Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States

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问题     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 teenagers 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 their counterparts did in the ten 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 experienced 2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry (抗议) , 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 War II had weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents".
    But that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles. "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 becoming centralization (集中) , 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.
What do we learn about urban Japanese from the passage?

选项 A、They enjoy more convenience of modern life than rural people.
B、They have realized the objective set down a decade ago.
C、They cherish the chance to live with other relatives.
D、They are more likely to be the victim of the current life-styles.

答案D

解析 细节题。根据题干中的urban Japanese定位到最后一段。解答该题,需理清最后一段的行文脉络。该段第一句为本段中心句,在讨论日本的生活方式时指出。在日本,问题绝对不是你是否喜欢自己的工作和生活,而仅仅是你能承受多大的负荷。之后文章举在城市居住和生活的日本人为例说明了这种生活方式给他们带来的不便乃至痛苦。由此可见,在城市居住和生活的日本人是目前日本生活方式的牺牲品。D项符合文意,故选D。
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