研究生管理专业入学考试机考模拟阅读理解6(1)

标签：GMAT考试试题,GMAT考试真题,http://www.gaofen123.com 研究生管理专业入学考试机考模拟阅读理解6(1),
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

(5) the overlords failure to adjust to a rapidly ex-

panding economy, but the stress was also due to

factors beyond the overlords control. concen-

tration of the samurai in castle-towns had acted

as a stimulus to trade.mercial efficiency, in

(10) 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

(15) not surprising that their tastes and habits grew

expensive. overlords ie, despite the in-

crease in rice production among their tenant

farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses.

although shortfalls in overlords ie re-

(20) sulted almost as much from laxity among their

　　tax collectors (the nearly inevi推荐 oue 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

(25) 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 over-

(30) lords to increase their ie because the

　　amount of rice that farmers could be made to

　　pay in taxes was not unlimited, and since the in-

　e of japan s central government consisted in

　　part of taxes collected by the shogun from his

(35) huge domain, the government too was con-

　　strained. 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

(40) easily worked deposits of silver and gold had

　　been exhausted, although debasement of the

　　coinage hadpensated for the loss. opening

　　up new farmland was a possibility, but most of

　　what was sui推荐 had already been exploited

(45) and further reclamation was technically unfeasi-

　　ble. direct taxation of the samurai themselves

　　would be politically dangerous. this left the

　　shoguns onlymerce as a potential source of

　　government ie.

(50) most of the country s wealth, or so it seemed,

　　was finding its way into the hands of city mer-

　　chants. it appeared reasonable that they should

　　contribute part of that revenue to ease the

　　shogun s burden of financing the state. a means

(55) of obtaining such revenue was soon found by

　　levying forced ioans, 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,

(60) 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.


1. the passage is most probably an excerpt from

(a) an economic history of japan

(b) the memoirs of a samurai warrior

(c) a modern novel about eighteenth-century japan

(d) an essay contrasting japanese feudalism with its

western counterpart

(e) an introduction to a collection of japanese folktales


2. which of the following financial situations is most

analogous to the financial situation in which japan s

tokugawa shoguns found themselves in the eighteenth

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