N3 Vocabulary · Test 69

The correct answer is 4. うわさ (噂, 'rumor'). うわさを聞いた means 'heard a rumor,' and the clause 本当かどうかはわからない ('don't know whether it's true') is the defining characteristic of a rumor — unverified information. The sentence means 'I heard a rumor that Hayashi-san is getting married, but I don't know if it's true.'

• 1文句 (もんく, 'complaint') is a grievance or complaint, not something you'd 'hear' about someone's marriage in this context.
• 2宣伝 (せんでん, 'advertisement/promotion') is commercial advertising, irrelevant here.
• 3うそ (嘘, 'lie') — if you already know it's a lie, you would know it's not true, which contradicts 本当かどうかわからない ('don't know if it's true'). A rumor fits because its truth is uncertain.

• 噂うわさ — rumor, gossip
• 文句もんく — complaint, grievance
• 宣伝せんでん — advertisement, promotion
• 嘘うそ — lie
• 結婚けっこん — marriage

The correct answer is 4. おもに (主に) means 'mainly.' The sentence says participants were mainly students, but there were also a few housewives and company employees. The contrast '～だったが、ほかに～も' (were X, but there were also others) fits perfectly with 'mainly.'

• 1かならず (必ず) means 'always / necessarily.' Saying participants were 'always' students makes no sense in this context.
• 2すべて (全て) means 'all / entirely.' If participants were 'all' students, the following clause 'ほかに主婦や会社員も' (there were also housewives and company employees) would be a direct contradiction.
• 3じゅうぶん (十分) means 'enough / sufficiently.' This does not fit grammatically or semantically before 学生だった.

• おもに（主に） — mainly, primarily
• かならず（必ず） — always, necessarily
• すべて（全て） — all, entirely
• じゅうぶん — enough, sufficiently
• 講演会こうえんかい — lecture, public talk
• 参加者さんかしゃ — participant

The correct answer is 1. 不安 (ふあん) means 'anxiety / uneasiness.' The speaker is wondering whether they can handle such an important job, and at first they felt anxious: '初めは不安だった' (at first I was anxious). This is the most natural word for worrying about one's ability.

• 2無理 (むり) means 'impossible / unreasonable.' While one might feel a task is 無理, the phrase '無理だった' here would mean 'it was impossible,' which doesn't describe the speaker's emotional state as naturally as 不安.
• 3退屈 (たいくつ) means 'boring / tedious.' This has nothing to do with worrying about one's ability to do a job.
• 4苦手 (にがて) means 'poor at / not good at.' This describes a skill level, not an emotional state. '初めは苦手だった' would mean 'at first I was bad at it,' which doesn't fit the structure 'できるかどうか…だった' (whether I could do it, I was ___).

なるべく (成るべく) means 'as much as possible' or 'if possible.' The sentence says: 'When circumstances become inconvenient, please contact (me) as early as possible.' なるべく早く is a common fixed phrase meaning 'as early as possible,' making option 2 the correct choice.

• 1ずいぶん (随分) means 'very/quite' and is used to express a high degree (e.g., ずいぶん早く来た 'came quite early'). It describes an already-achieved state rather than making a request, so it doesn't fit the request form 連絡してください.
• 3きっと means 'surely/certainly' and expresses strong conjecture or certainty. きっと早く would mean 'surely early,' which is grammatically and semantically unnatural in this context.
• 4さっそく (早速) means 'immediately/right away.' While it conveys promptness, さっそく早く is redundant and awkward — you wouldn't stack two adverbs of speed like this. The natural phrasing would be さっそく連絡してください (without 早く), but the stem requires something that modifies 早く.

• なるべく — as much as possible; if possible
• ずいぶん — very; quite (expresses a high degree)
• きっと — surely; certainly
• さっそく — immediately; right away
• 都合が悪くなる（つごうがわるくなる） — to become inconvenient (for someone)

とじて is the te-form of 閉じる (とじる), meaning 'to close.' 目を閉じる is the standard phrase for 'to close one's eyes.' The sentence says: 'During the meeting, Yamada-san had his eyes closed, so I thought he was sleeping.' This fits perfectly — closed eyes during a meeting would make someone think he was asleep.

• 1とめて is the te-form of 止める (とめる), meaning 'to stop.' 目を止める is not a natural Japanese expression; you cannot 'stop' your eyes.
• 2やめて is the te-form of やめる (止める/辞める), meaning 'to quit/to stop doing.' 目をやめる is not a standard phrase and makes no sense in this context.
• 3さげて is the te-form of 下げる (さげる), meaning 'to lower.' While there are expressions like 目を伏せる (to cast one's eyes down), 目を下げる is not a standard idiom, and 'lowering one's eyes' would not make someone think the person was sleeping.

• 閉とじる — to close (eyes, a book, etc.)
• 目を閉じる（めをとじる） — to close one's eyes
• 止とめる — to stop (something)
• 下さげる — to lower; to hang down

文章 is read ぶんしょう. 文(ぶん) means 'sentence/text' and 章(しょう) means 'chapter/composition'. The sentence says 'This text is long and hard to understand.'

• 1ぶんそ is wrong; 章 is read しょう, not そ.
• 2ぶんしょ is 文書 (document), a different word.
• 3ぶんそう is wrong; 章 is read しょう, not そう.

• 文章ぶんしょう — sentence, text, passage

The correct reading of 改札 is かいさつ (kaisatsu), meaning 'ticket gate' (at a train station). The sentence means '(I am) waiting in front of the ticket gate.'

• 2かいじょう is the reading for 会場 (kaijō), meaning 'venue' or 'hall'. The kanji 改 is read かい here, but 札 is not じょう.
• 3けいさつ is the reading for 警察 (keisatsu), meaning 'police'. This is a plausible distractor because 札 and 察 look somewhat similar, but it is incorrect.
• 4けいじょう could be the reading for 軽傷 (keijō, minor injury) or 形状 (keijō, shape/form). Neither relates to 改札.

• 改札かいさつ — ticket gate (at a station)
• 改かい — reform; change; inspect
• 札さつ — ticket; bill

The correct reading of 笑って is わらって (waratte), the te-form of 笑う (warau), meaning 'to laugh/smile'. The sentence means 'When I told that story, she was laughing.'

• 1こまって is the reading for 困って (komatte), the te-form of 困る (komaru), meaning 'to be troubled/in a bind'. It is a distractor based on a similar emotional context.
• 2おこって is the reading for 怒って (okotte), the te-form of 怒る (okoru), meaning 'to get angry'. It is a plausible distractor because it describes another emotional reaction.
• 4うたがって is the reading for 疑って (utagatte), the te-form of 疑う (utagau), meaning 'to doubt/suspect'. It is unrelated to laughing but uses a similar verb-te-form pattern.

• 笑わらって — laughing / smiling (te-form of 笑う)
• 笑わらう — to laugh; to smile