関西大学（2020年2月8日）全学部試験英語解答解説速報

今回は、関西大学2020年2月8日の3科目受験型の英語の長文問題について解答速報を述べるとともに解説をしていきます。関大の英語は第１問が会話文で第２問が文法や熟語を問う長文で、第３問は内容読解の英語長文です。

今回は、第３問の内容読解の英語長文について解説をしました。なぜ、関大の英語問題の中で解説を第三問を選んだかというと、一番難しいからです。それでは、解説をしていきます。

関大の大問２については「2020年2月8日関西大学英語第2問長文解答＆徹底解説」をお読みください。

関大英語第3問長文問題について
1. 解答及び解説について
  1. A問題の解答と解説について
  2. B問題について
まとめ

関大英語第3問長文問題について

関大の英語長文ですが、結論から言うとかなり簡単です。理由は①選択肢が３択なので大体の内容が分かれば読めてしまう。②選択肢の内容に引っ掛けの問題が少なく内容を把握できればほぼほぼ満点を取ることは可能である、という点にあります。

とはいえ、少し内容として難しい箇所もありますので、解説をしていきます。特に大事な単語については解説をしました。しっかりと覚えていきましょう。

まずは、英語の内容について引用します。

Tim Caro, an expert on evolution at the University of California, has spent a large part of his life chasing after zebras and their stripes, trying to figure out why these unusual cousins of horses look the way they do.①The mystery of zebra stripes has bothered biologists for over a century. Several theories have been offered, but Caro is among those who believe insects have trouble landing on zebras’ striped surfaces. If he is right, that might also point to possible strategies for stopping insects from biting other animals as well-including, perhaps, humans.
　　 With their bright black-and-white pattern, ②zebra stripes are surprising, to say the least. Including Charles Darwin in the 1870s, scientists have wondered if stripes help protect against hungry lions, help zebras identify each other in big herds, or help keep their skin cool. There is not much scientific evidence for most of these ideas, however. The only theory that seems reasonable, Caro says, is that stripes make things harder for biting insects. That is important for these animals: Zebra coats are not very thick, and one bite from an insect can bring in the many deadly germs that cause sleeping disease, blood diseases, and horse influenza.
While previous studies have shown that insects can be confused by stripes, at least compared to one-color options, exactly how they become confused has remained unclear. Finding that answer, of course, meant looking at things from the perspective of insects. But Caro’s way of looking at the problem has ③typically been to take the zebras’ point of view; in some of his most famous experiments, Caro has even worn zebra stripes to imitate them. To change his perspective, Caro teamed up with Martin How, an ecologist and animal-vision expert at the University of Bristol.
Together, the researchers and their colleagues looked at what insects do when flying around a group of zebras and horses. From a distance, it looked like horses and zebras of all colors attracted thirsty insects to about the same extent. But things changed when the researchers got closer. Though the insects flew in to feed on both horses and zebras, they had lower rates of success landing on zebras, often bouncing off their striped sides, or missing them entirely.
Next, the researchers covered both species with black, white, and black-and-white striped coats. Once again, the insects seemed confused when close to striped surfaces, and had difficulty landing. In the end, insects had a much easier time landing on horses covered in plain black or white than on those covered with striped cloth. “It’s remarkable how effective stripes are at reducing landing success,” How says. “It’s a really surprising difference, and we see it consistently-④that‘s the most startling thing.”
Much like aircraft, flying insects probably need to slow down as they prepare to land, Caro explains. “We think their problem is in that last half second,” he says. “⑤It’s a dangerous situation. The insect has to slow down and make sure it doesn’t break a leg or hit its eyes or head against the object.” But stripes might just trick the insects into crash landings, distracting them from ⑥their original mission.
It is not yet clear what it is about stripes that bothers the insects, but Caro, How, and their team are currently testing a few theories. One possibility is that stripes create a pattern that makes it hard for the insects ⑦to estimate distance. After all, moving stripes can look pretty strange. ⑧Think about how barber shop poles look as they rotate around. The stripes seem to be traveling upwards even though they are not.
When insects came close, the horses and zebras behaved a little differently: While zebras were constantly swinging their tails and galloping away to avoid insects, horses were far less careful, responding with just the occasional body shake or swinging of the tail. For some reason, it seemed the zebras were trying harder to avoid getting bitten by their little enemies.
All of this might be related to the ⑨ultimate goal of avoiding diseases, but that theory still needs testing. Carol Hall, a horse and zebra expert, has suggested that stripes could still have other, non-insect-related advantages as well. As for the new theory related to insect bites, she said, “This is a useful step along the way. But I don’t know if there’s enough evidence to say that it’s the only reason.”
In the meantime, it probably would not hurt to think about wearing striped clothes yourself-especially if your next vacation destination has biting insects. “A couple of years ago, I would’ve said wearing stripes wouldn’t have any effect on avoiding insects,” Tim Caro says. “But now I’m willing to consider the idea that it might be useful for humans.” ⑩That is good news if your soccer team has the right kind of shirt design. “The more we can find out about stopping animals from getting bitten, the better we will be at stopping the spread of disease” Hall says.

解答及び解説について

長文の問題文は828文字ありました。同志社や関学などの他の関関同立に比べると長文の長さは長くないイメージです。この長文問題に対しA問題で10題、B問題で7題の合計17問の問題があります。英作など一切なく全て記号問題となっています。

A問題の解答と解説について

(1)What does Underline ① actually mean?（下線部①の意味は何か？）という問題です。

A. The function of zebra stripes has remained controversial.
B.The function of zebra stripes has been made clear.
C. The function of zebra stripes has convinced the biologists.

答えはAです。下線部は「The mystery of zebra stripes has bothered biologists for over a century.」という内容で、「ゼブラの白黒について謎は何世紀にも渡って生物学者を悩ませた」という文で、ゼブラの白黒の機能は議論をよんだ、という意味が近いかたちになります。bother（〜を悩ませる）controversial（論争）という単語は受験生必須の単語なので覚えておきましょう。

(2)What does Underline ② actually mean?（下線部②はどういう意味か？）

A. Zebra stripes are less surprising than you may think.
B. Zebra stripes are far more surprising than you may think.
C. Zebra stripes are quietly surprising.

答えはBです。下線部②は「zebra stripes are surprising, to say the least.」で「ゼブラの白黒は控えめに言ってもおどろくべきことだ」という意味です。to say the least控えめに言ってという表現は覚えましょう。Bの「ゼブラの白黒はあなたが考えている以上にずっとおどろくべきことだ」という意味が近いです。Aのless thanは〜ほどない、という意味なのであなたが考えているよりも驚かないという意味になりおかしい。Cのquietly surprisingは明らかにquiteを意識していますがquietly「静かに」という意味から「静かに驚く」ということになりおかしい。

(3)Which of the following has a meaning closest to Underline ③?（下線③に最も近い意味はどれか？）

A. commonly
B. unbelievably
C. expectedly

正解はA。typecalyは「典型的に」という意味。一般的にのcommonlyが一番近いです。

(4)What does Underline④refer to?　（下線④で言っていることは何か？）

A. the fact that stripes make safe landing difficult
B.the fact that horses and zebras are surprisingly different
C. the fact that the researchers regularly get the same results

正解はA。thatの内容をとう問題。thatはstartle(脅かす）という意味なので、文脈が虫が皮膚にくっつくのが難しいという「the insects seemed confused when close to striped surfaces, and had difficulty landing」を指しているのは明らか。そこで、「白黒によって（虫が）安全にくっつくのは難しい」という意味を表すAが正解になる。

(5) What does Underline ⑤actually mean?(下線部⑤の意味は何か？）

A. The insects have a high risk of hurting themselves unless they slow down just before landing.
B. The insects are less likely to have a successful landing if they slow down while flying.
C. The insects will probably crash into the ground unless they slow down before landing.

正解はA。下線部⑥は”It’s a dangerous situation. The insect has to slow down and make sure it doesn’t break a leg or hit its eyes or head against the object.”とあり、「危険な状況です。昆虫は減速し、足を骨折したり、目や頭を物体にぶつけたりしないようにしなければなりません」とあるのでAの「昆虫がゆっくりとくっつかないなら、自身が傷つく高いリスクを負う」という意味が近い。

(6) What does Underline ⑥ actually mean?（下線部⑥の意味は？）

A. having crash landings
B. feeding on zebras
C. spreading diseases

正解はB。昆虫のもともとの使命だが「Though the insects flew in to feed on both horses and zebras, 」と前前段落にあり、ゼブラにくっついて血を吸うことがもともとの使命なのでBのが正解。

(7) Which of the following has a meaning closest to Underline ⑦?（下線部⑦に最も近い意味はどれか？

A.to decide the best way in which the insects can land on the animals
B. to assess how far the insects need to fly to slow down
C. to judge how close the insects are to the surfaces of the animals

正解はC。to estimate distance.（距離を推測する）というのは、昆虫が白黒だと目測をまちがえてしまうという話から「昆虫はどれくらい離れてゆっくりと飛ぶ必要があるのかを評価する」Bが近い。assess（評価する）という単語は必須です。

(8)What does the author want to express most in Underline ⑧?（下線⑧について著者が最も言いたかったことはどれか？）

A. Zebras’ stripes move in a similar upward manner to those of barber shop poles.
B. Stripes on a curved surface, like a zebra’s back, are harder for one’s eyes to follow.
C. Insects get confused by zebras’ stripes just as we are by the moving stripes of barber shop poles.

正解はC。”Think about how barber shop poles look as they rotate around. The stripes seem to be traveling upwards even though they are not.”「床屋の（赤青の）ポールが回転しているさまを想像してください。ストライプは、上ではなくても上に向かっているようです。」とあるので、Cの「昆虫はゼブラの白黒が床屋のポールのように動くことで混乱する」となるのでC。

(9)Which of the following has a meaning closest to Underline ⑨?（下線⑨に近い意味は？）

A. difficult
B. reliable
C. final

ultimateに近いのは最終の意味をもつC。

(10) What does the author want to express most in Underline ⑩?（下線⑩で筆者が最も言いたいことは？）

A. Your soccer team does not have to worry about insect bites.
B. Your team may already have clothing that will protect it from insects.
C. You may want to change the shirt design of your soccer team.

下線⑩”That is good news if your soccer team has the right kind of shirt design. “の「あなたのサッカーチームが真っ直ぐな種類のシャツデザインの場合、朗報です」という意味は要は虫にシマウマ同様虫にさされないという意味をしているAが正解になる。rightに「まっすぐ」という意味があるのは必須の知識です。

B問題について

(1) Caro seems to believe that zebra stripes serve to

A.protect zebras from deadly diseases.
B.keep large predators away from zebras.
C. protect zebras’ thin coats against hot weather.

病気を持っている昆虫がゼブラの白黒模様により近づかないようにするという話だったのでAが正解。

(2) What the past research findings have failed to demonstrate is the way in which insects

A. tell the different colors of the stripes.
B.are disoriented by the striped surfaces.
C. readily land on zebras’ striped coats.

昆虫が白黒の表面によって混乱する（disoriented)という話なのでBが正解。

(3) In the third paragraph, starting with “While previous,” we learn that Caro’s approach was different from other researchers’ in that he

A. worked with Martin How at the University of Bristol to investigate the insects’ point of view.
B. changed his thinking in order to become an ecologist who looked at animal vision.
C. tried to understand a zebra’s perspective by doing things like putting on zebra stripes.

第三段落にあるように、ゼブラ自身の観点で考えるという話だったのでCのが正解。

(4) According to the fourth paragraph, starting with “Together,” when the researchers watched a group of zebras and horses from far away, they thought that