は じ め に
本書のタイトルに使われている「プレミアム」という語を聞いたことがありますか。プレミアム付きのチケットとかプレミアムガソリンなどでしょうか。なにか少し普通より良いものをいうようですね。プレミアムにはいろいろな意味があります
が、この本の場合は、2 つの意味があります。1 つのプレミアムは質が高いこと、もう 1 つは量が多いことです。
内容も濃く、量も多いので皆さんの読解力はつくはずです。2 人の著者はこの本が皆さんをプレミアム・リーダー（すぐれた読み手）へと導いてくれるようにと願って作りました。
皆さんが、将来何かの折に、「そういえば、前に使ったプレミアムとかいう教科書、おもしろかったなあ」と思いだし、電車の中ででも読んでくだされば、皆さんにとっても私たちにとってもこの本が「プレミアム」だったということになります。
英語の読む力をつけるということは、読むスピードを高め、語彙を増やし、行間を読む力・要約の力をつけたりすることなどをいいます。また、英語という言葉を通して、文化的思考法の違い等も学べると思います。ぜひ CD をよく聞き、目からだけではなく、耳からも英語を入れて下さい。英語を「話す」「書く」力は「読む」「聞く」量に比例します。
この本の構成は簡単なものにしてあります。VOCABULARY PREVIEW では本文を理解する上で大事な単語を読む前に確認します。本文の右には単語の意味を書いておきましたが、数は必要最小限に抑えてあります。単語の意味をその前後関係から類推する力を奪いたくないからです。本文を読んでからは、内容理解確認のための COMPREHENSION、そして要約文作成のための SUMMARY へと進みます。その解答は CD を聞いて確認することもできます。最後は READING SKILLS &STRATEGIES です。英語を読む技術を学ぶことになります。これは皆さんが英語を書く上でもたいへん役に立つ技術です。「スキミングとスキャニング」「文脈による内容の予測」「パラグラフの構成を知る」など、皆さんにとって新たな「プレミアム」になります。
皆さんには私たち 2 人が楽しみながらこの本を書いたように、ぜひこの本を楽しんで読んで下さればと願っています。楽しむためには途中に多少の苦しみはあると思います。気がついたら、何か今までよりも読めるようになっていた、または、今までになく楽しく読めたという人が「あなた」であることを願っています。
著者

CONTENTS
UnitTitle

Reading Skills & Strategies

Unit 1

Poor Little Laika

スキミングとスキャニング

1

Unit 2

Where Did That Idiom Come
From?

下見と予測読み

7

Unit 3Heroes from the Canine
Kingdom

文脈による内容の予測

13

Unit 4

Pack Carefully!

パラグラフの構成を知る

19

Unit 5The Many Lives of Yoshiko
Yamaguchi

アウトラインとブレーンストー
ミング

25

Unit 6

Taxation in the 21st Century

マインド・マップ

31

Unit 7

The Unusual Secretary . . . or
Secretaries?

パラグラフの構成：時間的順序

37

Unit 8Mother Complexパラグラフの構成：原因と結果

43

Unit 9The Death of the Newspaper

パラグラフの構成：理由

49

Unit 10The Great Escape: Over, Under,or Through the Berlin Wall

パラグラフの構成：手順と方法の説明

55

Unit 11

Technology, Friend or Fiend?

パラグラフの構成：比較と対照

61

Unit 12

Alcohol: A Dangerous Drug
Across Cultures

パラグラフの構成：具体例

67

Unit 13

The Superior Bee

パラグラフの構成：定義

73

Unit 14The Remarkable Bullet . . . Train 見解を知る

79

Unit 15

Unusual Inventions

85

推測読みPage

Pack Carefully!

◆◆◆◆
◆◆◆◆
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

2001 年 9 月 11 日以前は空港での所持品検査は厳しくありませんでした。機内に好きな飲み物が持ち込めました。それ以前にはタバコもライターも持ち込めて、機内で喫煙ができたのです。ずいぶん変わりました。今や乗客が機内に持ち込むものに十分注意を払わねばならないのです。出入国の際、持ち込み禁止・制限品を発見もされずに検査を通ろうとしたら大変です。
敢えてそういったことをしようとした人たちの話を読んでみましょう。

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

VOCABULARY PREVIEW
次の空欄にあてはまる適切な語を a 〜 c から選びなさい。

1. Some people still try todrugs, money, and other illegal things

through airports.
a. smuggle

b. hug2. We cannot use our new car until it passes
a. inspection
3. You have too muchc. advertise.

b. highways

c. manuals. I think that you can carry that brown bag onto

the plane.
a. bags
4. Babies wear
a. hatsb. clothes

until they can use a toilet on their own.
b. socks

5. For many years now, passengers could not carrya. passports

c. luggage

b. liquidsc. diapers
into airplanes.
c. baggage

19

READING
After September 11, 2001, security at airports became

CD1-08security「警備」

much stricter. Workers at airports and border stations

strict「厳しい」began noticing that people frequently carry unusual

frequently「たびたび」

luggage. It would seem that it is getting more difficult5

not only to smuggle illegal things, but to get past officials

smuggle「密輸入（出）with souvenirs that might have gone unnoticed years

souvenir「土産 」

する」

before.
The smuggler has found it more difficult to bringillegal goods into countries. At an airport in Los Angeles,
10

smuggler「密輸入（出）者」

for example, officials saw a thin man on a security
camera who had an unusually heavy body. When they
searched him, the security officials got a big surprise.
After removing his shirt, they found that eleven skinks,
two lizards, and two geckos had been strapped to his15chest. He had come all the way from Australia withthese valuable creatures, which would be worth about¥1,000,000 to exotic-animal collectors.
Jim Hughes, a friendly, 77-year-old man from theskink「スキンク」（光沢のある体をしたトカゲの総称）
lizard「トカゲ」
gecko「ヤモリ」
strap「ひもで結びつける」

exotic-animal「外来動物の」United States, probably could not be called a smuggler,
20

but he was discovered with some extraordinary carry-on
luggage. Officials noticed that he had trouble carrying

extraordinary「異常の」his small bag, so they offered to help. They were shocked
to find out how heavy it was. Inside, they discovered twolarge pieces of historic cobblestone from the surface of a25

cobblestone「玉石」

road. Hughes cheerfully explained that he had picked
them up on an old street in Boston. The airport official
took them away and had the cultural treasures returnedto the roads department.

cultural treasure「文化遺産」

Fresh meats and vegetables are not supposed to be30

carried across borders by ordinary passengers. In thecase of Karen Turner, she almost entered the UnitedStates from Mexico carrying 60 kilograms of popularchorizo sausage. Alert officials noticed, however, that she
had too many used baby diapers in her car. “My little boy20Unit 4

chorizo sausage「チョリーソー・ソーセージ（香辛料とニンニクを強くきかせたスペインの豚肉ソーセージ）」
alert「用心深い 」
diaper「おむつ」

35

has diarrhea!” she explained to the officials. Inside of thediarrhea「下痢」

many diapers, however, they discovered the sausages.
Strangely, the meat did not look so different from what aperson usually finds in a used diaper.
Alert Al Wheeler noticed that a van was moving rather
40

slowly in the line for inspection at the Mexican border.

inspection「検査」

The border official asked the driver to step out, and thendiscovered the reason the car was so heavy: The driver
was carrying nearly 1,600 kilograms of Mexican whitecheese. The man confessed that he wanted to sell the45

confess「白状する」

cheese, which was valued at about ¥900,000.
At an airport in Germany, an angry passenger refused
to give up his liter bottle of pepper vodka. He insisted

refuse「拒む」
vodka「ウオッカ」

that he was bringing it home as a present for a friend;
airport officials firmly explained to him that liquids could50

not be brought onto the airplane. Rather than give up hisbottle, the 64-year-old man opened it and in just a coupleof minutes, drank everything. Five minutes later, hereturned from the plane and was rushed to a hospital foralcohol poisoning.

55

All of us tend to over-pack for trips. Often we findalcohol poisoning「アルコール中毒」

over-pack「詰めすぎる」

attractive food items in other countries and want to bringthem back. Finally, we see a nice bottle of liquor or wine,
and want to give it to a friend. It is important to packcarefully when we go abroad. Officials are watching more
60

closely than ever.

Pack Carefully!

21

COMPREHENSION
次のそれぞれの質問に対する答えとして正しいものを a 〜 c から選びなさい。

1. Why did officials in Los Angeles find the valuable Australian creatures?
a. A man kept going in and out of a restroom.
b. A slender man had a strangely overweight body.
c. A thin man with no baby was carrying lots of diapers.
2. What was Mr. Hughes trying to carry into an airplane?
a. Two pieces of stone from a road in Boston.
b. Some valuable creatures from Boston.
c. Popular Boston white cheese in diapers.
3. How did Al Wheeler notice the problem on the Mexican border?
a. The American driver of the car could not speak any English.
b. The smell of cheese was very strong in the hot Mexican weather.
c. The car in which the cheese was hidden moved very slowly.
4. Why did a passenger in Germany drink one liter of vodka in just a couple ofminutes?
a. It was his first time in a plane, and he was afraid to fly.
b. He did not want officials to take away his souvenir.
c. He wanted to show officials that Germans drink quickly.
5. What does the writer of this story suggest?
a. Stones cannot be brought into the U.S. from Mexico.
b. A passenger may not bring diapers into an airplane.
c. It has become important to pack our bags carefully.

SUMMARY

CD1-09次の（ ）内に、与えられた文字で始まる適切な語を 1 語ずついれなさい。その後、CD を聞いて確認しなさい。

After September 11, 2001,  (acarried unusual  (l) officials began to notice that people). Inspections at airports and border crossings

have become much  (s) since then.

It has become more difficult not only for  (sgoods, but ordinary  (p), who carry illegal). One man, for example, tried to take twopieces of an old Boston  (r) in his bag. Another man in Germany

got very angry when airport officials told him that he could not bring any (l) into the plane. He  (dquickly and had to go to the  (hOfficials on the  (b) his one-liter bottle of vodka).

) of the U.S. and Mexico have also seen peopletry to bring many strange things into the country.

22Unit 4

READING SKILLS & STRATEGIES
パラグラフの構成を知る
パラグラフは主題文、支持文、結びの文からなる。パラグラフの主題を表す文を主題文（topic sentence）と呼ぶ。例として My winter vacation was wonderful.（私の冬休みはすばらしかった）を主題文としてみる。この主題文が読み手に伝わるように､ 主題文を説明する支持文（supporting sentences）が必要となる。My wintervacation was wonderful.（Why?）なぜ、楽しかったのかという理由である。

1. I went skiing for three days in Tochigi.（栃木に 3 日間スキーに行った）
2. My basketball team had a year-end party.（バスケット部が忘年会を開いた）
3. I watched lots of movies on our new flat-screen TV.（新しい薄型テレビでたくさんの映画を見た）

4. I cooked New Year’s dinner for my family.（家族のために新年の夕食会の料理をつくった）では上記の構成からなるパラグラフを読んでみよう。

My winter vacation was wonderful. From December 26–29, I went skiing
at Nasu in Tochigi Prefecture. I stayed at a small inn with four old friends
from high school, and we enjoyed not only skiing, but chatting and drinking
together at night. On December 30, my basketball team held its End-ofthe-Year Party. We had it in an izakaya. On the other nights, I watchedlots of DVDs that I had rented because my father had bought a new largescreen TV. Finally, my dad and I cooked the New Year’s dinner. Lots ofthe dishes were failures, but my mother looked so happy that we had tried
to give her a break from cooking. This was the longest and best wintervacation I have ever had.
このパラグラフでは主題文が理由または例で支持されている。結びの文は次のいずれかであろう。

1. 主題文を別の表現で書き換える。
I had a great time during this past winter vacation.
2. 力強い自分の感想や意見を伝える文で終える。
The only regret is that this winter vacation was ten days long; I wish it
had been ten years.
3. エッセイであるなら、次のパラグラフへのつなぎの言葉を書く。
I had a great time, and it all started with a wonderful trip.
（次の段落で、書き手は栃木でのスキーに焦点を当てる）

Pack Carefully!

23

ACTIVITIES
次の英文を読み、アウトラインを書きなさい。

In my opinion, when we travel in Japan, it is better to take the train thanto go by plane. First, airports are usually far from cities. Train stations, on
the other hand, are located in the center of cities. Second, trains are always alittle cheaper than planes. It is better to save our money for our trip. Third,
we can see beautiful scenery from a train; from a plane, everything is too small.
Finally, we can get up and move around a train. It is hard to do that in aplane. These are just a few of my reasons. I’m sure that you can think of many
more why traveling by train is better than traveling by plane within Japan.
主題：

Traveling by train

主張：
支持文：

1.
2.
3.
4.
結び：
次の英文を読み、アウトラインを書きなさい。

Studying at the library is better than studying at home. At home, there are
too many distractions. For example, I will surf the Internet or send e-mailto friends if I am using my computer. I may listen to music and neglect mywork. At the library, we have to be quiet. Also, I can exchange ideas aboutproblems or homework with friends at the library. Finally, at the library wehave access to books, computers, and other sources of information. I feel thatthe atmosphere is perfect for learning. Though I enjoy being at home, whenit comes time to study, the library is definitely the best place for me. I canconcentrate there better than anywhere.
主題：

Studying at the library

主張：
支持文：

1.
2.
3.
4.
結び：
24

Unit 4