センター英語8割への『1日1長文』
センター（2014追試）
Counting Systems: Where Do They Come From?
(1)Have you ever counted a large number of items such as paper clips or postcards?
Most likely, you first separated them into smaller piles of ten each and then counted the piles.
By doing so, you were using the number 10 as the unit for your calculation,a counting systems referred to as the base-10 system.
In fact, most people around the world count using the base-10 system, a method which scholars say we probably inherited from early ancestors who counted, quite naturally, with their fingers.
Because this approach seems so familiar, you may think that counting with 10 is universal.
However, if we look at the world around us, other counting systems are not very hard to find.
(2）The watch on your wrist or the clock on a nearby wall is probably as you need to go to find a different counting system.
An hour can be divided into 60 minutes, and a minute is made up of 60 seconds.
Ancient Mesopotamians, whose system of time we have adopted, are believed to have used a base-60systems.
The Mesopotamian year was divided into 360 days, so the base -60 system fit very well into their calendar.
Moreover, the number 60 can be divided into many different equal amounts.
The divisions on the face of a clock include two thirty-minute periods, four fourteen-minute periods, six ten-minute periods, and twelve five-minute periods.
While 60 might seem like an unusual choice for a base,
it works well for measuring time.
問１ In paragraph(2), the author tells us that ( ) .
① ancient Mesopotamians believed the base-60 system was unusual.
② clock faces could be improved if the base-10 system were adopted
③ the base-60 system did not appear in human history until recently
④ the base-60 system is highly convenient for measuring time
正解は↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
④
センター（2014追試）
Counting Systems: Where Do They Come From?
(1)Have you ever counted a large number of items such as paper clips or postcards?
Most likely, you first separated them into smaller piles of ten each and then counted the piles.
By doing so, you were using the number 10 as the unit for your calculation,a counting systems referred to as the base-10 system.
In fact, most people around the world count using the base-10 system, a method which scholars say we probably inherited from early ancestors who counted, quite naturally, with their fingers.
Because this approach seems so familiar, you may think that counting with 10 is universal.
However, if we look at the world around us, other counting systems are not very hard to find.
(2）The watch on your wrist or the clock on a nearby wall is probably as you need to go to find a different counting system.
An hour can be divided into 60 minutes, and a minute is made up of 60 seconds.
Ancient Mesopotamians, whose system of time we have adopted, are believed to have used a base-60systems.
The Mesopotamian year was divided into 360 days, so the base -60 system fit very well into their calendar.
Moreover, the number 60 can be divided into many different equal amounts.
The divisions on the face of a clock include two thirty-minute periods, four fourteen-minute periods, six ten-minute periods, and twelve five-minute periods.
While 60 might seem like an unusual choice for a base,
it works well for measuring time.
問１ In paragraph(2), the author tells us that ( ) .
① ancient Mesopotamians believed the base-60 system was unusual.
② clock faces could be improved if the base-10 system were adopted
③ the base-60 system did not appear in human history until recently
④ the base-60 system is highly convenient for measuring time
正解は↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
④