【高校英語】共通テストの英文解釈 vol.1450≪2023年共通テスト第5問≫

□--■--□--■--□--■--□--------------------------------------------◆ 　　　【高校英語】共通テストの英文解釈 vol.1450 　　　　　　　≪2023年共通テスト第5問≫　　　2024/1/8配信 ◆----------------------------------------□--■--□--■--□--■--□--■ 目次・・・■　問題　■　全文訳　■　解答・解説　■　語句　■　解答一覧 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 今回は2023年共通テスト第5問を解説します。 ■　問題 第５問 　Your English teacher has told everyone in your class to find an inspirational story and present it to a discussion group, using notes. You have found a story written by a high school student in the UK. ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ ｜　　　　　　　　　　　[Lessons from Table Tennis]　　　　　　　　　　　 ｜ ｜　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ben Carter　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　｜ ｜　The ball flew at lightning speed to my backhand. It was completely　　｜ ｜unexpected and I had no time to react. I lost the point and the match.　｜ ｜Defeat... Again! This is how it was in the first few months when I　　　｜ ｜started playing table tennis. It was frustrating, but now I know that 　｜ ｜the sport taught me more than simply how to be a better athlete.　　　　｜ ｜　In middle school, I loved football. I was one of the top scorers, but ｜ ｜I didn't get along with my teammates. The coach often said that I should｜ ｜be more of a team player. I know I should work on the problem, but　　　｜ ｜communication was just not my strong point.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ｜ ｜　I had to leave the football club when my family moved to a new town. I｜ ｜wasn't upset as I had decided to stop playing football anyway. My new 　｜ ｜school had a table tennis club, coached by the PE teacher, Mr Trent, and｜ ｜I joined that. To be honest, I chose table tennis because I thought it　｜ ｜would be easier for me to play individually.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　｜ ｜　At first, I lost more games than I won. I was frustrated and often　　｜ ｜went straight home after practice, not speaking anyone. One day,　　　　｜ ｜however, Mr Trent said to me, "You could be a good player, Ben, but you ｜ ｜need to think more about your game. What do you think you need to do?"　｜ ｜"I don't know," I replied, "focus on the ball more?" "Yes," Mr Trent　　｜ ｜continued, "but you also need to study your opponent's moves and adjust ｜ ｜your play accordingly. Remember, your opponent is a person, not a ball."｜ ｜This made a deep impression on me.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　｜ ｜　I deliberately modified my style of play, paying closer attention to　｜ ｜my opponent's moves. It was not easy, and took a lot of concentration.　｜ ｜My efforts paid off, however, and my play improved. My confidence grew　｜ ｜and I started staying behind more after practice. I was turning into a　｜ ｜star player and my classmates tried to talk to me more than before. I 　｜ ｜thought that I was becoming popular, but our conversations seemed to end｜ ｜before they really got started. Although my play might have improved, my｜ ｜communication skills obviously hadn't.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　｜ ｜　My older brother Patrick was one of the few people I could communicate｜ ｜with well. One day, I tried to explain my problems with communication to｜ ｜him, but couldn't make him understand. We switched to talking about 　　｜ ｜table tennis. "What do you actually enjoy about it?" he asked me　　　　｜ ｜curiously. I said I loved analysing my opponent's movements and making　｜ ｜instant decisions about the next move. Patrick looked thoughtful. "That ｜ ｜sounds like the kind of skill we use when we communicate," he said.　　 ｜ ｜　At that time, I didn't understand, but soon after our conversation, I ｜ ｜won a silver medal in a table tennis tournament. My classmates seemed 　｜ ｜really pleased. One of them, George, came running over. "Hey, Ben!" he　｜ ｜said, "Let's have a party to celebrate!" Without thinking, I replied, "I｜ ｜can't. I've got practice." He looked a bit hurt and walked off without　｜ ｜saying anything else.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ｜ ｜　Why was he upset? I thought about this incident for a long time. Why　｜ ｜did he suggest a party? Should I have said something different? A lot of｜ ｜questions came to my mind, but then I realised that he was just being 　｜ ｜kind. If I'd said, "Great idea. Thank you! Let me talk to Mr Trent and　｜ ｜see if I can get some time off practice," then maybe the outcome would　｜ ｜have been better. At that moment Patrick's words made sense. Without　　｜ ｜attempting to grasp someone's intention, I wouldn't know how to respond.｜ ｜　I'm still not the best communicator in the world, but I definitely　　｜ ｜feel more confident in my communication skills now than before. Next　　｜ ｜year, my friends and I are going to co-ordinate the table tennis league ｜ ｜with other schools.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ｜ └────────────────────────────────────┘