143.Perhaps it was the extreme contrast with Japanese society that prompted American firms to pay more attention to women buyers.

英语四级译文:
可能正是与日本社会的极大反差促使了美国公司更加关注女性消费者。

四级词汇讲解:
本句为it is...that的强调句型。副词perhaps修饰整个句子:
extreme在本句中用作形容词，表示“极度的;极端的”，也可以用作名词，表示“极端”。如:
1) His political views are rather extreme.他的政治观点相当极端。
2) He aften goes to extremes.他经常走极端。

英语四级考点归纳:
contrast意为“对比;差别”，通常与介词to连用，构成短语be a contrast to sth.(与……形成对比)。如:

※ The black furnishings provide an interesting contrast to the white walls.黑色家具和白色墙壁形成很有趣的对比。

※ The work you did today is quite a contrast to what you did last week.你今天干的活跟你上周干的截然不同。