Vocabulary: Resolving the Referent of その際 in a Station Notice
A candidate is practising a station notice for the reading section. The notice reads: 「台風で電車が止まる場合があります。その際、駅の放送でお知らせします。切符の払い戻しは、運転再開後1週間以内に限ります。」 The question asks what 「その際」 refers to. The options are: A when the train stops because of the typhoon; B when the typhoon approaches the station; C when the station makes an announcement; D within one week after trains resume. The candidate selects C because 「お知らせします」 comes right after 「その際」 and feels like the nearest action. The candidate has already spent 70 seconds and has 40 seconds left for this item. The mark scheme gives 1 mark and no partial credit. The candidate knows 払い戻し means refund but is unsure whether that helps. The notice is printed in 12-point font and has no furigana.
1. Identify the correct referent and explain why the nearest-word strategy fails here.
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Correct option: A. 「その際」 means 'on that occasion' and points to the preceding situation, 「台風で電車が止まる場合」. The announcement is what the station does on that occasion, not the occasion itself. C is the nearest-word trap: 「お知らせします」 sits immediately after 「その際」, but it is the action performed at the referent time. Test by substitution: 「電車が止まる場合、駅の放送でお知らせします」 is coherent; 「お知らせする際、お知らせします」 is circular. D confuses the refund deadline with the referent of その際.
2. Explain the function of その際 and how it differs from そのとき in this notice.
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その際 is formal and tightly bound to a specific occasion or case just mentioned; in notices it often follows a conditional such as ～場合. そのとき is a more general 'at that time' and can point to a time already established. In this notice both would point to the train stoppage, not to the announcement. The difference is register and cohesion: その際 signals 'in that case, the following procedure applies', which is why it introduces the announcement procedure.
3. In 40 seconds, what should the candidate check to finish the item?
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With 40 seconds left: (1) look left of 「その際」 for the situation, not right for the verb; (2) confirm the antecedent is 「台風で電車が止まる場合」; (3) choose A; (4) do not spend time on 払い戻し because D only matters if the question asked about the refund window. Transfer A and move to the next item.