英語の筆記体は、2002年度から中学で“教えなくてもいい”文字に。アメリカの全国基準にも入らず

Q1. What is the passage mainly about?

1. AHow to buy notebooks for English class
2. BA change in how schools treat cursive writing
3. CWhy American students write faster
4. DA new English test in Japan

昔は習った筆記体が、今は教えなくてもよくなった、という学校での扱いの変化の話なので B。

Q2. Since when have Japanese teachers not had to teach cursive?

1. ASince 1980
2. BSince 1990
3. CSince 2002
4. DSince 2010

Since 2002, the national rules have said that teachers can teach cursive, but they do not have to とあるので C。2010年はアメリカの話。

Q3. In the passage, what does "joining" mean in "joining the letters"?

1. AColoring
2. BErasing
3. CConnecting
4. DCounting

筆記体は文字をつなげて書くので、join は「つなぐ」。C の connecting が同じ意味。

Q1. What did the 1998 curriculum say about cursive?

1. ATeachers must teach it in the first year.
2. BTeachers are not allowed to teach it.
3. CTeachers may teach it, thinking about students' workload.
4. DStudents must learn it before junior high school.

It says teachers may teach cursive, keeping in mind how much work students already have とあるので C。

Q2. What did California do in 2023?

1. AIt passed a law requiring cursive lessons in elementary school.
2. BIt created the Common Core standards.
3. CIt stopped all handwriting lessons.
4. DIt made four-line notebooks free for students.

California passed a law that requires cursive ... to be taught at some point in grades 1 to 6 とあるので A。1〜6年生は小学校にあたる。

Q3. What can be inferred about Japanese students today?

1. AThey all learn cursive in elementary school.
2. BWhether they learn cursive may depend on their school.
3. CThey are not allowed to read cursive.
4. DThey learn cursive only in the United States.

it is now optional, and each school decides から、学校によって習うかどうかが違うと推測できるので B。

Q1. Which change came with Japan's 1998 curriculum reform?

1. ACursive became required for all three years.
2. BForeign languages became a required subject in the official rules.
3. CThe vocabulary target rose to about 1,000 words.
4. DPenmanship got six hours a week.

The same reform made foreign languages a required subject in the official rules とあるので B。単語は1,000語から900語に「減った」。週6時間は1872年の話。

Q2. Why did California pass the 2023 law?

1. ABecause cursive was banned in the state
2. BBecause the Common Core required cursive
3. CBecause learning cursive depended on which school a child went to
4. DBecause research proved cursive was better than print

whether children actually learned it depended on where they went to school. So in 2023 ... とあるので C。

Q3. What is the writer's view of the research on cursive?

1. AIt clearly shows that cursive should be taught first.
2. BIt shows that handwriting is useless.
3. CIt is less settled than the bill's author suggested.
4. DIt proves that both styles are harmful.

The research is less settled than the bill's author suggested とあり、どれを教えるべきかはまだ言えないと続くので C。