Reading Comprehension (読解)
Reading Comprehension (読解) on the Hiroshima entrance paper tests whether you can reconstruct a Japanese passage's logic rather than recall outside knowledge. Passages often mix 主張, 根拠, and 具体例; questions target 傍線部の理由説明, 指示語の内容, 接続語の働き, and 主旨把握. Answers must stay inside the text's wording and scope.
Read for function, not just meaning
- Mark 接続語 such as しかし, したがって, つまり, and たとえば. They tell you whether the next sentence opposes, concludes, restates, or illustrates.
- Trace 指示語 chains: これ, それ, このこと usually point backward, but confirm the nearest grammatically compatible noun phrase.
- Separate the writer's claim from examples. A vivid example is not the 主旨 unless the passage says so.
- For 理由説明, locate the cause marker (から, ので, ため) and match the question's required ending, such as 「〜こと」.
Worked example
Passage: 「読書は知識を増やす。しかし、それだけではない。物語は他人の視点を疑似的に経験させる。だからこそ、読書は共感力を育てるのだ。」 Question: What does 「それ」 refer to?
Reasoning: 「しかし」 signals a contrast, so 「それ」 must name the point being contrasted, not the whole passage. The preceding clause says 知識を増やす; the following says それだけではない. Therefore 「それ」 refers to 読書が知識を増やすこと. The final だからこそ marks the conclusion: 共感力を育てる. An answer that says 「読書の楽しさ」 is unsupported.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing a true general statement that the passage never argues.
- Treating a 具体例 as the 主張, or ignoring a 二重否定.
- Copying a long sentence without compressing it to the question's focus.
- Missing 字数制限 or the required ending, which makes an otherwise correct idea unscorable.
- Over-reading irony or author biography not present in the text.