In the competitive model —the economy of many sellers each with a small share of the total market —the restraint on the private exercise of economic power was provided by other firms on the same side of the market. It was the eagerness of competitors to sell, not the complaints of buyers, that saved the latter from spoliation. It was assumed, no doubt accurately, that the nineteenth-century textile manufacturer who overcharged for his product would promptly lose his market to another manufacturer who did not. If all manufacturers found themselves in a position where they could exploit a strong demand, and mark up their prices accordingly, there would soon be an inflow of new competitors. The resulting increase in supply would bring prices and profits back to normal.
As with the seller who was tempted to use his economic power against the customer, so with the buyer who was tempted to use it against his labor or suppliers, the man who paid less than the prevailing wage would lose his lab or force to those who paid the worker his full (marginal) contribution to the earnings of the firm. In all cases the incentive to socially desirable behavior was provided by the competitor. It was to the same side of the market —the restraint of sellers by other sellers and of buyers by other buyers, in other words to competition —that economists came to look for the self-regulatory mechanisms of the economy.
They also came to look to competition exclusively and in formal; theory still do. The notion that there might be another regulatory mechanism in the economy had been almost completely excluded from economic thought. Thus, with the widespread disappearance of competition in its classical from and its replacement by the small group of firms if not in overt, at least in conventional or tacit, collusion, it was easy to suppose that since competition had disappeared, all effective restraint on private power had disappeared. Indeed, this conclusion was all but inevitable if no search was made for other restraints, and so complete was the preoccupation with competition that none was made.
In fact, new restraints on private power did appear to replace competition. They were nurtured by the same process of concentration which impaired or destroyed competition. But they appeared not on the same side of the market but on the opposite side, not with competitors but with customers or suppliers. It will be convenient to have a name for this counterpart of competition and I shall call it countervailing power.
To begin with a broad and somewhat too dogmatically stated proposition, private economic power is held in check by the countervailing power of those who are subject to it. The first begets the second. The long trend toward concentration of industrial enterprise in the hands of a relatively few firms has brought into existence not only strong sellers, as economists have supposed, but also strong buyers, a fact they have failed to see. The two develop together, not in precise step, but in such manner that there can be no doubt that the one is in response to the other.
1.The word “spoliation” in the first paragraph probably means ( ).
2.How is economic power applied when a manufacturer wants to hire more workers?
3.Economists didn’t search for other restraints other than competition because ( ).
4.What does the author think of other economists’ prediction about the outcomes of concentration?
5.The passage mainly discusses about ( ).
问题1选项
A.loot
B.spoil
C.restraint
D.agitation
问题2选项
A.He offers them welfare funds.
B.He pays them according to their work.
C.He provides free board and lodging.
D.He gives them chances of getting promoted.
问题3选项
A.they solely focused on competition
B.they had no idea of other restraints
C.they had more interest in competition
D.other restraints were of little importance
问题4选项
A.They have made wild predictions.
B.They failed to see the rise of merger.
C.They foresaw the appearance of strong buyers.
D.Their supposition was partially true.
问题5选项
A.business
B.buyers and sellers
C.business model
D.economic power
第1题:A
第2题:B
第3题:A
第4题:D
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
The word “spoliation” in the first paragraph probably means________. 第一段中的“掠夺”一词可能是指________。
A. loot A. v.抢劫;n.战利品,掠夺物
B. spoil B. v.破坏;n.赃物
C. restraint C. n.抑制,约束
D. agitation D. n.煽动,鼓励
【考查点】语义题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息the first paragraph可精确定位到原文第一段。根据下文“会很快把市场拱手让给另一家没有这么做的制造商”(…would promptly lose his market to another manufacturer who did not)以及“利用强劲的需求,相应地抬高价格”(…exploit a strong demand, and mark up their prices accordingly)可得到答案,因此本题正确答案为选项A。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项词义不符。
第2题:
【选项释义】
How is economic power applied when a manufacturer wants to hire more workers? 当制造商想要雇佣更多的工人时,经济实力如何发挥作用?
A. He offers them welfare funds. A. 他为他们提供福利基金。
B. He pays them according to their work. B. 他按他们的工作付酬。
C. He provides free board and lodging. C. 他提供免费食宿。
D. He gives them chances of getting promoted. D. 他给他们升职的机会。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词economic power可精确定位到原文第二段第一句。从文中“对于那些想要用他的经济实力来对付顾客的卖方,以及同样对于想要用经济实力来对付他的劳动力或供应商的买方,支付低于当时工资的人将会失去他的实验室,或者被迫接受那些向工人支付他对公司收入的全部(边际)贡献的人。”(As with the seller who was tempted to use his economic power against the customer, so with the buyer who was tempted to use it against his labor or suppliers, the man who paid less than the prevailing wage would lose his lab or force to those who paid the worker his full (marginal) contribution to the earnings of the firm.)可推断出他是按工付酬的,因此本题正确答案为选项B。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项文中未提及,属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Economists didn’t search for other restraints other than competition because________. 经济学家没有寻找竞争之外的其他限制,因为________。
A. they solely focused on competition A. 他们只关注竞争
B. they had no idea of other restraints B. 他们不知道还有其他限制措施
C. they had more interest in competition C. 他们对竞争更感兴趣
D. other restraints were of little importance D. 其他的限制都不重要
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息search和competition可精准定位到原文第三段第一句。根据“他们也开始只关注正式的竞争;理论仍然如此。”(They also came to look to competition exclusively and in formal; theory still do.)可知他们也开始只关注竞争,因此本题正确答案为选项A。
【干扰项排除】
B选项原文未提及,属于无中生有;
C选项原文是只关注竞争,而不是更感兴趣;
D选项原文没有提到,属于曲解原文。
第4题:
【选项释义】
What does the author think of other economists’ prediction about the outcomes of concentration? 作者如何看待其他经济学家关于集中结果的预测?
A. They have made wild predictions. A. 他们做出了大胆的预测。
B. They failed to see the rise of merger. B. 他们没有看到合并的趋势。
C. They foresaw the appearance of strong buyers. C. 他们预见到强劲买家的出现。
D. Their supposition was partially true. D. 他们的假设部分是正确的。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词“other economists’ prediction”以及“the outcomes of concentration”可精准定位到原文最后一段第三句。根据“长期以来,工业企业集中在相对较少的公司手中的趋势,不仅像经济学家所认为的那样,带来了强劲的卖方,也带来了强劲的买方,这是他们没有看到的事实。”(The long trend toward concentration of industrial enterprise in the hands of a relatively few firms has brought into existence not only strong sellers, as economists have supposed, but also strong buyers, a fact they have failed to see.)可知他们只是预测到了会带来强劲的卖方也带来强劲的买方,因此本题正确答案为选项D。
【干扰项排除】
A选项原文并没有对这个预测进行评价;
B选项并没有提到他们是否看到了合并的趋势;
C选项除了强劲的买家还有卖家,太过片面。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The passage mainly discusses about________. 本文主要讨论________。
A. business A. 商业
B. buyers and sellers B. 买卖双方
C. business model C. 商业模式
D. economic power D. 经济权力
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】通读全文即可发现作者全篇谈论的皆是商业方面的内容,因此本题正确答案为选项A。
【干扰项排除】
B选项原文只提过一两次双方之间的竞争,属于以偏概全;
C选项原文并没有介绍商业模式,属于无中生有;
D选项只在提到限制的时候提到过,均属于文中提到的部分内容,但并不是全部,属于以偏概全。