Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension tests whether you can extract the main claim, supporting details, and implied meaning from short expository and narrative passages, and whether you can resolve 指示語 (shijigo, referring expressions) without outside knowledge. Passages are self-contained; the answer must be justified by the text, not by general knowledge about Miyazaki.
Core rules
- Map the passage by 段落 (danraku). Each paragraph usually has one function: 問題提起, 具体例, 反論, 結論. The main idea often appears after しかし, つまり, or したがって.
- Track 接続詞: しかし/ところが signal contrast; なぜなら/というのは mark reason; つまり/要するに mark restatement. A contrast sentence often carries the author’s real point.
- Resolve 指示語: when you see これ/それ/このこと, draw an arrow to the nearest preceding noun phrase that fits the grammar and meaning.
- Separate 事実 (what happened) from 意見 (what the author evaluates). Questions about 筆者の考え target the latter.
Worked example
Passage: 「地域の行事は年々減っている。しかし、参加した人の満足度は高い。つまり、問題は行事の規模ではなく内容である。」 Question: What is the author’s main point? Reasoning: しかし contrasts the decline with high satisfaction, so the decline alone is not the conclusion. つまり restates the point: the issue is content, not scale. The correct answer must include 内容 and exclude 規模を大きくする.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing a true detail instead of the main claim.
- Treating しかし as a simple addition rather than a contrast.
- Leaving a 指示語 unresolved and guessing.
- Choosing an answer with stronger wording than the passage (絶対/必ず) when the text says 多い/可能性がある.