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  3. Japan is going through a complex national identity crisis. That may be no bad thing, says a new book by an American researcher.

Japan is going through a complex national identity crisis. That may be no bad thing, says a new book by an American researcher.

admin2013-05-19  65
问题     Japan is going through a complex national identity crisis. That may be no bad thing, says a new book by an American researcher. The economy is ceased making progress, but the society is in motion. Japan is a difficult country to report on and analyze because things do not change in big, noticeable ways. They change in an increasing process, generally of small steps but which, over time, can add up to big movements. And just such a big movement seems to be taking place.
    Mr. Nathan has been observing Japan since the 1960s. Whereas most people look at economic data or the comings and goings of prime ministers, he is more interested in schools, novels, comic books, and the minds of young entrepreneurs and maverick (持不同意见的) local politicians. In particular, his focus is on whether Japan’s famously cohesive, conformist society may be breaking under the strain of economic stagnation (停滞), and on how such strains have been affecting the country’s sense of purpose and of national identity.
     Fractures arc what he looks for and fractures are what he finds. On balance, they are neither obviously dangerous nor obviously positive, but they are, as he says, signs of motion which could, in time, lead in unpredictable directions. The most worrying fractures he writes about are in the schools where violence and truancy (逃学) have risen remarkably. Old Japan hands shrug wearily at such things, for worries about bullying (暴力行为) have long existed but have never really seemed terribly serious. Now, though, Mr. Nathan’s numbers do make the situation look grave.
    Such trends appear to be symptoms of two related phenomena: a widespread feeling of disillusionment, alienation, uncertainty or plain anger, which has spread to children, too; and a gradual breakdown of old systems of discipline--part familial, part social, part legal  which, appear to prevent schools and parents from dealing effectively with errant children.
    Japan is, in short, passing through a national identity crisis. However, there are plenty of positive aspects to it, too. One is a considerable increase in the number of actual or budding young entrepreneurs. The numbers remain modest, but are nevertheless surprisingly high given the state of the economy in recent years. Another is a new eagerness among popular writers and maverick politicians to try to define and encourage a new national pride.
We can infer from the second paragraph that______.
选项 A、Japan is going through a serious political instability
B、a motionless economy might have a negative influence on society
C、severe mental strain is affecting most people in Japan
D、job pressure caused many people to suffer from a break
答案B
解析 推理判断题。由原文第二段中“他的研究重心尤其放在……日本社会是否在经济停滞的压力下产生裂痕，以及这种压力是怎样影响国家的宗旨和国家特征的”可知，Nathan要研究的就是日本经济停滞是否造成社会裂痕。故B“停滞的经济可能对社会产生消极影响”与文意相符，为正确答案。
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