Japanese from zero · N2 Lesson 44
Reading like the exam
a full N2 passage ・ connectives ・ exam-style questions ・ the year's forms
In this lesson, you will learn to read a full N2-length passage the way the exam asks you to: find the writer's claim and sort it from the facts, follow the connectives that turn and narrow the argument, answer the usual question types without falling for the traps, and recognize the forms of the whole year. The passage is Lisa's feature for the club paper: the job hunt as a foreign student saw it.
By the end you will be able to say
留学生にとって、比較的 難しいのは 言葉の 試験です。For a foreign student, the language tests are comparatively hard.
インターンでの 発表が 私の 実績に なりました。My presentation at the internship became something I had achieved.
留学生の 採用は、どの 会社にも 普及して いる わけでは ありません。Hiring foreign students hasn't spread to every company.
筆者が 一番 述べたい ことを 一言で まとめます。I sum up in a word or two what the writer most wants to say.
下線の 言葉の 意味を 考えます。I think about the meaning of the underlined words.
The grammar in this lesson
- The passage: finding the writer's claim and the facts — Facts tell what happened; the claim is what the writer thinks. Find the claim first: it is usually near the end.
- Connectives and clause links in the wild — しかし, 一方で, ただし, では, そのため and 要するに show where a passage turns, narrows, asks and sums up.
- Exam-style questions: what is asked, what is a trap — Know the three big question types (要旨, 下線, 内容と 合う) and the three usual traps.
- The forms in the passage, recapped — The passage uses forms from the whole of N2; knowing them makes the reading fast.