5.2 資料聴読解問題: Graphs, Charts, and Tables

5.2 資料聴読解問題: Graphs, Charts, and Tables

The second sub-section replaces the photograph with a printed visual: a bar chart, line graph, pie chart, table, organization chart, or flowchart. A spoken question is played once, and you choose the best of four written options. The official guidance (このセクションでのポイント) is blunt: read the title and structure fast and predict the question before the audio plays. Five seconds of pre-reading is worth thirty seconds of re-listening — and you cannot re-listen anyway.

The Five-Second Pre-Read

Before the audio starts, scan the document in this fixed order. Practice it until it is automatic.

1. Title (タイトル) — what is this chart about? 「ある国の国民の『生涯労働時間』の平均」 tells you the unit is hours over a lifetime, and the comparison is across time periods.
2. Axes and labels (軸と凡例) — X-axis categories, Y-axis units, legend keys. Note % vs 割合, 億 vs 万 vs 千, 月 vs 年.
3. Units (単位) — Is the Y-axis in %, 人, 万円, 時間? A question that asks about 割合 but the chart shows 時間 is asking for an inferred proportion, not a direct read.
4. Time periods (期間) — 20年前 / 現在 / 20年後予想. If 予想 is in the title, a forecast question is likely.
5. Footnotes and totals (注と合計) — Small print often disambiguates the chart's most important trap.

Common Question Types

Number-Reading Traps

Japanese numeric vocabulary is the single most reliable trap in this section. Memorize these equivalences.

• 億 = 10^8, 万 = 10^4, 千 = 10^3. 1.2億 is 12,000 万, not 1,200 万.
• 割合 uses 割/分/厘. 3割 = 30%, 3割5分 = 35%, 8割5分 = 85%.
• % vs 割. A chart labeled % uses 30; a chart labeled 割 uses 3.0. Both describe the same proportion; the chart's own labeling convention wins.
• マイナス vs 減少. 前年比マイナス5% = a 5% decrease. 「減少」 also means decrease. 「赤字」 means a net loss; 「黒字」 means net profit. A bar can be positive but the company can still be 赤字 if costs rose faster.
• 千人 vs 千 vs 万人. 1.5万人 = 15,000 people; 1.5千人 = 1,500 people.

Trap Patterns in Graph Questions

• Wrong-year trap — The option quotes a real bar value, but for the wrong column (20年前 instead of 現在). Always confirm the year before reading the value.
• Wrong-category trap — The option names a real trend (増加) but for the wrong legend key (睡眠 instead of 余暇).
• Title-confusion trap — The option confuses two legend keys that sound similar (睡眠 vs 余暇, 労働 vs 家事).
• Unit-confusion trap — The option quotes 30 (a %) as if it were 3割, or quotes 万円 as if it were 億円.

Worked Example: 生涯労働時間 Bar Chart

The official sample shows a stacked bar chart titled 「ある国の国民の『生涯労働時間』の平均」, with three columns: 20年前, 現在, 20年後予想. Each column is split into 睡眠, 労働, 余暇.

Pre-read (5 seconds): The title says lifetime hours. The X-axis is time. The legend has three categories. One column is a forecast (予想). The likely question is about a trend or a forecast.

Audio question: 「将来はどのように予想されていますか。」

Reasoning:

1. The question targets the 20年後予想 column — that is the only "将来" column.
2. Compare the 予想 column's three segments against 現在: 睡眠 is roughly unchanged; 労働 shrinks; 余暇 expands.
3. The only option that names a change in the forecast column is 「余暇の時間が増加する」.
4. Cross off the trap 「睡眠の時間が増加する」 (wrong-category: 睡眠 is flat, not increasing). Cross off 「労働の時間が増加する」 (opposite direction). Cross off 「20年前と現在はほぼ同じ」 (ignores the question, which is about 将来).

Correct: 余暇の時間が増加する.

Vocabulary for Graph Reading

Strategy Checklist

1. Pre-read in 5 seconds: title, axes, legend, units, periods, footnotes.
2. Predict the question from the title (trend? comparison? forecast? reason?).
3. During the audio, note which column / row / category the question targets.
4. Eliminate options that quote a real number for the wrong year or category, that swap 睡眠/余暇, or that confuse % with 割.
5. Pick the option that matches the correct column AND the correct category AND the correct direction.