| 東大卒プロ講師限定の家庭教師派遣 エクスクルーシブ・アカデミアexclusive-academia E-mail：info@exclusive-academia.com |
| ■ 東京大学過去問２０１０年（５） |
|
次の文章は、William Porterという人物の伝記の一部である。これを読んで以下の問いに答えよ。 When William Porter left Houston, never to return, he left because he was ordered to come immediately to Austin and stand trial for stealing funds while working at the First National Bank of Austin. Had he gone he would certainly have been declared innocent. "A （ (1) ） of circumstances" is the judgement of the people in Austin who followed the trial most closely. Not one of them, so far as I could learn after many interviews, believed him guilty of doing anything wrong. It was well known that the bank, (2)long since closed, was terribly managed. Its customers, following an old practice, used to enter, go behind the counter, take out one hundred or two hundred dollars, and say a week later: "Porter, I took out two hundred dollars last week. See if I left a note about it. (3)I meant to." It was impossible to keep track of the bank's money. The affairs of the bank were managed so loosely that Porter's predecessor was driven to retirement, his successor to attempted suicide. There can be no doubt that Porter boarded the train at Houston with the intention of going to Austin. I imagine that he even felt a certain sense of relief that the trial, which had hung as a heavy weight around his neck, was at last to take place, and his innocence publicly declared. His friends were confident of his innocence. (4)If even one of them had been with Porter, all would have been different. But when the train reached Hempstead, about a third of the way to Austin, Porter had had time to imagine the scenes of the trial, to picture himself a prisoner, to look into the future and see himself marked with suspicion. (5)His imagination outran his reason, and when the night train passed Hempstead on the way to New Orleans, Porter was on it. His mind seems to have been fully made up. He was not merely saving himself and his family from a public shame, he was going to start life over again in a new place. His knowledge of Spanish and his ignorance of Honduras made the little Central American republic seem just the place to escape to. His letters to his wife from Honduras show that he had determined to make Central America their home, and that a school had already been selected for the education of their daughter. How long Porter remained in New Orleans, on his way to Honduras, is not known. It is probable that he merely passed through New Orleans on his way to Honduras and took the first available boat for the Honduran coast, arriving at Puerto Cortez or Trujillo. At any rate, he was in Trujillo and was standing at the dock when he saw a man in a worn dress suit step from a newly arrived boat. "Why did you leave so hurriedly?" asked Porter. "Perhaps for the same reason as yourself," replied the stranger. "What is your destination?" inquired Porter. "I left America to keep away from (6)my destination" was the reply. The stranger was Al Jennings, the leader of one of the worst gangs of train robbers that ever existed in the American Southwest. He and his brother Frank had chartered a boat in Galveston, and the departure had been so （ (7) ） their dress suits and high hats for plainer clothing. Jennings and his brother had no thought of continuing their career of （ (8) ） in Latin America. They were merely putting distance between them and the detectives already on their trail. Porter joined them and together they circled the entire coast of South America. This was Porter's longest voyage and certainly the strangest. In these wanderings together Jennings probably saw deeper into one side of Porter's life than anyone else had ever seen. In a letter to a friend, he writes: "Porter was to most men a difficult character but when men have gone hungry together, eaten together, and looked death in the face and laughed, it may be said they have （ (9) ） each other. Again, there is no period in a man's life that shows his unique characteristics so much as terrible hunger. I have known that with our friend and could find no fault. If the world could only know him as I knew him, the search light of investigation could be turned on his beautiful soul and find it as spotless as a beam of sunlight after the storm-cloud had passed." Porter's letters to his wife came regularly after the first three weeks. The letters were enclosed in envelopes directed to Mr. Louis Kreisle, in Austin, who handed them to porter's wife. "Mrs. Porter used to read me selections from her husband's letters," said Mrs. Kreisle. " They told of his plans to bring Mrs. Porter and Margaret to whims soon as he was settled. He had a hard time but his letters were cheerful and hopeful and full of （ (10a) ） for his wife. Mrs. Porter's parents were, of course, willing to provide for her and Margaret but she did not want to be dependent. She said she did not know how long they would be separated, so she planned to do something to earn some money. She began taking a course in a business college but （ (10b) ） interfered. When Christmas came she made a lace handkerchief, sold it for twenty-five dollars, and sent her husband a box containing his overcoat, fine perfumes, and many other delicacies. I never saw such （ (10c) ）. The only day she remained in bed was the day she died." Porter did not know till a month later that this box was packed by Mrs. Porter when her temperature was 104°F (40℃) . As soon as he learned it, he gave up all （ (10d) ） of a Latin American home and started for Austin, determined to give himself up and to take whatever punishment fate or the courts had in store for him. * From O. Henry Biography by Charles Alphonso Smith, Kessinger Publishing （１） 空所（ (1) ）を埋めるのに最も適切な単語を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア victim イ nature ウ creature エ punishment （２） 下線部(2)の言い換えとして最も適切な表現を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア as long as it was closed イ which had been closed at long last ウ which had been closed for a long time エ because it had been closed a long time ago （３） 下線部(3)の意味として最も適切なものを次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア 確かな記憶がある。 イ よく調べてもらいたい。 ウ そのつもりだったが、忘れたかもしれない。 エ そういう意味だったので、誤解しないでほしい。 （４） 下線部(4)を和訳せよ。ただし、themとallが意味する内容を明らかにすること。 （５） 下線部(5)に描かれているPorterの心理について、最もよく当てはまるものを一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア He was afraid of the trial even though he thought that he was likely to be declared innocent. イ He was afraid of the trial because he had reason to believe that his guilt would be apparent. ウ He was afraid of the trial even though he couldn't remember why he had stolen funds from the bank. エ He was afraid of the trial because people wouldn't understand his reasons for stealing funds from the bank. （６） 下線部(6)は具体的に何を指すと考えられるか。最も適切なものを次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア prison イ robbery ウ the bank エ his home （７） 下に与えられた語を正しい順に並び替え、空所（ (7) ）を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を完成させよ。ただし、下の語群には、不要な語が一つ含まれている。 exchange, had, had, not, sudden, they, time, to, with （８） 空所（ (8) ）を埋めるのに最も適切な単語を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア crime イ travel ウ escape エ finance （９） 空所（ (9) ）を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を次のうちから一つ選び、その記号を記せ。 ア no use for イ knowledge of ウ despaired for エ worried about （１０） 空所（ (10a) ）〜（ (10d) ）を埋めるのに最も適切な表現を次のうちから選び、それぞれの記号を記せ。同じ記号は一度しか使えない。 ア hope イ affection ウ ill health エ willpower |
|
プライバシーポリシー © 2008.エクスクルーシブ・アカデミア〜exclusive-academia〜 All rights reserved. |