英英辞典についてのアンケート調査

英英辞典の分かりやすさを比べるため、以下のアンケート調査を行いました。単語（イディオム）が(1)〜(12)までありますが、それぞれの見出し語について3つの解説と3つの例文があげてあります。引用した辞書は伏せてあり、しかも順不同で並んでいます。

次の(1)~(12)の単語またはイディオムの意味を調べるために辞書を引いたとき、分かりやすい説明は(A)(B)(C)のどれですか。分かりやすいものに○をつけてください（最大2つ）。また、分かりにくいと思うものに×をつけてください（最大2つ）。

さらに、それぞれの単語について(a)(b)(c)の中から分かりやすいと思う例文に○をつけてください。分かりにくいと思うものに×をつけてください (それぞれ２つまで)。

(1) explicit (adj)

(B)  Something that is explicit is expressed or shown clearly and openly, without any attempt to hide anything

(C)  An explicit instruction etc is expressed in a way that is very clear.

(a) Sexually explicit scenes in films and books were taboo under the old regime.

(b) He gave me very explicit directions on how to get there.

(c) There was no explicit mention in the report of Capt Kirk's involvement.

(2) discreet (adj)

(B) If you are discreet, you are polite and careful in what you do or say, because you want to avoid embarrassing or offending someone.

(C) careful in what you say or do, in order to keep sth secret or to avoid causing embarrassment or difficulty for sb

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(a) They were gossipy and not always discreet.

(b) He was always very discreet about his love affairs.

(c) It wasn't very discreet of you to ring me up at the office.

(3) intrinsic (adj)

(A) being part of the nature or character of someone or something

(B) If something has intrinsic value or intrinsic interest, it is valuable or interesting because of its basic nature or character, and not because of its connection with other things.

(C) belonging to or part of the real nature of sth/sb

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(a) Diamonds have little intrinsic value and their price depends almost entirely on their scarcity.

(b) The job is of little intrinsic interest.

(c) These tasks were repetitive, lengthy and lacking any intrinsic interest.

(4) mesmerized (v)

(A) If you are mesmerized by something, you are so interested in it or so attracted to it that you cannot think about anything else.

(B) to have such a strong effect on you that you cannot give your attention to anything else

(C) to make someone feel that they must watch or listen to something or someone, because they are so interested in it or attracted by it

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(a) He was mesmerized by her charm and beauty.

(b) They were mesmerized by her performance.

(c) He was absolutely mesmerized by Pavarotti on television.

(5) reciprocate (v)

(A) to behave or feel towards sb in the same way as they behave or feel towards you

(B) to do or give something, because something similar has been done or given to you

(C) If your feelings or actions towards someone are reciprocated, the other person feels or behaves in the same way towards you as you have felt or behaved towards them

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(a) Their attraction to each other as friends is reciprocated.

(b) Her passion for him was not reciprocated.

(c) I cannot accept his generosity -- I am not in a position to reciprocate.

(6) insinuate (v)

(A) to suggest indirectly that sth unpleasant is true

(B) to say something which seems to mean something unpleasant without saying it directly, for example saying indirectly that someone is being dishonest

(C) If you say that someone insinuates that something bad is the case, you mean that they say it in an indirect way.

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(a) Are you insinuating that the money was stolen?

(b) The libel claim followed an article which insinuated that the President was lying.

(c) The article insinuated that he was having an affair with his friend's wife.

(7) scapegoat (n)

(A) someone who is blamed for something bad that happens, even if it is not their fault

(B) If you say that someone is made a scapegoat for something bad that has happened, you mean that people blame them and may punish them for it although it may not be their fault.

(C) a person who is blamed for sth bad that sb else has done or for some failure

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(a) I don’t think I deserve to be messed about and made the scapegoat for a couple of bad results.

(b) She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence.

(c) He claimed he had been made a scapegoat for the administration's failures.

(8) retention (n)

(A) The retention of something is the keeping of it

(B) the act of keeping something

(C) the action of keeping sth rather than losing it or stopping it

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(a) Committee members voted for the retention of the existing voting system.

(b) The company needs to improve its training and retention of staff.

(c) The Citizens’ Forum supported special powers for Quebec but also argued for the retention of a strong central government.

(9) hindsight (n)

(A) the ability to understand facts about a situation only after it has happened

(B) Hindsight is the ability to understand and realize something about an event after it has happened, although you did not understand or realize it at the time.

(C) the understanding that you have of a situation only after it has happened and that means you would have done things differently

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(a) With the benefit of hindsight it's easy to criticize Lyndon Johnson's fateful decision.

(b) With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him.

(c) With hindsight, we’d all do things differently.

(10) iron out (phrasal verb)

(A) If you iron out difficulties, you resolve them and bring them to an end.

(B) to get rid of any problems or difficulties that are affecting sth

(C) to solve or get rid of problems or difficulties, especially small ones

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(a) There are still a few details that need ironing out.

(b) We need to iron out a few operating problems first.

(c) “It was in the beginning, when we were still ironing out problems,” a company spokesman said.

(11) be at odds (idiom)

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