补充阅读9/63 第8题，原文有一句话不能理解 求教一下 （已解决）

mofell

Passage 9 (9/63)
Most economists in the United States seem captivated by the spell of the free market. Consequently, nothing seems good or normal thatdoes not accord with the requirements of the free market. A price that isdetermined by the seller or,for that matter, established by anyone other than the aggregate of consumers seems pernicious. Accordingly, it requires a major act of will to think ofprice-fixing (the determination of prices by the seller) as both “normal” andhaving a valuable economic function. In fact, price-fixing is normal in allindustrialized societies because the industrial system itself provides, as aneffortless consequence of its own development, the price-fixing that itrequires. Modern industrial planning requires and rewards great size. Hence, acomparatively small number of large firms will be competing for the same groupof consumers. That each large firm will act with consideration of its own needs and thus avoid selling its products for more than its competitors charge is commonly recognized by advocates of free-market economic theories. But each large firm will also act with full consideration of the needs that it has in common with the other large firms competing for the same customers. Each large firm willthus avoid significant price-cutting, because price-cutting would beprejudicial to the common interest in a stable demand for products. Mosteconomists do not see price-fixing when it occurs because they expect it to bebrought about by a number of explicit agreements among large firms; it is not.Moreover, those economists who argue that allowing thefree market to operate without interference is the most efficient method ofestablishing prices have not considered the economies of non-socialistcountries other than the United  states
. These economies employ intentionalprice-fixing, usually in an overt fashion. Formal price-fixing by cartel andinformal price-fixing by agreements covering the members of an industry arecommonplace. Were there something peculiarly efficient about the free marketand inefficient about price-fixing, the countries that have avoided the firstand used the second would have suffered drastically in their economicdevelopment. There is no indication that they have.Socialist industry also works within a framework ofcontrolled prices. In the early 1970’s, the Soviet Unionbegan to give firms and industries some of the flexibility in adjusting pricesthat a more informal evolution has accorded the capitalist system. Economistsin the United States
have hailed the change as a return to the free market. But Soviet firms are nomore subject to prices established by a free market over which they exerciselittle influence than are capitalist firms; rather, Soviet firms have beengiven the power to fix prices.


8.    With whichof the following statements regarding the behavior of large firms inindustrialized societies would the author be most likely to agree?
(A) The directors of large firms willcontinue to anticipate the demand for products.
(B) The directors of large firms are lessinterested in achieving a predictable level of profit than in achieving a largeprofit.
(C) The directors of large firms willstrive to reduce the costs of their products.
(D) Many directors of large firms believethat the government should establish the prices that will be charged forproducts.（A）
(E) Many directors of large firms believethat the price charged for products is likely to increase annually.

因为看不懂这2句话所以第8题选错了
2句话都说它们要consider its own needs,  应该是意思相反的2句话啊。。可是不明白具体是什么意思。。
能读懂的帮忙解释一下好么。。。

wes1943

应该选A， 第一句说公司会consider its own needs,这是经济学家的观点， 第二句补充道公司会考虑和竞争对手所共有的needs，如了解市场对产品的需求量，所有公司不会随便降价，因为降价会损人不利己。后面一句说到了demand，这也是公司的needs,所以公司会继续考虑。  希望解释清楚了

huangyouhuifei

我来试翻译一下：
【第一句话】：{自由经济的观点}：每个大公司都会考虑到它自身的需求（消费者对它产品的需求），从而避免卖它的产品以比竞争对手要价还高的价格，这是自由经济倡导者所意识到的。也就是说大公司避免标价过高，它们都降低价格，来提高自身竞争力，这就是自由经济所倡导的。

【第二句话】：{作者观点}：但是每个大公司都会充分考虑这种需求（消费者对产品的需求），它跟竞争公司所共有的。后面一句又说Each large firm will thus avoid significant price-cutting, because price-cutting would be prejudicial to the common interest in a stable demand for products. 大公司会避免大幅削价，因为这会伤害到共同的利益。

我认为A选项中的demand便是needs的替换。

个人意见，不一定对，供大家讨论~~~

mofell

嗯，现在看懂了..原来关键在own need还是the need
谢谢2位的指点！