難関大学を目指し、英文記事を読む！

a basic understanding of humor

かなり手ごわい英文かもしれません。しかしテーマは「ユーモア」です。３つのパートに分けていますが、一続きの文章です。読んでみてください。

[Part I]
   Humor has many faces. It can be biting and sarcastic, subtle, slapstick, genuine, or insincere. It can be used to bring people closer, or to maintain distance. Scores of books have been written on the topic, and still some aspects of humor are too subjective ever to be explained fully. But a basic understanding of how it's used in communication is essential to accurately reading people.   

[Part II]
   Humor can be employed as a weapon or a shield. It can be a powerful tool of aggression, used to hurt and humiliate. It can be used to deflect criticism or defuse a crisis. People frequently use humor to disguise their true feeling; if they don't dare lodge a serious complaint, they'll toss off a humorous but pointed remark instead. As with self-criticism, humor can also be a means of self-protection. The woman who jokes about her height may be introducing the topic to guard against someone else bringing it up, or to suggest to others that she is comfortable with it.

[Part III]
   Always ask whether humor is directed at a particular person and, if so, whether it has a critical element. If the employee who arrives late is met by a supervisor who says, "I'm glad you could join us," he should take that comment seriously, no matter how lightheartedly it was delivered.
[2002 Meiji-gakuin]

ここで言われている'a basic understanding of  humor'をまとめてみましょう。

なお、ここでつかわれている言葉は、文脈を踏まえてしっかり覚えておきましょう。受験必須単語、受験では注がつくであろう単語を区別せずに覚えてしまうことが大切です。

不明な点は、コメント、あるいはメールで。なお、メインページには問い合わせフォームをあります。こちらからでもOKです。

black humour

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fireの映画が昨年公開されましたが、それより少し前にRoald DahlのCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryもロードショー公開され、明日２月３日はDVDが発売されます。
どちらも「おとぎ話」あるいは「ファンタジー」という言い方もできる小説の映画化です。
Harry Potterは非常に話題になりすぎで、具体的な内容は出題しにくいようでこれはで作者の伝記に関する英文くらいしか出題されていなかったと思います。一方、Dahlの方は確かにファンはいますが、まだ限定的なようでここでは内容まで踏み込んだ英文の出題になっています。

では、実際に筑波大（２００１年）で出題された英文の一部を二つに分けて読んでみましょう。
まず「その１」です。
   The use of the word 'unexpected' in relation to many of Roald Dahl's short stories is quite common. The endings to his stories are often unexpected and take the reader by surprise. Sometimes the endings are comic, sometimes they are tragic, sometimes a likeable character wins,sometimes an evil and disliked character wins; in most cases, however, the ending is almost impossible to predict and there is a 'twist-in-the-tail'. Many of the stories are humorous as characters find themselves in unusual or extreme situations but the humour is nearly always a 'black' humour because comic and tragic elements mix together.

読めましたか？ここで 'twist-in-the-tail'とあります。この言葉をここで使われている別の語を使って表現してください。

さて、次は「その２」です。読んでみてください。ちょっと以下の部分は語り切れていないように思います。出典で確認したいところですが、読んでみてください。
   Black humour is an important element in Roald Dahl's writings. Dahl seems to enjoy treating some of his characters in a cruel way. The characters find themselves in circumstances which they did not expect or which have tragic consequences, but their situation is often described in an amusing way and readers find that they are laughing at the personal tragedies of the character and that they may even enjoy reading about their misfortunes. Black humour is directed at characters who are shown to be unsympathetic but is also sometimes reserved for characters we have grown to like. The starting-point for many of the stories is often everyday, common incidents of ordinary life and the characters are often people with whom readers can identify. Not one of Roald Dahl's stories could be called sentimental.

ここで言われている 'black humour'についてまとめてみてください。
なお、興味があれば問題の全文も読んでみてください。

A Briefer History of Einstein

  Throughout his life, Einstein's efforts toward peace probably achieved little that would last--- and certainly won him few friends. His vocal support of the Zionist cause, however, was duly recognized in 1952, when he was offered the presidency of Israel. He declined, saying he thought he was too naive about politics. But perhaps his real reason was different: to quote him again, "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."
[from A Briefer History of Time, Stephen Hawking,2005]

1.　... little that would last
ここが分かるか？

２．His vocal support of the Zionist cause, however, was duly recognized in 1952,
この文は何を読むか？ここは'however'を読む！
また、このcauseは必須。

３．He declined, saying he ...　　あたりまえのように出てくる「分詞構文」、しかし自然に読み進めばよい。

４．"Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."
有名な引用句。

equation、eternityあたりは必須単語。

アスベスト

ここ一年のキーワードの一つ、「アスベスト」

入試で登場する例、

   An estimated one-fifth to one-third of all U.S. buildings, including the EPA(the Environmental Protection Agency) headquarters, are considered "sick". Each year, pollutants inside factories and businesses in the United States cause from 100,000 to 210,000 early deaths in workers. According to the EPA and public health officials, cigarette smoke, radioactive radon-222 gas, asbestos, and formaldehyde are the four most dangerous indoor pollutants.
(東農工大-後期　2003年)

radioactive= 放射性の
radon-222=ラドン222はWHOの下部機関IARCより発癌性があると勧告されている。
asbestos=アスベスト
formaldehyde=ホルムアルデヒド

estimated,pollutantも知らなければチェックを。