首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the humblest samurai, found themselves under financial s
In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the humblest samurai, found themselves under financial s
admin
2012-03-23
73
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 increase in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in overloads’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors (the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary office-holding) as from their higher standards of living, a misfortune like a fire or flood, bringing an in crease 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 other 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 debasement 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 unfeasible. 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.
Which is the major reason for the financial problems experienced by Japan’s feudal overlords?
选项
A、Profits from mining had declined.
B、Spending had outdistanced income.
C、The samurai had concentrated in castle-towns.
D、The coinage had been sharply debase
答案
B
解析
理解归纳题,问18世纪日本封建领主们所遭遇财政问题的主要原因是什么。本题所问的因果关系是出题的一大热点,所以在阅读过程中就应该注意表现因果关系的关键词。本题根据“果”financial problem,找到笫一段的 financial stress,再通过其后标记的因果关系标志词attribute to就可以将答案定位在attribute to之后。从这儿开始一直到段落结束,作者都在谈造成财政问题的原因,所以答案就是第一段大部分内容的总结:入不敷出,与其相对应的选项B即为答案。其它几个选项中:A“矿山收益下降”是第二段内容与此无关:C“武士们在城中集中”只是一附带叙述,不能概括全部:D“货币成色下降”也是后面的内容,是财政问题的后果而不是原因。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/rhiO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Acenturyago,acutorevenadecayedtoothwerecausesforalarm,astheycouldleadtopneumonia,againstwhichdoctorscould
Acenturyago,acutorevenadecayedtoothwerecausesforalarm,astheycouldleadtopneumonia,againstwhichdoctorscould
Acenturyago,acutorevenadecayedtoothwerecausesforalarm,astheycouldleadtopneumonia,againstwhichdoctorscould
GivenShakespeare’spopularityasanactorandaplaywrightandhisconspicuousfinancialsuccess,itwasnotsurprisingthatje
GivenShakespeare’spopularityasanactorandaplaywrightandhisconspicuousfinancialsuccess,itwasnotsurprisingthatje
GivenShakespeare’spopularityasanactorandaplaywrightandhisconspicuousfinancialsuccess,itwasnotsurprisingthatje
In17th-centuryNewEngland,almosteveryonebelievedinwitches.Strugglingtosurviveinavastandsometimesunforgivingland
______isthemosttypicallyEnglishsportsandhasbeeninexistencesincethe16thcentury.
PeoplesoccupiedNorthAmericabeforethearrivalofthe【M1】______Europeaninthe15thcenturyhavelongbeenknown
随机试题
试论侦查与强制措施。(中山大学2009年研)
党的思想路线中,最核心的内容是
关于处方书写说法错误的是
班级常规管理建立的检查监督系统,包括以下检查监督方式()
马赛克留给中国大众的印象,或是广泛使用在建筑外墙、卫浴装修中的装饰建材,或是图像被模糊成一个个小格子,少有人想起它的艺术属性。其实在西方,镶嵌艺术历史悠久,尤以镶嵌壁画最多。近现代,镶嵌艺术在墨西哥、西班牙、俄罗斯、美国、日本等国都有杰出展现。每个国家因应
英国剑桥大学专家称,早期人类的大脑比现代人类更大,而且现代人类比早期人类身材矮小10%。这项研究颠覆了此前的理论——现代人类伴随着进化变得更高、更强壮。科学家称,这种人类进化衰减性出现在过去一万年左右,很可能是由于农业的出现导致的,农业耕作出现之后,人类受
去年4月,股市出现了强劲反弹,某证券部通过对该部股民持仓品种的调查发现,大多数经验丰富的股民都买了小盘绩优股,而所有年轻的股民都选择了大盘蓝筹股,而所有买了小盘绩优股的股民都没买大盘蓝筹股。如果上述情况为真,则以下哪项关于该证券部股民的调查结果也必定为真?
Youmaysaythatthebusinessofmarkingbooksisgoingtoslowdownyourreading.(31)probablywill.That’soneofthe(32)fo
Youwillhearanotherfiverecordings.Fivepeoplearetalkingabouttheirreasonsforjoiningaparticularcompany.Foreac
Whatistheminimumnumberofmatchesyoucanremovefromthisdiagramtoleavejust2squares?
最新回复
(
0
)