N2 統合理解（聴解）: Combining Voices (New at N2!)

The listening version of integrated comprehension debuts at N2 (4 items in two shapes) and it is the exam's hardest listening: nothing is printed (for the long-dialogue shape), multiple pieces of information must be COMBINED, and the famous two-question finale tracks TWO people choosing from FOUR spoken options. It is also very trainable, because both shapes run on fixed rails. This chapter lays the rails.

1. Shape One: The Long Three-Way Conversation

Format: a ~90-second conversation (often three speakers: two colleagues + a boss, a family of three) negotiating a decision — what gift to buy, which venue, how to fix a problem. One question, asked AFTER, typically: 「三人はどうすることにしましたか」(what did they decide?).

  • Track the DECISION, not the discussion. Proposals fly (AはX案, BはY案); your pencil keeps a two-column ledger: proposal / status (alive・dead・merged).
  • Merging is the N2 twist: the final decision often COMBINES proposals — 「じゃ、駅前の店で、時間は早めにしよう」(B's place + A's timing). Options offer the pure proposals; the merged one wins.
  • Decision markers: そうしよう, それでいこう, 決まりだね, じゃあ、そういうことで — after these, nothing changes; before them, everything can.

2. Shape Two: The 4-Option Double Question

Format: a monologue presents FOUR options (four courses, four apartments, four plans — often labeled 1〜4 or by name), THEN two people discuss, THEN two questions: Q1「男の人はどれにしますか」Q2「女の人はどれにしますか」. Both questions are printed with the four options — the only printed help in the block.

The grid method

  1. During the monologue: jot one keyword per option (①安い ②駅近 ③夜景 ④朝食). The presenter always differentiates them along 2-3 axes (price, location, features).
  2. During the discussion: tag criteria BY SPEAKER: 男=眺め重視 / 女=値段重視. Each speaker states 1-2 binding criteria and usually rejects one option aloud.
  3. Answer per person: match each speaker's criteria to the grid. The two answers are almost always DIFFERENT options (that's the design), and each speaker typically names or paraphrases their pick near the end (「私はやっぱり③かな」).

The killer error: letting speaker A's criteria contaminate speaker B's answer. The pencil-prefix (男/女) on every note is the vaccine — identical to the reading version's stance map, ported to audio.

3. Worked Double-Question (Compressed)

旅行会社の人が、四つのツアーを紹介しています。
「①は温泉でゆっくりするコース。②は山を歩く自然コース。③は歴史の町を巡るコース。④は海の幸を楽しむグルメコースです。」
男：温泉もいいけど、せっかくだから体を動かしたいな。
女：私は歩くのはちょっと…。おいしいものが食べられれば満足。
男：じゃ、僕は②にするよ。
女：私は④ね。温泉は次の楽しみに取っておく。
Q1 男の人はどのツアーにしますか。→ ②　Q2 女の人は…→ ④

Grid: ①温泉 ②山歩き ③歴史 ④グルメ. 男: wants exercise (+②), soft-no to ① (もいいけど). 女: rejects walking (−②), wants food (+④), defers ① explicitly. Both name their picks — N2 usually confirms aloud; your grid is there for when it doesn't.

4. Combination Questions in Shape One

Some long-dialogue items ask a computed fact: 「クラス会には結局何人来ますか」 after a conversation of confirmations and cancellations. Treat it as arithmetic dictation: starting number → +/− per line → final count. The first number is never the answer; the running total is.

5. Stamina & Order Notes

  • 統合理解 sits deep in the listening section — energy management matters. The grid ritual keeps you active rather than drowning.
  • Nothing printed (shape one) means your pencil IS your memory: proposal ledgers and +/− tallies aren't nice-to-have, they're the technique.
  • Practice with any group-decision audio (variety shows, meeting recordings): pause at the end and reconstruct who wanted what and what was decided.

Summary & Key Takeaways

  • N2 聴解・統合理解 = two shapes: the long decision conversation (track proposals→verdict, expect MERGED decisions) and the 4-option double question (grid + per-speaker criteria).
  • Decision markers close negotiations: そうしよう／それでいこう／決まり.
  • Speaker-prefix every note; the two answers differ by design; contamination is the block's fatal error.
  • Computed-fact items are running totals — never the first number.