2012吉大新视野英语(二)练习题A.docVIP

新视野英语（二）练习题A Ⅰ. Vocabulary Ⅱ. Reading Comprehension Passage 1 Economic liberalism was the prevailing economic philosophy in much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the U.S. economy developed within its framework. Economic liberalism promoted freedom of action for the individual and the firm through the doctrines of free trade, self-interest, private property, laissez-faire, and competition. According to his philosophy, individuals were free to seek their own occupations, to enter any business, and to act as they saw fit to improve their economic welfare. Economic society was held together by self-interest. Self-interest was thus the motivation force of the economy. For example, to increase personal economic welfare, an individual might decide to produce goods and sell them for profit. But in so doing, that individual automatically benefited the community as well—by purchasing raw materials, providing employment, and supplying goods or services. A worker seeking to increase hi or her wages could do so by increasing productivity. This, too, benefited the employer and the community in general. According to Adam Smith, the individual, in seeking personal gain, was led by an invisible hand to promote the welfare of the whole community. Competition was the regulator of the economy under economic liberalism. Business competed with one another for consumer trade by developing new and better products and by selling existing products at lower prices. Free entry into the market ensured adequate competition, and prices were determined by the free forces of supply and demand. Competitive force determined not only the prices of goods and services but also wage rates. Since a beneficial self-interest was the motivating and driving force of the economy and since competition was to serve as the regulator of the economy, a policy of laissez-faire prevailed. According to this policy, the government kept its hands off the economic activities of individuals and bus