11.What is the economic system in the United States?
11.美国的经济系统是什么？
Answer:
答案：
Capitalist economy
●资本主义经济
Market economy
●市场经济
Explanation:
解释：
If you want to start a business, maybe by opening a restaurant or a clothing store, the United States is a good place to do it. This is because the U.S. has a capitalist, or market, economy, making it acceptable and fairly easy for private entities (or individuals and businesses that are not owned by the government) to buy, sell, and trade things for money without government interference (or involvement by the government). In the U.S., the government doesn’t decide how much things should cost or how much of something should be produced (or made). Instead, prices and production are decided based on a system called supply and demand, which refers to how much of a thing exists and how many people want to have that thing. How do we know how much supply and demand there is for a product? There are two important factors. The first is profit (or money a business gets by selling something), and the second is self-interest, which is when a person makes decisions based on what is best for him or herself, without payingattention to what is best for other people.
如果你想开一家餐厅或服装店，美国是个很好的选择。因为美国的资本主义市场使私人实体（非国有的）可以没有政府的干预进行买卖贸易。在美国，决定产品的生产成本和生产数量的不是政府而是由供求系统决定的，即一件商品的价值和对该商品的需求数量。我们如何知道一个产品的供求数量呢？有两大因素，一是利润（销售商品获取的资金），二是私利，即一个人基于对自己最有利的做决定而不管他人的利益。
A man named Adam Smith is considered the father of American capitalism. He wrote about his ideas in a famous book called The Wealth of Nations. He believed that a capitalist system is run by an invisible hand. The invisible hand is the idea that there is no need for government interference in the economy because the selfinterest of individuals will serve the greater good (or the maximum benefits for everyone in society).
亚当.斯密被称为美国资本主义之父，他在撰写著名的《国富论》一书中提出资本主义制度由一双无形的手控制。无形的手即政府不用干涉经济，个人私利会支配的更好（每个人都获得最大利益）。
To understand this idea, imagine that a store near your home sells a piece of candy for $20. You think that this price is too high, but it is the only place to buy candy, so if you want candy, you have to pay the $20. However, if the store across the street begins selling the same piece of candy for $1, you will act in your own self-interest and buy the less expensive candy. The more expensive store will be forced to lower its candy prices to compete with the cheaper store, or else it won’t sell any candy and won’t make any profit. In this situation, everyone involved has acted out of selfinterest, and the final result is a lower price for candy. The lower prices will serve the greater good of everyone in the neighborhood, because everyone can buy more candy. This is the basic principle (or explanation) behind the invisible hand and the United States’ market economy.
为更好理解这一理论，试想一下，你家附近的商店一块糖卖20美元，你觉得价格太高了，但只有这里有卖的，所以你要想吃糖，就要付20美元，但如果街对面的商店也卖同样的糖，每块只需1美元，你肯定出于个人利益考虑购买便宜的，卖贵的商店为了与其他店竞争，卖出糖果，获得利润只能降价销售。在这种情形下，每个参与买卖的都出于个人利益最终使得糖果价格降低。低价也使附近居民获益，因为他们能买到更多的糖果，这就是无形的手和美国市场经济的最基本原理。
Glossary
词汇
11.What is the economic system in the United States?
11.美国的经济系统是什么？
private entity - an individual or a business that is not owned by the government
Private entity—不属于政府的个体或商业
*Government agencies don't have to pay taxes, but private entities do.
*政府机构不用纳税，但私营企业需要纳税。
government interference - involvement by the government, usually when people or organizations do not want the government to become involved
Government interference—政府参与，通常是民众或机构不希望政府参与时
*Why is there so much government interference in electricity pricing?
*政付为什么对电力价格干涉这么多？
to be produced - to be made, manufactured, or created
To be produced—生产，制作，创造
*How many cigarettes were produced in the United States last year?
*美国去年香烟生产量是多少？
supply and demand - a way of talking about how much of a thing exists, how many people want to have that thing, and how much they are willing to pay for it
Supply and demand—指需要生产多少商品，有多少人想购买，人们愿意花多少钱购买
*According to idea of supply and demand, if many people want a lot of something, it will be very expensive, but as more companies begin making it, it will become less expensive.
*根据供求理论，购买商品的人越多，价格越贵，但更多的企业会生产，价格又会降低。
profit - the money that a business makes by selling things after everything else has been paid for
Profit—销售商品除掉成本后剩余的钱
*Each time I sell a sweater for $45, I make a profit of $20, since it costs $25 to make the sweater.
*我一件毛衣卖45美元，除掉成本25美元，可以挣20美元。
self-interest - making decisions based on what is best for oneself
Self-interest—根据个人利益最大化做决定
*If I were acting out of self-interest, I would keep all my money for myself, but I think it is important to share my money with my family.
*若出于个人私利考虑，我会将钱全部存起来，但与家人分享更为重要。
invisible hand - the idea that there is no need for the government to be very involved in the economy because the natural actions of buyers and sellers will automatically make sure that the right things are being sold at the right prices
Invisible hand—该理念认为政府不必参与经济，买卖双方会自动按合理的价格销售合理的产品
*Many people want to buy computers so more companies are making more of them, causing the price to go down. This is an example of the invisible hand.
*更多人对电脑的购买欲望促使更多公司生产，电脑的价格就降下来了，这是无形的手的举例。
greater good - maximum benefits or good things for everyone in society
Greater good—社会中每个人都获得最大利润和最好的产品
*Few people want to pay more taxes, but if the money is used to help people, then it's for the greater good, don’t you think?
*很多人不想多纳税，但如果钱用于帮助他人，这样更好，你觉得呢？
principle - explanation; the reason why something happens; the idea behind something
Principle—解释；某事发生的原因；某事所含的理念
*In physics, the uncertainty principle says that we cannot know exactly how quickly something is moving and exactly where it is at the same time.
*物理学中，不确定理论认为我们无法得知某物移动的速度，也无法知道它同时在哪里。