Passage 4
Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe. But increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional work-moral values. Ten years ago young people were hardworking and saw their jobs as their primary reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people don't know where they should go next.
The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teen-agers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japan's rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs. In a recent survey, it was found that only 24.5 percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, compared with 67.2 percent of students in the United States. In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than did their counterparts in the 10 other countries surveyed.
While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression." Those things that do not show up in the test scores personality, ability, courage or humanity are completely ignored," says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee." Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild." Last year Japan experienced2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World WarⅡhad weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents."
But that may have more to do with Japanese life-stvles." In Japan," says educator Yoko Muro, "it's never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure." With economic growth has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japan's 119 million citizens live in cities where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two generation households. Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work)and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter.
63. In the Westerner's eyes, the postwar Japan was_____ .
[A] under aimless development
[B] a positive example
[C] a rival to the West
[D] on the decline
[答案] B
[解題思路]
本題的對(duì)應(yīng)信息在文章第一段第一句話"Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe"（戰(zhàn)后日本的生產(chǎn)率和社會(huì)的和諧為美國(guó)和歐洲所稱羨，因此很難說(shuō)迷茫是戰(zhàn)后日本的特征），同時(shí)第三段的第一句話"While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics"（雖然日本的教育因強(qiáng)調(diào)基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)而經(jīng)常受到外國(guó)人的贊揚(yáng)）也是西方人對(duì)戰(zhàn)后日本的正面評(píng)價(jià)，因此B選項(xiàng)為正確答案。A、C、D選項(xiàng)的意思都與原文相反，可以很容易排除。
[題目譯文]
在西方人的眼里，戰(zhàn)后的日本是 。
[A] 處于盲目的發(fā)展中
[B] 一個(gè)積極的例子
[C] 西方的一個(gè)對(duì)手
[D] 處于衰落狀態(tài)
64. According to the author, what may chiefly be responsible for the moral decline of Japanese society?
[A] Women's participation in social activities is limited.
[B] More workers are dissatisfied with their jobs.
[C] Excessive emphasis his been placed on the basics.
[D] The life-style has been influenced by Western values.
[答案] D
[解題思路]
本題需要將選項(xiàng)與原文作一一比較。A選項(xiàng)關(guān)于婦女就業(yè)的問(wèn)題對(duì)應(yīng)于第二段的第一句"The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teen-agers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japan's rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs"（戰(zhàn)后生育高峰期的到來(lái)及婦女進(jìn)入男性主宰的就業(yè)市場(chǎng)，這些都限制了青少年的發(fā)展機(jī)遇，這些青少年已經(jīng)開(kāi)始質(zhì)疑在進(jìn)好學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)，找好工作，攀登日本等級(jí)森嚴(yán)的社會(huì)階梯的過(guò)程中所做出的沉重的個(gè)人犧牲是否值得），可見(jiàn)A選項(xiàng)不僅本身表述不符合原文，而且也與題干的moral decline無(wú)關(guān)。B選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于第二段的最后一句話"In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than did their counterparts in the 10 other countries surveyed"（此外，與被調(diào)查的其他10個(gè)國(guó)家的工人相比，對(duì)自身工作表示不滿的日本工人要多得多），其表面意思是正確的，但卻同樣與moroal decline無(wú)關(guān)。C選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于文章第三段第一句話"While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression"（雖然日本的教育因強(qiáng)調(diào)基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)而經(jīng)常受到外國(guó)人的贊揚(yáng)，但是它往往強(qiáng)調(diào)考試和機(jī)械學(xué)習(xí)而忽視了創(chuàng)造性和自我表現(xiàn)），但選項(xiàng)中excessive一詞在原文中并沒(méi)有體現(xiàn)，且沒(méi)有直接提到這種教育對(duì)于道德下降的影響。D選型對(duì)應(yīng)于第三段最后一句話"Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World WarⅡhad weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents.""（去年，時(shí)任教育大臣的Mitsuo Setoyama就提出責(zé)難，他認(rèn)為二戰(zhàn)后美國(guó)占領(lǐng)當(dāng)局引進(jìn)的自由改革削弱了"日本人尊敬父母的道德觀"）和第四段第一句話"But that may have more to do with Japanese life-stvles"（但是，那也許與日本人的生活方式關(guān)系更大），可見(jiàn)最大的因素是日本人生活方式的西化導(dǎo)致了道德水準(zhǔn)的下滑。
[題目譯文]
作者認(rèn)為日本社會(huì)的道德敗壞主要是由于什么原因？
[A] 婦女對(duì)社會(huì)活動(dòng)的參與受到了限制。
[B] 更多的工人對(duì)他們的工作不滿意。
[C] 過(guò)分重視打基礎(chǔ)。
[D] 生活方式受到了西方價(jià)值觀的影響。
65. Which of the following is true according to the author?
[A] Japanese education is praised for helping the young climb the social ladder
[B] Japanese education is characterized by mechanical learning as well as creativity.
[C] More stress should be placed on the cultivation of creativity.
[D] Dropping out leads to frustration against test taking.
[答案] C
[解題思路]
本題應(yīng)把各選項(xiàng)與原文一一對(duì)應(yīng)。A選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于第二段的第一句話"The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teen-agers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japan's rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs"（戰(zhàn)后生育高峰期的到來(lái)及婦女進(jìn)入男性主宰的就業(yè)市場(chǎng)，這些都限制了青少年的發(fā)展機(jī)遇，這些青少年已經(jīng)開(kāi)始質(zhì)疑在進(jìn)好學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)，找好工作，攀登日本等級(jí)森嚴(yán)的社會(huì)階梯的過(guò)程中所做出的沉重的個(gè)人犧牲是否值得），但選項(xiàng)表述卻與原文相反。B選型的說(shuō)法與第三段的第一句話"While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression"（雖然日本的教育因強(qiáng)調(diào)基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)而經(jīng)常受到外國(guó)人的贊揚(yáng)，但是它往往強(qiáng)調(diào)考試和機(jī)械學(xué)習(xí)而忽視了創(chuàng)造性和自我表現(xiàn)）矛盾，因?yàn)槿毡窘逃奶攸c(diǎn)不是強(qiáng)調(diào)創(chuàng)造力。D選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于第三段第三句話"Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild"（由此產(chǎn)生的受挫感致使孩子輟學(xué)、放蕩不羈），而選項(xiàng)正好顛倒了因果關(guān)系。C選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)于第三段第一句話，這說(shuō)明作者認(rèn)為在培養(yǎng)創(chuàng)造力方面需要下更大的功夫，因此C是正確選項(xiàng)。
[題目譯文]
下列哪一項(xiàng)符合作者的意思？
[A] 日本教育應(yīng)為幫助年輕人爬上社會(huì)階梯而受到了贊賞。
[B] 日本教育的特色包括機(jī)械學(xué)習(xí)和創(chuàng)造力。
[C] 應(yīng)該更加強(qiáng)調(diào)創(chuàng)造能力的培養(yǎng)。
[D] 中途退學(xué)導(dǎo)致對(duì)于考試的挫敗感。
66. The change in Japanese life-style is revealed in the fact that____ .
[A] the young are less tolerant of discomforts in the fact that_____ .
[B] the divorce rate in Japan exceeds that in the U.S.
[C] the Japanese endure more than ever before
[D] the Japanese appreciate their present life
[答案] A
[解題思路]
關(guān)于life-style的表述主要集中在文章的最后一段。通過(guò)最后兩句話"Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work)and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter"（城市里的日本人長(zhǎng)期忍受著漫長(zhǎng)的上下班來(lái)回路程和擁擠不堪的居住條件，隨著舊的群體家庭道德觀的削弱，開(kāi)始顯現(xiàn)出一些令人擔(dān)憂的結(jié)果。在過(guò)去10年中，日本的離婚率，盡管仍遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于美國(guó)，已經(jīng)上升了50％，而自殺率則上升了近20%），可以推斷A選項(xiàng)符合題意，而B(niǎo)、C、D選項(xiàng)與原文意思相反。
[題目譯文]
日本人生活方式的改變可以通過(guò)以下哪項(xiàng)事實(shí)反映出來(lái)？
[A] 年輕人對(duì)于生活中的不便更難忍受
[B] 日本的離婚率超過(guò)了美國(guó)
[C] 日本人要忍受比以前更多的東西
[D] 日本人更加欣賞現(xiàn)在的生活
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