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ノンフィクション書籍のレビュー
名前:日付:
要約し、評価し、推薦する評価的なレビューを、ニュアンスのある的確な評価表現を使って書きます。
The Quiet Ledger by Imre Halvard: a patient study of attention
Few books about attention manage to avoid either alarmism or self-help clichés. The Quiet Ledger, Imre Halvard's first book, does both, and the result is as thoughtful as it is readable.
Halvard, a former archivist, begins with an unlikely subject: the account books kept by a nineteenth-century merchant, whose meticulous entries reveal how deeply he concentrated on tasks that we would now consider tedious. From this starting point, he builds a persuasive argument that attention is not a fixed capacity but a habit shaped by the demands we place on it. The writing is lucid and wry, and the author has a rare gift for explaining research without simplifying it.
Where the book is less convincing is in its middle chapters. Having established his thesis, Halvard tends to repeat it, supported by anecdotes that are charming but hardly conclusive. A chapter on the effect of notifications, for instance, draws sweeping conclusions from a single small experiment, and the reader is left wishing for more rigour. Nor does the author address the possibility that concentration is easier for some people than for others, an omission that sits oddly with his otherwise careful approach.
These reservations aside, the book's strengths outweigh its weaknesses. Halvard's closing chapter, on the practical value of boredom, is the finest in the book: it is both humane and unexpectedly moving, and it lingers in the mind long after the final page.
Not a definitive study, then, but a stimulating and elegantly written one. It will appeal to readers who enjoy popular science with a historical flavour, though those hoping for a step-by-step programme for improving concentration may be disappointed. Recommended, with minor reservations.
最適な選択肢を選ぼう
洗練されたレビューで最も適切な選択肢を選びましょう。
- Which sentence is the most precise evaluation?
- Which criticism is expressed in the most measured way?
- These reservations ___, the book is well worth reading.
- Nor ___ the author address differences between readers.
- Which sentence best finishes a review with a recommendation?
- Halvard has a rare ___ for explaining research clearly.
- Which sentence describes the book without retelling the plot or argument in detail?
レビューで使う表現を完成させましょう
各文を完成させる語を1語入力しましょう。
- The result is ___ thoughtful as it is readable.
- The author tends to ___ his main point in the middle chapters.
- The chapter on notifications draws sweeping ___ from a single small experiment.
- The last chapter is both humane and ___ moving. (in a way the reader does not expect)
- It is not a definitive study, ___ a stimulating one.
- Readers hoping for a step-by-step programme may be ___.
- The book's strengths ___ its weaknesses.
ライティング課題
あなたがよく知っている、重要なテーマをわかりやすく扱ったノンフィクションの本、ドキュメンタリー、展覧会（実在のものでも架空のものでも構いません）のレビューを書きましょう。それが何についてのものかを説明し、長所と短所を具体例とともに評価し、どんな人が楽しめるかを述べてください。
220〜280語
文章を確認する
- 冒頭で、読者を引きつける一文か、その作品が何であるかをはっきり述べました。
- 作品のあらすじを語らずに、簡潔に説明しました。
- 的確な表現と具体例を使って評価しました。
- バランスの取れた批評を少なくとも1つ述べました。
- 多様な構文（例：Nor does..., These reservations aside）を使いました。
- 特定の読者層に向けた明確な推薦で締めくくりました。
解答
最適な選択肢を選ぼう
- b) The writing is lucid and wry.Lucid と wry は具体的な評価の形容詞で、ほかはあいまいです。
- c) The middle chapters are less convincing.Less convincing は穏やかでプロフェッショナルな表現ですが、ほかの選択肢はぶっきらぼうでくだけています。
- a) asideThese reservations aside は「これらの疑問点は別として」という意味の固定表現です。
- b) doesNor の後では助動詞と主語が倒置されます。Nor does the author address ... のようになります。
- a) It will appeal to readers who enjoy popular science with a historical flavour.読者層を挙げ、推薦をしているからです。
- a) giftA gift for + -ing がここでは自然なコロケーションです。talent の場合は of ではなく for が必要になります。
- a) The author describes the merchant's ledgers and builds an argument about attention as habit.一文で読者に作品の概要を示しているからです。ほかの文は単にあらすじを語っているだけです。
レビューで使う表現を完成させましょう
- asas ... as の形は、同じように当てはまる2つの性質を結びつけます。
- repeat / restate / reiterate / labour / labor / belabour / belabor / overstateTends to の後ろには動詞の原形が続きます。repeat、restate、reiterate などです。
- conclusions / generalisations / generalizations / inferencesDraw conclusions/generalisations は標準的なコロケーションです。
- unexpectedly / surprisinglyunexpectedly や surprisingly のような副詞が、形容詞 moving を修飾します。
- but / though / yetNot ... but ... は2つの描写を対比させます。ここでは though や yet も使えます。
- disappointed / frustrated / dissatisfied提供されないものを期待すると、がっかりすることになります。
- outweigh / outnumberOutweigh は「〜よりも大きい、または重要である」という意味です。
解答例
The Salt Roads, a documentary in four parts, takes a modest subject, the old trade routes that carried salt across a continent, and turns it into an absorbing study of how ordinary goods shape societies.
The film follows a geographer, Mina Okafor, as she travels the routes by train, truck and, in one memorable episode, on foot. The photography is superb, and the commentary is lucid without ever being patronising. Each location is filmed with patience, so that the viewer has time to notice details that a busier programme would skip. Particularly effective is the second episode, which uses old trading ledgers to reconstruct a single journey day by day.
Where the series falters is in its third part. Having established its theme, it lingers too long on a series of interviews that add little, and the pace slackens noticeably. Nor does it consider how the same routes were used by people other than traders, which seems an odd omission in an otherwise thorough series.
These reservations aside, the series is a rewarding one. Its final scene, in which Okafor watches salt being harvested by hand, is quietly moving. The closing narration, delivered without any trace of sentimentality, leaves the viewer with a lasting sense of how much depends on small, easily overlooked things.
It will appeal to viewers who enjoy history and travel, although those looking for a fast-moving narrative may find it slow. Recommended.