薬袋先生失礼いたします。
The one thing (which) people did seem to find enough money for, Christiansen noticed, were toys.
(試訳)人々が十分にお金を手に入れているとかなり思われる、かつクリスティアンセンが気づいたものは、おもちゃだった。
後ろに説明も付けます。
最近は入試問題を見ることもほとんどないのですが、出典が明記してある問題文を読んでいて面白い英文に出会いました。
The one thing people did seem to find enough money for, Christiansen noticed, were toys.
というのですが、構造と意味、わかりますか?これは東北公益文科大学2023年一般選抜A日程の第3問の第3段落の最後の文です。
全文は以下の通り。
Anyone growing up in the last 60 years knows Lego. The tiny plastic bricks that fit together have provided a lot of pleasure for generations of future engineers, scientists, architects, carpenters, — and yes — writers. Lego, which celebrates its 60th anniversary on January 28, 2018, has sold more than 485 billion pieces, and today its one of the most famous brands on the planet.
Still, building a house, a bridge, or the Eiffel Tower out of Lego bricks is more than just child’s play. Research has shown that building with Lego bricks allows children to improve their spatial and language skills. When children play with Lego bricks, they think about what parts make up the whole and how each block relates to one another.
Not bad for a simple toy that had its beginnings in a small village named Billund in southern Denmark. That’s where a carpenter named Ole Christiansen, who left high school when he was only 14, lived. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, Christiansen’s shop suffered as people built fewer homes and less furniture. The one thing people did seem to find enough money for, Christiansen noticed, were toys.
By 1936, Christiansen became a toymaker, producing more than 40 different toys carved from wood. Christiansen even created his own brand name, leg godt, a Danish term that in English translated into “play well.” The name became “Lego”. By 1949, Christiansen’s company began producing tiny plastic building bricks that children loved. Nine years later in 1958, the Lego brick was created. The bricks offered children the opportunity to build anything they could think of.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, the number of Lego products rapidly increased. In 1977, for example, the company launched its Expert Builder Series, models with motors and gears. A year later, the company introduced its first yellow-faced Lego men. Lego also used technology. Through the 1980s, Lego sets began to include electric lights and sound-making devices. The company also opened LEGOLAND theme parks around the world. But by 2003, Lego, which was still based in Billund, was in financial trouble. Kids, it seemed, were more interested in playing video games and using the internet than they were playing with Lego bricks.
The company’s new management had to do something. Like the children who played with the bricks, executives used their imagination and within 10 years Lego was once again doing well. Much of its success was due to its Future Laboratory. 50 or so researchers, scientists and designers worked there. Their jobs were to invent new play experiences for children. The company partnered with universities and others in the hope of finding out what kids wanted. They researched popular movies, fashion trends, magazines and websites. The research worked. In 2017,according to Forbes magazine, Lego was worth 87.9 billion, and ranked as the 76th most valuable brand in the world.
Unlike other toys, Legos products work together as one system of play, whether its Lego Duplo, for young children, the highly advanced Lego Technic or classic Lego. Although Lego bricks have always been fun to play with, research has shown they can be central to a child's education. There’s a good chance the scientists of tomorrow are currently playing Lego bricks.
(Adapted from “Why Legos Have Stood the Test of Time” by J. Perritano)