Most people work to earn a living, and produce goods and services. Goods are either agricultural (like maize), or manufactured (like cars). Services are such things as education, medicine and commerce. Some people provide goods; some provide services. Other people provide both goods and services. For example, in the same garage a man must buy a car or some service which helps him maintain his car.
The work people do is called economic activity. All economic activities taken together make up the economic system of a town, a city, a country or the world. Such an economic system is the sum-total of what people do and what they want. The work people do either provides what they need or provides the money with which they can buy essential commodities. Of course, most people hope to have enough money to buy commodities and services which are non-essential but which provide some particular personal satisfaction, such as toys for children, visit to the cinema and books.
The science of economics is based upon the facts of our everyday lives. Economists study our everyday lives and the general life of our communities in order to understand the whole economic system of which we are part. They try to describe the facts of the economy in which we live, and to explain how it works. The economist's methods should of course be strictly objective and scientific.
We need food, clothes and shelter. We probably would not go to work if we could satisfy these basic needs without working. But even when we satisfied such basic needs, we may still want other things, such as the toys, visits to the cinema and books mentioned above. Our lives might be more enjoyable if we had such things. Human beings undoubtedly have a wide and very complex range of wants. The science of economics is concerned with all our needs with the desire to have a radio as well as the basic necessity of having enough food to eat. (Taken from A Rapid Course in English for Students of Economics by Tom McArthur)
COMPREHENTION
- What is the main idea of paragraph 1?
- What do most people produce?
- What is an economic activity?
- Mention the examples of services which provide some personal satisfaction!
- What is based upon the facts of our everyday lives?
- Why the economists should study our everyday lives?
- What do the economists try to do?
- What is the main idea of paragraph 4?
- What are our basic needs?
- What is the meaning of the sentence "Human beings undoubtedly have wide and very complex range of wants" (line 26-27)?
ANSWERS
- Most people work to earn a living, and produce goods and services.
- Goods or services. Goods are either agricultural or manufactured, services are such things as education, medicine and commerce.
- The work people do to earn a living, and produce goods and services or both.
- Toys for children, visit to the cinema and books.
- The science of economics.
- In order to understand the whole economic system of which we are part.
- The economists try to describe the facts of the economy in which we live, and explain how it works.
- Human beings undoubtedly have a wide and very complex range of wants.
- Our basic needs are food, clothes and shelter.
- It means even when we have satisfied such basic needs, we may still want other commodities and services which are non-essential but which provide some particular personal satisfaction, such as toys for children, visit to the cinema and books.
-KELOMPOK 3-
