Resources can be said to be scarce in both an absolute and relative sense; the surface of the Earth is finite, imposing absolute

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问题     Resources can be said to be scarce in both an absolute and relative sense; the surface of the Earth is finite, imposing absolute scarcity; but the scarcity that concerns economists is the relative scarcity of resources for different uses. Materials used for one purpose can not at the same time be used for other purposes; if the quantity of an input is limited, the increased use of it in one manufacturing process must cause it to become less available for other uses.
    The cost of a product in terms of money may not measure its true cost to society. The true cost of, say, the construction of a supersonic jet is the value of the schools and refrigerators that will never be built as a result. Every act of production uses up some of society’s available resources; it means the foregoing of an opportunity to produce something else. In deciding how to use resources most effectively to satisfy the wants of the community, this opportunity cost must ultimately be taken into account.
    In a market economy the price of a good and the quantity supplied depend on the cost of making it, and that cost, ultimately, is the cost of not making other goods. The market mechanism enforces this relationship. The cost of, say, a pair of shoes is the price of the leather, the labor, the fuel, and other elements used in producing them. However, the price of these inputs, in turn, depends on what they can produce elsewhere—if the leather can be used to produce handbags that are valued highly by consumers, the prices of leather would be correspondingly higher.  
Which of the following examples BEST reflects a cost to society as defined in the passage?

选项 A、A family buying a dog.
B、Eating in a restaurant instead of at home.
C、Using land for a house instead of a park.
D、Staying at home instead of going to school.

答案C

解析 cost to society指的是资源用于制造某一件商品或事情后就不能再用于其他,因此要最大限度地满足群体和社会的利益。因此选项C是cost to society的最佳例子。
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