模擬TOEFL iBT007 リスニング問題 - 考古学入門のDay 1

先月から部署異動となり、教務スタッフからICTスタッフになった。データ作成（といってもエクセルへの入力）やコンテンツのテスト、そしてNGの集計にエラーの修正の日々である。不惑を過ぎての全くの畑違いの部署と職務への順応はなかなかしんどいが、頑張るしかない。

昨年、つまり2023年の夏に「化石ハンター展 ～ゴビ砂漠の恐竜とヒマラヤの超大型獣～」 なるイベントに行ってきた。そこでインディ・ジョーンズのモデルの一人はロイ・チャップマン・アンドリュースだった可能性があることを知った。ある意味、シュリーマンと並ぶような野心家で、日本にも来たことのある伝説の考古学者。というわけで、作ってみたのが以下のリスニング問題。Have fun!

Question 01
What is the major reason the professor mentions Indiana Jones in his lecture? 
(A) To highlight the dangers of archaeological expeditions
(B) To introduce the concept of searching for hidden treasures
(C) To illustrate a real-life inspiration for archaeologists
(D) To compare and contrast modern and historical archaeology

Question 02
According to the lecture, what is the most characteristic thing that both Roy Chapman Andrews and Indiana Jones had in common? 
(A) a hat
(B) a whip
(C) boots
(D) a command of multiple languages

Question 03
According to the lecture, why did Roy Chapman Andrews undertake his expeditions to the Gobi Desert?
(A) To discover new communication technologies
(B) To find evidence supporting the theory of human evolution in Asia
(C) To collect dinosaur and mammal fossils
(D) To map the vast and barren landscape

Question 03
The professor mentions that determining longitude in the 1920s involved what?
(A) Observing the angle of the North Star
(B) Using time difference between locations at solar zenith
(C) Relying on communication with other team members
(D) Consulting detailed maps and geographical coordinates

Question 04
What can be inferred about the challenges faced by archaeologists in the time of Roy Chapman Andrews?
(A) They lacked proper training and education.
(B) They had limited access to funding for their expeditions.
(C) They did not have the benefit of modern technological tools.
(D) They were discouraged by the lack of public interest in archaeology.

Question 05
At the end of the lecture, what did the professor encourage the students to do? 
(A) To appreciate the historical context of archaeological discoveries
(B) To acknowledge the importance of perseverance in academic pursuits
(C) To consider majoring in archaeology if they find it interesting
(D) To prepare for the challenges of future archaeological fieldwork

オーディオ・スクリプト

Listen to part of a talk in an archaeology class.

Professor: Welcome, everyone, to Archaeology 101. I'm Adam Whitman, your assistant professor for this semester. Today, on our first day, I'd like to provide you with an overview of archaeology by introducing a figure who greatly influenced my journey into this field. His name is Roy Chapman Andrews. Mike, have you ever come across his name?

Male student: Umm, no.

Professor: No worries. Let me try a different angle. Do you happen to be familiar with a very popular movie franchise featuring an adventurous archaeologist, who travels around the world in search of hidden treasures and ancient artifacts? Ring any bells?

Male student: Oh I got it. It’s Indiana Jones that you’re talking about.

Professor: Exactly! Indiana Jones served as an inspiration for my youthful adventures, but it was later revealed that the character was partly based on a real-life archaeologist, and that was no other than Roy Chapman Andrews. Indiana Jones is believed to be based on several people and characters, but Roy Chapman Andrews is certainly one of them, the most noticeable characteristic being the iconic fedora hat. In fact, many black and white photos show Andrews sporting the same type of hat. Many film experts have pointed out this connection.

Professor: Now, let me continue to talk a little bit more about this great archaeologist to give you a basic understanding of archaeology and what archaeologists do. Andrews is best known for his expeditions in the Gobi Desert. He and his team embarked on a groundbreaking journey there to investigate the origin of the human race. Andrews' primary motivation for exploring the Gobi was to provide evidence that mankind originated and evolved in Asia. Currently, it is widely accepted that the origin of humanity pursued by the Central Asian Expedition in the Gobi Desert is in Africa. In those days, however, finding the origin of humans was a major focus in anthropology. In 1891, Java Man was discovered on the island of Java in Indonesia, and in 1921, the teeth of Peking Man were found in Beijing, China. And the skull was discovered in 1929. All these finds made Asia a very strong and promising candidate. Although he couldn’t find any direct evidence of the origin of humans, he did discover that the Gobi Desert was rich in dinosaur and mammal fossils beyond anyone’s wildest dreams back then. Now, imagine. Andrews’ prime time as an archaeologist was in the 1920s. So, really, we’re talking about a man from about a hundred years ago. In this day and age, we have computers, cellphones, satellite phones, GPS, Wi-Fi, you name it. However, none of these technological gadgets existed in the times of Roy Chapman Andrews. So, communication was never an easy practice.

Male student: So, how did they communicate with other team members? Also, How did they even find their way around the Gobi Desert without GPS? It is, and I’m sure it must've been seemingly a vast barren empty land.

Professor: Those are good questions. The answer is, they navigated using celestial bodies. Latitude was determined by observing the angle of the North Star, and longitude was calculated from the time difference when the sun reached its zenith between two locations. Also, there were indeed many researchers on the team, and they did sometimes split up. When they did that, their rendezvous was very minutely timed in advance. I hope this has answered your questions. 

Male student: Yes, thank you.

Professor: In this day and age, we are surrounded by varied types of technological gadgets. We are able to communicate with people a thousand miles away with ease. We are able to take hundreds of photos and share them with other people with ease. But archaeological research a century ago was conducted with none of these technological benefits. Sometimes, it really was a dangerous trip. Some might say it was literally an adventure. I’m not sure how many of you here are going to be majoring in archaeology, but I really do hope that you all recognize that we owe so much of our knowledge to those who delved into this field. And this is not necessarily the case with the field of archaeology. This applies to all the other academic subjects. But it is also true that archaeological research was, and still is, a very time-consuming and mind-numbing job. Roy Chapman Andrews never got to discover the evidence regarding the origin of humanity in Asia. But his findings certainly changed the world. He is said to have been one of the models for Indiana Jones, who is literally a hero. But sometimes, the most heroic thing you can do is not to go on adventures but to believe in yourself and continue to do what you do. I hope both archaeological-majors and non-archaeological majors keep that in mind. All right. Now, get your textbooks out and open to page 12. 

正答

Question 01   (A)
Question 02   (B)
Question 03   (B)
Question 04   (C)
Question 05   (B)