N2 Vocabulary · Test 82

徐々に (じょじょに) is correct. It means 'gradually/little by little' and modifies 減少している (is decreasing). The sentence means 'The population of that town is gradually decreasing.'

• 1軽々々と is not a standard word. 軽々と (かるがると) exists and means 'easily/lightly,' which does not fit gradual decrease. The triple-々 form is not valid.
• 2順々と is not standard. 順々に (じゅんじゅんに) exists meaning 'in order,' but it does not describe gradual change, and the と form given is wrong.
• 4細々と (ほそぼそと) means 'meagerly/modestly/narrowly' and does not fit the context of population decrease.

• 徐々じょじょに — gradually, little by little
• 減少げんしょうする — to decrease

上昇 (じょうしょう) is correct. 物価が上昇する (ぶっかがじょうしょうする) means 'prices rise.' 上昇 is used for things that go up vertically or in value/index, such as prices, temperature, and altitude.

• 1増加 (ぞうか) means 'increase' and is used for countable quantities (e.g., 人口が増加する). It does not collocate naturally with 物価.
• 2上達 (じょうたつ) means 'improvement (of skill)' (e.g., 日本語が上達する). It cannot be used with 物価.
• 3増大 (ぞうだい) means 'increase/grow (in scale/volume)' (e.g., 負担が増大する). It does not collocate with 物価.

• 上昇じょうしょう — rise, go up (prices, temperature, etc.)
• 物価ぶっか — prices, commodity prices

シーズン (season) is correct. 旅行シーズン (りょこうシーズン) means 'travel season.' The sentence means 'In the season when many people travel, airplane tickets are expensive.'

• 1シリーズ (series) means a series (of books, TV shows, etc.). It does not fit the context.
• 2タイム (time) is a borrowed word but is not used to mean 'season/period' in this way in Japanese.
• 4チャンス (chance) means 'opportunity.' While people travel when they have the chance, the sentence describes a period/season, not an opportunity.

• シーズン — season (busy period)
• 旅行シーズン（りょこうシーズン） — travel season

温厚（おんこう）means 'gentle, mild-mannered, good-natured.' The sentence says 'My boss is very ( ), and I have never seen him get angry,' so a personality trait describing someone who doesn't get angry is needed. 温厚 fits perfectly.

• 1優良（ゆうりょう）means 'excellent, high-quality' and is used for products, companies, grades, etc., not for describing a person's temperament.
• 2温暖（おんだん）means 'warm (climate/temperature)' and is used for weather or climate, not personality.
• 3良性（りょうせい）means 'benign, non-malignant' and is used in medical contexts (e.g., 良性腫瘍), not for personality.

• 温厚おんこう — gentle, mild-mannered, good-natured
• 優良ゆうりょう — excellent, high-quality
• 温暖おんだん — warm (climate)
• 良性りょうせい — benign (medical)

相次いで（あいついで）means 'one after another, in succession.' The sentence says 'Over the past few months, new games have been released ( ).' 相次いで fits naturally: games are being released one after another.

• 2間もなく（まもなく）means 'soon, shortly' and refers to something about to happen, not a pattern of repeated releases over a period.
• 3ぐんぐん means 'rapidly, steadily' and describes vigorous progress or growth (e.g., growing fast), not sequential events.
• 4すいすい means 'smoothly, effortlessly' and describes doing something with ease (e.g., swimming smoothly), not a succession of releases.

• 相次あいついで — one after another, in succession
• 間まもなく — soon, shortly
• ぐんぐん — rapidly, steadily (with vigor)
• すいすい — smoothly, effortlessly

「優れて」(すぐれて) is the te-form of 優れる, meaning 'to be excellent/superior'. The sentence means 'is excellent/superior'. The correct reading is すぐれて.

• 1「あこがれて」(憧れて) means 'to yearn for/long for' — different kanji (憧れる).
• 3「あふれて」(溢れて) means 'to overflow' — different kanji (溢れる).
• 4「あぐまれて」is not a real word; it is a fabricated distractor.

• 優すぐれる — to be excellent, superior

「突然」(とつぜん) means 'suddenly'. The sentence says 'Suddenly, the volcano erupted...'. The correct reading is とつぜん.

• 1「とうぜん」(当然) means 'naturally/of course' — different kanji (当然).
• 2「とつねん」misreads the second kanji as ねん instead of ぜん.
• 4「とうねん」is not a standard word and misreads both kanji.

• 突然とつぜん — suddenly, abruptly

「溶岩」(ようがん) means 'lava (molten rock)'. The sentence continues '...lava flowed out.' The correct reading is ようがん.

• 1「ゆうせき」is not the correct reading; it confuses the vowels of both kanji.
• 2「ゆうがん」misreads the first kanji 溶 as ゆう instead of よう.
• 3「ようせき」(容積) means 'volume/capacity' — a different word with different kanji.

• 溶岩ようがん — lava (molten rock from a volcano)

職場 is read しょくば, meaning 'workplace' or 'place of employment.' 職(しょく) means 'job/work' and 場(ば) means 'place.' The sentence means 'At her new workplace, she is working with great enthusiasm.'

• 1しきじょう is an incorrect reading. There is no common word read this way; it misreads both kanji.
• 2しきば is an incorrect reading. It misreads 職 as しき instead of しょく.
• 4しょくじょう is an incorrect reading. It correctly reads 職 as しょく but misreads 場 as じょう instead of ば.

• 職場しょくば — workplace, place of employment

張り切って is read はりきって, the te-form of 張り切る(はりきる), meaning 'to be full of enthusiasm/energy' or 'to do something with vigor.' The full sentence means 'She is working with great enthusiasm at her new workplace.'

• 1ねりきって is an incorrect reading. ねりきる is not a standard verb.
• 2ふりきって is an incorrect reading. 振り切る(ふりきる) means 'to shake off / to swing away,' which does not fit the context of working enthusiastically.
• 3なりきって is an incorrect reading. なりきる means 'to fully become a role / to get completely into character,' which does not fit here.

• 張り切る（はりきる） — to be full of enthusiasm, to do with vigor