JLPT Reading: Inferring Author's Intent 5 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: A JLPT passage quotes a scientist saying: 'I have spent my career proving what my grandmother knew by instinct.' What is the author suggesting about knowledge?
- Grandmothers are more reliable sources than scientists.
- Scientific method often arrives at truths that intuitive wisdom already held. (Correct answer)
- Instinct should replace formal scientific inquiry.
- The scientist wasted their career on unnecessary research.
Correct answer: Scientific method often arrives at truths that intuitive wisdom already held.
The humorous self-deprecation implies that lived wisdom can precede formal proof, highlighting the author's view that knowledge takes many legitimate forms.
Question 2: An author writes that a once-popular author's books 'now collect dust in libraries no one enters.' What does this image convey about cultural relevance?
- Library funding needs to be increased nationwide.
- Ideas and reputations that seem permanent can fade into obscurity over time. (Correct answer)
- Dust is a sign that libraries are poorly maintained.
- The author's books were of low literary quality.
Correct answer: Ideas and reputations that seem permanent can fade into obscurity over time.
The dual image of dusty books in empty libraries signals the author's meditation on how cultural prominence is temporary and subject to collective forgetting.
Question 3: In a JLPT reading passage, a company executive states that automation 'frees workers from tedious tasks.' The author then notes the local unemployment rate doubled. What technique is the author using?
- Supporting the executive's optimistic framing with data.
- Juxtaposing an official narrative against contradicting evidence to imply irony. (Correct answer)
- Arguing that automation is universally beneficial.
- Suggesting that unemployment statistics are inaccurate.
Correct answer: Juxtaposing an official narrative against contradicting evidence to imply irony.
Placing the executive's positive framing beside rising unemployment figures is the author's ironic technique to cast doubt on the official narrative.
Question 4: A passage describes a marathon runner who 'crossed the finish line last but was the only one still smiling.' What is the author most likely implying?
- Marathon runners should be ranked by facial expressions, not time.
- Personal joy in participation can be more meaningful than competitive outcomes. (Correct answer)
- Finishing last in a race is a sign of poor athletic training.
- Smiling during exercise is medically beneficial.
Correct answer: Personal joy in participation can be more meaningful than competitive outcomes.
The contrast between last place and genuine happiness signals the author's view that intrinsic satisfaction can outweigh external measures of success.
Question 5: A JLPT passage about handwritten letters states: 'An email arrives in seconds and is deleted in the same.' What does the author imply about digital communication?
- Email servers are inefficient and need technological upgrades.
- The ease and speed of digital communication reduces its perceived value and permanence. (Correct answer)
- Handwritten letters take too long to deliver in emergencies.
- Deleting emails is a good organizational habit.
Correct answer: The ease and speed of digital communication reduces its perceived value and permanence.
The parallel of 'arrives in seconds / deleted in the same' implies that speed of delivery corresponds to speed of disposal, suggesting digital messages lack lasting weight.
Question 6: An author describes a child who asked 'Why?' about everything and was consistently told 'That's just how it is.' The author notes the child 'eventually stopped asking.' What is the author implying?
- Children ask too many questions and need firmer guidance.
- Dismissing curiosity suppresses the natural drive to question and understand. (Correct answer)
- Adults always have good reasons for their rules that children cannot grasp.
- The child learned to be respectful of authority.
Correct answer: Dismissing curiosity suppresses the natural drive to question and understand.
The sequence of unanswered curiosity leading to silence implies that repeated dismissal extinguishes the natural human impulse to seek understanding.
Question 7: A JLPT passage closes with: 'We built walls to keep the wind out and then wondered why the air inside grew stale.' What broader message is the author conveying?
- Building construction should prioritize ventilation systems.
- Protective measures taken to excess can eliminate the very vitality they were meant to preserve. (Correct answer)
- Wind energy is an underutilized resource in urban areas.
- Architectural design is more important than environmental policy.
Correct answer: Protective measures taken to excess can eliminate the very vitality they were meant to preserve.
The metaphor of walls blocking windâand then producing stale airâillustrates the author's point that over-protection can eliminate the dynamism one sought to shelter.
JLPT Reading: Inferring Author's Intent 5
A JLPT passage quotes a scientist saying: 'I have spent my career proving what my grandmother knew by instinct.' What is the author suggesting about knowledge?