N2 Vocabulary · Test 28

拒否 is read きょひ. The kanji 拒 is read きょ (as in 拒絶 きょぜつ) and 否 is read ひ (as in 否定 ひてい). Together they form きょひ, meaning 'rejection' or 'refusal.' The sentence means 'I want to refuse receiving annoying emails.'

• 1きょうひ is wrong — this would require a long きょう sound for 拒, but 拒 is read きょ, not きょう. This is a deliberate distractor playing on the similarity between きょ and きょう.
• 2きょうふ is wrong — this is the reading of 恐怖 (きょうふ, 'fear/terror'), a completely different word. The kanji 拐否 do not combine this way.
• 4きょふ is wrong — 否 is read ひ, not ふ. This distractor swaps the voicing of the second syllable (ひ→ふ).

• 拒否きょひ — rejection, refusal
• 迷惑めいわくな — annoying, troublesome
• 受信じゅしん — receiving (messages/emails)

囲まれて is the passive te-form of 囲む (かこむ, 'to surround'). The stem 囲 is read かこ, so 囲まれて = かこまれて. The sentence means 'After the match, Suzuki was surrounded by many reporters and was receiving questions.'

• 2つつまれて comes from 包む (つつむ, 'to wrap/cover'). While semantically related (wrapping vs. surrounding), the kanji 囲む is never read つつむ.
• 3はさまれて comes from 挟まる (はさまる, 'to be caught/sandwiched between'). This is a different kanji (挟) and a different meaning.
• 4つかまれて comes from 捕まる (つかまる, 'to be caught/captured'). Again a different kanji and meaning — being surrounded is not the same as being caught.

• 囲かこむ — to surround, enclose
• 選手せんしゅ — athlete, player
• 記者きしゃ — reporter, journalist

損害 is read そんがい. 損 is read そん (as in 損得 そんとく) and 害 is read がい (as in 危害 きがい). Note the rendaku (voicing) of かい→がい in this compound. The sentence means 'Somehow I was able to keep the damage to a minimum.'

• 1さいかい is wrong — this uses 割 (さい) instead of 損 (そん), and has unvoiced かい instead of がい. 割害 is not a real word.
• 2さいがい is the reading of 災害 (さいがい, 'disaster'). This is a deliberate distractor: 災害 and 損害 are near-synonyms (both relate to damage), but the kanji 損害 is read そんがい, not さいがい.
• 3そんかい is wrong — the second character 害 should be voiced (がい) due to rendaku in this compound. そんかい is not a valid reading.

• 損害そんがい — damage, loss
• 最小限さいしょうげん — minimum, to the least extent
• 抑おさえる — to suppress, hold down, keep under control

現象 is read げんしょう. 現 is read げん (as in 現在 げんざい) and 象 is read しょう (as in 象徴 しょうちょう). The sentence means 'This phenomenon cannot be explained by previous theories.'

• 1げんそう is wrong — 象 in this compound is read しょう, not そう. This distractor plays on the similarity between しょう and そう.
• 3げんぞう is wrong — this would use a voiced ぞう for 象, but 象 is read しょう here, not ぞう. げんぞう is the reading of 現像 (developing photographs).
• 4げんじょう is wrong — this inserts a じ sound (じょう) that does not belong. 象 is read しょう, not じょう.

• 現象げんしょう — phenomenon
• 理論りろん — theory
• 説明せつめい — explanation

憎い is read にくい, meaning 'hateful, detestable.' The kanji 憎 has the reading にく (as in 憎悪 ぞうお, though that uses the on-reading). As an i-adjective, 憎い = にくい. The sentence means 'I have never thought of a person as hateful until now.'

• 1こわい is the reading of 怖い (こわい, 'scary/frightening'). A different kanji and a subtly different emotion — fear vs. hatred.
• 2ひどい means 'terrible/awful/cruel' and is written 酷い. This is a near-synonym describing bad behavior, but it is not the reading of 憎い.
• 4ずるい means 'sly/cunning' and is written 狡い. Again a different kanji and meaning — cunning is not the same as hatred.

• 憎にくい — hateful, detestable
• 今いままで — until now, so far
• 思おもったことがない — have never thought/felt

「こんらん」is written 混乱, meaning 'confusion' or 'disorder'. The sentence means: 'Because many people gathered, the inside of the venue was in confusion.' 混乱する/混乱している is a common expression for a disordered, chaotic situation.

• 2混雑 is read こんざつ, not こんらん. It means 'crowded / congested' and is used for places with too many people, but the reading does not match.
• 3困乱 is not a real word. 困 (こん) is used in words like 困難 (こんなん), but combined with 乱 it does not form a standard term.
• 4困雑 is not a real word. It combines kanji that look plausible but does not exist as a vocabulary item.

• 混乱こんらん — confusion, disorder, chaos
• 混雑こんざつ — crowdedness, congestion

「じゅんちょう」is written 順調, meaning 'smoothly / favorably (progressing well)'. The sentence means: 'This plan is progressing smoothly.' 順調に進む is a common collocation.

• 1準長 is not a real word. 準 (じゅん) appears in words like 準備 (じゅんび), but 準長 does not exist.
• 2準調 is not a real word. The kanji combination does not form any standard term.
• 3順長 is not a real word. 順 (じゅん) is correct for the first kanji, but 長 (ちょう) does not combine with it to mean 'smooth'.

• 順調じゅんちょう — smooth, favorable, going well

「あらそって」is written 争って, the te-form of 争う (to compete/contend/fight for something). The sentence means: 'Regarding the sales rights for the new product, Company A and Company B are competing.' 争う is used when parties contend for a right or interest.

• 2戦って is read たたかって, the te-form of 戦う (to fight a war/battle). The reading does not match あらそって.
• 3競って is read きそって, the te-form of 競う (to compete/race). While semantically close, the reading does not match あらそって.
• 4抗って is read あらがって, the te-form of 抗う (to resist/oppose). The reading does not match あらそって.

• 争あらそう — to compete, to contend, to fight for
• 戦たたかう — to fight (a war/battle)
• 競きそう — to compete, to race
• 抗あらがう — to resist, to oppose

「してき」is written 指摘, meaning 'pointing out (a flaw/error)'. The sentence means: 'I corrected the parts the teacher pointed out and resubmitted the report.' 指摘される (passive) is commonly used when a teacher or reviewer points out problems.

• 1指的 is not a real word. 指 (し) is the correct first kanji, but 的 (てき) does not form a noun meaning 'pointing out'.
• 3支的 is not a real word. 支 (し) is used in words like 支持 (しじ), but 支的 does not exist.
• 4支摘 is not a real word. The first kanji should be 指 (point out), not 支 (support).

• 指摘してき — pointing out (a flaw, an error, a problem)

「あざやか」is written 鮮やか, meaning 'vivid, bright, clear'. The sentence means: 'In this painting, the color of the sky is very vivid.' 鮮やかな色 is a common collocation for bright/vivid colors.

• 1照やか is not a real word. 照 (しょう/て) does not combine with やか to form an adjective meaning 'vivid'.
• 2晴やか is not a real word. 晴 (せい/はれ) is used in 晴れ (clear weather), but 晴やか is not a standard adjective.
• 4濃やか is not a real word. 濃 (のう/こ) is used in 濃い (dark/thick), but 濃やか does not exist as a standard adjective.

• 鮮あざやか — vivid, bright, clear, brilliant