2. 职称英语
  3. In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the

In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the

游客2024-01-13  42
问题     In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the humblest samurai, found themselves under financial stress. In part, this stress can be attributed to the overlords’ failure to adjust to a rapidly expanding economy, but the stress was also due to factors beyond the overlords’ control. Concentration of the samurai in castle- towns had acted as a stimulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers. Since most samurai had been reduced to idleness by years of peace, encouraged to engage in scholarship and martial exercises or to perform administrative tasks that took little time, it is not surprising that their tastes and habits grew expensive. Overlords’ income, despite the in- crease in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in overlords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax col- lectors(the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary officeholding)as from their higher standards of living, a misfortune like a fire or flood, bringing an increase in expenses or a drop in revenue, could put a domain in debt to the city rice-brokers who handled its finances. Once in debt, neither the individual samurai nor the shogun himself found it easy to recover.
    It was difficult for individual samurai overlords to increase their income because the amount of rice that farmers could be made to pay in taxes was not unlimited, and since the income of Japan’s central government consisted in part of taxes collected by the shogun from his huge domain, the government too was constrained. Therefore, the Tokugawa shoguns began to look to oth- er sources for revenue. Cash profits from government-owned mines were already on the decline because the most easily worked deposits of silver and gold had been exhausted, although debase- ment of the coinage had compensated for the loss. Opening up new farmland was a possibility, but most of what was suitable had already been exploited and further reclamation was technically unfeasi- ble. Direct taxation of the samurai themselves would be politically dangerous. This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income.  Most of the country’s wealth, or so it seemed, was finding its way into the hands of city merchants. It appeared reasonable that they should contribute part of that revenue to ease the shogun’s burden of financing the state. A means of obtaining such revenue was soon found by levying forced loans, known as goyo-kin ; although these were not taxes in the strict sense, since they were irregular in timing and arbitrary in amount, they were high in yield. Unfortunately, they pushed up prices. Thus, regrettably, the Tokugawa shoguns’ search for solvency for the government made it increasingly difficult for individual Japanese who lived on fixed stipends to make ends meet. [br] The passage implies that individual samurai did not find it easy to recover from debt for which of the following reasons?
选项 A、Agricultural production had increased .
B、Taxes were irregular in timing and arbitrary in amount.
C、The Japanese government had failed to adjust to the needs of a changing economy.
D、The domains of samurai overlords were becoming smaller and poorer as government revenues increased.
E、There was a limit to the amount in taxes that farmers could be made to pay.
答案 E
解析 哪种原因造成武士的债务不容易清偿?A．农产品增长。无。B．税收时间不规则，数量随意。这是最后一段说起解决方式时的内容。C．日本政府没能适应经济变化。见L4—7泛指，而不是单指武士。D．武士的领地在国家资金增加时却变得越来越小和贫瘠。无。E．正确。农民们能交的税有限。见原文L35—39。
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