OG2020每日閱讀訓練練習D7

Pistachio_lin

Hi 大家好閱讀打卡訓練第七天

Materials/sources: OG2020

Passage:

    Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attributed to “the effects of labor.” For Locke's intellectual heirs it was only a short step to the “labor theory of value,” whose formulators held that 100 percent of the value of any product is generated by labor (the human work needed to produce goods) and that therefore the employer who appropriates any part of the product's value as profit is practicing theft.

    Although human effort is required to produce goods for the consumer market, effort is also invested in making capital goods (tools, machines, etc.), which are used to facilitate the production of consumer goods. In modern economies about one-third of the total output of consumer goods is attributable to the use of capital goods. Approximately two-thirds of the income derived from this total output is paid out to workers as wages and salaries, the remaining third serving as compensation to the owners of the capital goods. Moreover, part of this remaining third is received by workers who are shareholders, pension beneficiaries, and the like.   The labor theory of value systematically disregards the productive contribution of capital goods—a failing for which Locke must bear part of the blame.


簡化/思路:

   Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attributed to “the effects of labor.” For Locke's intellectual heirs it was only a short step to the “labor theory of value,” whose formulators held that 100 percent of the value of any product is generated by labor (the human work needed to produce goods) and that therefore the employer who appropriates any part of the product's value as profit is practicing theft.   (介紹一位學者以及他的理論; 後面進一步說他的繼承者們進一步在既有的基礎上發展出了什麼-理論的內容-; 最後說這理論的立場- 怎麼樣的人算是theft; 寫第一句的目的是為了介紹這個人跟他的學說，接著第二句說這學者的後繼<目的是為了說這些人將這個學說發展到什麼樣的地步了>, 讀完這一段後，內心先確認這一段是在介紹一個學說以及對應的人)


    Although human effort is required to produce goods for the consumer market, effort is also invested in making capital goods (tools, machines, etc.), which are used to facilitate the production of consumer goods. (開頭先用了Although強調了一個轉折，目的是想要說，上一段提到的theory並沒有算到capital goods.)

    In modern economies about one-third of the total output of consumer goods is attributable to the use of capital goods. Approximately two-thirds of the income derived from this total output is paid out to workers as wages and salaries, the remaining third serving as compensation to the owners of the capital goods. Moreover, part of this remaining third is received by workers who are shareholders, pension beneficiaries, and the like. (目的在呼應這一段的第一句，capital goods應該也要被計算在value of product之中, 這裡用了比例去說明captial goods, income of total output, wages/salary <labor workers>)     The labor theory of value systematically disregards the productive contribution of capital goods—a failing for which Locke must bear part of the blame. (最後說，Locke需要為沒有把cpaital goods算計product value之中負責)


大意分析總結第一段: 介紹一個學說。第二段: 說明這個學說的不足，並舉出例子。最後將這個造成不足的責任歸給這個學說創始人。

1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

(A) criticizing Locke's economic theories (主要在攻擊的對像是Laobr  theory of value, 但Lockes的學說其實只是在effect of labor的階段; 這題幹擾很強)
(B) discounting the contribution of labor in a modern economy
(C) questioning the validity of the labor theory of value (同大意分析，第一段先介紹這個學說，後面攻擊這個學說)
(D) arguing for a more equitable distribution of business profits
(E) contending that employers are overcompensated for capital goods

2. According to the author of the passage, which of the following is true of the distribution of the income derived from the total output of consumer goods in a modern economy?
(A) Workers receive a share of this income that is significantly smaller than the value of their labor as a contribution to total output.
(B) Owners of capital goods receive a share of this income that is significantly greater than the contribution to total output attributable to the use of capital goods.
(C) Owners of capital goods receive a share of this income that is no greater than the proportion of total output attributable to the use of capital goods. (同第二段分析詳述，1/3的total output is contributed by capital goods; 所有的收入1/3裡面是歸功於這一個部分的貢獻)
(D) Owners of capital goods are not fully compensated for their investment because they pay out most of their share of this income to workers as wages and benefits.
(E) Workers receive a share of this income that is greater than the value of their labor because the labor theory of value overestimates their contribution to total output.


3. Which of the following statements, if true, would most effectively counter the author's criticism of Locke at the end of the passage?
(A) Locke was unfamiliar with the labor theory of value as it was formulated by his intellectual heirs.
(B) In Locke's day, there was no possibility of ordinary workers becoming shareholders or pension beneficiaries.
(C) During Locke's lifetime, capital goods did not make a significant productive contribution to the economy.
(D) The precise statistical calculation of the productive contributions of labor and capital goods is not possible without computers.
(E) The terms “capital goods” and “consumer goods” were coined by modern economists and do not appear in Locke's writings.

<我把這一題想像成CR的問題conclusion: Locke shold be blame for disregarding the productive contribution of capital goods because Locke's intellectual heirs conceived the “labor theory of value,” whose formulators held that 100 percent of the value of any product is generated by labor.  這格labor theory的成立假設應為: 只有labar會貢獻product value, 所以他的formulat裡面才會100%都是labor contribution. 在這樣的情況裡，他們認定"labor contribution"是唯一對product value有影響的成因。要削弱Locke's oppenent的結論，可以透過加強推導出的assumption. C說明了這個原因, E裡說這兩個詞不存在Locke的著作中，但這不代表他是否有考慮過labor contribution跟capital contribution與product value之間的關係>

4. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
(A) The author explores the origins of a theory and explains why the theory never gained widespread acceptance. (B) The author introduces the premise of a theory, evaluates the premise by relating it to objective reality, then proposes a modification of the theory.
(C) After quoting a well-known authority, the author describes the evolution of a theory, then traces its modern form back to the original quotation.
(D) After citing a precursor of a theory, the author outlines and refutes the theory, then links its flaw to the precursor. (同大意分析)
(E) After tracing the roots of a theory, the author attempts to undermine the theory by discrediting its originator.

5. Which of the following arguments would a proponent of the labor theory of value, as it is presented in the first paragraph, be most likely to use in response to lines 23–25 (last sentence in bold)?
(A) The productive contributions of workers and capital goods cannot be compared because the productive life span of capital goods is longer than that of workers.
(B) The author's analysis of the distribution of income is misleading because only a small percentage of workers are also shareholders.
(C) Capital goods are valuable only insofar as they contribute directly to the production of consumer goods.
(D) The productive contribution of capital goods must be discounted because capital goods require maintenance.
(E) The productive contribution of capital goods must be attributed to labor because capital goods are themselves products of labor. (同在第三題分析的, 因為認定"labor contribution"是唯一對product value有影響的成因)



6. The author of the passage implies which of the following regarding the formulators of the labor theory of value? (A) They came from a working-class background.

(B) Their views were too radical to have popular appeal.
(C) At least one of them was a close contemporary of Locke.
(D) They were familiar with Locke's views on the relationship between labor and the value of products. (定位For Locke's intellectual heirs it was only a short step to the “labor theory of value,”  這些人是Locke的後繼)
(E) They underestimated the importance of consumer goods in a modern economy.