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

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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 (分裂) are 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 factures 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 violence 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 children behaving in a bad way.
    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.
What can we know about the school violence and truancy in Japan?

选项 A、They have been on the rise in an unnoticeable way in recent years.
B、They are tiring Japanese parents up for a long time.
C、They are not as serious as most Japanese have imagined.
D、They are obviously endangering the safety of Japanese students.

答案B

解析 文章第三段第三和第四句提到,最令人担忧的分裂是在学校,校园暴力和逃学现象迅速增加。老一辈日本人已对此倦怠,因为对暴力的担忧长期存在,但似乎没有被高度重视。B)“它们长时间令日本家长感到精疲力竭”与原文意思相符,故为答案。文中提到校园暴力和逃学现象显著增加,A)与之矛盾,故排除。校园暴力和逃学现象显著增加说明这一现象比人们担忧的还严重,故排除C)。D)在文中未提及。
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