Reading comprehension competency focus

Reading for content information: After people pay taxes, their remaining income may be saved or spent on essential or nonessential items.  Read the text and find out how the text explains the difference between disposable and discretionary income and examines how spending choices of a consumer are made.

 

Constructing comprehension: Use the diagram below to help you take notes as you read the text. As you read think about the ways purchasing decisions are made.

 

 

Answering  text content questions orally:

1. What are the characteristics of a consumer?

2. What does a consumer spend on?

3. What does a consumer’s ability to consume depend on?

4. What are the two types of income?

5. How are the two types of income different from one another?

6. What factors help determine a person’s potential earning power?

7.  What are the three decisions consumers have to make?

8.   What scarce resources are involved in making a purchase?

9. What must a person decide if they choose to buy a higher-priced product over a lower-priced product?

10.   How do economists define rational choice?

Taking notes: Answer the same questions in writing. Use note form.

 

Recalling the Facts: Fill in the blanks using the words from the box.

 

a consumer, consumer decisions, scarce resources, the best-quality goods, needs and wants, disposable income, discretionary income, taxes

 

 

1 _________ is any person that buys or uses goods and services to satisfy personal   2 _______. The ability to consume depends on a person’s available 3 ________.  Income can be both disposable and discretionary. 4 _______ is the remaining money a person has to spend or save after 5 _______ have been paid. Most people first pay for what they need to live: food, clothing, and housing. The remaining income, or   6 _______, can go toward luxuries and wants.

      

 There are three main factors to consider when making good   7 _______.     The first factor is the problem of scarce resources. Time and money are   8 _______ that are always considered when making a purchase.

The second factor is opportunity cost. The difference between the two prices of similar goods is money that could have been spent on something else.

Rational choice is the third factor. It involves choosing the   9 _______  with the lowest prices from among similar products.

 

Rendering the text:

1. Render the text into English in writing using the base-text for self-correction.

2. Get prepared to render the text orally.

 

Решение потребителя, собирающегося потратить свои деньги, включает несколько факторов.

Первый фактор – это проблема дефицита ресурсов. При совершении покупки всегда учитывается фактор времени и денег. До того, как потребитель потратит деньги, он тратит время, посещая магазины и сравнивая цены.

Второй фактор - издержки неиспользованных возможностей. Покупая товар по более высокой цене, потребитель тратит больше денег. Эти деньги и товары, которые он мог бы на них купить, и есть издержки неиспользованных возможностей.

Рациональный выбор – это третий фактор. Он предполагает выбор товара наилучшего качества по наименьшей цене среди аналогичных продуктов.