言葉と文法

ハリーポッターに出てくる単語は8割が中学・高校で学習レベル、あとの2割が辞書で調べられる単語と作者の創作語だと言われます。しかし、中学・高校で学習レベルといいますが、それはその語の持つ意味合いは別として、その英単語が単に出てくる、ということでしょう。ハリーポッター読んで意味深いのは、そういう英単語が様々な意味範囲で使われていることを見出すことでもあります。以下のproduceなどもそういう単語の一つだと思います。これは入試でも登場するのは以下の通りです。

  "Wand," grunted the security wizard at Harry, putting down the golden instrument and holding out his hand.

  Harry produced his wand. The wizard dropped it on to a strange brass instrument, which looked something like a set of scales with only one dish. It began to vibrate. A narrow strip of parchment came speeding out of a slit in the base. The wizard tore this off and read the writing on it.

[from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, p.128]

At the inn Wang told the story to the other guests. While he spoke, a gentleman having a bandaged eye came in. He listened to Wang's story with interest and asked if he might not be shown the paper. Wang was just about to produce it when the innkeeper noticed that the newcomer had a tail. 'He's a fox!' he shouted, and on the spot the gentleman turned into a fox and fled.

[部分　東邦大学（理）2005 ]

文法的にみても重要事項が満載。学校の文法、入試の文法を十分カバーしてあまりある学習が可能です。以下の下線部を文法的に説明してみましょう。

Harry 1)lay flat on his back, breathing hard 2)as though he had been running. He had awoken from a vivid dream 3)with his hands pressed over his face. The old scar on his forehead, 4)which was shaped like a bolt of lightning, was burning beneath his fingers 5)as though someone had just pressed a white-hot wire to his skin.

He sat up, 6)one hand still on his scar, the other hand reaching out in the darkness for his glasses, which were on the bedside table. He put them on and his bedroom came into clearer focus, 7)lit by a faint, misty orange light 8)that was filtering through the curtains from the street lamp outside the window.　[form Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,p.20]