N3 Reading · Test 30

The sentence says: 'Before studying abroad, I think you (the teacher) taught me various things carefully and thoroughly. Truly [19].' Yuliya is expressing gratitude to her teacher for all the help and teaching she received before coming to Japan. 「お世話になりました」(o-sewa ni narimashita) is the standard polite expression meaning 'You took care of me / I am indebted to you,' and it fits perfectly here as a thank-you for past help.

• 1「お願いします」(o-negai shimasu) means 'Please (do something for me)' — a request for future action, not gratitude for past help. The teacher already taught her; she is not asking for something new here.
• 2「どうぞお構いなく」(dōzo o-kamai naku) means 'Please don't go to any trouble / don't mind me' — used when visiting someone's home, for example. It is completely out of place in a letter thanking a teacher for past instruction.
• 4「お久しぶりです」(o-hisashiburi desu) means 'It's been a long time.' The letter already opens with 「ご無沙汰しております」(go-busata shite orimasu), which serves the same purpose, so repeating this sentiment at [19] would be redundant and doesn't fit the context of thanking the teacher.

• お世話になる（おせわになる） — to be taken care of, to be indebted to someone (polite expression of gratitude)
• 丁寧ていねい — careful, polite, thorough
• 教おしえてくださる — to teach for me (humble/grateful perspective using 〜てくださる)

The sentence reads: 'I've gotten used to daily life, but school studies are tough. [20] I didn't think it would be this hard.' The correct answer is 「こんなに」(konna ni), meaning 'this much / like this.' The full sentence 「こんなに大変だとは思いませんでした」means 'I didn't think it would be THIS hard,' which naturally expresses surprise at the degree of difficulty — a very common pattern.

• 1「あれは」(are wa) means 'that is' and refers to something distant from both speaker and listener. It doesn't modify the adjective 大変 to express degree, and the sentence would become ungrammatical: 「あれは大変だとは思いませんでした」would mean 'I didn't think THAT was tough,' which doesn't connect to the preceding statement about school studies being hard.
• 3「それより」(sore yori) means 'more than that / rather than that,' used to shift topics or compare. Inserting it here would give 'Rather than that, I didn't think it would be tough,' which doesn't make sense — she is commenting on the degree of difficulty, not changing the subject.
• 4「どちらも」(dochira mo) means 'both' and is used when comparing two things. There is no comparison between two items here; she is simply saying the studies are harder than expected.

• こんなに — this much, like this (degree)
• 大変たいへん — tough, difficult, hard
• 慣なれる — to get used to

The preceding sentence says: 'I just go back and forth between home and school, and I have hardly ever gone anywhere else.' The following sentence says: 'since I've come all the way to Japan, studying only would be a waste (もったいない).' There is a clear contrast: she has only been studying and not going out, BUT she also feels she should experience more. 「でも」(demo) meaning 'but / however' connects these two contrasting ideas perfectly.

• 2「たぶん」(tabun) means 'probably / perhaps.' Inserting it would give 'Probably, since I came all the way to Japan...' which doesn't create the needed contrast and sounds unnatural in this context.
• 3「たとえば」(tatoeba) means 'for example.' The following sentence is not an example of anything in the preceding sentence; it is a contrasting thought, so this doesn't fit.
• 4「ところで」(tokorode) means 'by the way' and is used to change the topic entirely. The following sentence is closely related to the preceding one (both about her life in Japan), so a topic shift is inappropriate here.

• でも — but, however (conjunction)
• せっかく — with great effort, going to the trouble of; 'since one has gone to the trouble of...'
• もったいない — wasteful, a waste

The preceding sentences say: 'While in Japan, I want to go to various places and have various experiences, not just study Japanese. So from now on, as much as possible [22].' The sentence ends with 「だから、これからはできるだけ[22]」(So from now on I will try to [22] as much as possible). Option 3 「出かけるようにするつもりです」(dekakeru yō ni suru tsumori desu) means 'I intend to make an effort to go out,' which matches her stated desire to go to various places and have experiences. The pattern 「〜ようにする」(try to / make an effort to) plus 「つもりです」(intend to) expresses her own volition perfectly.

• 1「出かけたがるはずです」(dekaketa-garu hazu desu) means '(someone) should want to go out.' The 〜がる form expresses observed desire in a third person, and はずです means 'should/is expected to.' Yuliya is talking about her own intention, not predicting someone else's desire, so this is wrong.
• 2「出かけるそうです」(dekakeru sō desu) means 'I hear (someone) will go out' (hearsay). This reports someone else's plan from a rumor, which doesn't fit — Yuliya is stating her own intention.
• 4「出かけてほしいのです」(dekakete hoshii no desu) means 'I want (someone) to go out.' The 〜てほしい pattern expresses a desire for SOMEONE ELSE to do something. Yuliya wants to go out herself, not have someone else go out.

• 〜ようにする — to make an effort to do ~, to try to do ~
• 〜つもりだ — intend to (expressing one's own plan)
• できるだけ — as much as possible

The sentence says: 'Are there any places you recommend? If there are, [23].' Yuliya is asking her teacher to tell her about recommended places. Option 4 「教えてくださいませんか」(oshiete kudasai masen ka) means 'Could you please tell me?' — a polite request using 「〜てくださいませんか」, which is an appropriately respectful way to ask a teacher for information.

• 1「教えてはいかがですか」(oshiete wa ikaga desu ka) means 'How about (you) teaching/telling?' This is used to suggest that the listener do something (like recommending an activity to someone), not to request that they tell YOU something. It would sound like she's suggesting the teacher go teach someone, which is wrong.
• 2「教えていただきませんか」(oshiete itadaki masen ka) is grammatically awkward. The pattern 「〜ていただく」is a receiving-form (humble) verb, and combining it with the negative question 「〜ませんか」is not a natural request form. The correct humble request would be 「教えていただけませんか」(with いただけ, not いただき), so this option is deliberately malformed.
• 3「教えてもよろしいでしょうか」(oshiete mo yoroshii deshō ka) means 'Would it be alright if I told (someone)?' — it asks for permission for the SPEAKER to teach/tell, which is the opposite of what Yuliya wants (she wants the teacher to tell HER).

• 〜てくださいませんか — Could you please do ~? (polite request)
• お勧め（おすすめ） — recommendation, recommended
• 教おしえる — to teach, to tell, to inform