる） — to overcome; to surmount (a difficulty, grief, etc.)
• 乗り換える（のりかえる） — to transfer (vehicles); to switch