03 The Definition of Price

03 The Definition of “Price”

Prices determine how resources are to be used.(价格决定多少资源被使用) They are also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed¹ among buyers.(它们也是有限的产品和服务在购买者之间按比例分配的依据) The price system of the United States is a complex network composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a myriad² of(无数的) services, including labor³, professional, transportation, and public-utility services. The interrelationships of all these prices make up the “system” of prices. The price of any particular product or service is linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems to depend more or less upon everything else.

If one were to ask a group of randomly⁴ selected individuals to define “price”, many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service or, in other words that price is the money values of a product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction. This definition is, of course, valid⁵ as far as it goes. For a complete understanding of a price in any particular transaction, much more than the amount of money involved must be known. (为了在任一个特定的交易中透彻地了解价格的含义，需要了解除钱的数量之外所涉及的更多内容) Both the buyer and the seller should be familiar with not only the money amount, but with the amount and quality of the product or service to be exchanged, the time and place at which the exchange will take place and payment will be made, the form of money to be used, the credit terms and discounts(折扣) that apply to the transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return privileges(特权，特别待遇), and other factors. In other words, both buyer and seller should be fully⁶ aware of all the factors that comprise the total “package” being exchanged for the asked-for amount of money in order that they may evaluate a given price. (换句话说，为了能够评估一个给定的价格，买者和卖者都应该完全清楚组成这个总的“包裹”的所有因素，这个总的“包裹”是用来和标定的钱数来交换的)

1 rationed   

限量供应，配给供应( ration的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We were rationed to two eggs a day. 每天配给我们两个鸡蛋。
• The army is well rationed. 部队给养良好。

2 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

5 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。