東大卒プロ講師限定の家庭教師派遣
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東京大学過去問1999年(5)


 次の英文は,有害物質の流出事故による環境被害を論じた新聞記事の一節である。これを読んで,下の設問に答えよ。(便宜上,段落ごとに番号を付してある。)解答は解答用紙の所定欄に記せ。

(1)  A spillage of poisonous waste in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas on earth is threatening the wildlife of two continents. The area affected is the Doñana National Park, which consists of marshlands stretching for about 100 kilometres southwards to the sea from the southern Spanish city of Seville.

(2)  The Doñana is an exceptionally important place for wildlife. Many species of birds which spend the summer in the north of Europe, especially in Scandinavia, come to these wetlands and stay from early autumn to early spring to escape the bitter cold of the northern winter. The park is also one of the last places where the rare Iberian imperial eagle can be found. In addition to this, the park and its surroundings form the main resting place for the many species of birds which pass through Spain as they migrate each year between southern Africa and countries in northern Europe such as Britain.

(3)  Disaster struck in the early hours of April 25 when the dam wall of a waste reservoir collapsed at a mining plant northwest of Seville. About 158,000 tons of waste, including heavy metals and other toxic material were sent down the River Guadiamar towards the park.

(4)  But the event vanished from the front pages of newspapers within about a week, partly because the waste did not affect Seville itself (the Guadiamar flows some distance west of the city), and partly because the poisonous grey mud was, for the most part, blocked before reaching the heart of the Doñana. Only 3 per cent of the surface of the national park was covered. But the effects of the disaster are penetrating every aspect of life in southern Spain.

(5)  Some effects are relatively small. For example, pilgrims travelling in traditional covered wagons or on horseback from Seville for this month's annual midsummer festival at the town of El Rocio were warned not to take their usual route across the Guadiamar. Instead they had to take the main road to avoid the layer of toxic waste which still covers the banks of the river.

(6)  This waste is currently being removed, and the official agency in charge of the clean-up estimates that, at the present rate of slightly under 10,000 cubic metres per day, it can remove the last waste from the surface by October 27.

(7)  But Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds estimates it could take as much as twenty-five years for the area to recover. A spokesman said: “We fear this will turn out to be the worst environmental disaster of its kind in Europe this century.”

(8)

(9)  Despite the huge scale of the disaster, however, some experts remain unalarmed. The park's director believes that “the chances of wide spread dangerous effects are small, if everything continues as it has done so far.” But he is now in a minority. Spain's notoriously divided environmental pressure groups have joined in a declaration that the situation, because of its unusual nature, is much worse than is claimed by the regional and national authorities; the disaster, they say, is full of the potential for delayed effects.

(10)

(11)  The animals and birds and fish that died as the poisonous tide poured down the Guadiamar are therefore likely to be no more than a small part of the eventual total number of deaths caused by the disaster. For the poisons have only just started to pass upwards through the food chain. The birds ― such as terns, grebes and cormorants ― that come to the area to feed on its fish and shellfish are particularly at risk.

(12)

(13)  In the meantime, the metals in the mud ― zinc, lead, copper and silver ― will be seeping into the soil, creating a hidden danger for humans. According to Spain's Young Farmers’ Association, several hundred acres of land growing crops for human consumption have been dangerously affected: although they were not covered by the waste, they use water from wells which may have been polluted.

(14)  What would turn the disaster into a catastrophe would be if the heavy metals in the waste were to penetrate the aquifer under the park. Aquifer 27, as it is called, is up to 200 metres deep, and covers 5,200 square kilometres, and the well-being of the whole area depends on this huge underground lake.

(15)  Initial tests suggest the poisons have not penetrated it. But nobody can be certain ― As the head of Spain’s Science Research Council remarked: “The fact that the first analyses indicate that the aquifer has not been polluted does not mean that one day it will not be.”




(1) 上の英文には,第8段落,第10段落.第12段落が抜けている。それぞれの空所を埋めるのに最もふさわしいと思われる文章を次のうちから1つ選び,その記号を記せ。
 ア At the moment, the number of birds in the park is rather small. Many birds had just left southern Spain to spend the spring and summer in northern Europe when the spillage took place. But, starting probably with the grey heron, they will begin returning in August. And not even the authorities are expecting the mud to be removed by then.
 イ “Heavy metals have a feature which is not noticeable at first,” says a scientist who works with Spain’s Association for the Defence of Nature. “They get into the body and slowly cause problems of many kinds. They affect growth, sexual development, the brain, and the immune system. They can also cause certain cancers.”
 ウ He pointed out that the weight of the toxic material which poured out of the damaged reservoir at the mine was almost four times as great as that released in the Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster of 1989, an accident that is widely regarded as having been the world’s worst single incident of this type. The spokesman said that, in addition to its importance for wildlife, the area around Seville has a long history and rich cultural traditions; the religious festival at nearby El Rocio is just one example of this. The effect of the disaster on such traditions, he said, is very regrettable.

(2) 本文中,”poisonous”と同じ意味で何度か用いられている形容詞を1つ抜き出して記せ。

(3) 第2段落は,ドニャーナ国立公園が野鳥にとって大事な場所である理由をいくつか挙げている。次のうち,理由として挙げられていないものはどれか。1つ選び,その記号を記せ。
 ア Birds come from Africa to pass the winter there.
 イ Birds which are making long journeys rest there.
 ウ Many Scandinavian birds spend the winter there.
 エ A rare kind of bird lives there.

(4) 次の地図のうち,事故に関連する地域の位置関係を正しく記したものはどれか。1つ選び,その記号を記せ。(地図は,上が北を指すものとする。)
 《地図略》

(5) この災害が重大ニュースとして扱われたのは,どのくらいの間であったか。また,それはどのような理由によるものか。次のア〜工の中から期間を1つ選び,その記号を記せ。さらに,オ〜ケの中から理由として正しいものを2つ選び,その記号を記せ。
〔期間〕
 ア for only a day
 イ for only a short time
 ウ for about a month
 エ for a long time
〔理由〕
 オ All the effects of the poisonous waste were relatively small.
 カ Although the poisonous waste did not cover much of the park, its effects were serious.
 キ The poisonous waste did not flow through the city of Seville.
 ク The poisonous waste was prevented from reaching the centre of the national park.
 ケ The poisonous waste is affecting every aspect of life in southern Spain.

(6) 第9段落によると,スペインの環境保護団体は互いにどのような関係にあるか。次のうちから1つ選び,その記号を記せ。
 ア They usually agree with each other, and they agree about this disaster.
 イ They usually agree with each other, but they don't agree about this disaster.
 ウ They usually don't agree with each other, and they don't agree about this disaster.
 エ They usually don't agree with each other, but they agree about this disaster.

(7) 第14, 15段落の中で用いられている”aquifer”という単語は,そのいずれかの段落中において別の表現で言い換えられている。 2語からなるその表現を抜き出して記せ。

(8) 次の人たちの中で,事故の被害を最も楽観視していたのは誰か。1つ選び,その記号を記せ。
 ア the spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
 イ the director of the Doñana National Park
 ウ the members of Spain's environmental pressure groups
 エ the members of the Spanish Young Farmers’ Association

(9) 記事によると,次のうち,(a)最も軽い(あるいは,軽いと予測される)被害,そして(b)最も深刻な(あるいは,深刻であると予測される)被害はどれか。それぞれ1つ選び,その記号を記せ。
 ア People were unable to take their traditional route to a festival.
 イ Many creatures died when the poisonous waste came down the river.
 ウ Some water which is used by farmers has probably been polluted.
 エ The aquifer under the park may be polluted in the future.
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