【高校英語】過去問攻略！大学入試センター試験 vol.871≪2020年第6問≫第４段落

□--■--□--■--□--■--□--------------------------------------------◆ 　　【高校英語】過去問攻略！大学入試センター試験 vol.871 　　　　　≪2020年第6問≫　　月・水・土発行　　2020/配信 ◆----------------------------------------□--■--□--■--□--■--□--■ 目次・・・■　問題　■　全文訳　■　解答・解説　■　語句　■　解答一覧 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ このメルマガでは、大学入試センター試験の問題を詳細に解説します。 今回取り上げる問題は、2020年英語第６問です。 ■　問題 第６問　次の文章を読み、下の問い(Ａ・Ｂ)に答えよ。なお、文章の左にある (1)～(6)はパラグラフ(段落)の番号を表している。 (1) Vending machines are so common in Japan that you can find one almost anywhere you go. Some of these machines sell train or meal tickets, and others sell snacks or drinks. They are especially useful for people who want to get something quickly and conveniently. (2) While vending machines are found throughout the country today, they were not originally developed in Japan. It is generally believed that the first one was constructed by a Greek mathematics teacher about 2,200 years ago. This machine sold special water used in prayers at temples. People who wanted to purchase the water put in a coin, which hit a metal lever attached to a string. Then, the weight of the coin let a specific amount of water pour out until the coin fell off. This ensured that people received an equal portion of the special water. (3) About 1,000 years ago, a vending machine that sold pencils was developed in China. Later, in the 1700s, coin-operated tobacco boxes appeared in English bars. When people wanted the product sold by one of these boxes,they inserted a coin and turned a lever. The product then dropped down for the customer to pick up. However, it was not until the 1880s that vending machines spread around the world. In 1883, an English inventor created one that sold postcards and paper. This became popular, and soon vending machines selling paper, stamps, and other goods appeared in many countries. In 1904, vending machines came into service in Japan. In 1926, technology had advanced and machines could be set to sell products with different prices. After that, a wider variety of products were sold. When this happened, the vending machine industry expand rapidly. (4) The greatest problem faced by the global vending machine industry in its expansion was not the use of coins; it was paper money. This was a challenge as it proved easy for dishonest individuals to make money that could fool machines. This forced the vending machine industry to establish better detection methods and was one reason countries look steps to develop money that was difficult to [counterfeit]. Now, vending machines have become technologically advanced, not only to prevent problems with cash but also to accept credit cards and more recent forms of electronic payment.