高校英語（レベルC<大学入試4回目>）
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No4
文章読解
英検準1級・TOEIC800点
次の英文を読み，質問に対する答えとして最も適切なものを４つの中から選びなさい。
Cruise Liners in Venice
Every day, cruise ships weighing as much as 140,000 tons sail into Venice
to give passengers a view of Italy's famous “floating city.”
Although the city's economy relies heavily on the ships' presence, pressure
is building to ban them from entering the harbor.
Critics say that since the ships are so much bigger than the old structures lining the canals,
a single navigation error could lead to the destruction of several irreplaceable buildings.
Supporters of the cruise business argue that each ship is guided into the harbor
by two smaller boats and two additional pilots, all working to make sure the ships approach the city safely.
Even so, critics believe the ships are already damaging the city.
Local protest groups have pointed out that the biggest cruise ship to enter Venice emits
as much pollution in an hour as 15,000 cars.
Moreover, the ships' emissions contain sulfur,
which reacts with rainwater to form an acid that may be damaging the city's ancient brick buildings.
Nevertheless, cruise operators insist that the contents of their emissions are within European regulations
and that they have plans to switch to fuels containing less sulfur in the future.
The debate is far from over.
In 2013, a law was passed limiting the number of large cruise ships allowed to enter the city each day,
and banning those over 96,000 tons.
The local government also proposed redirecting the ships to a new port
that would be located away from the city.
Before the law went into effect, however, it was suspended by a regional court on the basis
that there was insufficient evidence of the dangers posed by cruise ships. For now,
the ships keep coming into Venice, even as many of the city's inhabitants continue to protest.
問1
（１）What is one complaint about the cruise ships that visit Venice?
(ア)
They take up a lot of space in the city's harbor while contributing little to the local economy.
(イ)
The expansion of the city's canals to accommodate them is proving to be too expensive.
(ウ)
They are too large to reliably enter the city without the risk of a serious accident.
(エ)
Their large size prevents tourists on land from enjoying much of the city's architecture.
問2
（２）What is one point made in support of the cruise business?
(ア)
The ships' growing popularity means they are being forced to follow increasingly strict standards for emissions.
(イ)
The acid rain that damages brick buildings is not caused by sulfur emissions.
(ウ)
The pollution caused by cars is a bigger problem than environmental damage from cruise ship emissions.
(エ)
The ships' emissions meet the official requirements that have been established.
問3
（３）The law that was passed in 2013
(ア)
was prevented from going into effect because there were doubts as to whether it was necessary.
(イ)
lasted only a short time before pressure from the tourist industry led to it being reversed.
(ウ)
will go into effect when a new port for the cruise ships is built and new passage routes are agreed on.
(エ)
will likely lead other port cities to take similar measures to regulate the cruise business.
次の英文を読み，質問に対する答えとして最も適切なものを４つの中から選びなさい。
Brown Fat
People spend billions of dollars every year on products that promise to reduce body fat.
Ironically, new research findings indicate that brown fat,
a type of body fat that converts stored energy into heat,
could actually help people become thinner.
Mammals' bodies store fat in two different forms.
The more visible kind, white fat, mainly functions as a way to store energy.
When humans consume more calories than they burn, their white fat tends to increase and they gain weight.
Brown fat, on the other hand, burns calories in order to warm the body.
Some animals rely on their brown fat stores for protection from the winter cold.
In humans, brown fat is present in particularly large amounts in newborn babies,
who use it to keep their body temperature stable.
Until recently, biologists believed that as humans mature
and their ability to self-regulate their body temperature improves, brown fat cells decline
in number and eventually disappear.
Dr. Sven Enerbäck of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden,
however, suspected humans may keep some brown fat into adulthood.
He employed imaging technology that can locate cancer in the human body by scanning for “hot spots” areas
where cells are burning extra blood sugar to produce heat.
Hot spots are often a sign of tumors, which consume energy for rapid growth.
Enerbäck concentrated his search on his subjects' necks, an area
where hot spots often give false-positive cancer test results.
He believed these hot spots might be the result of brown fat cell activity.
This turned out to be correct.
Enerbäck also showed that low temperatures could activate these stores of brown fat,
causing them to generate heat and burn calories.
After exposing his subjects to mild cold, he found that their brown fat cells were far more active than before.
Building on Enerbäck's discovery, Joslin Diabetes Center researcher Dr. Yu-Hua Tseng used a protein called BMP7
to convert white fat cells taken from mice into brown fat.
Furthermore, injecting these converted brown fat cells back into the mice made the animals more resistant to obesity.
“The hope is that this research will lead to better ways to treat obesity,
especially for people who are overweight because of their genes,” Tseng says.
“Right now, there are not many good options for these people.”
For people who have become obese due to overeating and lack of exercise,
however, she says that a change in lifestyle, rather than cellular intervention, is the proper course of treatment.
問4
（４）What is one difference between white fat and brown fat?
(ア)
White fat is present in mammals of all ages, while brown fat is only found in infant mammals.
(イ)
In human babies, white fat serves mainly to regulate body temperature, while brown fat has multiple functions.
(ウ)
Brown fat provides mammals with protection from the cold by burning energy, while white fat stores energy.
(エ)
Weight-loss and dieting research tends to focus on brown fat, while white fat is often ignored.
問5
（５）Dr. Sven Enerbäck tested his theory by
(ア)
using imaging technology to examine tumors for evidence of brown fat cell activity.
(イ)
focusing on a part of the body that is known to show levels of heat production often thought to be associated with cancer.
(ウ)
examining fat cells in a number of people whose bodies were burning fewer calories than average.
(エ)
comparing the activity of various cancer cells at low temperatures to see which ones remained more active.
問6
（６）What does Dr. Yu-Hua Tseng believe about using brown fat to encourage weight loss?
(ア)
Although injecting mice with brown fat cells makes them thinner, such a treatment could not be used for people.
(イ)
Since brown fat is only activated by physical exercise, its potential for helping severely overweight people is limited.
(ウ)
Using BMP7 to increase brown fat levels in people has been effective, but the treatment carries significant risks.
(エ)
While brown fat could be a significant help to certain people, it would not be an appropriate option for everyone.
高校英語（レベルC<大学入試4回目>）
高校英語（レベルC<大学入試4回目>）