英検準2級プラスのfirsthand・secondhand・primary・secondary source｜一次情報を読む独自40問【全訳】

慶英会 塾長｜慶應義塾大学卒・英検1級
中高一貫校の学校英語・NEW TREASURE・英検対策を専門とするオンライン個別指導塾です。塾長紹介

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英検準2級プラスの歴史・科学・学校の長文では、firsthand（直接体験した）・secondhand（人づての）・primary source（一次資料）・secondary source（二次資料）の違いを理解すると、誰が何を確認したかが読みやすくなります。慶英会の独自40問（語句8問・オリジナル長文4題32問）で、直接観察した記録と後からまとめた記事、情報の誤りと未確定の結論を区別します。全解答・全文和訳付きです。

結論｜直接の記録と後からの解説を分ける

• firsthand account：本人が直接経験・観察した出来事の説明。
• secondhand information：別の人から伝え聞いた情報。元の資料を読んだとは限らない。
• primary source：対象に直接関わる原資料・原データ。歴史研究では当時の日記や手紙、科学では原測定記録など。
• secondary source：原資料を要約・分析・解釈した後の解説や記事。
• verify / evidence：情報の検証と根拠。一次資料だから必ず完全に正しいとは限らない。

一次・二次の分類は何を調べるかによって変わることがあります。新聞記事は別の出来事を要約すれば二次資料ですが、新聞報道そのものを研究する場合は一次資料となることもあります。単純に「一次資料＝絶対正しい」とするのではなく、他の資料との照合が必要です。

公式試験との関係

英検協会による準2級プラスReadingは短文の語句空所補充17問、長文空所補充6問、長文内容一致8問。学校・歴史・科学なども題材に含まれます。公式試験内容。以下は慶英会独自制作の教材であり公式過去問ではありません。

Part 1｜情報源と検証の語彙8問

問1

A description from someone who personally saw the event is a ___ account.

問2

Information repeated from someone else may be ___ information.

問3

An original research diary may be a ___ source for studying the experiment.

問4

A textbook summarizing several historical diaries may serve as a ___ source.

問5

Scientists try to ___ findings before making strong claims.

問6

The writer named the official report as the ___ of the figure.

問7

A direct ___ of rainfall was recorded in the field notebook.

問8

An interpretation of evidence is not necessarily the same as a proven ___.

Part 2｜歴史・科学・調査の4長文32問

原資料で確認できること、後の解説の推測、別の人から聞いただけの主張を区別して解答します。

長文1｜地域史の研究｜当時の日記と後年の解説書

Reading passage（慶英会オリジナル）

A school history club studied a railway station that had closed fifty years earlier. The club found a diary written by an employee who worked at the station during its final year. The diary described the employee’s daily experiences, making it a firsthand account of some events at the station. Students also borrowed a recent history book that compared the diary with newspaper articles and other records. The history book was a secondary source for the project because it summarized and interpreted earlier materials. One student argued that the diary must be accurate in every detail because it was written by a witness. The teacher disagreed, explaining that even primary sources may contain mistakes or limited perspectives. The club compared the diary with dated photographs and official timetables. Although several sources supported the closing date, they did not all agree about why the railway line had been discontinued. The students decided to describe the uncertainty rather than invent one definite cause.

問9. Who wrote the diary?

A. A modern textbook writer ／ B. A former station employee ／ C. The school librarian ／ D. A museum visitor

問10. What kind of account was the diary?

A. A fictional film review ／ B. An advertisement ／ C. A firsthand account of some station events ／ D. A current online timetable

問11. Why was the recent history book a secondary source?

A. It summarized and interpreted earlier sources ／ B. It was printed in a school ／ C. It had photographs ／ D. It was written by a student

問12. What did the teacher say about primary sources?

A. They can never be useful ／ B. They are always perfectly correct ／ C. They always agree ／ D. They may contain errors or limited perspectives

問13. Which materials did the students compare with the diary?

A. Shopping receipts ／ B. Dated photographs and official timetables ／ C. A modern weather app only ／ D. English exam papers

問14. What detail did several sources support?

A. A new railway line ／ B. The train’s ticket price ／ C. The closing date ／ D. The size of the museum

問15. What issue remained uncertain?

A. Why the line had been discontinued ／ B. Whether the station existed ／ C. Whether a diary had been found ／ D. Whether the students borrowed a book

問16. What did students decide to do with the uncertainty?

A. Hide every source ／ B. Invent a single cause ／ C. Cancel the whole project ／ D. Describe it rather than invent a certain cause

長文2｜川の水質調査｜原測定値と報道記事

Reading passage（慶英会オリジナル）

A science group measured water clarity at three locations along a local river. On Monday, the students entered their readings directly into a field notebook with the date, time and location of each measurement. The notebook was the group’s primary record of its own observations. A week later, the local newspaper published an article describing the study and suggesting that a new walking path might explain differences among the sites. The article was a secondary account of the students’ measurements and included an interpretation that had not yet been tested. One volunteer heard a summary of the article from a friend but had not seen either the article or the original records. The teacher described that volunteer’s knowledge as secondhand. The group compared its notebook with the newspaper summary and found one incorrect number in the article. The newspaper corrected the number after checking the original measurements. The team avoided claiming that the walking path caused water conditions to change because it had not tested that explanation.

問17. At how many river locations were measurements taken?

A. Two ／ B. Three ／ C. Four ／ D. Five

問18. What was the group’s primary record?

A. The newspaper article ／ B. The friend’s summary ／ C. The dated field notebook ／ D. A museum brochure

問19. What did the newspaper suggest?

A. A walking path might explain differences ／ B. The river was completely dry ／ C. All readings were identical ／ D. The study was canceled

問20. Had that explanation been tested?

A. Yes, repeatedly ／ B. Yes, at every site ／ C. The article proved it ／ D. No

問21. How did one volunteer learn about the article?

A. By reading every original measurement ／ B. From a friend’s summary ／ C. From conducting the survey ／ D. From a professor’s interview

問22. What error was found?

A. The number of schools ／ B. A missing day of the week ／ C. An incorrect figure in the newspaper ／ D. The name of the river’s country

問23. Who corrected the error?

A. The newspaper after checking original data ／ B. The volunteer’s friend ／ C. The school principal ／ D. The city bus office

問24. What did the students avoid claiming?

A. That they had collected data ／ B. That there were three locations ／ C. That a newspaper article existed ／ D. That the path had caused the differences

長文3｜学校のアンケート｜原回答とブログでの要約

Reading passage（慶英会オリジナル）

A junior high school surveyed forty students about the reading formats they preferred. The original anonymous responses were stored in the school’s survey system. For this analysis, the response records were primary data. A school blog later published a summary saying that many respondents liked digital materials. The blog was a secondary description of those responses, not a replacement for the original data. Some readers repeated the summary online and said that all students preferred digital textbooks. The survey team checked the records and found that only twenty-four of the forty respondents had chosen digital materials as their first preference. Twelve chose printed books and four had no preference. The team published these numbers in a correction and explained that the forty respondents did not necessarily represent every student at the school. The team also noted that no names had been published. The teacher asked students to distinguish a firsthand response, a secondary summary and a stronger claim unsupported by the data.

問25. How many students responded?

A. Twenty-four ／ B. Forty ／ C. Twelve ／ D. Four

問26. Where were the primary data stored?

A. In a public newspaper ／ B. In a museum archive ／ C. In the school’s survey system ／ D. On a restaurant menu

問27. What did the blog summarize?

A. Many respondents preferred digital materials ／ B. Every person in the city used tablets ／ C. Nobody liked reading ／ D. The school stopped teaching

問28. What unsupported claim spread online?

A. All respondents were anonymous ／ B. Twenty-four chose digital ／ C. The survey had forty responses ／ D. All students preferred digital textbooks

問29. How many selected digital materials first?

A. Twelve ／ B. Twenty-four ／ C. Four ／ D. Forty

問30. How many selected printed books?

A. Four ／ B. Twenty-four ／ C. Twelve ／ D. Sixteen

問31. How many had no preference?

A. Four ／ B. Twelve ／ C. Twenty-four ／ D. Forty

問32. What population was NOT necessarily represented?

A. The forty respondents themselves ／ B. The students who chose printed books ／ C. The unnamed respondents ／ D. Every student at the school

長文4｜博物館の展示｜一次資料と後から作られた説明文

Reading passage（慶英会オリジナル）

A history museum prepared an exhibition about the town’s first public library. Its collection included a letter written by the library’s founder and an old membership book listing early visitors. The curator treated these as primary sources for questions about the opening period. A modern visitor guide summarized those documents and added background information from later research, making it a secondary source for the same historical question. During a school visit, a student noticed that the guide gave the wrong year for the library’s opening. The museum checked the founder’s dated letter and several other records before correcting the guide. The curator said that a date written in a primary source still needs careful interpretation because a letter might refer to an announcement rather than the actual opening. The corrected guide therefore explained the distinction between the announcement date and the date when members were first admitted. The museum asked visitors to compare evidence before repeating a claim.

問33. Which item was an example of a primary source?

A. The modern summary guide ／ B. The founder’s original letter ／ C. A new tourism advertisement ／ D. A student’s unrelated novel

問34. What did the old membership book list?

A. Weather patterns ／ B. Repair costs ／ C. Early library visitors ／ D. New train stations

問35. Why was the modern guide a secondary source?

A. It summarized earlier documents and later research ／ B. It contained no words ／ C. It was written in English ／ D. It was displayed at the entrance

問36. What error did a visiting student find?

A. The price of a bus ticket ／ B. A missing map ／ C. An incorrect book title ／ D. The library’s opening year

問37. What did the museum consult before correcting the guide?

A. Social media comments only ／ B. Dated letter and other records ／ C. A shopping receipt ／ D. One student’s memory only

問38. What warning did the curator give about primary-source dates?

A. They are never useful ／ B. They always show one precise event ／ C. They may refer to announcements rather than openings ／ D. They cannot be checked

問39. What two dates did the corrected guide distinguish?

A. Announcement and first membership admission ／ B. The museum’s lunch times ／ C. Two future exam dates ／ D. A train’s arrival and departure

問40. What were visitors encouraged to do?

A. Believe every website ／ B. Ignore first-hand documents ／ C. Quote one person without checking ／ D. Compare evidence before repeating claims

復習｜情報の出どころを一文で説明する

• firsthandとsecondhandの情報の伝わり方を自分の例文で区別する。
• primaryとsecondaryの資料がどの研究のために使われたか考える。
• 直接の記録に誤り・主観・視点の制限があり得ると理解する。
• 「可能性がある」という記事の説明を「証明された」に強めない。
• 翌日と一週間後に32問を再演習し、各正答の根拠と情報源を示す。

FAQ

firsthandとprimary sourceは同じですか？

重なる場合がありますが完全に同義ではありません。firsthandは直接経験した情報で、primary sourceは研究対象に直接関わる原資料・原データを指します。

secondary sourceは信頼できないのですか？

そうとは限りません。複数の一次資料を検証・比較した良質な解説は有用です。出典・根拠を確認しましょう。

一次資料なら必ず正しいですか？

いいえ。記録者の勘違い、情報不足、偏った視点などがあるため、必要に応じ他の資料と照合します。

関連する慶英会の無料教材

• explore・examine・investigate・research｜調査と研究の40問
• 相関と因果｜情報と根拠の40問

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慶英会 塾長｜慶應義塾大学卒・英検1級。中高一貫校の学校英語・NEW TREASURE・英検対策を専門としています。塾長の経歴・指導方針を確認する