A surprising number of Japanese seem to be actually enjoying the recession.

游客2024-05-04 55

问题 A surprising number of Japanese seem to be actually enjoying the recession. Pressed by their companies to work fewer hours, they are taking more time off and spending it with spouses or at home with their kids. Or they are fulfilling the dreams of freedom they have harbored since their schoolboy hell in cram schools. If their paychecks come to less, prices in Japan have dropped, too, and there are a lot more cheap imports to choose from.

Tens of thousands of Japanese are hurting deeply, laid off by companies they once trusted or forced into worthless jobs. And many are determined never to have faith in the system again. But whatever the individual may experience, one thing is likely: Japan’s corporate culture will never be the same. "The myth of a corporate family cul-ture is gradually fading, " says an editor in chief of a Japan’s most popular help-wanted magazine. "Corporations can no longer afford lifetime employment and seniority system, whereas young workers do not consider company life the most important. For a long time, both management and workers enjoyed a kind of mutual agreement. That’s changing now. "
Now the frustrating long recession has seemed to belie the success of the Japanese businesses. It is taking the torque(动力)out of Japan’s hard-driving corporatism. In a country where companies once commanded the loyalty, job-hopping isn’t even news any more. A government survey released in January showed that 60 percent of Japanese adults would not rule out switching companies.
Within the corporations, too, an earthquake is underway. Only a few years ago, seniority was still virtually the only measure of pay scales, no matter how well one performed. Today many companies have adopted a do-or-die(孤注一掷的)merit system. Many can’t make the grade: men in their 50s who’ve spent decades as company men, quit or move to subsidiary companies at lower salaries. Some courageous ones are now leaving corporate life to start new careers on their own. Even at Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., a long stalwart(坚定分子)of traditional management, employees older than 50 are being edged into "second careers. "
Companies and employees alike have little choice. Japanese corporations may face collapse if they continue the current employment system. During the high growth years, they took a large population of baby boomers. The bubble burst exactly when these people became senior corporate members. Japan is encountering a tough time with the heavy burden of their high wages and retirement fund ahead.
Japan’s traditional "after-work" culture is receding with the tide as well. Getting together with colleagues after work over a glass of beer or a cup of tea has long been a salaryman’s daily routine. Once, an invitation from one’s section chief was something that subordinates could not refuse. But the younger generation now prefers to spend evenings with friends. Young men in businesses seem to think that going out for drinks with their boss is their overtime work. [br] What does the word "belie"(Line 1, Para. 3)probably mean?

选项 A、To lie behind sth.’
B、To believe sth.
C、To show sth to be false.
D、To stimulate sth.

答案 C

解析语义理解题。仔细阅读出现belie的上下文，由下句“长期令人沮丧的萧条正在使日本曾经非常坚实的企业理念丧失了动力”可知，belie在此应该是一个带有否定意义的词，“萧条”和“成功”在这里应该是相矛盾的一组概念，所以排除[A]、[B]、[D]，答案是[C]。belie含有“掩盖”之意。

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A surprising number of Japanese seem to be actually enjoying the recession.

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