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  3. Yasuhisa Shizoki, a 51-year-old MP from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), starts tapping his finger on the dismal e

Yasuhisa Shizoki, a 51-year-old MP from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), starts tapping his finger on the dismal e

admin2009-04-26  78
问题     Yasuhisa Shizoki, a 51-year-old MP from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), starts tapping his finger on the dismal economic chart on his coffee table. "Unless we change the decision-making process", he says bluntly, "we are not going to be able to solve this kind of problem". With the economy in such a mess, it may seem a bit of a diversion to be trying to sort out Japan’s political structures as well as its economic problems. But Mr. Shiozaki can hardly be accused of time-wasting. He has consistently prodded the government to take a firm hand to ailing banks, and has given warning against complacency after a recent rise in share prices. Far from being a distraction, his latest cause highlights how far Japan is from genuine economic reform.   Since cowriting a report on political reform, which was released by an LDP panel last week, Mr. Shiozaki has further upset the party’s old guard. Its legionaries, flanked by columns of the bureaucracy, continue to hamper most attempts to overhaul the economy. Junichiro Koizumi was supposed to change all that, by going over their heads and appealing directly to the public. Yet nearly a year after becoming prime minister, Mr. Koizumi has precious little to show for his efforts. His popularity is now flagging and his determination is increasingly in doubt.
    As hopes of immediate economic reform fade, optimists are focusing on another potential benefit of Mr. Koizumi’s tenure. They hope that his highly personalized style of leadership will pave the way for a permanent change in Japanese politics, towards more united and authoritative cabinets that are held directly accountable for their policies. As that happens, the thinking goes, real economic reforms will be able to follow.
    A leading candidate for change is the 40-year-old system—informal but religiously followed—through which the LDP machinery vets every bill before it ever gets to parliament. Most legislation starts in the LDP’s party committees, which mirror the parliamentary committee structure. Proposals then go through two higher LDP bodies, which hammer out political deals to smooth their passage. Only then does the prime minister’s cabinet get fully involved in approving the policy. Most issues have been decided by the LDP mandarins long before they reach this point, let alone the floor of parliament, leaving even the prime minister limited influence, and allowing precious little room for public debate and even less for accountability.
    As a result, progress will probably remain slow. Since they know that political reform leads to economic reform, and hence poses a threat to their interests, most of the LDP will resist any real changes. But at least a handful of insiders have now bought into one of Mr. Koizumi’s best slogans. "Change the LDP, change Japan".
选项 A、The economic situation in Japan is depressing.
B、Shizoki is engaged in some time-wasting activity.
C、The economic chart mirrors genuine revivals.
D、Shizoki is addicted to his enjoyable diversions.
答案A
解析
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