Questions Refer to the Passage Below

Questions refer to the passage below.
"By comparing the Japan of fifty years ago with the Japan of today, it will be seen that she has gained considerably in the extent of her territory, as well as her population, which now nearly numbers fifty million. In commerce and industry . . . she has also made rapid strides. . . . Her general progress, during the short space of half a century, has been so sudden and swift that it presents a rare spectacle in the history of the world. This leap forward is the result of the stimulus which the country received on coming into contact with the civilization of Europe and America. . . . We are conservative simultaneously with being progressive; we are aristocratic and at the same time democratic; we are individualistic while at the same time being socialistic."
Fifty Years of New Japan (1910) , Count Shigenobu Okuma, former prime minister of Japan
-According to the passage above, which of the following was the direct cause of Japanese progress at the turn of the twentieth century?

A) Exposure to the West
B) Hard work and industry
C) Individual and conservative values
D) Fair deals from the United States