第二个大原因：不能增加收入It was difficult for individual samurai overlords to increase their income because the amount of rice that farmers could be made to pay in taxes was not unlimited*5E有限制的, and since the income of Japan’s central government consisted in part of taxes collected by the shogun from his huge domain, the government too was constrained. 问题的解决Therefore, the Tokugawa shoguns began to look to other sources for revenue. 第一种解决方案Cash profits from government-owned mines were already on the decline（-） because the most easily worked deposits of silver and gold had been exhausted, although debasement of the coinage had compensated for the loss. 第二种解决方案Opening up new farmland was a possibility, but most of what was suitable had already been exploited and further reclamation was technically unfeasible（-）. 第三种解决方案Direct taxation of the samurai themselves would be politically dangerous（-）. 承上启下This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income.
Most of the country’s wealth*8B, or so it seemed, was finding its way into the hands of city merchants*8. It appeared reasonable that they should contribute part of that revenue to ease the shogun’s burden of financing the state. A means of obtaining such revenue was soon found by levying forced loans（主题词）, known as goyo-kin御用金; 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（-）, they pushed up prices*9A. Thus, regrettably*9, 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主题题（内容性）
(A) an economic history史实 of Japan
(B) the memoirs不是某个人的回忆录 of a samurai warrior
(C) a modern novel是史实，不是虚构的小说 about eighteenth-century Japan
(D) an essay contrasting Japanese feudalism with its Western没提到 counterpart（A）
(E) an introduction to a collection of Japanese folktales不是民间故事
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 century?类比题（还有similar to和parallel也是类比题：抓住本质特征）
(A) A small business borrows heavily to invest in new equipment, but is able to pay off its debt early when it is awarded a lucrative government contract.
(B) Fire destroys a small business, but insurance covers the cost of rebuilding.
(C) A small business is turned down for a loan at a local bank because the owners have no credit history.
(D) A small business has to struggle to meet operating expenses when its profits decrease. 收入跟不上支出增加（D）
(E) A small business is able to cut back sharply on spending through greater commercial efficiency and thereby compensate for a loss of revenue.
3. Which of the following best describes the attitude of the author toward the samurai discussed in lines 11-16?态度题
(A) Warmly approving
(B) Mildly sympathetic*3B略带同情的正评价
(C) Bitterly disappointed
(D) Harshly disdainful（B）
(E) Profoundly shocked
责任编辑：虫虫
