Ìàòåðèàëû ñàéòà
Ýòî èíòåðåñíî
Yates
[pic] UNIT MARKETS |The following text will introduce you to the topic of | |markets. Look at the way it divided into | |paragraphs. Pay attention to the heading and the notes| |in the margins. Read the passage through and find | |the answers to the questions. Now look at these | |questions: | |From the heading, what do you expect the text to be | |about? | |What does paragraph 2 give you? | |What example does the writer give illustrate markets | |and prices? | |What decides you to buy a hamburger? | | | |What does the writer's markets emphasise? | | | | | | |1-3 THE ROLE OF THE MARKET | | | |1. Markets bring together buyers | | | |and sellers of goods | | | |and services. In some cases, such | | | |as a local fruit | | What the term market means | |stall, buyers and sellers meet | | | |physically. In other | | | |cases, such as [he stock market, | | | |business can be | | | |transacted over the telephone, | | | |almost by remote | | | |control. We need not go into these | | | |details. Instead, | | | |we use a general definition of | | | |markets. | | | |2 .A market is a shorthand | | | |expression for the | | | |process by which households | | | |decision. | | | |about consumption of alternative | | | |goods, | | | |firms' decisions about what and how| | | |to | | | |produce, and workers' decisions | | | |about how | | | |much and for whom to work are all | | | |recon- | | | |ciled by adjustment of prices. | | Economics studies markets and prices | |3. Prices of goods and of | | | |resources, such as labour, | | | |machinery and land, adjust to | | | |ensure that scarce | | | |resources are used to produce those| | | |goods and | | | |services that society demands. | | | |4.Much of economics is devoted to | | | |the study of | | | |how markets and prices enable | | | |society to solve | | | |the problems of what, how, and for | | | |whom to | | | |produce. Suppose you buy a | | | |hamburger for your | | | |lunch. What does this have to do | | | |with markets | | | |and prices? You chose the cafe | | | |because it was fast, | | | |convenient and cheap. Given your | | | |desire to ear, | | | |and your limited resources, the low| | | |hamburger | | | |price told you that this was a good| | | |way to satisfy | | | |your appetite. You probably prefer | | | |steak but that | | | |is more expensive. The price of | | | |steak is high- | | | |enough to ensure that society | | | |answers the 'for | | | |whom' question about lunchtime | | | |steaks in favour | | | |of someone else. | | | | | | | | 5 Now think about the seller's viewpoint. The cafe owner is in the business because, given the price of hamburger meat, the rent and the wages that must be paid, it is still possible to sell hamburgers at a profit. If rents were higher, it might be more profitable to sell hamburgers in a cheaper area or to switch to luxury lunches for rich executives on expense accounts. The student behind the counter is working there because it is a suitable pan-time job which pays a bit of money. If the wage were much lower it would hardly be worth working at all. Conversely, the job is unskilled and there are plenty of students looking for such work, so owners of cafes do not have to offer very high wages. 6 Prices are guiding your decision to buy a hamburger, the owner's decision to sell hamburgers, and the student's decision to take the job. Society is allocating resources - meat, buildings, and labour - into hamburger production through the price system. If nobody liked hamburgers, the owner could not sell enough at a price that covered the cost of running the cafe and society would devote no resources to hamburger production. People's desire to eat hamburgers guides resources into hamburger production. However, if cattle contracted a disease, thereby reducing the economy's ability to produce meat products, competition to purchase more scarce supplies of beef would bid up the price of beef, hamburger producers would be forced to raise prices, and consumers would buy more cheese sandwiches for lunch. Adjustments in prices would encourage society to reallocate resources to reflect the increased scarcity of cattle. 7 There were several markets involved in your purchase of a hamburger. You and the cafe owner were pan of the market for lunches. The student behind the counter was pan of the local labour market. The cafe owner was part of the local wholesale meat market and the local market for rented buildings. These descriptions of markets are not very precise. Were you part of the market for lunches, the market for prepared food, or the market for sandwiches to which you would have turned if hamburgers had been more expensive? That is why we have adopted a very general definition of markets which emphasises that they are arrangements through which prices influence the allocation of scarce resources. The seller's viewpoint Prices guide your decision We have adopted a general definition at market B. Check your understanding Now read the text carefully, looking up any new terms in a dictionary or reference book. Then answer the following questions: 1. What example is given of a market where sellers and buyers actually meet? 2. How are households' decisions on what to buy reconciled? 3. Why do prices adjust? 4. What problems do markets and prices solve for society? 5. Why is the cafe owner in business? 6. Why do cafe owners not have to pay high wages? 7. What makes society put resources into hamburger production? 8. What would consumers do if hamburger prices rose? 9. How many markets does the writer say you are involved in if you buy a hamburger? 10. Does the writer give an exact description of a market? C. Increase your vocabulary In this section you should use your dictionary to help you answer the questions about the text. 1. Look at the first paragraph and say what words have the same meaning as: • at a distance • of the neighbourhood • carried out, done 2. Look at paragraph 2 again. Can you explain in your own words the writer's definition of markets? 3. Look at paragraph 3 again and say what words have the same meaning as: • ask for • make certain that 4. Using words from paragraph 4, can you complete the following statements? • I quite like lamb but really I ........ beef. • He was a very keen student. He ........ most of his time to his studies. • I don't like the canteen, but it's more ........ than going out to & cafe. • I'm not in ........ of long and expensive lunches. • Please ........ that your essays reach me on time. • A good degree should ........ you to get a job. 5. Look at paragraph 5 again. Can you explain the words: • rent • profit • expense account • part-lime job 6. Look at paragraph 6 again and say what words have the same meaning as: • buy • illness • managing • put up • rareness 7. Look at paragraph 7 again. Can you explain the words; • labour market • wholesale (meat) market D. Check your grammar WltntNC SENTENCES Do you remember? Some verbs in English are followed by the infinitive, 'to': She wants to leave early today. Others are followed by the -ing form: He enjoys playing any kind of sport. Some verbs can take both 'to' and -ing, but their meaning sometimes changes: He remembered {= did not forget) to book a table, I remember (= recall} seeing that film about five years ago. . Complete the following sentences: He suggested (go) ...... . into the country on Sunday, I'm sorry I forgot (return) ........ your book yesterday. Stop (make) ........ that noise! I can't work. Which definition would you use (describe) .... ... markets? You must avoid (make) ........ unnecessary mistakes. Try (understand) ........ the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Try (pay) ........ more attention to what I say. Would you mind (lend) ........ me your notes? Tomorrow I intend (discuss) ........ macroeconomics with you. Serious illness prevented him from (take) ........ the exam, I am looking forward to (study) ........ economics. WKITINC PARAGRAPHS 2. Match the following clauses together, I worked hard all week my friend was driving home a long argument I invited a friend to go with me they said it wasn't his fault it wasn't his fault we hired a car for the day using and, but, when, after, so and because: I wanted some company we drive into the country 1 decided to get away on Sunday we were involved in an accident the1 other driver didn't agree we called the police it was an unpleasant end to the day, 3. Now arrange your sentences into a sensible paragraph. E. Understanding a lecture You are now going to hear part of a lecture, divided into short sections to help you understand it. As you listen, answer the questions below. Section 1 ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________ Complete the following statement with the words the lecturer uses: •Note down how many kinds of economy the lecturer is going to talk about Section 2. Note down the first kind of economy____________________________ • Is this statement correct or incorrect? In this kind of economy the government decides what should be produced and what should be consumed. Section 3__________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ • Is this statement correct or incorrect? To plan this kind of economy is very simple. • Note down the country that is an example of this kind of economy_____ __________________________________________________________ • Is this statement correct or incorrect? In this kind of economy the government does not own factories or land. Section 4——————————————————————————— ________________________________________________________ • Note down the kind of economy the lecturer is talking about. Is this statement correct or incorrect? You cannot become a millionaire in this kind of economy. Note down the country that is an example of this kind of economy. ________________________________ Section 5. Note down the kind of economy the lecturer is talking about______________________________________ Which two sections of society interact in this kind of economy? • Is this statement correct or incorrect? Most countries have economies of this kind. 2. Now wind the cassette back to the beginning of the lecture and listen to it again. This time, instead of answering questions, take notes. The questions you have already answered will help you do this. When you have listened to the whole of the lecture, you will be asked to give a short oral summary of it. So make sure you note down the most important points of the lecture. 3. You should also write a summary of the lecture, based on your notes. F. Understanding a printed text (2) Read the following text carefully, looking up anything you do not understand. 1-4 POSITIVE AND NORMATIVE ECONOMICS In studying economics it is important to distinguish two branches of the subject. The first is known as 'positive economies', the second as 'normative economies'. Positive economics deals with objective or scientific explanations of the working of the economy. The aim of positive economics is to explain how society makes decisions about consumption, production, and exchange of goods. The purpose of this investigation is twofold: to satisfy our curiosity about why the economy works as it does, and to have some basis for predicting how the economy will respond to changes in circumstances. Normative economics is very different. Normative economics offers prescript ions or recommendations based on personal value judgements. In positive economics, we hope to act as detached scientists. Whatever our political persuasion, whatever our view about what we would like to happen or what we would regard as 'a good thing', in the first instance we have to be concerned with how the world actually works. At this stage, there is no scope for personal value judgements. We are concerned with propositions of the form: if this is changed then that will happen. In this regard, positive economics is similar 10 the natural sciences such as physics, geology, or astronomy. Here are some examples of positive economics in action. Economists of widely differing political persuasions would agree that, when the government imposes a tax on a good, the price of that good will rise. Positive economics Normative economics Some examples of positive economics The normative question of whether this price rise is desirable is entirely distinct. Similarly, there would be substantial agreement that the following proposition of positive economics is correct: favourable weather conditions will increase wheat output, reduce the price of wheat, and increase the consumption of wheat. Many propositions in positive economics would command widespread agreement among professional economists. Of course, as in any other science, there are unresolved questions where disagreement remains. These disagreements are at the frontiers of economics. Research in progress will resolve some of these issues but new issues will arise and provide scope for further research. • Although competent and comprehensive research can in principle resolve many of the outstanding issues in positive economics, no corresponding claim can be made about the resolution of disagreement in normative economics. Normative economics is based on subjective value judgements, not on the search for any objective truth. The following statement combines positive and normative economics: 'The elderly have very high medical expenses compared with the rest of the population, and the government should subsidise health bills of the aged.1 The first part of the proposition - the claim that the aged have relatively high medical bills - is a statement in positive economics. It is a statement about how the world works, and we can imagine a research programme that could determine whether or not it is correct. Broadly speaking, this assertion happens to be correct. The second part of the proposition - the recommendation about what the government should do - could never be 'proved1 to be correct or false by any scientific research investigation. It is simply a subjective value judgement based on the feelings of the person making the statement. Many people might happen to share this subjective judgement, for example those people who believe that all citizens alive today should be able to purchase roughly equal amounts of luxury and recreational goods after paying for the necessities of life. But other people might reasonably disagree. You might believe that it is more important to devote society's scarce resources to improving the environment. Disagreement of normative economic1, A combination of positive and normative economics Economics can neither prow nor disprove normative judgements The use of positive economics There is no way that economics can be used to show that one of these normative judgements is correct and the other is wrong. It all depends on the preferences or priorities of the individual or the society that has to make this choice. But that does not mean that economics can throw no light on normative issues. We can use positive economics to spell out the detailed implications of making the choice one way or the other. For example, we might be able to show that failure to subsidise the medical bills of the elderly leads middle-aged people to seek a lot of unnecessary medical check-ups in an attempt to detect diseases before their treatment becomes expensive. Society might have to devote a great deal of resources to providing check-up facilities, leaving less resources available than had been supposed to devote to improving the environment. Positive economics can be used to clarify the menu of options from which society must eventually make its normative choice. G, Check your understanding 1. Look al the firs! paragraph again, Is this statement correct or incorrect? • Normative economics is based on persona opinion, whereas positive economics Is 1 objective. Say which words have the opposite meaning to: • subjective • lack of interest • treat as the same • involved Can you explain the words: • predicting • personal value judgement • proposition 2. Look at paragraph 2 again and say what words have the same meaning as: • completely • found over a large area « places, , . on • large, considerable 3. Look at paragraph 3 again and say what words have the same meaning as: • come up • provide a solution 4. Look at paragraph 4 again. Are these statements correct or incorrect? • Research cannot bring about agreement in normative economics. • Positive economics is a search for objective truth. • The statement 'the government should subsidise health bills of the aged belongs within the field of normative economics. • Research cannot prove whether this statement is right or wrong. 5. Look at paragraph 5 again and say what words have the opposite meaning to: • not to notice or see • success • confuse • general • things with no claim to consideration [pic] H. Understanding discourse A lecturer is giving the title for an essay to be written during the coming week. He is also giving the main points that must be covered. Listen to what he says and note down what you must do.