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2024年05月11日
英語 長文読解に挑戦しよう【第６回】
今日からまた違う英長文について扱っていきたいと思います。
前に扱わせていただいた大学とは違うところになりますので、難易度も違ってきますが、どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
↓ 以下の長文は分かりやすくするため、つながっている部分は１文ごとに改行、段落は２個分改行を行います。
問
If you've ever pondered whether your pet cat gives a whisker about your whereabouts, research may have an answer: cats seem you track their owners while they move about the house, and they are surprised if they appear somewhere they are not expecting them.
The finding supports the idea that cats retain a mental representation of their owners, even when they can't see them; a crucial bridge to higher mental processes such as forward planning and imagination.
Cats are notoriously ( ) creatures.
Although previous research has suggested that cats will search in the correct place if food is seen to disappear and expect to see their owner's face if they hear their voice, it was unclear how this ability translated into real life.
"It is also said that cats are not as interested in their owners as dogs are, but we had doubts about this point", said Dr Saho Takagi at the University of Kyoto in Japan.
To investigate, Takagi and colleagues recorded what happened when fifty domestic cats were individually shut inside a room, and repeatedly heard their owner calling their name from outside, followed by either a stranger's voice, or that of their owner, coming through a speaker on the opposite side of the room they were inhabiting.
Eight human observers watched these recordings and ranked the cat's level of surprise based on their ear and head movements.
Only when their owner's voice suddenly "appeared" inside the room - implying that they had somehow teleported there - did the cats appear confused.
"Thies study shows that cats can mentally map their location based ( C ) their owner's voice", said Takagi, whose research was published in the journal PLOS One.
"It suggests that cats have the ability to picture ( D ) in their minds.
Cats may have a more ( E ) before."
However, it's not entirely surprising that cats possess this ability: "That awareness of movement is critical to a cat's survival", said Roger Tabor, a biologist, author and presenter of the BBC TV series Cats.
"A lot of what a cat has to interpret in its territory is an awareness of where other cats are.
It is also important for hunting: how could a cat catch a field mouse moving around beneath the grass if it couldn't use clues, such as the occasional rustle, to see in its mind's eye, where they are?
A cat's owner is extremely significant in its life as a source of food and security, so where we are is very important."
Anika Kelsey, an expert studying cat's behaviour and author Let's Talk About Cats, said: "Cats have a close relationship with us and most feel settled and safe within our ( F ) so our human voice would be part of that bond or relationship.
When I am dealing ( G ) cats that suffer separation anxiety, I usually do not recommend playing the recording of the owner's voice in the home as this can cause anxiety with the cat hearing the voice, but not knowing where their human is."
Curiously, the cats did not show the same surprise response shen the owners' voice were replaced with cat meows or electronic sounds.
Possibly, this is because adult cats do not tend to use voice as their primary means of communication with one another, many may rely on other cues such as scent instead.
"The 'meow' that we used in this study is a voice signal that is only emitted ( I ) humans, except among kittens", said Takagi.
"Cats may not be able to identify other cats from their meows."
設問については後日、長文の解説が終わった後にするとして、まずは長文を解説していきます。
第１段落
［≪If≫ you（＝S）'ve ever pondered（＝V）
［≪whether≫ your pet cat（＝S） gives（＝V） a whisker（＝O）
［about your whereabouts］（＝「a whisker」の補足）］（＝O）,
research（＝S） may have（＝V） an answer（＝O）:
cats（＝S） seem（＝V） ［(that) you（＝S） track（＝V） their owners（＝O）
［≪while≫ they（＝their owners） move（＝V） about the house］（＝「their ownersを補足）］（＝C）
, ≪and≫
they（＝S＝cats） are surprised（＝V） ［≪if≫ they（＝S） appear（＝V）
［≪somewhere≫ they（＝S） are not expecting（＝V） them（＝O）］（＝「appear」の補足）］（＝O）.
※「ponder」：熟考する、思案する／「whether」：～かどうか／「whereabout」：居場所、行方
大学が変わったためか、初っ端から結構な長めな文ですね…
かなりの数の接続詞が使われていたりしますが、上のように分解していくとだいぶ読みやすいのではないかと思います。
訳としては、
もし、あなたのペットの猫があなたの行方を気にしているかどうか考えたことがあるなら、研究が答えを提供しているかもしれません。猫は飼い主が家の中を移動する際に彼らを追跡しているようであり、彼らが予期しない場所に現れると驚いているようです。
となります。
第２段落
The finding（＝S） supports（＝V） the idea（＝O）
［≪that≫ cats（＝S） retain（＝V） a mental representation（＝O） ［of their owners］］（＝ideaの内容）,
even ［≪when≫ they（＝S） can't see（＝V） them（＝O）］;
a crucial bridge（＝S） ［to higher mental］（＝「a crucial bridge」を修飾） processes（＝V）
≪such as forward≫ planning（＝O①） ≪and≫ imagination（＝O②）.
今回は第２段落までとしますが、文章が長くなるとやはり文章の構成が色々混ざりあって解読が難しくなりますね。
訳：
その結果は、猫が飼い主の精神的な表象を保持しているという考えを支持しています。それは、彼らが飼い主を見えなくても想像力や将来の計画などの高次の精神的プロセスにつながる重要な架け橋です。
次回はこの続きを扱っていきたいと思います。
↓ おすすめの参考書は載せておきますが、まずは自分のレベルに合った参考書を選びましょう。参考書の選び方はまた別の機会（サブブログ）でやろうと思います
前に扱わせていただいた大学とは違うところになりますので、難易度も違ってきますが、どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
↓ 以下の長文は分かりやすくするため、つながっている部分は１文ごとに改行、段落は２個分改行を行います。
問
If you've ever pondered whether your pet cat gives a whisker about your whereabouts, research may have an answer: cats seem you track their owners while they move about the house, and they are surprised if they appear somewhere they are not expecting them.
The finding supports the idea that cats retain a mental representation of their owners, even when they can't see them; a crucial bridge to higher mental processes such as forward planning and imagination.
Cats are notoriously ( ) creatures.
Although previous research has suggested that cats will search in the correct place if food is seen to disappear and expect to see their owner's face if they hear their voice, it was unclear how this ability translated into real life.
"It is also said that cats are not as interested in their owners as dogs are, but we had doubts about this point", said Dr Saho Takagi at the University of Kyoto in Japan.
To investigate, Takagi and colleagues recorded what happened when fifty domestic cats were individually shut inside a room, and repeatedly heard their owner calling their name from outside, followed by either a stranger's voice, or that of their owner, coming through a speaker on the opposite side of the room they were inhabiting.
Eight human observers watched these recordings and ranked the cat's level of surprise based on their ear and head movements.
Only when their owner's voice suddenly "appeared" inside the room - implying that they had somehow teleported there - did the cats appear confused.
"Thies study shows that cats can mentally map their location based ( C ) their owner's voice", said Takagi, whose research was published in the journal PLOS One.
"It suggests that cats have the ability to picture ( D ) in their minds.
Cats may have a more ( E ) before."
However, it's not entirely surprising that cats possess this ability: "That awareness of movement is critical to a cat's survival", said Roger Tabor, a biologist, author and presenter of the BBC TV series Cats.
"A lot of what a cat has to interpret in its territory is an awareness of where other cats are.
It is also important for hunting: how could a cat catch a field mouse moving around beneath the grass if it couldn't use clues, such as the occasional rustle, to see in its mind's eye, where they are?
A cat's owner is extremely significant in its life as a source of food and security, so where we are is very important."
Anika Kelsey, an expert studying cat's behaviour and author Let's Talk About Cats, said: "Cats have a close relationship with us and most feel settled and safe within our ( F ) so our human voice would be part of that bond or relationship.
When I am dealing ( G ) cats that suffer separation anxiety, I usually do not recommend playing the recording of the owner's voice in the home as this can cause anxiety with the cat hearing the voice, but not knowing where their human is."
Curiously, the cats did not show the same surprise response shen the owners' voice were replaced with cat meows or electronic sounds.
Possibly, this is because adult cats do not tend to use voice as their primary means of communication with one another, many may rely on other cues such as scent instead.
"The 'meow' that we used in this study is a voice signal that is only emitted ( I ) humans, except among kittens", said Takagi.
"Cats may not be able to identify other cats from their meows."
設問については後日、長文の解説が終わった後にするとして、まずは長文を解説していきます。
第１段落
［≪If≫ you（＝S）'ve ever pondered（＝V）
［≪whether≫ your pet cat（＝S） gives（＝V） a whisker（＝O）
［about your whereabouts］（＝「a whisker」の補足）］（＝O）,
research（＝S） may have（＝V） an answer（＝O）:
cats（＝S） seem（＝V） ［(that) you（＝S） track（＝V） their owners（＝O）
［≪while≫ they（＝their owners） move（＝V） about the house］（＝「their ownersを補足）］（＝C）
, ≪and≫
they（＝S＝cats） are surprised（＝V） ［≪if≫ they（＝S） appear（＝V）
［≪somewhere≫ they（＝S） are not expecting（＝V） them（＝O）］（＝「appear」の補足）］（＝O）.
※「ponder」：熟考する、思案する／「whether」：～かどうか／「whereabout」：居場所、行方
大学が変わったためか、初っ端から結構な長めな文ですね…
かなりの数の接続詞が使われていたりしますが、上のように分解していくとだいぶ読みやすいのではないかと思います。
訳としては、
もし、あなたのペットの猫があなたの行方を気にしているかどうか考えたことがあるなら、研究が答えを提供しているかもしれません。猫は飼い主が家の中を移動する際に彼らを追跡しているようであり、彼らが予期しない場所に現れると驚いているようです。
となります。
第２段落
The finding（＝S） supports（＝V） the idea（＝O）
［≪that≫ cats（＝S） retain（＝V） a mental representation（＝O） ［of their owners］］（＝ideaの内容）,
even ［≪when≫ they（＝S） can't see（＝V） them（＝O）］;
a crucial bridge（＝S） ［to higher mental］（＝「a crucial bridge」を修飾） processes（＝V）
≪such as forward≫ planning（＝O①） ≪and≫ imagination（＝O②）.
今回は第２段落までとしますが、文章が長くなるとやはり文章の構成が色々混ざりあって解読が難しくなりますね。
訳：
その結果は、猫が飼い主の精神的な表象を保持しているという考えを支持しています。それは、彼らが飼い主を見えなくても想像力や将来の計画などの高次の精神的プロセスにつながる重要な架け橋です。
次回はこの続きを扱っていきたいと思います。
↓ おすすめの参考書は載せておきますが、まずは自分のレベルに合った参考書を選びましょう。参考書の選び方はまた別の機会（サブブログ）でやろうと思います
 | 2023年受験用 全国大学入試問題正解 英語（私立大編） [ 旺文社 ] 価格:7260円 |
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