Resources can be said to be scarce in both an absolute and a relative sense: the surface of the earth is finite, 1 absolute scarcity; but the scarcity that concerns economists is the relative scarcity of resources in different 2. Material used for one purpose cannot at the same time be used for other purposes; 3 the quantity of an input is limited, the increased use of it in one manufacturing 4 must cause it to become less available for other uses.
The cost of a product 5 money may not measure its true cost 6 society. The true cost of, say, the construction of a supersonic jet is the 7 of the schools and refrigerators that will never be built as a 8. Every act of production uses up some of societys available resources; it means the 9 of an opportunity to produce something else. In 10 how to use resources most effectively to satisfy the 11 of the community, this opportunity must be taken into account.
In a market 12 the price of a good and the quantity 13 depends on the cost of making it, and the cost, 14, is the cost of not making other goods. The market mechanism 15 this relationship. The cost of, say, a pair of shoes is the price of the leather, the fuel, and other 16 used up in producing them. But the price of these 17, in turn, depends on what they can produce 18—if the leather can used to produce handbags that are 19 highly by consumers, the price of the leather will be bid up 20.
1. [A ] composing [B ] imposing [C ] exposing [D ] disposing
2. [A ] uses [B ] ways [C ] areas [D ] forms
3. [A ] since [B ] unless [C ] as [D ] if
4. [A ] plant [B ] firm [C ] process [D ] procedure
5. [A ] in regard to [B ] in terms of [C ] in view of [D ] in relation to
6. [A ] to [B ] in [C ] on [D ] of
7. [A ] charge [B ] expense [C ] price [D ] value
8. [A ] product [B ] purpose [C ] result [D ] rule
9. [A ] diminishing [B ] abandoning [C ] discarding [D ] substituting
10. [A ] deciding [B ] assessing [C ] predicting [D ] projecting
11. [A ] wants [B ] desires [C ] premises [D ] facilities
12. [A ] state [B ] system [C ] condition [D ] economy
13. [A ] presented [B ] delivered [C ] supplied [D ] forwarded
14. [A ] accordingly [B ] ultimately [C ] consequently [D ] practically
15. [A ] formulates [B ] regulates [C ] enhances [D ] enforces
16. [A ] components [B ] substances [C ] elements [D ] materials
17. [A ] outputs [B ] inputs [C ] goods [D ] articles
18. [A ] anyway [B ] somehow [C ] somewhere [D ] elsewhere
19. [A ] appraised [B ] appealed [C ] approved [D ] approached
20. [A ] passionately [B ] unanimously [C ] spontaneously[D] correspondingly