Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized for You
we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Track Your Progress
every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance
Practice Pays
we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:
Grab 20% off any Target Test Prep GMAT Focus plan during our Flash Sale. Just enter the coupon code FLASH20 at checkout to save up to $320. The offer ends on Tuesday, April 30.
Ready to conquer GMAT's toughest Data Insights questions? Unlock the secrets of Graphical Interpretation & Two-Part Analysis with our expert-led webinar! Limited seats!
We present a collection of 30 GMAT Focus practice questions covering Problem Solving, Data Sufficiency, Data Insights, and Critical Reasoning. Take this GMAT practice quiz live with peers, analyze your GMAT study progress, and more.
n this GMAT experience talk show, we talk to Tavishi, a young MBA aspirant from India who recently scored 725 in her latest GMAT Focus exam. It’s a 99.9 percentile score on new GMAT Focus edition and she achieved this feat in her first GMAT attempt.
What do András from Hungary, Conner from the United States, Giorgio from Italy, Leo from Germany, and Saahil from India have in common? They all earned top scores on the GMAT Focus Edition using the Target Test Prep course!
In this webinar, Rajat Sadana, GMAT Club’s #1 rated expert will help you create a personalized study plan so that each one of you can visualize your journey to a top GMAT Focus Score.
In the eighteenth century, Japan's feudal overlords, from
[#permalink]
08 Jul 2009, 08:15
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. Which of the following best describes the attitude of the author toward the samurai discussed in lines 11-16?
4. According to the passage, the major reason for the financial problems experienced by Japan’s feudal overlords in the eighteenth century was that
trade had fallen off profits from mining had declined the coinage had been sharply debased the samurai had concentrated in castle-towns spending had outdistanced income ( answer is Spending had outdistanced income )
7. Which of the following could best be substituted for the word "This" in line 47 without changing the meaning of the passage?
The search of Japan’s Tokugawa shoguns for solvency The importance of commerce in feudal Japan The unfairness of the tax structure in eighteenth century Japan The difficulty of increasing government income by other means The difficulty experienced by both individual samurai and the shogun himself in extricating themselves from debt The difficulty of increasing government income by other means
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Re: In the eighteenth century, Japan's feudal overlords, from
[#permalink]
08 Jul 2009, 09:12
adiraju wrote:
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. Which of the following best describes the attitude of the author toward the samurai discussed in lines 11-16?
4. According to the passage, the major reason for the financial problems experienced by Japan’s feudal overlords in the eighteenth century was that
trade had fallen off profits from mining had declined the coinage had been sharply debased the samurai had concentrated in castle-towns spending had outdistanced income ( answer is Spending had outdistanced income )
7. Which of the following could best be substituted for the word "This" in line 47 without changing the meaning of the passage?
The search of Japan’s Tokugawa shoguns for solvency The importance of commerce in feudal Japan The unfairness of the tax structure in eighteenth century Japan The difficulty of increasing government income by other means The difficulty experienced by both individual samurai and the shogun himself in extricating themselves from debt The difficulty of increasing government income by other means
Adiraju, Please don't post the answers with the questions.
For Q1, following choices are too extreme, so rule them out as author's language is not harsh by any means in the above passage. Bitterly disappointed Harshly disdainful Profoundly shocked
We are left with two choices: Warmly approving and Mildly sympathetic
First paragraph shows how feudal overlords got into financial mess and found it difficult to recover. Second paragraph lists the reasons why it was difficult for the overlords to increase their incomes.
Author doesn't seem to approve anything but shows mild sympathy.
For Q4, answer lies in following sentence: 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,
It clearly states that their higher standard of living was one of the factor for shortfalls in overlords' income. So, "spending had outdistanced income" is the correct choice.
For Q7, I believe line 47 is: This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income. Above this line author lists different means of increasing revenue but all the means were unable to increase revenue due to different reasons.
So "This" refers to The difficulty of increasing government income by other means
Re: In the eighteenth century, Japan's feudal overlords, from
[#permalink]
12 Sep 2010, 07:49
I have a doubt as regards the 7th question. Choice (A) seems to indicate that shoguns are going for commerce to meet its financial obligations ( solvency). Passage indicates that overlord income fails to keep with their expenses ,so they need to go for commerce to meet their expenses i.e to meet their financial obligation . It is only given samurai increase their income ( 1st sentence 2nd para) , and no where mentioned about increase in government income. Also last sentence of paragraph says " Tokugawa shoguns search for slovency" So is not the option (A) correct choice and not (D)
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, International Business
WE:Supply Chain Management (Energy and Utilities)
Re: In the eighteenth century, Japan's feudal overlords, from
[#permalink]
26 Sep 2010, 14:58
Dude don't post the answers with the questions. In addition to explaining the answers to you, some of us also would like to attempt the questions on our own first.
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
gmatclubot
Re: In the eighteenth century, Japan's feudal overlords, from [#permalink]