1. How much vocabulary have you learnt? Find the words and/or ex-

pressions in the text that mean: 

1) a state of mind, 

2) dilapidated, 

3) power, force, 

4) a thick solid piece, a considerable amount, 

5) to restrain, 

6) to examine thoroughly, to make repairs or adjustments, 

7) to fall behind in movement or development, 

8) a firm hold, 

9) near the throat or neck, 

10) to clean, to clear (with a brush). 

2. Change the following sentences into the passive form. 

1. The Japanese buy buildings and pieces of choice land. 

2. We use this room on special occasions only. 

3. Someone had told the security police to report for duty at 5 am.

4. Does this idea interest you at all? 

5. They used to send their messages by fax. 

6. The manufacturer is handing out samples to all the potential Japanese cus-

tomers. 

7. Someone has already told the manager that the company has a bad image. 

8. They are dispatching the order F.O.B. this afternoon. 

9. He is going to teach them how to clinch a deal in Japan. 

10. Actually, Americans are doing a lot of the work in this Japanese company. 

3. Rewrite the following sentences in an alternative passive form. 

1. It is believed that the Japanese are thinking of pulling out of the business. 

2. It is expected that the management will increase our salaries next month. 

3. It is reported that another Japanese company is planning to set up business 

in the area before the end of the year. 

4. It is considered that dumping is counter productive. 

5. It is now thought that an economic recession is inevitable. 

6. It is presumed that the assembly line was inspected by the experts after the 

accident. 

4. Test your knowledge. 

1. What does MITI stand for? 

2. What is the basic difference between the American and Japanese econo-

mies? 

3. Does Japan export more capital and goods than the U.S or vice-versa? 

4. Why has the U.S. become uncompetitive in many industrial sectors? 

5. In which sector is Japan one of the Americans' biggest customers? 

6. Which country invested most in the U.S. in 1989? 

7. Give some examples of Japanese protectionism. 

8. How has trade between the two countries benefited their respective econ-

omies.

The TEXT

Text 1. More Friend than Foe? 

In the U.S., a strange anti-Japanese mood appears to be growing rapidly. 

People are rejecting the idea of a strategic partnership with Japan or a major role 

for Japanese finance or investment in rehabilitating the rundown U.S. economy. 

Many Americans, especially politicians from areas with declining industries, see 

Japan as a danger to America's culture, its trade, and its invisible empire. They ig-

nore the fact that Japan remained under U.S. occupation until 1952 and has been a 

major trading partner and pillar of strategic interests for the U.S. ever since. A re-

cent New York Times – CBS poll found that 67 per cent of Americans say they 

feel "generally friendly" towards Japan, compared with 87 per cent in 1985. But the number saying that they felt unfriendly had risen from 19 per cent last June to 

25 per cent. 

The source of this growing anti-Japan feeling stems not so much from the 

depredations of Japan as from the unmistakable signs of decline in the power and 

influence of the U.S. today, compared with the postwar period up to about 1960. 

America's post-World-War II empire of financial and industrial power, backed by 

immense military might, is eroding and unsure. But it is easy for the American 

voter to see the growing financial clout of Japan, to see that more and more Ameri-

cans work for Japanese companies and that more and more buildings and pieces of 

choice land are bought by Japanese companies seeking somewhere to park their 

overseas earnings rather than repatriate them to Japan and pay its stiff corporate 

taxes. 

In the immediate postwar years, the U.S. stationed hundreds of thousands of 

troops around the world. Its companies dominated the ruined world economy and 

bought large chunks of foreign manufacturing and service industries at bargain-

basement prices. Now, the American assumption of the right to control the world 

economy, and much of its politics, is meeting with opposition. And the U.S. no 

longer has the resources to run such a mix of visible force and invisible economic 

power. 

SOME CURRENT PROBLEM AREAS: 

Trade. Japan and the U.S. have been embroiled in a dispute over ways to re-

duce drastically the American trade imbalance with Japan. The Americans have 

demanded that Japan change its laws controlling the expansion of large department 

stores and supermarkets (an attempt to maintain the traditional streets of small 

shops); that the propensity of Japanese companies to buy from other companies of 

their group be curbed; that Japan reduce its high savings rate; that the government 

loosen controls on land sales; and that the retail system with its many middlemen 

and high prices be overhauled. The Japanese in return urge the Americans to save 

more and invest more, increase the quality of U.S. education and job training, and 

promote exports. They also urge management to adopt long-term goals rather than 

seek only short-term profits. 

Culture. The purchase of CBS Records and Columbia Pictures by the Japa-

nese electronics giant Sony sent shock waves through U.S. media watchers. Some 

declared translation that for the Japanese to take over such companies was an at-

tempt to “buy the soul" of America. The reports usually did not mention that the 

Japanese lagged behind the Canadians and British in buying the heartland of 

America. They also failed to mention the incredible grip on the Japanese market of 

firms such as IBM (Japan's No. 2 computer company) and Coca-Cola (whose prof-

its from its Japanese arm in recent years have exceeded those from its sales in the 

U.S.). 

The idea of a Japanese blade at the jugular of U.S. pop culture may seem 

extreme. But the Japanese government is concerned by the anti-Japan wave in the 

U.S. It is not that Tokyo expects this wave to sweep away Japanese investments 

and trade—after all, the telephone book that lists Japanese businesses in Southern C is the size of the directory of quite a large city. 

But image is tremendously important to the Japanese. Sensing that Japans 

image is deteriorating in the U.S., Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama proposed to 

the Tokyo Finance Ministry that it give Japanese companies operating abroad tax 

credits for donations to foreign hospitals, schools, and similar institutions. Na-

kayama's aim is that Japanese companies should be seen as good for citizens of the 

U.S. and of other foreign countries.

you'd save me if you help me. I'm not that smart to resolve this properly