7.3 総合読解: Reports and News Articles
Key Takeaways
- The 見出し and リード文 of a Japanese news article encode the 主題, while the 筆者の主張 usually appears in the final paragraph after しかし / だが / 筆者は〜と考える.
- Fact vs. opinion is distinguished by grammar: した / と述べた / 数値+だった mark 事実; べきだ / と考える / に違いない mark 意見.
- In the official supermarket 出店コンセプト article, the phrase 利便性がウリ maps directly to the answer 便利さを売る.
- In the official 派遣子会社 article, the unlawful practice is identified by the sentence 勧告や行政処分の対象になります, leading to the answer 派遣子会社が親会社だけに人材を派遣すること.
- Classic distractors include fact-not-main-point, quote-not-argument, wrong-number, and 業績-not-予定 swaps.
7.3 総合読解: Reports and News Articles
Reports and news articles ask you to distinguish 主題, 筆者の主張, 事実 vs 意見, 理由, 見通し, and specific 数値. They are denser than emails and contain a mix of objective fact and author opinion.
Document Types
| Type | Format | Question focus |
|---|---|---|
| 出張報告書 | 目的, 期間, 訪問先, 業務内容, 所感, 課題, 今後の予定 | 実績 vs 予定, 所感 |
| 業務報告書 / 週報 / 月報 | 期間, 業績, 課題, 次期計画 | 数値, 課題 |
| 営業報告 | 訪問先, 商談結果, 受注, 失注 | 理由, 数値 |
| クレーム報告 | 発生日, 内容, 原因, 対応, 再発防止 | 原因, 対応 |
| 企画書 | 背景, 目的, 概要, 予算, スケジュール | 目的, 予算 |
| 新聞記事 | 見出し, リード文, 本文, 引用 | 主題, 筆者の主張 |
| 業界ニュース / 経済コラム | 見出し, リード, 本文 | 筆者の主張, 見通し |
Article Anatomy
A Japanese news or magazine article follows a layered structure:
- 見出し (headline): states the topic in 10–20 characters
- リード文 (lead): first paragraph, summarizes 主題 and 筆者の立場
- 本文 (body): develops the argument with facts, quotes, examples
- 引用 (quote): a source's exact words — fact, not opinion
- 関連情報: context, often numerical, that distractors misuse
The リード文 nearly always encodes the article's main point. If a 主題 question is asked, the answer is in the first paragraph or in the 見出し.
Fact vs. Opinion
The most-tested skill is separating 事実 (fact) from 意見 (opinion). Use these grammatical signals:
| Type | Grammar signal | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 事実 | past-tense した, quoted と述べた, numerical 30% だった | 売上は前年比10%増だった |
| 意見 | べきだ, はずだ, と考える, と言える, に違いない, だろう | 企業は対策を強化すべきだ |
| 予測 | 見込み, 予想, 予測される, とみられる | 来期は黒字化が見込まれる |
| 引用 | 〜と述べた, 〜氏は「…」と指摘した | 山田社長は「成長期待できる」と述べた |
A classic distractor quotes a 社長 comment as the article's main argument — but the article itself may be neutral or even critical. Always check whether the article is reporting the comment (fact) or endorsing it (opinion).
Question Types and Where to Find Answers
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| 主題 / テーマ | 見出し, リード文 |
| 筆者の主張 | Final paragraph, or sentence after しかし / だが / 筆者は〜と考える |
| 事実 vs 意見 | Body paragraphs — separate quotations from commentary |
| 理由 / 原因 | Sentence after なぜなら / その理由は / 〜ため |
| 今後の見通し | Final paragraph, sentences with 予想 / 見込み / 見通し |
| 数値 / データ | Body, but verify against the question's wording |
Strategy
- Read 見出し + リード文 (10 seconds) — capture 主題 and 筆者の stance.
- Read the question — identify which question type (主題 / 筆者の主張 / 理由 / 見通し / 数値).
- Locate the answer-bearing paragraph — for 筆者の主張 jump to the final paragraph; for 理由 scan for なぜなら / ため; for 数値 find the table or numerical sentence.
- Distinguish 事実 vs 意見 before locking an answer.
Trap Patterns
- Fact-not-main-point trap: An option names a true fact from the article but doesn't answer the main-point question.
- Quote-not-argument trap: An option quotes a 社長 comment as the article's argument; the article may be neutral.
- Wrong-number trap: An option picks a number from a related but wrong row of a table.
- 業績-not-予定 trap: An option misidentifies 実績 as 予定 or vice versa.
Worked Example 1: スーパーの出店コンセプト記事
The official sample news article describes a supermarket's new store strategy. Question: このスーパーの最近の出店コンセプトは何ですか. Options: 便利さを売る, 価格の安さ, 品揃えの豊富さ, 店舗の広さ.
The 見出し mentions 「駅中」 opening. The body states 「利便性がウリ」 and contrasts with previous suburban large-store strategy. The correct answer is 便利さを売る — 利便性 maps directly to 便利さ, and ウリ (selling point) maps to 売る.
The trap options 価格の安さ / 品揃えの豊富さ / 店舗の広さ are typical supermarket selling points not mentioned in this article. Pre-reading the 見出し eliminates them.
Worked Example 2: 派遣子会社 Article
The official sample article about 派遣子会社 labor law. Question: 法律に違反するのはどれですか. Options include 派遣子会社が親会社だけに人材を派遣すること.
The relevant paragraph contains the sentence 「勧告や行政処分の対象になります」 describing the violation. Reading only that paragraph identifies the answer: 派遣子会社が親会社だけに人材を派遣すること. The other options describe lawful practices mentioned elsewhere in the article, which makes them plausible at a glance but irrelevant to the violation question.
Drill: Fact/Opinion Two-Color Marking
When practicing with past BJT articles, mark 事実 sentences with one highlighter color and 意見 / 予測 sentences with another. After five articles, you will start to recognize opinion markers (べきだ, と考える, に違いない, だろう) at a glance and skip them when a 主題 or 事実 question is asked. When a 筆者の主張 question appears, you immediately scan for the second color instead of re-reading the article. This drill pays off because BJT Part 3 reliably mixes fact and opinion in every news or column article.
Vocabulary
筆者, 見出し, リード文, 本稿, 記事, 報道, 発信, 主張, 所感, 指摘, 懸念, 見通し, 見込み, 予想, 予測, 実績, 予定, 課題, 提言, 記載, 記録, 引用, 言及, 触れる, 記す, 述べる, 指摘する, 強調する, 警告する, 懸念を示す, 見解を示す.
In the official supermarket 出店コンセプト article, the answer 便利さを売る is best justified by which phrase in the text?
A 主題 question about a news article should be answered primarily from which part of the article?
In the 派遣子会社 sample article, which phrase marks the paragraph that contains the answer to 法律に違反するのはどれですか?