N2 Vocabulary · Test 6

物騒（ぶっそう）means 'dangerous, unsafe, lawless.' The sentence means 'I feel like this area has become unsafe.' Option 3, 安全じゃなくなってきた ('has become not safe'), is the closest paraphrase.

• 1きれいじゃなくなってきた means 'has become not clean.' 物騒 is about safety/danger, not cleanliness.
• 2うるさくなってきた means 'has become noisy.' Noise is unrelated to the sense of danger in 物騒.
• 4さびしくなってきた means 'has become lonely/desolate.' While a deserted area might feel unsafe, さびしい describes emptiness/loneliness, not danger.

• 物騒ぶっそう — dangerous, unsafe, lawless (atmosphere)
• 安全あんぜん — safe, secure

落ち込む（おちこむ）means 'to become depressed, to feel down, to be disappointed.' The sentence means 'I felt down/depressed after hearing that.' Option 3, がっかりした ('was disappointed'), is the closest paraphrase.

• 1緊張した means 'got nervous/tense.' 落ち込む is about feeling low, not anxiety or tension.
• 2びっくりした means 'was surprised.' Surprise is a different emotion from feeling down.
• 4心配した means 'was worried.' Worry is about anxiety for something, not the sinking/depressed feeling of 落ち込む.

• 落ち込む（おちこむ） — to feel depressed, to be down, to be disappointed
• がっかりする — to be disappointed, to be let down

精いっぱい（せいいっぱい）means 'with all one's might, to the best of one's ability, as much as possible.' The sentence means 'I did my very best, but I wasn't evaluated highly.' Option 2, 一生懸命（いっしょうけんめい, 'with all one's effort'), is the closest paraphrase.

• 1せっかく means 'with great effort/trouble (but...)' or 'rare opportunity.' It implies regret over wasted effort, not the manner of doing something.
• 3いろいろ means 'various, in various ways.' 精いっぱい describes the degree of effort, not variety.
• 4何回も means 'many times, repeatedly.' 精いっぱい is about intensity/effort, not repetition.

• 精せいいっぱい — with all one's might, to the best of one's ability
• 一生懸命いっしょうけんめい — with all one's effort, desperately hard

同情する（どうじょうする）means 'to sympathize, to feel compassion/pity for someone.' The sentence means 'Everyone sympathized after hearing that story.' Option 4, かわいそうだと思った ('thought it was pitiful/sad'), is the closest paraphrase.

• 1しかたないと思った means 'thought it couldn't be helped.' This is resignation, not sympathy.
• 2うらやましいと思った means 'thought it was enviable.' This is the opposite emotional direction from sympathy.
• 3なつかしいと思った means 'felt nostalgic.' Nostalgia is unrelated to feeling sorry for someone.

• 同情どうじょうする — to sympathize, to feel compassion/pity
• かわいそう — pitiful, poor (expressing sympathy)

定める（さだめる）means 'to decide, to establish, to set (rules, conditions, etc.).' The sentence means 'It is necessary to set/establish the conditions.' Option 1, 決める（きめる, 'to decide'), is the closest paraphrase.

• 2伝える means 'to convey, to communicate.' This is about informing someone, not establishing conditions.
• 3調べる means 'to investigate, to examine.' Investigating is different from setting/deciding.
• 4合わせる means 'to match, to adjust to.' Matching is not the same as establishing conditions.

• 定さだめる — to decide, to establish, to set (rules, conditions, etc.)
• 決きめる — to decide, to determine

廃止（はいし）means 'to abolish, discontinue, or repeal' an established system, rule, or service. Option 4 describes a bank discontinuing its ATM fee-free service — a formal, institutional service being terminated, which is exactly the right context for 廃止.

• 1新製品の開発（development of a new product）is a project, not an established system or service. The natural word here would be 中止（ちゅうし, suspend/cancel）rather than 廃止. 廃止 implies permanently ending something that was an ongoing institution or rule.
• 2ジョギング（jogging）is a personal daily habit. 廃止 is not used for personal routines; it applies to systems, rules, or services. One would simply say やめた（stopped）.
• 3不安（ふあん, anxiety）is an emotion and cannot be 'abolished.' 廃止 applies to institutional/systemic things, not psychological states. One would say 不安をなくす（eliminate anxiety）or 不安を解消する.

• 廃止はいし — abolition, discontinuation (of a system, rule, or service)

初歩（しょほ）means 'the basics, fundamentals, or beginning stage of learning something.' Option 1 says 'I started English from the basics (初歩から) three years ago, and now I can speak freely.' This is the correct usage — 初歩 refers to the elementary/foundational stage of studying a subject.

• 2In a basketball game, giving up many points from the start should use 最初（さいしょ, the very beginning of an event/time), not 初歩. 初歩 is about learning fundamentals, not the start of a game.
• 3Describing today's heat as 'still just the beginning' should use 最初（さいしょ), not 初歩. 初歩 does not mean 'the beginning stage of a season or situation.'
• 4The beginning/origin of a fight with one's brother should be 最初（さいしょ), not 初歩. 初歩 is specifically about the elementary stage of learning, not the start of an event.

• 初歩しょほ — the basics, fundamentals, beginning stage of learning

だらしない means 'sloppy, untidy, lacking discipline or self-control.' Option 4 describes a lifestyle of just playing around without working — a 'sloppy/undisciplined lifestyle (だらしない生活).' This is a classic, correct usage of だらしない to describe a person's lack of discipline.

• 1だらしない describes a person's behavior, appearance, or lifestyle — not the taste of soup. A bland or unappetizing taste would be described as まずい or 味が薄い, not だらしない.
• 2Grammatically, だらしない is an い-adjective describing a state of untidiness, not an adverb modifying how grass grows. The intended meaning 'overgrown with weeds everywhere' would use 草だらけ（くさだらけ, full of weeds）, not だらしなく.
• 3知識（ちしき, knowledge）cannot be described as だらしない. だらしない applies to behavior, appearance, or lifestyle — not to the quality or amount of one's knowledge. One might say 知識が不足していた（knowledge was insufficient）.

• だらしない — sloppy, untidy, lacking discipline or self-control

即座に（そくざに）means 'immediately, instantly, on the spot' — describing an immediate, prompt response or action taken right when something happens. Option 3, 'The teacher answered the student's question immediately (即座に),' is the perfect usage: 即座に commonly describes an instant response to a direct stimulus such as a question.

• 1'When I arrived at the station, my friends also came immediately' — this describes friends arriving soon after, which is a sequence of events better expressed with すぐに（soon/quickly）. 即座に implies an instant reaction/response to a trigger, not just 'shortly after.'
• 2Weather changes (clouds appearing) are gradual processes and should use すぐに or 急に, not 即座に. 即座に implies an instantaneous, deliberate response, not a natural phenomenon occurring.
• 4'Work got busy immediately after January started' describes a temporal sequence, not an instant response to a trigger. すぐに is the natural choice here; 即座に is too abrupt for this context.

• 即座そくざに — immediately, instantly, on the spot (an immediate response or action)

尽きる（つきる）means 'to run out, to be exhausted, to come to an end.' Option 2 says 'It had been a long time since I saw Mori-san, so no matter how much we talked, the conversation never ran out (話が尽きなかった).' 話が尽きる is a fixed expression meaning 'to run out of things to talk about,' making this the correct usage.

• 1A commuter pass's expiration is expressed as 期限が切れる（きげんがきれる, the deadline expires）, not 期限が尽きる. 尽きる means 'to run out/be used up,' not 'to expire' in the sense of a deadline passing.
• 3A consecutive-appearance record (連続出場の記録) being broken or ending would be described as 記録が途切れた（とぎれた, the streak was interrupted）or 終わった, not 尽きた. Records don't 'run out' — they are broken or come to an end.
• 4A exhibition (展示会) ending would be 終わる（おわる）, not 尽きる. 尽きる applies to things that are consumed or exhausted (topics, energy, resources), not to events with a set duration. 'Before the exhibition ends' should be 展示会が終わらないうちに.

• 尽つきる — to run out, to be exhausted, to come to an end (of things that can be consumed/used up)