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  3. The Japanese have two words for the modern department stores that abound in large urban areas. The older word, hyakkaten, which

The Japanese have two words for the modern department stores that abound in large urban areas. The older word, hyakkaten, which

admin2008-12-13  49
问题     The Japanese have two words for the modern department stores that abound in large urban areas. The older word, hyakkaten, which is seldom used in daily speech, can usually be found engraved in ideographs in a building cornerstone, and it is part of a store’s official title. Literally "a store with one hundred items" , this word was coined during the late Meiji era (1868-1912), when clothing stores began to expand their product lines and railroads began to build shops at major train crossings. The more recent and more commonly used word is depato(form the English "department store").
    These words reflect the dual nature of Japanese department stores. Words written in ideographs can impart an aura of antiquity and tradition. Frequently, as in the case of the word hyakkaten, they suggest indigenous origin. In contrast, foreign borrowed words often give a feeling of modernity and foreignness.  Many Japanese department stores actually originated in Japan several hundred years ago as dry goods stores that later patterned themselves after foreign department stores.  Even the trendiest and most avant-garde of these stores practise patterns of merchandising and retain forms of prepaid credit customer service, and special relationships with suppliers characteristic of merchandising during the Tokygawa era (1600-1868).  To many Japanese these large urban stores may seem like a direct import from the West, but like the word depato, they have undergone a transformation in the process of becoming Japanese.
    Throughout the Tokygawa era, Japan was closed by decree to foreign influences. During the Meiji ear, however, Japan reopened to the western world; concurrently, depato emerged as large-scale merchandisers in Japan.  The Meiji depato were soon perceived by Japanese customers as glamorous places to shop because of their Western imports, which the Japanese were eager to see and buy. Depato also sold Japanese goods but often followed practices that people of the time considered foreign, such as letting customers wear their shoes while shopping in the store.
    A representative of the Japan Department Store Association told me that throughout their history depato have played on the Japanese interest in foreign places, cultures and objects, and that to a great extent these were introduced to Japan through department stores. I suggest that in addition to this role of cultural importer depato have also been involved in the creation of domestic cultural meanings. They have made foreign customs, ideas and merchandise familiar by giving them meanings consistent with Japanese cultural practice.
选项 A、traditional Japanese stores.
B、Modern stores in cities.
C、special clothing stores.
D、railway stores.
答案B
解析 此题为跳读题。此题略谈的关键是寻找depato所在位置及相关描述。
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