XDF补充教材/CR/SECTION 5-14

The price the government pays for standard weapons purchased from military contractors is determined by a pricing method called “historical costing.” Historical costing allows contractors to protect their profits by adding a percentage increase, based on the current rate of inflation, to the previous year’s contractual price.
Which of the following statements, if true, is the best basis for a criticism of historical costing as an economically sound pricing method for military contracts?

(A) The government might continue to pay for past inefficient use of funds.
(B) The rate of inflation has varied considerably over the past twenty years.
(C) The contractual price will be greatly affected by the cost of materials used for the products.
(D) Many taxpayers question the amount of money the government spends on military contracts.
(E) The pricing method based on historical costing might not encourage the development of innovative weapons.

本题我选择C.(我知道,C可能存在一个错误的假设: 原材料可能是去年购入的) . 但是, 答案给出的A实在难以理解.

A is the answer

文章说：国家买武器是和军火商达成这样一个方式：historical costing，就是让军火商在去年的合同价格上加价

问批评

A：如果去年的合同有不合理的费用，根据historical costing，国家只能在过去这个完整的不平等的合同价格上加价，这些不合理，没有效率的费用依然得到了保留。

C：价格的影响和题名的要求criticism of historical costing没有关系，文章也未提及，更何况以前的价格也没有信息得知。