N3 Reading · Test 43

Option 1 「チョコレートでした」is correct. The sentence describes a past event: 'I bought a snack in a box with a cherry blossom design. It was a cherry-blossom-flavored chocolate (桜味のチョコレートでした).' The past-tense copula でした matches the narrative past tense (買いました). Later in the passage, the writer refers to 'そのチョコレート' (that chocolate), confirming the snack was chocolate.

• 2「チョコレートにしてみます」means 'I will try making it chocolate.' This is wrong tense (future/volitional) for a past narrative and doesn't fit the context of describing what was bought.
• 3「チョコレートのことでした」means 'it was about chocolate.' This would mean the topic/subject was chocolate, not that the item itself was chocolate, which doesn't fit the sentence describing the purchased snack.
• 4「チョコレートにするつもりです」means 'I intend to choose chocolate.' This is future intention, incompatible with the past-tense context of something already purchased.

• 桜味さくらあじ — cherry blossom flavor
• チョコレート（ちょこれーと） — chocolate

Option 4 「ところが」is correct. The writer wanted to eat the chocolate again and searched the store, expecting to find it. 「ところが」(however/but) introduces a result contrary to that expectation: no matter how much they searched, they couldn't find it. This conjunction marks a contrast between expectation and reality.

• 1「それで」means 'so/therefore,' indicating a cause-effect relationship. Searching and not finding are not cause and effect; rather, not finding contradicts the expectation of finding it.
• 2「そのうえ」means 'moreover/furthermore,' used to add information in the same direction. The failure to find the chocolate is not an addition to the desire to eat it; it is a contrary outcome.
• 3「ちなみに」means 'by the way/incidentally,' used to add a related but tangential remark. The inability to find the chocolate is the main point, not a side note.

• ところが — however; but (contrary to expectation)
• それで — so; therefore
• そのうえ — moreover; furthermore
• ちなみに — by the way; incidentally

Option 3 「そういう」is correct. The preceding sentences describe sweets sold only in specific seasons: cherry-blossom flavor in spring, watermelon/soda flavor in summer, and sweets sold only in autumn or winter. 「そういう」(such/that kind of) refers back to these seasonal sweets. The sentence means: 'I was surprised to learn that there are such (seasonal) sweets in Japan.'

• 1「ある」before a noun means 'a certain' (あるお菓子 = 'a certain sweet'). This would imply one unspecified sweet, not the category of seasonal sweets being discussed.
• 2「この」means 'this,' referring to something close to the speaker. The seasonal sweets are not a single nearby item but a general category described in the preceding sentences.
• 4「どちらにも」means 'to either (of two).' There are four seasons discussed, not two choices, so this doesn't fit.

• そういう — such; that kind of
• ある — a certain (before nouns)
• 四季しき — the four seasons
• 変化へんか — change

Option 4 「教えてくれました」is correct. The subject marked by は is 店の人 (the shop clerk). The structure 〜てくれました means someone did a favor for the speaker. So 「店の人は…教えてくれました」= 'the shop clerk told me (did me the favor of telling me).' This correctly matches the particle は marking the giver of the favor.

• 1「教えられました」is passive ('was taught'). With 店の人は as the subject, this would mean 'the shop clerk was taught (by someone),' which reverses the roles — the clerk is the one who taught, not the one who was taught.
• 2「教えてもらいました」means 'I received the favor of being taught.' The subject of 〜てもらう is the receiver (the speaker), so it would need 私は, not 店の人は. With 店の人は as subject, the sentence is grammatically mismatched.
• 3「教えさせられました」is causative-passitive ('was made to teach'). This would mean the shop clerk was forced to teach someone, which makes no sense in context.

• 〜てくれる — someone does a favor for the speaker
• 〜てもらう — the speaker receives a favor from someone
• 受身形うけみけい — passive form
• 使役受身形しえきうけみけい — causative-passive form

Option 2 「思っています」is correct. The pattern 〜ようと思う means 'I intend to do ~.' The ています form indicates an ongoing state of intention: 'I am thinking I will continue to treasure the cherry-blossom box.' This fits the writer's current, continuing resolve expressed in the final paragraph.

• 1「思いましょう」is not grammatically correct. The volitional form of 思う is 思おう, not 思いましょう, making this an invalid form.
• 3「思うのではありませんか」means 'isn't it that (I) think…?' This turns the statement into a question seeking confirmation, which doesn't fit the writer's clear personal declaration of intent.
• 4「思ってもしかたありません」means 'even if I think so, it can't be helped.' This conveys resignation or futility, contradicting the writer's positive determination to treasure the box.

• 〜ようと思う（〜ようとおもう） — to intend to do ~
• 大切たいせつにする — to treasure; to take good care of
• 新鮮しんせんな — fresh; new (feeling)