N2 Vocabulary · Test 58

途中 (とちゅう) means 'midway/in the middle of'. The reading is とちゅう: 途 (と) + 中 (ちゅう). In the sentence, '会議の途中で' means 'in the middle of the meeting'.

• 2とうちゅう — wrong long-vowel placement; 途 is read と, not とう.
• 3どちゅう — wrong voicing; 途 is not read ど.
• 4どうちゅう — combines both wrong voicing and long vowel; neither 途 nor 中 is read どう/ちゅう in this word.

• 途中とちゅう — midway, in the middle of

突然 (とつぜん) means 'suddenly'. 突 (とつ) + 然 (ぜん). '社長が突然死亡した' = 'the president suddenly died'.

• 1とうぜん — wrong; this would correspond to a non-existent/incorrect reading, confusing 突 with とう.
• 2とうねん — wrong; 然 is read ぜん here, not ねん, and 突 is not とう.
• 4とつねん — wrong second kanji reading; 然 is ぜん, not ねん.

• 突然とつぜん — suddenly, unexpectedly

死亡 (しぼう) means 'death/die'. 死 (し) + 亡 (ぼう). '死亡した' = 'died/passed away'.

• 1しどう — wrong voicing; 亡 is read ぼう here, not どう.
• 3しもう — wrong; 亡 is not read もう in this word.
• 4ししょう — wrong; 亡 is not read しょう; this resembles 死傷 (ししょう) 'death and injury'.

• 死亡しぼう — death, to die

深い (ふかい) means 'deep'. '深い悲しみに沈んだ' = 'sank into deep sorrow'. 深 modifies 悲しみ metaphorically as 'deep'.

• 1おもい (重い) — means 'heavy'; '重い悲しみ' is possible but the kanji 深い is not read おもい.
• 2くらい (暗い) — means 'dark'; the kanji 深い is not read くらい.
• 3つらい (辛い) — means 'hard/bitter'; the kanji 深い is not read つらい.

• 深ふかい — deep (literal or figurative)

沈んだ (しずんだ) is the past tense of 沈む (しずむ), 'to sink'. '悲しみに沈む' is a set expression meaning 'to sink into grief/be plunged in sorrow'.

• 1いたんだ (痛んだ/損なんだ) — from 痛む/損なう, 'to hurt/be damaged'; unrelated to 沈む.
• 2ゆるんだ (緩んだ) — from 緩む, 'to loosen/slacken'; wrong kanji reading.
• 3うかんだ (浮かんだ) — from 浮かぶ, 'to float'; near-antonym of 沈む, deliberately plausible.

• 沈しずむ — to sink; to be immersed/plunged (into an emotion)

警告 is read けいこく (keikoku), meaning 'warning' or 'caution.' The word consists of 警 (けい, kei) + 告 (こく, koku). The doctor has given him a warning about his drinking.

• 1けいこう (keikou) swaps the second kanji's reading for a long-vowel variant; this reading does not form a standard word.
• 3きょうこう (kyoukou) misreads the first kanji 警 as きょう instead of けい; きょうこう would correspond to a different compound (e.g., 強行).
• 4きょうこく (kyoukoku) misreads both kanji readings; no standard word has this reading.

• 警告けいこく — warning, caution

飲酒 is read いんしゅ (inshu), meaning 'drinking (alcohol).' It consists of 飲 (いん, in) + 酒 (しゅ, shu), both using their on'yomi (Sino-Japanese) readings.

• 1のみさけ uses kun'yomi (native Japanese readings) for both kanji; while understandable, compound nouns of this type normally use on'yomi.
• 2のみしゅ mixes one kun'yomi (のみ) with one on'yomi (しゅ); this hybrid reading is not used for this word.
• 3いんさけ mixes one on'yomi (いん) with one kun'yomi (さけ); this hybrid reading is incorrect.

• 飲酒いんしゅ — drinking (alcohol)

習慣 is read しゅうかん (shuukan), meaning 'habit' or 'custom.' It consists of 習 (しゅう, shuu) + 慣 (かん, kan), both using their on'yomi readings.

• 1しゅうがん (shuugan) misreads the second kanji 慣 as がん instead of かん.
• 3しょうがん (shougan) misreads the first kanji 習 as しょう instead of しゅう.
• 4しょうかん (shoukan) misreads the first kanji 習 as しょう instead of しゅう; しょうかん is a different word (e.g., 招喚).

• 習慣しゅうかん — habit, custom

改める is read あらためる (aratameru), meaning 'to correct, to mend, to change (a habit).' In the volitional form it becomes あらためよう (aratameyou), meaning 'let's correct/change.' The sentence says he will not try to change his drinking habit.

• 1やめよう (yameyou) means 'let's quit/stop'; while contextually plausible as a synonym, the kanji 改める does not read やめる.
• 2せめよう (semeyou) means 'let's attack/blame'; this is a different verb (攻める or 責める) and does not match 改める.
• 4あきらめよう (akirameyou) means 'let's give up'; this is 諦める, a completely different verb from 改める.

• 改あらためる — to correct, to mend, to change (a habit)

一方 is read いっぽう (ippou). In the pattern 〜一方である (ippou de aru), it means 'continuing to change in one direction; more and more.' Here, 病気も悪くなる一方である means 'his illness keeps getting worse and worse.'

• 1ひとかた (hitokata) is not a standard reading for 一方; it could be misread using kun'yomi for both characters.
• 2いちかた (ichikata) uses the non-rendaku on'yomi reading for 一; the correct compound uses rendaku, changing いち to いっ.
• 3ひとほう (hitohou) mixes kun'yomi (ひと) with on'yomi (ほう); this is not the correct reading.

• 一方いっぽう — one direction; (in pattern 〜一方だ) continuing to change in one direction, more and more