CRITICAL READING TRAINING

Target: Fact and Opinion 2

Lesson 9 の本文では，場面に応じた言葉の使い方が，具体例を伴って説明されています。意見 (Opinion/Idea) を述べる時は，意見を支持する客観的な証拠や具体的な出来事(Fact) を挙げる ことが大切です。この点に注意して，次の問題に取り組みましょう。

The passage below is a letter sent to a certain newspaper company by a foreign person living in the UK. Read the passage and answer the following questions.

Dear Sir,

I wonder whether any other readers of your newspaper have had the same ①problem as me. A new acquaintance here in London recently said to me, “Drop in at my house any time if you are near.” When I did go to see her, however, she seemed at first surprised, and then somewhat annoyed that I had taken her words literally.

②In my opinion, my acquaintance was wrong to invite me when she didn’t mean it. First of all, it was very embarrassing to expect a welcome and then find that I wasn’t welcome at all. Secondly, I expect people to be honest. Now I feel that I can’t trust this person at all. Even if she had not really wanted me to visit, my acquaintance should have been polite to me and made me welcome.

I must point out that I am Finnish, and although I love living in England, I still find the subtleties of English very difficult. Please think of foreigners like me!

Yours faithfully,
Alvi Korhonen

(1) Choose from a ～ d the most appropriate option to describe the reason the ‘problem’ at ① occurred?

  1. Alvi was invited to his new acquaintanceʼs home.
  2. Alvi tried to surprise his new acquaintance.
  3. Alvi was told not to visit his new acquaintanceʼs home.
  4. Alvi took his new acquaintanceʼs words literally.

Understanding Fact and Opinion（ 事実と意見を区別して考える問題）

(2) Find and underline two sentences in the letter that support ② and write “Fact” or “Opinion” in the blank.

　Support sentence 1：（ 根拠となる文 1（First of all, it was very embarrassing to expect a welcome and then find that I wasn’t welcome at all.）： Opinion ）
　Support sentence 2：（ 根拠となる文 2（Secondly, I expect people to be honest.）： Opinion ）

(3) Choose from a ～ c the most appropriate option to describe the tone of the letter.

  1. 冷静で客観的な証拠が示されており，論理的で説得力がある。
  2. 情緒豊かな表現が多用されており，異国で暮らす外国人の気持ちを代弁している。
  3. 意見を意見で裏付けている部分があるため，筆者の気持ちは理解できるがやや一方的である。