【必答問題
5 日常使う物のデザインをする際には標準化 (standardization) という方法がある。
という内容に続く次の英文を読んで、あとの問いに答えよ。(配点44)
If we examine the history of advances in all technological fields, we see that some
improvements come naturally through the technology itself, while others come through
standardization. The early history of the automobile is a good example. The first cars
were very difficult to operate. They required strength and skill beyond the abilities of
many. Some problems were solved through automation. Other aspects of cars and
driving were standardized through the long process of international standards
committees:
. On which side of the road to drive (constant within
countries)
country, but variable across
On which side f the car the driver sits (depends upon which side of the road the
car is driven)
-The (2) of essential components: steering wheel, brake, clutch, and accelerator
(the same, whether on the left- or right-hand side of the car)
Standardization is one type of cultural constraint. With standardization, once you
have learned to drive one car, you feel confident that you can drive any car, anyplace in the
world. Standardization provides a major breakthrough in usability.
I have enough friends on national and international standards committees to realize that
the process f determining an internationally accepted standard is laborious. Even when all
members agree on the merits of standardization, the task of selecting standards becomes a
long, political issue. A small company can standardize its products without too much
difficulty, but it is much more difficult for an industrial, national, or international body to
agree to standards. There even exists a standardized procedure for establishing
national and international standards.
organizations works on standards.
First, a set of national and international
Then when a new standard is proposed, it
must work its way through each organization's approval process.
Standards are usually the result of a *compromise among the various competing
positions, which can often be an inferior compromise. Sometimes the answer is to agree
on (4 ). Look at the existence I both metric and *English units; of left-hand- and
18
right-hand-drive automobiles. There are several international standards for the *voltages
and *frequencies of electricity, and several different kinds of electrical plugs and sockets-
which cannot interchanged.
With all these difficulties and with the continual advances in technology, are
standards really necessary? Yes, they are. Take the everyday, clock. It's standardized.
Consider how much trouble you would have telling time with a backward clock, where
the hands revolved "counterclockwise." A few such clocks exist, primarily as humorous
conversation pieces. When a clock truly violates standards, such as (the one in Figure 1,
it is difficult to determine what time is being displayed. Why? The logic behind the
time display is identical to that of conventional clocks: there are only two differences -
the hands move in the opposite direction (counterclockwise) and the location of "12,"
usually at the top, has been moved. This clock is just as logical as the standard one. It.
bothers us because we have standardized on a different scheme, on the very definition
of the term clockwise. Without such standardization, clock reading would be more
difficult: you'd always have to figure out the "mapping.
E) compromise
*metric メートル法の
*English units イギリスの計量法(ヤードボンド法)
*frequencies of electricity 電気の周波数
voltages E
*mapping 対応づけ (2つのものの間の関係を意味する専門用語)
問1 下線部(1)の内容を、 同じ段落の自動車の例に基づいて30字以内の日本語で答えよ。た
だし、句読点も字数に数える。
問2 本文中の空所 (2) に入る語として最も適当なものを、次のア~エのうちから一つ
選び 記号で答えよ。
7 color
イ
location
ウ price
I sight
(239)
問3 第2パラグラフ (Standardization is one type of ...) について 次の Question に対す
る Answer となるように、空所に入れるのに最も適当なものを,次のア~エのうちから一
つ選び、 記号で答えよ。
Question: What is "a major breakthrough in usability" provided by standardization?
Answer
Because of standardization, you (
device of the same kind all over the world.
7 can apply what you have learned to
イ
can make
cannot produce
I cannot use what you have learned when using
問7 下線部(5)が表す図 (Figure 1)として最も適当なものを、次のア~エのうちから一つ選
び記号で答えよ。
11
12
1
12
) any machine or
10
2
10%
9
3
1
5
6
問4 下線部(3)の示す内容を, 40字程度の日本語で答えよ。 ただし, 句読点も字数に数える。
ウ
11
6
1
問5 次の文を第3パラグラフ (Ihave enough friends...) に入れるとき,本文中の①~
のうちのどの位置に入れるのが最も適当か、 次のア~エのうちから一つ選び, 記号
で答えよ。
9
3
Each step is complex, for if there are three ways of doing something, then there are
sure to be strong proponents of each of the three ways, plus people who will argue
that it is too early to standardize.
70
問8 最終パラグラフ (With all these difficulties...) の内容をもとに, 次の Question に2
語程度の英語一文で答えよ。
Question: According to the writer, why is the standardization of the everyday clo
necessary?
イ
2
ウ
H O
問6 本文中の空所 (4) に入れるのに最も適当なものを、次のア~エのうちから一つ選び
記号で答えよ。
7 a single standard
1 several different standards
ウ
the same standard
I too few standards
<<-20->
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