英語の時間へようこそ。
2021年、今は時代の変わり目だと思います。今までの常識が変化する時。そこで、まさに常識が変わることが書かれている、法政大学法学部が入試に以前出題した文章をシェアさせていただきたいと思います。
[１] つぎの英文を読んで、下記の問いに答えよ。
A symbol of rank and distinction, the umbrella originated in Mesopotamia 3,400 years ago as an extension of the fan. These early umbrellasdid not protect Mesopotamians from rain, a rarity in their desert land, but from the harsh sun. And umbrellas continued to serve primarily as sunshades for centuries, a fact evident in the word “umbrella,” derived from the Latin umbra, “shade.”
Roman women began the practice of oiling paper sunshades to waterproof them, and sun parasols and rain umbrellas remained predominantly female accessories well into the eighteenth century in Europe―and beyond that time in America. Men wore hats and got soaked. More than a casual attempt to escape the elements was seen unmanly.
It was a Britishu gentleman, Jones Hanway, who made umbrellas respectable rain-gear for men. He accomplished that transformation only through steady perseverance, humiliation, and public ridicule.
Hanway acquired a fortune in trading with Russia and the Far East, then retired at age thirty-eight, devoting himself to founding hospitals and institutions for orphans and abandoned children. And to popularizing the umbrella, a passion of his.
Beginning in 1750, Hanway seldom ventured outdoors, rain or shine, without an umbrella. He always caused a sensation. Former business associates suddenly viewed him as unmanly; street hooligans jeered as he passed; and coachmen, thinking their livelihood threatened by the umbrella as a legitimate means of shelter from the rain, steered through puddles to splash him with mud.
Nevertheless, Hanway carried an umbrella for the final thirty years of his life. Guradually, men realized that a one-time investment in an umbrella was cheaper than hailing a coach every time it rained―in London, a considerable savings. Perhaps, it was the economics of the situation, or a case of familiarity breeding indifference, but the brand of unmanliness long associated with the umbrella lifted.
