请教大全6/63的第5题

hanlei84921

In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the humblest samurai ,found themselves under financial stress. In part, this stress can be attributed to the overlords’ failure to adjust to a rapidly expanding economy, but the stress was also due to factors beyond the overlords’ control. Concentration of the samurai in castle-towns had acted as a stimulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers. Since most samurai had been reduced to idleness by years of peace, encouraged to engage in scholarship and martial exercises or to perform administrative tasks that took little time, it is not surprising that their tastes and habits grew expensive. Overlords’ income, despite the increase in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in overlords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary office-holding as from their higher standards of living, a misfortune like a fire or flood, bringing an increase in expenses or a drop in revenue, could put a domain in debt to the city rice-brokers who handled its finances. Once in debt, neither the individual samurai nor the shogun himself found it easy to recover.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, 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. Therefore, the Tokugawa shoguns began to look to other sources for revenue. 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. Opening up new farmland was a possibility, but most of what was suitable had already been exploited and further reclamation was technically unfeasible. Direct taxation of the samurai themselves would be politically dangerous. This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income.
Most of the country’s wealth, or so it seemed, was finding its way into the hands of city merchants. 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, known as goyo-kin; 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. Thus, regrettably, 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、请教划线部分的句子是什么意思呀，虽然知道是as much...as 的比较结构，但从from后就看不懂了，郁闷。
Although shortfalls in overlords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary office-holding as from their higher standards of living,
2、第5题，请帮帮我，我定位在了第1段末，因为看到Once in debt, neither the individual samurai nor the shogun himself found it easy to recover.所以就找a misfortune like a fire or flood。结果对了答案才发现定位在第二段。怎么回事呀？5.The passage implies that individual samurai did not find it easy to recover from debt for which of the following reasons?
(A) Agricultural production had increased.
(B) Taxes were irregular in timing and arbitrary in amount.
(C) The Japanese government had failed to adjust to the needs of a changing economy.
(D) The domains of samurai overlords were becoming smaller and poorer as government revenues increased. （e）
(E) There was a limit to the amount in taxes that farmers could be made to pay.

lilingfeng

定位在第一段office holding那里，表示的是hereditary所以是家族继承

yidiyuehans

同问第六题。。。。为啥选A，定位在哪里？

hanlei84921

感谢楼上的解答，这下明白了

applejsjs

Although shortfalls in overlords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors (the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary office-holding) as from their higher standards of living,
hereditary 世袭的

mop000

1: 虽然封建领主收入的减少缘于两方面：1）不可避免的官位世袭带来的征税人员在工作上的松懈；2）封建领主自 ...
seuhongkai 发表于 2011-3-17 06:42

    我回去翻看了一下原来做题的结果，也错了，有同样的问题，请大家指点呀

seuhongkai

我记得那文章有句话的括号里有"世袭"那个单词,所以选C

seuhongkai

1: 虽然封建领主收入的减少缘于两方面：1）不可避免的官位世袭带来的征税人员在工作上的松懈；2）封建领主自身较高的生活水平2: 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.
不管是因为fire还是别的原因，都会导致农民收成的减少，这是最主要的原因，所以选E

我也想问楼主一个问题：这篇文章的第六题6.
The passage suggests that, in eighteenth-century Japan, the office of tax collector

(A) was a source of personal profit to the officeholder

(B) was regarded with derision by many Japanese

(C) remained within families

(D) existed only in castle-towns（C）

(E) took up most of the officeholder’s time

楼主之不知道本题定位在哪里啊？多谢！！