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  3. The uniqueness of the Japanese character is the result of two, seemingly contradictory forces: the strength of traditions and se

The uniqueness of the Japanese character is the result of two, seemingly contradictory forces: the strength of traditions and se

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问题    The uniqueness of the Japanese character is the result of two, seemingly contradictory forces: the strength of traditions and selective receptivity of foreign achievements and inventions. As early as the 1860s, there were counter movements to the traditional orientation. Yukichi Fukuzawa, the most eloquent spokesman of Japan’s "Enlightenment," claimed "The Confucian civilization of the East seems to me to lack two things possessed by Western civilization: science in the material sphere and a sense of independence in the spiritual sphere." Fukuzawa’s great influence is found in the free and individualistic philosophy of the Education Code of 1872, but he was not able to prevent the government from turning back to the canons of Confucian thought in the Imperial Rescript of 1890. Another interlude of relative liberalism followed World War I, when the democratic idealism of President Woodrow Wilson had an important impact on Japanese intellectuals and, especially, students; but more important was the Leninist ideology of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Again, in the early 1930s, nationalism and militarism became dominant, largely as a result of failing economic conditions.
   Following the end of World War U, substantial changes were undertaken in Japan to liberate the individual from authoritarian restraints. The new democratic value system was accepted by many teachers, students, intellectuals, and old liberals, but it was not immediately embraced by the society as a whole. Japanese traditions were dominated by group values, and notions of personal freedom and individual rights were unfamiliar.
   Today, democratic processes are clearly evident in the widespread participation of the Japanese people in social and political life and there is no universally accepted and stable value system. Values are constantly modified by strong infusions of Western ideas, both democratic and Marxist. School textbooks expound democratic principles, emphasizing equality over hierarchy and rationalism over tradition; but in practice these values are often misinterpreted and distorted, particularly by the youth who translate the individualistic and humanistic goals of democracy into egoistic and materialistic ones.
   Most Japanese people have consciously rejected Confucianism, but vestiges of the old order remain, an important feature of relationships in many institutions such as political parties, large corporations, and university faculties is the oyabun-kobun or parent-child relation. A party leader, supervisor, or professor, in return for loyalty, protects those subordinate to him and takes general responsibility for their interests throughout their entire lives, an obligation that sometimes even extends to arranging marriages. The corresponding loyalty of the individual to his patron reinforces his allegiance to the group to which they both belong. A willingness to cooperate with other members of the group and to support without qualification the interests of the group in all its external relations is still a widely respected virtue. The oyabun-kobun creates ladders of mobility which an individual can ascend, rising as far as abilities permit, so long as he maintains successful personal ties with a superior in the vertical channel, the latter requirement usually taking precedence over a need for exceptional competence, as a consequence, there is little horizontal relationship between people even: within the same profession.
The author implies that______.
选项 A、decisions about promotions are often based on personal feelings
B、students and intellectuals do not understand the basic tenets of Western democracy
C、Western values have completely overwhelmed traditional Japanese attitudes
D、respect for authority was introduced into Japan following world War Ⅱ
答案A
解析 推论题。可以在最后一段里找到A所表达的含义。那儿作者说到一位成功人士与上司间保持良好关系，这可能比其高超的能力更重要。所以我们可推测，上司所做的决定取决于他对下属的个人看法。B的内容是对第二及第三两段内容的误解。学生及知识分子拥护民主，但是年轻人曲解了一些西方观念。 C的内容与文章的内容相左。文章的后半部分时论传统的影响，西方影响不可能全部消除这些价值观念。D的内容也是错的。尊敬权威是传统价值观念的体现。
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