(356) test

チーズバーガーズ―Cheeseburgers 【講談社英語文庫】

• 作者: ボブ・グリーン
• 出版社/メーカー: 講談社インターナショナル
• 発売日: 1997/04/01
• メディア: 文庫

A Testing Time

1. a nagging feeling: scold or urge continually
2. loomed as almost impossible: appear large and indistinct or impressive
3. cerebral skill:　知的諸技能
4. the most intimidating thing：　身のすくむような最も怖いもの
5. figured agaist a scale of eight hundred points：８００点満点で点数化された
6. the ensuing years：　それにひき続く歳月
7. lead-point pencils:⇒ シャープペンのこと？
8. halfheartedly attempted to read：　本腰を入れないで
9. on a crisp Saturday morning：　さわやかな、心地良い、すがすがしい、
10. My mother is so bogus,：　うちのママったら、デタラメもいいところ
11. stashed six sharpened pencils,: しまってある（for future use)
12. sit in vertical rows,: 縦の列
13. the chief proctor：　試験監督
14. began handing out the answer forms,：　回答用紙を配る
15. sitting a couple of aisles to my left
16. The tests were handed to us.: 問題用紙
17. interminable wait, : endless
18. verbal questions: 言語能力のテスト
19. I was stumped：　途方にくれた
20. I forged on：　先へ先へと進んだ。 move ahead steadly
21. combination desk-chair：　組合せ式の机・椅子
22. popping her gum：　ガムを音をたてて破裂させながら
23. a vague sense of apprehension：　〔これから起きる嫌なことに対する〕不安、心配、心細さ
24. burden　～　with ・・・：　～に…を負担させる、…のことで～に負担をかける
25. my contemporaries：　わたしと同年代の人々
26. get a mortgage for a new house：　新しい家のためにローンを組む
27. was so down in the mouth:　そんなに、しょげている
28. screwed up on my SATs：　SATでヘマをした。 bangle

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My story (英借文)
Shortly after 8:00 on crisp Sunday morning, I took a train from M to K city. Then I walked  to K high school from K station to take a STEP test. At the entrance of the high school, I was directed to a classroom on the fourth floor. When I walked upstaires, an old man was climbing in front of me. He cripled a little. His cloths were dark with his black bag. I followed him and reached the classroom. 
 There were two adult proctor there. We can sit at any desk we want. I chose the seat located in the middle of front raw. There were about 50 set of desk and chair. 
 One of the proctor made each of us present admission cards with photos on them. I looked around the room. There were approximately  thirty-five of us taking the test. The old man sat at the second desk to my left. His eyes seemed to stare at something invisible in distance. The corner of his mouth sometimes twitched. Mysterious and even eerie (sorry to say) expression on his face. But no one was paying a bit of attention to him. There were examinees who are various kind of generation; student-like men and women, middle aged single women and salaried men. I was surprised to find the youngest little girl who looked like a junior high school student.
 The other one of proctors began handing out the answer forms. I put away my English picture book into my toto bag. The tests were handed to us. They were in booklet forms. The chief proctor said that we were to sit quietly at our desks with the test booklet closed. It was just after 13:30, the procotor looked at his watch. Apparently he was waiting for the second hand to hit the twelve.  After what seemed to be an interminable wait, he said:
"You may begin."
There were two sections in the test. The second section was listening comprehention. I was stumped. I forged on, with very little enthusiasm, and even less hope.
We finished the test.

I left the high school. I screw up on my STEP test. On the way home I dropped into a Book Off (seconghanded book store) and bought a lot of English books to read. A girl behind me poped her gum at the cash register. I was not so down in the mouth, looking at the young girl waiting for paying for her books there.  
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