2020 年度日本政府(文部科学省)奨学金留学生選考試験

QUALIFYING EXAMINATION FOR APPLICANTS FOR THE JAPANESE

GOVERNMENT (MEXT) SCHOLARSHIP 2020

学科試験 問題

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS

(研究留学生)

RESEARCH STUDENTS

英 語

ENGLISH

注意 ☆試験時間は 60 分。

PLEASE NOTE: THE TEST PERIOD IS 60 MINUTES.

 (2020)

Nationality No.
ENGLISH
(Please print your full name,
underlining your family name) Marks
Name

I Choose the word or phrase that best completes each sentence.

1 This is a story about a man who has dedicated his life to ( ) our natural
and cultural heritage.
A compromise B deserve   C preserve D register

2 At that delivery company, prices are determined by the ( ) of the

product, not the weight.
A dimensions B inspections C speed D way

3 They made a dinner ( ) for five people at their favorite restaurant near
the park.
A cooked B cooking C reserved D reservation

4 This new product has been ( ) to be an extremely effective fertilizer for

those trees.
A examined B proved C searched D sold

5 Mary has earned the ( ) not only of her colleagues in the company, but
also of the clients she represents.
A belief B fund C respect D salary

6 No new investment will be made without the ( ) of the firm’s board of

directors.
A adoption B consistency C reception D sanction

7 According to some experts in the field, it is highly ( ) that those two

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 companies will announce plans to merge in August.
A confident B potential C probable D threatened

8 Please remember that, depending on your circumstances, you can ( )

one approach or the other.
A choose on B opt for C separate from D yield to

9 We know that bystanders sometimes ( ) to offensive behavior by

powerful figures.
A bring a case B give a break C take a look D turn a blind eye

10 Many people who attended the conference noticed that the president of the
company looked much older ( ) than in his photo.
A in person B in presence C in privacy D in prominence

II Choose the word or phrase that best completes each sentence.

1 Did you see a stranger ( ) the bus stop last night?

A standing at B standing in C to stand at D to stand in

2  “Which are your boots?” “( ) with red stripes.”

A It B That C The one D The ones

3  She was certainly the only person ( ) he started to describe his

feelings.
A by whom B to whom C who D whom

4  At the end of the meeting, I was ( ) I didn’t have the right to say
anything.
A got felt B got to feel C made feeling D made to feel

5  Don’t fail ( ) off the radio when you leave the room.
A remembering to turn B remembering turning
C to remember to turn D to remember turning

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6  ( ) to be confirmed as head of the company.
A It is likely that Ms. Megha Sharma B It seems Ms. Megha Sharma
C Ms. Megha Sharma is certain D Ms. Megha Sharma is probable

7  The population of the town is ( ) as that of my hometown.

A twice bigger B twice as many
C two times as large D two times more

8  It’s too late. You should ( ) him before he got upset.

A apologize B apologize to
C have apologized D have apologized to

9  ( ) going to a movie tonight?

A What about B What do you say
C Why don’t you D Why not

10  ( ) late, please start dinner without me.

A If I had been B If I were
C Should I be D Would I be

III In the following paragraphs, one of the underlined parts is grammatically incorrect.
Choose the incorrect part.

1  A A meteorologist has presented the weather with her one-year-old son on her back.
B She said she had her son on camera with her to celebrate International
Babywearing Week. C The footage was broadcast by news networks across the
country. D The response from the public on social media was overwhelming positive.

2  A Earlier this morning, Wall Street suffered it’s worst trading day in eight months.
B Every sector fell heavily, with big-name technology stocks among the biggest drags
on the US market. C The negative sentiment was also reflected in European markets,
D with Paris, London, and Frankfurt ending their sessions firmly in the red.

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3  A  Science has been particularly susceptible to “truth decay”  —  B  a  term  coined  of  the  Rand 
Corporation  C to describe the rise in the use of opinion over fact in political debates and public 
discourse. D Truth decay is characterized by increasing disagreement about facts and a decline in 
trust in experts.

4  A Somewhere between 2 and 3 billion years ago the Great Oxidation Event took
place, B caused the mass extinction of anaerobic bacteria, the dominant life form at
the time. C Cyanobacteria had now emerged, D which had the photosynthetic ability
to produce glucose and oxygen out of carbon dioxide and water using the power of
the sun. Oxygen was toxic to many anaerobic cousins, and most of them died off.

5  A For almost seventy years, we’ve routinely feed antibiotics to the animals we eat. B
That’s just a few years less than we’ve taken antibiotics ourselves. C And for just
about as long, it’s been clear that those antibiotic doses have been creating
drug-resistant bacteria D that pass from meat animals to make humans sick.

6  A The Lake Serpent, an eight-year-old, 47-foot sailing ship, left Cleveland in

September 1829 for the 55-mile trip to the Lake Erie Islands. B Having arrived, the
ship’s crew collected a load of stone to take back to Cleveland. C The ship never
made it back, one of thousands to sink the Great Lakes. D The Lake Serpent was
lost forever at the bottom of the lake.

7  A Born into slavery in 1853, Bill Traylor witnessed the Civil War and Emancipation.
B After seven decades of toil, too old to work any longer, he decided to pick up a
pencil and paintbrush. C He produced more than a thousand images over the next
four years. D His striking works on discarded cardboard attract the eye of
professional artists who encouraged and collected his work.

8  A A fossil tooth study published today analyzes some of the old human remains ever
found on the Italian Peninsula. B The teeth, which are some 450,000 years old, have
some telltale features of the Neanderthal lineage of ancient humans. C Dating back
to the Middle Pleistocene, D the fossils help to fill in gaps in a complex part of the
hominid family tree.

9  Hong Kong is one of the densest cities on Earth. A Consisting of more than 200
islands, metropolis is bounded by the ocean and by the border with mainland China.

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 B There are 7.3 million people and nowhere to go but up. C But what if we could just
make more islands? D That’s exactly what a think tank recently proposed, claiming
an artificial island could house up to 1.1 million more people.

10  A It may seem like little can be done to lessen the blow of a hurricane. B But
according to new research, help in tempering the power of hurricanes could one day
come from an unexpected source: offshore wind farms. C The idea of deliberately
modifying the weather with wind turbines has been around in decades, D but little
work has been done to calculate whether or not it could really work.

IV Choose the most suitable word or phrase from the list to fill each of the numbered
blanks in the passage below.

The 20th century was a remarkably ( 1 ) one for physics. ( 2 ),

Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity helped us view gravity not as a force but
as a distortion of space. Then Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, and Werner Heisenberg
gave us quantum mechanics — and a fresh understanding of the subatomic world.
( 3 ) the middle of the century, two new forces were discovered deep within
the atom (the strong and weak nuclear forces). Finally, in the century’s last decades, we
got the Standard Model of particle physics — an accounting of all the particles and
forces ( 4 ) in our universe.
But the new century brought ( 5 ). Yes, there have been some remarkable
findings, ( 6 ) the 2012 discovery of the Higgs Boson and the discovery of
gravitational waves four years later. But those triumphs were ( 7 ) theories
developed decades earlier — a full century earlier in the case of gravitational waves.
And new ideas like string theory (which holds that matter is made up of tiny vibrating
loops of energy) ( 8 ) unverified.
“All of the theoretical work that’s been done ( 9 ) the 1970s has not
produced a single successful prediction,” says Neil Turok, director of the Perimeter
Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo. “That’s a very shocking state of affairs.”
This doesn’t mean physicists aren’t busy; the journals are publishing more
research than ever. But all that research isn’t doing much to advance our
understanding of the universe — ( 10 ) not the way physicists did in the last
century.

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1 A produced B product C production D productive
2 A First B However C In sum D Ultimately
3 A At B In C Until D Upon
4 A knowing as existence B knowingly for existing
C known to exist D unknown of existent
5 A a kind of optimism B a lot of discoveries
C a rough patch D a series of successes
6 A as such B contained C including D likely
7 A based on B coming through C evolving into D resulting in
8 A become B go C keep D remain
9 A before B during C in D since
10 A at all B at hand C at least D at most

V PartI:Read the following passage and select the best answer to each question listed
below it.

To see an audience closing its eyes doesn’t always mean that your listeners are
asleep. It may simply mean they’re concentrating hard or wishing to avoid eye contact.
In some cultures it’s a well-established behaviour. I’ve talked to audiences (e.g., in
Japan) where most of the people had their eyes closed most of the time. It’s disturbing,
if you’re used to audiences who keep their eyes on you – as if each person is willing you
to look back at them individually – and who give you lots of visual feedback.
Speaking abroad, to people with a different cultural or linguistic background, can
seriously alter your delivery. They say humour doesn’t travel. Nor, sometimes, does
eloquence. Even if you and your audience all speak English, you need to be cautious.
You may share the same language, but you don’t share the same culture.
The contrast can manifest itself in all kinds of little ways, such as the colloquial
expressions and idioms you use without thinking. Many of these depend on an
understanding of a knowledge of local culture. I recall being in a seminar audience
where a speaker from the USA was eloquently expounding his subject to an
international group of teachers. He paused and asked if there were any questions. A
participant asked one that evidently took him by surprise, because he was silent for a

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few moments before saying, ‘Hmm, that was from out of left field.’ And he paused
again.
The person sitting next to me nudged me and whispered: ‘What does that mean?’
I whispered back: ‘I’ve no idea.’ The lecturer noticed the whispering. ‘Is there a
problem?’ ‘We don’t know what “from out of left field” means,’ I said. ‘Huh?’ he
exclaimed. His face was a picture. It had never occurred to him that this common
American expression, from baseball (as I later learned), would not be understood. He
had to explain, and he didn’t find it easy. Eloquent he wasn’t. Apparently, the left part
of the outfield is furthest from the first base, so that if the ball is hit in that direction
the fielder has the longest distance to throw it back. The expression thus means
‘unexpected’ or ‘out of the ordinary’. I thanked him, adding: ‘You played that with a
straight bat.’ Another facial picture. ‘Huh?’
My cricketing idiom was just as opaque to him as the baseball idiom had been to a
Brit. We both learned something about each other’s sporting cultures that day. But
here’s the point: after the interchange, the speaker was far less eloquent than before.
He seemed to be checking himself mentally to ensure that he didn’t use any more
culturally loaded expressions. And in the bar afterwards, he acknowledged that this
was exactly what he had been doing.
Cultural differences affect far more than individual words and phrases. They can
influence the content and delivery of your speech. Some cultures want to hear hard
facts, data, scholarly references (e.g., Germany, Scandinavia); some want a lot of
personal background (e.g., Italy and other Romance-speaking countries); some value
eloquence and a high style of speaking (e.g., those in the subcontinent of India); some
value emotional content and personal enthusiasm (e.g., many Latin American
countries); some emphasize solidarity with the audience, such as a shared educational
or locality background (e.g., the USA); some like humour, light-heartedness, and
self-effacement (e.g., Britain); some expect formality, with explicit respect paid to the
chairperson and any patrons present (e.g., East Asian countries).

1 According to the article, you don’t have to be worried even if audiences closed their
eyes during your talk because
A it is a habitual manner in some cultures.
B people usually give lots of feedback after the talk.
C that is a typical attitude in the USA.
D they will keep their eyes on you sooner or later.

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2 In the article, the lecturer in the seminar had to adjust his style of speech according
to
A the degree of formality.
B the kind of audience.
C the number of participants.
D the type of topics.

3 In the article, the sentence “You played that with a straight bat” spoken by the
author was not understood by the addressee because
A the addressee confused a baseball idiom with a cricket idiom.
B the addressee was not familiar with the local culture of the author.
C the author didn’t know the language and culture of the addressee well.
D the author misled the addressee by using a local idiom from the USA.

4 After the conversation between the author and the lecturer, the lecturer became less
eloquent because
A he attempted to use the idioms that are familiar with the audience.
B he became careful about using more formal language.
C he realized that they share the same language and culture.
D he tried to avoid using culturally specific words and phrases.

5 According to the article, cultural differences influence both the content and delivery
of the speech. For example, evidence and loyalty to an organizer are highly valued
respectively
A in Britain and the subcontinent of India.
B in Germany and East Asian countries.
C in Latin American countries and Japan.
D in Scandinavia and Romance speaking countries.

V Part II: Read the following passage and select the best answer to each question
listed below it.

Space flight will mark an important milestone this year – when NASA
celebrates the 50th anniversary of US astronauts reaching the moon. In December
1968 Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders – on Apollo 8 – swept over the

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lunar surface and captured bright blue images of Earth rising above the grey
plains of the moon. It was one of the most dramatic space missions ever flown.
Manned landings followed, but after a few years, the US lost interest in lunar space
flights.
But now NASA has revealed plans to return to the Moon and has asked
European scientists and industry leaders to join the agency in a bold plan aimed at
rebooting humanity’s conquest of the solar system – in the form of an international
manned station that will orbit the moon within the next decade.
The proposed station, the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway – known as
Gateway – will allow astronauts to develop techniques that will open up the
lunar surface to exploration and exploitation. At the same time, the station will
help humans hone survival skills in deep space in preparation for future
manned missions to Mars, says NASA.
Taking part in the station’s construction would cost Europe more than
$1.3bn and a decision on whether to become involved will be taken at a meeting
of European science ministers next year. If ministers give the go-ahead, the
European Space Agency (ESA) would then join other international partners that
NASA is recruiting to its Gateway project. These include the space agencies of
Russia, Canada, and Japan.
“Essentially, Gateway will be a robotic outpost that will be visited by groups of
astronauts – initially for weeks and then for months at a time,” says David Parker,
director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration for ESA and a keen
supporter of the project. “They will learn how to survive in deep space and deal
with problems such as radiation and meteorites. At the same time they will also
direct robot craft that will explore the moon’s surface.”
A go-ahead for Gateway would also end the hiatus in manned space
exploration that has lasted for almost a decade. Since the grounding of the space
shuttle, human space flights have been restricted to launches of Russia’s Soyuz
space capsule, which is used to ferry crew and supplies to the International Space
Station (ISS), and the few missions taken by astronauts on China’s fledgling
spacecraft.
Gateway should change that – and it will do so by taking advantage of a major
advance in US space engineering that will occur when NASA begins flights with its
new deep-space capsule, Orion, and its launcher, the Space Launch System in a few
years. These will form the core components of Gateway along with modules similar
to those now used as stores and crew quarters on the ISS, though NASA stresses

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Gateway will be considerably smaller than the current Earth-orbiting space station.
And key to operation of their lunar station will be the extraction, from lunar soil,
of minerals, chemicals and – most important – water. “Recent evidence suggests
comets and asteroids have bombarded the moon for billions of years, depositing
water – in the form of ice – on to its polar regions,” said Mahesh Anand, reader in
planetary science and exploration at the Open University.
Scientists like Anand believe it should be possible to use that water to turn the
moon into a refueling station for long-term missions to Mars and beyond. Ice would
be harvested, melted and electrolyzed – using power generated by solar panels –
into its hydrogen and oxygen components. “You could then use that hydrogen and
oxygen as liquid propellants,” added Anand. “That is what powered the space
shuttle’s main engines after all. Then you could use the moon as a refueling post
to power spaceships to Mars.”

1 Which statement is TRUE about Apollo 8?

A A decade after the Apollo 8 mission, NASA finally succeeded in the first manned
landing on the moon.
B The Apollo 8 crew walked on the surface of the moon and captured bright blue
images of the earth from there.
C Frank Borman, one of the Apollo 8 crew, was not given a chance to walk on the
moon on the mission.
D In 1968 NASA launched Apollo 8 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its moon
exploration.

2 Which statement is FALSE about Gateway, the proposed station?

A It will enable astronauts to explore the moon’s surface.
B It will help astronauts to learn survival skills in deep space.
C The European Space Agency will take over its construction from the Russian,
Canadian, and Japanese space agencies.
D The European Space Agency will take part in its construction together with
other international partners, if European science ministers give the go-ahead.

3 What will happen if Gateway is given the go-ahead by European science ministers?
A Manned space exploration will be resumed, taking advantage of a major
advance in US space engineering.
B NASA will have to modify the plan of its new deep-space capsule, Orion, and its

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 launcher, the Space Launch System.
C Russia’s space capsule and China’s spacecraft will stop transporting crew and
supplies to the International Space Station.
D The program for manned space exploration that has lasted for nearly 10 years
will be suspended.

4 According to the article, which of the following will be the most important to the
operation of Gateway?
A It will be used to develop a new way of turning water into oil for the missions to
Mars.
B It will demonstrate that smaller stations are more efficient than current
Earth-orbiting stations.
C It will make it possible to obtain water from the soil of the moon along with
minerals and chemicals.
D It will prove that water exists in the form of ice outside of the polar regions of
the moon.

5 According to the article, what do scientists like Anand believe about the moon?
A They can install solar panels on the moon to generate electricity to be used as
propellants for the space shuttle’s engines.
B They can make the moon into a refueling post for space missions to Mars, using
the water extracted from lunar soil.
C They can use the hydrogen in the polar regions of the moon as a substitute for
other chemicals and minerals.
D They can use the water in the moon as propellants for space shuttles to fly
faster than the current ones.

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