2021年入試で新型コロナウィルス(Covid-19)についての英語問題を出題した医学部・その他の学部
一会塾 英語科の山口じろうです。今回は、英語講師としてブログを書きます。
英語の入試問題は、社会が加速度的な変化を見せる中で、古い内容の問題は年々出題しにくくなっています。また、同じ問題を出題してしまう、ケアレスミスも起こるなど、入試問題に対する警戒感も高まっています。
これだけの社会生活の変化が起きる中で、自由英作文のテーマや英語長文の内容についての変化は、医学部に限らず、全学部で起こりました、2022年以降の入試を受ける皆さんは、最新の主要な英文はぜひ読んでおいた方が良いでしょう。
コロナ以前では、いわゆるグローバル化（Globalization）に関する英文や、外国人観光客：インバウンド（inbound 形容詞「入ってくる」）の増加による問題、オリンピックなどによる景気効果などについての英文がたくさん出題されました。ところがコロナが起こってしまった今、このような内容の古い英文を出してしまうとどうでしょう？なんて古い英文を出しているんだ、この大学は？となって信頼を失うことにもなりかねません。この点において、理科、数学、国語、特に古文や漢文などと違い、英語という科目は、かなり特徴的な出題の傾向を持っている科目だと言うことができるでしょう。
それでは、新型コロナウィルス(Covid-19、[Covid:coronavirus disease)についての英文を読むのに必要な英単語を整理しておきましょう。
まず、感染するという英単語はinfect（～を感染させる）です。感染症（infectious disease）や伝染病（epidemic）が、拡大して世界的な広がりを見せると、パンデミック（pandemic）と呼ばれます。人々が、接触 (contact)すると飛沫(droplets)が飛び交い、感染（infection）を起こします。感染者（infected person）は、在宅（stay home）を指示され、場合によってはホテルに隔離され（quarantine）ました。人々は、外出（outing）を禁止され（prohibit）たり、テレワーク（telework）や、在宅勤務（work from home）が日常化されました。
それでは、2021年に出題された英語の入試問題を見ていきましょう。
まずは英作文からです。まず、慶應義塾大・医学部と杏林大学で「在宅勤務のメリットとデメリットを100語で書け」という問題が出題されています。
１） During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a trend among those who can do so toward working from home. Write 100 words or so in English on what you consider to be the advantages and disadvantages of this trend.
2021 慶應義塾大学 2/19,一般(１次) 医
２） 以下の英文を読み，あなたの意見とその理由を4つ以上の英文で書きなさい。解答は，記述式解答用紙に書きなさい。なお，解答欄の外に書かれたものは採点されません。
Some people say that more companies will allow people to work from home instead of coming to the office. What do you think about the idea?
2021 杏林大学 2/3,前期
東京海洋大学では、マスクに関する効果について出されました。
３）与えられた日本語の意味になるように英文を完成させなさい。その際，( )の中の語句すべてを必要に応じて適当な形に変えて使い，適宜単語や句読点(コンマ，ピリオドなど)を補うこと。
マスクをつけることが，COVID-19のウイルスの感染拡大を抑える一助になることは明らかだ。しかし，ある新しい研究によれば，すべてのマスクが同じように作られているわけではない。この研究はまた，ウイルスが存在する環境のもとで，長い時間を過ごせば過ごすほど，マスクはより効果的ではなくなることを示した。
[A](a mask，obvious，wear) can help reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. But not all masks are created equal, according to a new study. The study also showed that the more time a person spends in an environment [B](effective，present，the virus) a mask becomes.
2021 東京海洋大学 2/25,前期 海洋工
英語表現を確認するだけで勉強になりますね。
４）獨協大学は「新型コロナウィルスが人々のコミュニケーションに及ぼした影響についての是非」を出しました。
以下のトピックについて，50語から70語程度の英文で答えなさい。
In these days of the new coronavirus pandemic, people around the world have had to change the ways they communicate with other people. How has the way people communicate with others changed? Are you satisfied with the new communication style?
2021 獨協大学 2/1
５）島根大学では、英作文ですばらしい良問が出されています。
次の日本文の下線部(1)，(2)を英語に直しなさい。
(1)コロナウイルス対策として，感染者の増加とともに，各国には多数の症例が蓄積されている。各国の医師や研究者が，WHOと協力して症例を分析し，有効な治療方針を確立する必要がある。ワクチンや治療薬の開発にも，国際協力が欠かせない。
(2)医療体制が脆弱(ぜいじゃく)な発展途上国での感染拡大も懸念される。特に病院の少ないアフリカでは，被害が深刻化する可能性がある。余裕のある先進国は検査機器を送るなどして，途上国を支える必要もある。
(「［社説］パンデミック 世界が協調し感染拡大抑止を 新型コロナ」『読売新聞 2020年3月13日朝刊3面』読売新聞社（一部抜粋）)
[注] コロナウイルス coronavirus
2021 島根大学 2/25,前期
６）青山学院大学では、2015年に書かれたテレワークについての長文を読ませた上で、設問として、2021年
現在との比較をさせる問題を出しました。
本文で紹介されている調査は2015年に実施された。2021年2月現在，テレワークを利用したいと考える人の割合は，2015年当時と比べてどうなっていると考えられるか。そのように考えられる理由とともに，日本語150字以内で論じなさい。(解答用紙(その3)を使用すること)
2021 青山学院大学 2/15, 経営
７）2021 奈良県立医科大学 後期 「新型コロナが変えた日常生活」について
Write 70－100 words about how your day-to-day life has changed due to the current pandemic (COVID-19).
This task will be graded on both content and the accuracy of the English language used.
8) 2021 下関市立大学 3/8,中期 経済 「オンライン教育から対面教育へ戻す必要はなし？」
Answer the following question.
Because of the coronavirus, many high schools and universities started to teach online. Recently, some people think that it is not necessary to return to face-to-face classes as long as online learning is effective. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Explain your opinion and give at least two reasons in English. Write approximately 100 words.
９）2021 宮崎公立大学 2/25
「コロナは別にして、教育はオンライン教育であるべきか、対面教育であるべきか？」
While many universities in Japan still adopt online classes due to the coronavirus pandemic, some
politicians claim that lessons should be conducted face-to-face. Except for stopping infections, describe
the advantages or the disadvantages of online lessons. (100+ words)
それではここから、医学部とその他の大学に分けて、どのような長文テーマが出されているか見ていきます。
【医学部が出題した新型コロナの英語問題】（看護学科を含む）
１）2021 自治医科大学 2/10,２次 医 「ソーシャルディスタンスを促すロボット犬」
２）2021 秋田大学 2/25, 医 「COVID-19の起源とSUPERSPREADERS（爆発的に感染を広げる人）」
３）2021 大阪市立大学 2/25, 「COVID-19がアメリカ人の＜握手・ハグ＞などの生活習慣を変えた」
４）2021 京都府立医科大学 2/25, 医 看護学科 「COVID-19後の生活の変化に対するストレスの行方（ゆくえ）」
５）2021 高知大学 2/25,医 「COVID-19と感染症の歴史」
６）2021 浜松医科大学 2/25,医 「パンデミックと環境の危機」
7) 2021 三重大学 3/12,後期 医 「COVID-19が子どもたちに与えた，医学的リスク以外の悪影響と将来への悪影響」
８）2021 宮崎大学 2/25,前期 医 「ベトナムのCOVID-19対策について」
９）2021 琉球大学 3/12,後期 医 「COVID-19と医師のあるべき姿」
１０）2021 東京医科大学 2/6, 医 「新型コロナのマスクが与えた難聴患者への影響」
１１）2021 兵庫医科大学 1/27,一般Ａ(１次) 医 「在宅でネット注文が増えたことによる日常」
１２）2021 藤田保健衛生大学 3/4,一般（後期）・愛知県地域枠含む 医 「握手やハグは感染を拡大させる悪しき習慣」
１３）2021 群馬大学 2/25,前期 医 「コロナよりも深刻な海洋汚染」
【他学部が出題した新型コロナの英語問題】
１）2021 大阪医科大学 2/1, 薬 「ウェアラブルデバイスはCOVID-19を探知できるか」
２）2021 大阪経済大学 1/27 「COVID-19におけるマスクの有効性」
３）2021 北里大学 2/3,一般 理 「(人間以外の) 生物では当たり前のソーシャルディスタンス」
４）2021 杏林大学 2/2 「マスクは本当に有効か？」
５）2021 杏林大学 2/3 「インフルエンザとCOVID-19の違い」
６）2021 駒澤大学 2/6 「COVID-19後のアメリカ人の生活の変化」
７）2021 上智大学 2/6, 外国語 「COVID-19が変えた経済と社会生活」
８）2021 中央大学 2/11, 国際情報「SNS上のフェイクニュース『５G』の電波がCOVID-19の感染原因？」
９）2021 立正大学 2/1 「COVID-19の感染予防としてできること」
１０）2021 早稲田大学 2/12, 文化構想「COVID-19が加速させたAIロボットの活用とその是非」
１１）2021 早稲田大学 2/22,一般 社会科 「COVID-19が障害者に与えた影響」
１２）2021 慶應義塾大学 2/12,一般 理工 「新型コロナによる在宅ストレス」
１３）2021 中部大学 2/1,前期 「新型コロナウィルスが今後の社会生活に与える計り知れない影響」
１４）2021 星薬科大学 2/2, 薬 「マスク着用に対する世界の拒否反応」
１５）2021 早稲田大学 2/21, 商 「新型コロナ対策として有効な規制とは」
１６）2021 兵庫県立大学 2/25,前期 工 「新型コロナのアマゾン森林破壊への影響」
１７）2021 公立はこだて未来大学 2/25 Advances in Japan IT firms’ ‘touchless’ technology boosted by virus fears
１８）2021 宮崎公立大学 2/25 LGBT people in Japan worry getting coronavirus may result in outing
１９）2021 防衛大学校 11/7 「イタリアのコロナ対策」
上記の英文中、特におススメの英文をこちらに掲載しておきます。ぜひ読破してみましょう。
2021 琉球大学 3/12,後期 医
「COVID-19と医師のあるべき姿」
次の文章は，New England Journal of Medicineに掲載されたCOVID-19 A Reminder to Reasonと題された文章の一部である。この文章を読んで以下の各問に答えなさい。
How long will this pandemic last? When will we find a treatment or vaccine? Which drug should we give our patients? Will we run out of personal protective equipment (PPE)? When will everyone return to work? We find ourselves in a time of great economic, social, and medical uncertainty. Faced with a crisis, Lee Iacocca, the late automobile company executive, once said, “So what do we do? Anything. Something. . . . If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.” Similarly, in the heat of the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt commented, “Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But by all means, try something.” Though a trial and-error approach may be appropriate in business and politics, should it be applied to medical decision making during a pandemic?
Even as we acknowledge that the world now feels strange and that doctors are susceptible to human anxieties, we should remember to accept uncertainty rationally and beware of potential undesirable consequences of our instinctive desire to see patterns in what may be random happenstance. Our mission as healers, in a situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, makes us feel compelled to do something. As doctors trained in the scientific method, however, we are committed to practicing evidence-based medicine, which is premised on the ability to interpret scientific reports on supposed diagnostic and therapeutic advances. We need to retain a healthy skepticism and remember the principle of clinical equipoise, particularly when considering interventions that could cause harm. Otherwise, in our effort to “do good” for our patients, we may fall prey to cognitive biases and therapeutic errors.
(中略)
Thus far in the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve observed that therapeutic management has often been initiated and altered on the basis of individual case reports and physician opinion, rather than of randomized trials. In these uncertain times, physicians fall prey to cognitive error and unconsciously rely on limited experiences, whether their own or others’, instead of scientific inquiry. We believe that physicians should be acting in concert with clinical equipoise. We should be skeptical of any purported therapeutic strategy until enough statistical evidence is gathered that would convince any “open-minded clinician informed of the results” that one treatment is superior to another.
We are living through an unprecedented biopsychosocial crisis; physicians must be the voice of reason and lead by example. We must reason critically and reflect on the biases that may influence our thinking processes, critically appraise evidence in deciding how to treat patients, and use anecdotal observations only to generate hypotheses for trials that can be conducted with clinical equipoise. We must act swiftly but carefully, with caution and reason.
(New England Journal of Medicine 2020; 383:e12より抜粋・一部改変)
「注釈」
Great Depression 大恐慌
evidence-based medicine 根拠に基づく医療
premised 前提の skepticism 懐疑論
clinical equipoise 臨床的平衡 interventions 介入
cognitive biases 認知バイアス therapeutic errors 治療上のエラー
randomized trials 無作為化試験 treatment 治療
physicians 医師
anecdotal observations 逸話的な観察結果
問1 前半(中略より前)の文章を読んで，要旨を200字以内にまとめなさい。
問2 後半(中略より後)の文章を読んで，COVID-19パンデミックという状況における医療の問題とその問題を克服する具体的方法について200字以内にまとめなさい。
2021 杏林大学 2/3,前期(２・３科目) 外国語 総合政策
「インフルエンザとCOVID-19の違い」
次の英文の内容に合うように，[ 21 ]～[ 25 ]の質問に対して最も適切なもの，または文を完成させるのに最も適切なものを，それぞれ①～④のうちから一つずつ選べ。
Influenza and the coronavirus disease COVID-19 appear to be very similar. After all, both are respiratory diseases, and they are transmitted via contact with infectious respiratory droplets. Beyond that, however, they differ in important ways. What are some of these differences, and why do they matter?
One difference between COVID-19 and influenza is that the former appears to be more contagious than seasonal influenza. A person infected with influenza spreads the disease to another 1.3 individuals. For COVID-19, an infected person spreads illness to another 2 to 2.5 persons.
COVID-19 also appears to cause more severe illness more frequently than seasonal influenza. Part of this difference may be attributed to the fact that COVID-19 is caused by a new type of coronavirus, against which humans have no immunity. By contrast, many people have at least some degree of immunity against seasonal influenza, enough to prevent hospitalization and complications in most instances.
Along those same lines, COVID-19 is deadlier than influenza. The mortality rate of influenza is roughly 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, the case fatality rate for COVID-19 is estimated to be about 1.4-4.5 percent, with risk of death being significantly higher for older persons than for younger individuals.
Seasonal influenza, as its name suggests, tends to come and go as the weather changes. Influenza viruses circulate year-round, but the number of new influenza cases generally increases in the cooler months and tapers off in the warmer months of the year. This does not mean that cold weather causes the flu; rather, cool weather, by bringing people indoors, along with other changes, is a contributing factor.
It is possible that COVID-19 could turn out to be a seasonal illness, similar to influenza. However, experts warn that, at least for now, amid the ongoing pandemic, warmer weather is unlikely to drive the disease away. COVID-19 is a new disease, and there are many millions of people worldwide who have not yet been exposed. This deep reserve of potential hosts could fuel sustained transmission through summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Many factors, however, determine seasonality of diseases, and more time is needed before conclusions can be drawn about whether COVTD-19 is a seasonal illness.
(Adapted from Kara Rogers, “What Is the Difference Between Influenza and COVID-19?” https://www.britannica.com/story/what-is-the-difference-between-influenza-and-COVID-19)
[ 21 ] Influenza and the coronavirus disease COVID-19 ( ).
① are both caused by the same virus
② are both transmitted via contact with infectious droplets
③ are different in the ways of transmission
④ are different in the body organs they affect
[ 22 ] A person infected with COVID-19 ( ).
① transmits the disease to another 2 to 2.5 individuals
② transmits more diseases to other people
③ spreads the disease to 1.3 persons
④ spreads illness to less people than one with influenza does
[ 23 ] The reason why COVID-19 causes more severe illness than influenza is that ( ).
① its mortality rate is lower than that of influenza
② risk of death is higher for younger people than older people
③ many people have some degree of immunity against its virus
④ humans have no immunity against its virus
[ 24 ] What does the name “seasonal influenza” suggest?
① Influenza viruses circulate all year around.
② Cold weather causes the influenza.
③ Its number of cases is higher in the warmer months than in the cooler ones.
④ Its number of cases increases and decreases as the weather changes.
[ 25 ] As for the seasonality of COVID-19, ( ).
① the warmer weather is likely to drive the disease away
② the cooler weather is unlikely to cause the disease
③ we need more time before we draw conclusions
④ we can conclude that COVID-19 is a seasonal disease
2021 秋田大学 2/25,前期 国際資源 教育文化 医
「COVID-19の起源とSUPERSPREADERS（爆発的に感染を広げる人）」
Read the passage below and answer the questions. For all the questions, write the letter (a), (b), (c), or (d) on your answer sheet.
[1] At the end of 2019, a cluster of people in Wuhan, China, suddenly presented with severe pneumonia*1, and all were found to be infected with a virus that had never before been observed in any animal or human but it appeared to ( A ) the coronavirus family of viruses. But that’s not COVID-19’s origin story. After all, the novel coronavirus didn’t just appear spontaneously in humans. That meant it had to have started in some other animal. But which? And how did it end up infecting humans?
[2] Initially, scientists saw similarities between the novel coronavirus and a coronavirus seen in bats. ( B ) the cluster of infected people all had some connection to a Wuhan wet market*2 where live bats were sold as food, many (mostly non-scientists) quickly assumed the virus came from eating the flesh of an infected bat. But scientists knew that didn’t sound right. First, this particular coronavirus does not spread through food. Second, it’s virtually unheard of that a coronavirus seen in a bat would be capable of jumping to a human. So while the novel coronavirus looked like a bat virus, it couldn’t have actually come from a bat. That meant the virus would have had to have infected another animal in the interim*3. Scientists began looking at other animals, and in a recent study found that while this coronavirus looks genetically similar to one isolated in bats in 2013, it also bears a striking resemblance to coronaviruses recently observed in pangolins*4 in China.
[3] What this suggests is that the virus may begin as a coronavirus in bats as far back as 2013 but then evolved over the next several years into a virus to which pangolins were susceptible, and after that, it evolved further until it became capable of infecting humans. Of course, none of this proves the novel coronavirus came from pangolins. First, the study is brand new and only preliminary*5. Second, there still might be another animal (or animals) in whose bodies this virus mutated*6 and evolved until it was finally transmittable to humans. And until we know the answer, it will be virtually impossible to figure out exactly when, where, or how the virus made the jump to humans.
<中略>
[4] However, some believe the viral evolution described above is sufficiently complicated to shed serious doubt on the coronavirus-as-biological-weapon theory. That being said, “serious doubt” is not the same thing as “disproving*7”, so for now, there remains the possibility that the virus came about in a lab. If it did, that does not necessarily mean it was developed as a biological weapon. It could have occurred spontaneously in a lab, the way it would in nature. But right now, it’s too soon to reach a definitive conclusion on any of this.
[5] Based on what we know of COVID-19, it only takes a single person to spread to a large group of people. But some people seem to be more capable of doing that than others, and those people are called superspreaders*8. Some experts, including Amy Baxter, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Augusta University and a member of the CDC’s ED-COVID panel, theorize that superspreaders have high viral*9 loads and/or spray a lot of saliva*10 when they speak, or perhaps possess a more potent*11 concentration of viral particles. However, no one is yet able to say why some people may be prone to becoming superspreaders. Even more vexing*12, according to Dr. Nesochi, is that “we can’t predict who is or will be a superspreader,” at least not at this time. Because superspreaders may or may not be asymptomatic*13, that’s one reason masks could be helpful, notes Dr. Baxter. After all, a superspreader wearing a mask is less dangerous to others than a superspreader not wearing a mask.
<中略>
[6] The fact that someone can host a communicable disease*14 without experiencing illness is actually nothing new to scientists ― or to historians. Ever heard of Typhoid Mary*15? Starting in the late summer of 1906, Mary Mallon, who was employed as a cook by a wealthy New York City family, single-handedly initiated an outbreak of typhoid fever*16 that infected more than 3,000 people. Mallon never experienced a single symptom.
[7] Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, people have been found to have contracted the virus without ever experiencing a symptom. At this point, researchers estimate that anywhere from 25 to 80 percent of people who are infected with the novel coronavirus have no symptoms at all. Unfortunately, it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict who might be an asymptomatic carrier, Dr. Nesochi tells Reader’s Digest*17. That said, Dr. Dass points out that if someone tests positive for COVID-19 antibodies*18, then we may be able to trace some infections back to that person.
(出典：Lauren Cahn, “12 Coronavirus mysteries that still can’t be explained”, Reader’s Digest, June 12, 2020より抜粋し一部改変)
pneumonia*1＝肺炎
Wuhan wet market*2＝武漢の生鮮市場 in the interim*3＝その間に
pangolin*4＝センザンコウ(哺乳綱，鱗甲目(りんこうもく)の動物)
preliminary*5＝予備的な mutate*6＝突然変異する
disproving*7＝反証をあげる
superspreader*8＝スーパー・スプレッダー(他人に対して強力な感染源となる患者)
viral*9＝ウイルスの saliva*10＝唾液，つば
potent*11＝強い vexing*12＝いらだたせる
asymptomatic*13＝無症状の communicable disease*14＝感染症
Typhoid Mary*15＝腸チフスのメアリー typhoid fever*16＝腸チフス
Reader’s Digest*17＝月刊雑誌の名前
antibody*18＝抗体(体内に入った病原体を排除する免疫物質)
問1 In Paragraph [1], what is the most appropriate phrase to fill in ( A )?
(a) be apart from (b) be in place of (c) be on behalf of
(d) belong to
問2 In Paragraph [2], what is the most appropriate word to fill in ( B )?
(a) However (b) Also (c) Since (d) Nevertheless
問3 In Paragraph [4], what does “the way it would in nature” mean?
(a) as the viral evolution would happen in nature
(b) as a biological weapon would be developed in nature
(c) as the coronavirus would attack nature
(d) as scientists studied the coronavirus in nature
問4 Which of the following topics would best describe the contents of Paragraph [1] to Paragraph [4]?
(a) How COVID-19 started. (b) How to fight COVID-19
(c) How to research COVID-19 (d) How scientists made COVID-19.
問5 In Paragraph [5], which of the following is closest in meaning to “loads”?
(a) thresholds (b) distances (c) quantities (d) costs
問6 Which of the following would best describe Paragraph [5]?
(a) How does a superspreader spread the virus?
(b) What is the best way to prevent infection?
(c) Where can we find a superspreader?
(d) When can researchers detect a superspreader?
問7 In Paragraph [6], the author introduces Mary Mallon because ( ).
(a) she was an example of a superspreader
(b) she was an amazing cook
(c) she researched the history of typhoid fever
(d) she discovered typhoid fever
問8 In Paragraph [7], who is “that person”?
(a) a person who tests positive for COVID-19 antibodies
(b) a person with an illness
(c) a person with typhoid fever
(d) a person who is infected without any symptoms
問9 According to Paragraphs [5] to [7], which of the following statements is true?
(a) Scientists have confirmed that Mary Mallon spread COVID-19.
(b) Superspreaders never show symptoms.
(c) Only asymptomatic carriers can test positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
(d) Superspreaders have also appeared before COVID-19.
問10 Which of the following statements is NOT supported by the article?
(a) Masks reduce the spread of COVID-19.
(b) COVID-19 was proven to have come to humans from pangolins.
(c) 25 to 80 percent of people who are infected with COVID-19 have no symptoms at all.
(d) Superspreaders in mass gatherings can be dangerous to others.
