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.
文章第二段开头: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,注意体会difficult,表达出作者的意思: samurai想提高income,但苦于无法。
注意选项与材料的对应。正确选项, The difficulty of increasing government income by other means 。而材料说, This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income. 注意government income的重复
态度题,就根据题目要求的那几行来揣测。 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. 材料说,他们的tasks that took little time, it is not surprising…… 想象一下语气:他们因为和平,没事干了,被鼓励去做那些不怎么花时间的S/M/A,所以……不会令人惊讶 感觉reduce to idleness 也是同情的描写手法啊 不过,我觉得,其他选项太极端,排除即可。因为材料明明那么难揣测态度,答案怎么会是那么强烈的态度呢。