abandoned island

　DY（07/19/12付）のEDUCATION RENAISSANCE / Student motivation surges in English-only classesより英語表現を拾います。

This is a translation from The Yomiuri Shimbun's Education Renaissance series. It is the first installment in a five-part subseries focusing on school efforts to exclusively use English when teaching students the language in line with the education ministry's guidelines. This installment features a Chiba prefectural high school that has adopted the use-only-English method to make students better motivated to learn English as a tool for communication.

During class in mid-May, Akira Shimomura, an English-language teacher at Chiba Prefectural Nagareyama Otakanomori High School, posed a question to his third-year students--"What would you want to bring to an abandoned island?" His question drew a flood of answers from the class. All were in English.

"Instant noodles, because [they are] easy to eat," one student replied. Another said, "We must protect ourselves from animals."

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/T120716001872.htm

　abandoned islandとは「無人島」だと容易に推測することが可能です。「無人島」という表現で最も一般的な言い回しは，uninhabited island（誰も住んでいない島→「無人島」）でしょう。また，desert island（荒れ果てた島→「無人島」）という表現の仕方もありますね。小説などでよく見られる表現ではないでしょうか。今回のabandoned islandはは初めて聞きました。abandonedなので「（捨てられた島→）無人島」という発想だといえます。このような言い回しもあるのですね。