N3 情報検索: Condition-Matching at Full Scale
The N3 version of information retrieval doubles the stakes: ~600 characters of practical material (gym schedules, recruitment ads, event pamphlets, facility guides) and 2 questions, each describing a person with multiple constraints — "Yamada works weekdays until 6, wants to spend under 3,000 yen a month, and is a beginner. Which class can he join?" The documents are denser and the fine print sharper than N5, but the method scales cleanly. This chapter drills the upgraded workflow, the fee/eligibility vocabulary, and the two-question economy.
1. What Changes from N5
- More conditions per question (3-4 instead of 2): day + time + price + eligibility. Elimination must be systematic or it collapses.
- Two questions on one document: question 1 usually matches a person to an option; question 2 probes procedure or fine print ("what must participants bring / do by when?"). Your scan for Q1 builds the mental map Q2 uses.
- Real-document complexity: multiple tables + prose notes + ※ exceptions. The answer typically requires combining a TABLE cell with a PROSE note — one source alone is bait.
2. The Fee & Eligibility Lexicon
N3 documents assume this vocabulary — it IS the test:
| Term | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 申し込み／申込書 | もうしこみ／もうしこみしょ | application / application form |
| 締め切り | しめきり | deadline |
| 定員 | ていいん | capacity (定員になり次第終了 = closes when full!) |
| 先着順 | せんちゃくじゅん | first-come-first-served |
| 参加費／会費／入会金 | さんかひ／かいひ／にゅうかいきん | participation fee / membership fee / enrollment fee |
| 無料／有料 | むりょう／ゆうりょう | free / paid |
| 割引 | わりびき | discount |
| 対象 | たいしょう | eligible group (対象：初心者 = for beginners) |
| 初心者／経験者 | しょしんしゃ／けいけんしゃ | beginner / experienced person |
| 持ち物 | もちもの | things to bring |
| 当日／事前に | とうじつ／じぜんに | on the day / in advance |
| 祝日 | しゅくじつ | public holiday |
| 平日 | へいじつ | weekdays |
| 随時 | ずいじ | anytime, as needed |
| 問い合わせ | といあわせ | inquiries |
| ただし／なお／※ | — | exception flags — the answer's graveyard |
3. The Upgraded Workflow
- Read Q1's person-profile carefully and list the constraints (write them as fragments: 平日夜 / 月3000円以下 / 初心者).
- Scan the document's SHAPE first (10 seconds): which table holds days/times, which holds fees, where the ※ notes live. Don't read content yet.
- Constraint-sweep across ALL candidate rows, one constraint at a time, marking kills. Two survivors? The ※ notes decide.
- For Q2 (procedure questions): go straight to the prose sections — 申し込み方法, 持ち物, ただし-clauses. The answer is a compressed restatement of one rule; verify deadline words (までに) and method words (電話で／ウェブで／直接) exactly.
4. Worked Example (Exam Simulation)
さくら市民スポーツセンター 秋の教室
教室 曜日・時間 対象 参加費（月） Ａ ヨガ（朝） 火・金 7:00-8:00 どなたでも 3,200円 Ｂ ヨガ（夜） 水 19:30-20:30 どなたでも 2,800円 Ｃ テニス初級 土 10:00-12:00 初心者 3,500円 Ｄ 水泳中級 月・木 19:00-20:00 経験者 3,000円 申し込みは、開始日の一週間前までに、受付で申込書を出してください（電話・ウェブ不可）。
※ 入会金として、初めての方は別に1,000円が必要です。
※ Ｂ教室は定員になり次第、締め切ります。
Question 1
田中さんは会社員で、平日は夜7時まで仕事がある。運動は初めてだ。月3,000円以下で通える教室はどれか。
①Ａ ②Ｂ ③Ｃ ④Ｄ
Walkthrough: List the constraints: (a) weekday evenings only after 19:00 — he works until 7; (b) beginner; (c) ≤3,000円/month. One-constraint sweep across all rows. Price first (fastest): Ａ 3,200円 ✗, Ｃ 3,500円 ✗ — two kills in five seconds. Time next: Ｄ starts at exactly 19:00 — he finishes work at 19:00, so he cannot arrive ✗ (and 経験者 kills it twice — he's a beginner). Ｂ: Wednesday 19:30 ✓ starts after work, どなたでも ✓ covers beginners, 2,800円 ✓. Answer ②Ｂ. Note the boundary logic on Ｄ: "until 7" vs "starts at 7:00" — the exam habitually places one option exactly ON the boundary. (And the 入会金 ※ didn't matter for Q1 at all — it was planted for Q2.)
Question 2
初めて教室に参加する人は、何をしなければならないか。
① 電話で申し込み、当日1,000円を払う ② 一週間前までに受付で申込書を出し、入会金1,000円も払う ③ ウェブで申し込み、参加費だけ払う ④ 開始日に受付で申込書を出す
Walkthrough: combine TWO prose rules: (a) 一週間前までに受付で申込書 (and 電話・ウェブ不可!), (b) ※初めての方は入会金1,000円が別に必要. Answer ②. Every distractor violates one clause: ①③ use banned methods, ④ misses the deadline. Q2's answer stitched a rule + a ※ note — the N3 signature.
5. Speed & Safety Rules
- Budget ~8 minutes for the document + both questions.
- Never answer from the table alone — sweep the prose notes for the ただし/※ that modifies your row.
- 以下/以上/未満: 3,000円以下 includes 3,000; 未満 excludes it. Boundary words are answers waiting to flip.
- 不可 (not allowed) and ご遠慮ください kill methods politely — don't let the politeness soften the prohibition.
- Profiles list only binding constraints; don't invent extra ones, and don't ignore stated ones.
Summary & Key Takeaways
- N3 情報検索 = ~600-char practical document + 2 questions: a person-to-option match and a procedure/fine-print question.
- Workflow: list constraints → map the document's shape → one-constraint-at-a-time sweep → let ※/ただし break ties; Q2 lives in the prose rules.
- Fee/eligibility lexicon (申し込み, 締め切り, 定員, 対象, 入会金, 先着順, 不可…) is the real vocabulary test.
- Boundary words (以下/未満/までに) and banned-method words (不可) flip answers — verify them character by character.
- Answers combine a table cell WITH a prose note; single-source answers are usually bait.