Section III  Reading Comprehension       ( 40 points )
    
    Directions: Read the following passages. Answer the questions below each passage by choosing
    
    A. B. C. or D. Mark your answers on  ANSWER SHEET1.
    
    Passage 1
    
    The market system has evolved naturally through the history of humanity' s quest to satisfy its needs. In the simplest terms, a market is the interaction of supply and demand, the buying and selling of goods and services by individuals and businesses in an attempt to satisfy their own economic wants. A market, then, involves decision—making not by one central authority but by many individuals, each of whom is guided by the quest not for the common good but for his own good. Consumers decide what to buy. Firms decide what goods to produce or what services to render （提供） in order to satisfy that demand. Individuals decide whether to offer their skills in the job market. And they decide what skills to acquire in the first place, through training and education.
    
    It is true that in making these choices, there are certain Constraints (限制) —personal abilities, material resources, concern for or dependence on other people. Nevertheless, in a market system no superior authority plans our actions or charts (f指定…计划) our desires. It is up to the individual to make choices.
    
    Similarly, a firm may decide to manufacture a certain product if it expects a profit, or it may opt(选择 ) to produce something else, in anticipation (期望) of an even greater profit. In either case, consumer tastes and the producer’s desire for profit    are manifestations（表现）of the human self-interest that underlies all economic activity in a market system. Consumers seek to maximize their own satisfaction in buying products and services, and producers to maximize their own profits in offering them.
    
    Underlying these choices by consumers and producers are the prices of goods, services, and resources, and underlying these prices are the very same choices. In a market system, prices are affected by the choices of all those in the system and these choices are affected by prices. A market system, therefore, is one in which decisions are decentralized but interdependent.  （343 ）
    
    41. In a market system, it is the ____.
    
    A. individuals who decide what to buy and what to produce
    
    B. prices that determine what to produce and what to buy
    
    C. central authority that commands what to produce
    
    D. interaction of supply and demand that determines what to produce
    
    42. The first paragraph suggests that ____.
    
    A. people are all guided by the quest for their common interests
    
    B. the law of supply and demand dominates the market system
    
    C. a market includes decision-making by the central authority and by individuals
    
    D. the market system allows individuals large  amounts of freedom
    
    43. It can be concluded from the third paragraph that ____.
    
    A. common good is the end of any manufacturer
    
    B. the incentive for a firm to produce a new and better product is a greater economic profit
    
    C. business firms are free to produce whatever they want in any way they wish
    
    D. changes in the tastes of consumers are not reflected in changes in consumer demand for products and services
    
    44. The word "opt" in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to
    
    A. adopt        B. decide    C. change        D. manage
    
    45. The best title for this passage is ______.
    
    A. What Is A Market?       B. How Does the Market System Work?
    
    C. What to Produce?        D. Buy What?
    
    
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