N3 Reading · Test 66

The correct option is 2: すると. The preceding sentence says a broadcast announcing cleaning time came on. The following sentence describes something unexpected happening (children started moving desks). すると means 'then / thereupon' and connects a sequence of events: one thing happened, and then—right after—another thing happened. Here, the broadcast played, すると (then), something unexpected occurred.

• 1つまり means 'in other words / that is to say' and is used to rephrase or summarize what was just said. The relationship here is not rephrasing but temporal sequence, so this does not fit.
• 3結局 means 'in the end / after all' and is used to state a final conclusion or outcome after a series of events. There is no series of events leading to a conclusion here; it is an immediate sequential connection.
• 4例えば means 'for example' and introduces an illustrative example. The unexpected event that follows is not an example of anything; it is what actually happened next.

• すると — then, thereupon (connects sequential events: one thing happens, then another follows)
• 予想外よそうがい — unexpected, beyond expectations
• つまり — in other words, that is to say
• 結局けっきょく — in the end, after all
• 例たとえば — for example

The correct option is 1: 驚きました. The writer is describing their own reaction to seeing children clean: 'Seeing this, I was very surprised.' The following sentence explains why—because at the writer's own school, cleaning was done by a professional company, so seeing children clean was a first. 驚きました is the plain active past form of 驚く (to be surprised), appropriate for first-person experience.

• 2驚かれました is the passive form. The passive of 驚く would imply the writer was made surprised by someone, which is unnatural here. The writer simply felt surprised on their own; no agent caused the surprise in a passive sense.
• 3驚いたようです means 'seemed surprised,' which describes someone else's apparent state from an observer's perspective. The writer is describing their own direct feeling, not how they appeared to others.
• 4驚かれたようです combines passive and 'seemed,' making it doubly inappropriate. It would mean 'it seemed (someone) was made surprised,' which does not match the first-person direct experience being described.

• 驚おどろく — to be surprised, to be astonished
• 驚おどろきました — was surprised (polite past, active)
• 予想外よそうがい — unexpected

The correct option is 3: その. The sentence reads: 'I think this is the reason why there was no trash at その (that) school.' その refers back to the Japanese elementary school the writer visited, which was introduced earlier in the passage. The writer is connecting the cleaning practice they observed to the absence of trash at that specific school.

• 1ある means 'a certain' and is used when introducing something for the first time without specifying which (ある学校 = 'a certain school'). But the school has already been specifically identified as the Japanese elementary school visited, so ある is inappropriate.
• 2あらゆる means 'all / every' (あらゆる学校 = 'every school'). The writer is talking about one specific school, not making a universal claim about all schools.
• 4私の means 'my.' The writer's school is mentioned later as the contrast ('私の小学校では…'), where cleaning was done by professionals. The school with no trash is the Japanese school, not the writer's own school.

• その — that (refers back to something already mentioned)
• ある — a certain (used when mentioning something for the first time)
• あらゆる — all, every (of a category)
• 理由りゆう — reason

The correct option is 4: なら. The sentence reads: 'Surely, if it is a place that they or someone they know cleaned, they probably use it carefully.' なら is a conditional meaning 'if it is the case that~' and attaches to nouns. Here, 場所なら creates the condition 'if it's a place (that was cleaned by oneself or someone familiar),' and the conclusion is that people will treat it with care. This matches the writer's reasoning about why the school had no trash.

• 1などに means 'to/for things like~' and would make the sentence mean 'to places like~ they probably use carefully,' which is grammatically and semantically incoherent here.
• 2よりは means 'rather than~' and would require a comparison. The sentence is not comparing places; it is stating a conditional relationship—if a place was cleaned by someone familiar, people use it carefully.
• 3でも means 'even~' and would give 'even a place that someone they know cleaned, they use carefully.' While not impossible in isolation, it changes the meaning to an emphatic 'even,' which does not fit the writer's logical reasoning. The writer is explaining a natural conditional tendency, not an unexpected 'even' situation.

• なら — if it is the case that~ (conditional attached to nouns/na-adjectives)
• 大切に使う（たいせつにつかう） — to use carefully, to treat with care
• きっと — surely, probably
• 場所ばしょ — place

The correct option is 3: 身についていいと思います. The sentence reads: 'Cleaning time does not only make the school clean. I think it is good that the habit of using shared spaces cleanly is acquired (身につく).' The writer is expressing their personal opinion/realization as a conclusion to the essay. 身についていいと思います = 'I think it is good that (the habit) is acquired.' This matches the essay's reflective tone.

• 1身についてもいいです means 'it is okay even if it is acquired.' The も adds an unnecessary 'even' nuance, and です states it as a flat fact rather than the writer's personal opinion, which doesn't match the essay's reflective conclusion.
• 2身についていいだけです means 'only acquiring it is good' or 'it is good only to acquire it.' The だけ ('only') restricts the meaning inappropriately, suggesting nothing else is good, which distorts the writer's intended message.
• 4身についてもいいと思うだけです means 'I only think it would be okay if it is acquired.' The だけ ('only') at the end trivializes the writer's opinion, making it sound like the only thing they think, which is unnatural and does not match the essay's positive, reflective conclusion.

• 身みにつく — to acquire (a skill, habit, etc.), to master
• 習慣しゅうかん — habit, custom
• 〜だけではありません — it is not only~