The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most. Private businessmen, striving to make profits, produce these goods and services in competition with other businessmen; and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it.
An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fall in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by seller-producers. If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system.
The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individuals are allowed to own productive resources (private property), and they are permitted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain rights, including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.
1.In Line 7, Para. 1, "the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes" means_______.
A.Americans are never satisfied with their incomes
B.Americans tend to overstate their incomes
C.Americans want to have their incomes increased
D.Americans want to increase the purchasing power of their incomes
2.The first two sentences in the second paragraph tell us that_______.
A.producers can satisfy the consumers by mechanized production
B.consumers can express their demands through producers
C.producers decide the prices of products
D.supply and demand regulate prices
3.According to the passage, a private-enterprise economy is characterized by_______.
A.private property and rights concerned B.manpower and natural resources control
C.ownership of productive resources D.free contracts and prices
4.The passage is mainly about_______.
A.how American goods are produced B.how American consumers buy their goods
C.how American economic system works D.how American businessmen make their profits
5.The price system is used to_________.
A.reflecting the demands of consumers and the respondence of the producer
B.expressing the mechanism of the market-oriented economy
C.regulating the balance of demand and supply
D.regulating the number of producers
长难例句分析
［长难例句］The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most.
［结构分析］本句中，主干是The American economic system is organized。介词短语around...作状语。其中，in which引导的是定语从句；what引导的从句作determine的宾语；介词by和后面的现在分词短语共同作状语；最后还有一个that引导的定语从句，用来修饰goods and services。
［参考译文］美国经济体制是围绕私有企业、市场经济组织起来的。在市场经济中，企业生产什么很大程度上是通过消费者到市场上购买他们最需要的商品和服务来决定的。
全文参考译文
美国经济体制是围绕私有企业和市场经济组织起来的。在市场经济中，企业生产什么很大程度上是通过消费者到市场上购买他们最需要的商品和服务来决定的。为了最大限度获取利润，私有企业主在与其他企业主竞相提供这些产品和服务。在竞争的压力下追逐利润的动机很大程度上决定提供这些商品和服务的方式。所以，在美国经济体制中，个人消费者的需求、商人获取最大利润的欲望和消费者想尽可能提高收入的购买力的愿望三者共同决定该生产什么和怎样利用资源生产产品。
市场经济中的一个重要因素是反映消费者需求以及生产者响应消费者需求的机制。在美国经济中，这种机制是通过价格体系决定的。在这种价格体系中，价格根据消费者的相对需求与生产者的供应情况或升或降。如果产品供不应求，价格就上涨，有些消费者就被排挤出市场。另一方面，一种产品生产过量导致成本下降，生产者提供的产品就会增加，相应地价格就会下跌，这就允许更多的消费者购买该产品。因此，价格是美国经济系统的调节机制。
私有企业经济的一个重要因素是个人被允许拥有生产资料（私有财产），允许雇佣劳动力，控制自然资源、生产产品，提供服务获得利润。在美国经济中，私有财产的概念不仅包括生产资料的所有权，也包括决定产品价格或与其他私有个体自由签订合同的权利。
题目答案与解析
1.在第一段的第七行，the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes的意思是_________。
A.美国人从未对他们的收入满意过 B.美国人往往夸大他们的收入
C.美国人想让他们的收入增加 D.美国人想提高收入的购买力
【答案】D
【解析】maximize：把……增加到最大限度，充分利用。maximize their income：充分利用他们的收入。D项为正确答案。
2.第二段的头两句告诉我们_________。
A.生产者可以通过机械化生产来满足消费者的需求
B.消费者通过生产者表达他们的要求
C.生产者决定产品的价格
D.供求调节价格
【答案】D
【解析】A项在文中并没有提及。B项与内容不符。C项也没有提及。D项正确。
3.根据本文，私企经济的特色是由_________ 表现出来的。
A.私有财产及相关的权利 B.人力和自然资源的支配
C.生产资料的所有权 D.自由的签约权和价格决定权
【答案】A
【解析】从文章最后一段最后一句可以得出答案。文章最后一段最后一句“在美国经济中，私有财产的概念不仅包括生产资料的所有权，也包括一定的权利，包括产品价格的决定权或与其他私有个体的自由签约权。”由此可知A项为正确答案。
4.本文主要是关于_________。
A.美国的产品是如何生产的 B.美国消费者是如何购买产品的
C.美国的经济体制是如何运作的 D.美国商人是如何赚取利润的
【答案】C
【解析】本题是主旨题。第一段讲述美国经济体系的构成；第二段讲市场调节的作用；第三段讲私有企业的特征。C项概括了全文的主旨。A、B、D项均属于细节。
5.价格体系用于_________。
A.反映消费者的需求和生产者的反应 B.体现市场经济机制
C.调节供求平衡 D.调整生产者的数量
【答案】A
【解析】第二段的第二句话是答案所在。对于C选项，价格体系本身不能调节供求平衡，需要对价格体系做合理的规划才行。
