阅读理解。
Economics has long been known as an unpleasant science. But is any economist so dull as
to criticize Christmas? At first glance, the holiday season in western economies seems a treat
for those who are concerned with such things as GDP growth. After all, everyone is spending;
in America, sellers make 25 % of their yearly sales and 60 % of their profits between Thanksgiving
and Christmas. Even so, economists find something to worry about in the nature of the purchases
being made.
Much of the holiday spending is on gifts for others. At the simplest level, giving gifts involves
the giver's thinking of something that the receiver would like - he tries to guess her preferences,
as economists say - and then buying the gift and delivering it. Yet this guessing of preferences is
often done badly. Every year, ties go unworn and books unread. And even if a gift is enjoyed, it
may not be what the receiver would have bought if they had spent the money themselves.
Interested in this mismatch between wants and gifts, in 1993 Joel Waldfogel, then an economist
at Yale University, attempted to estimate the disparity(差距) in dollar terms. He asked students
two questions at the end of a holiday season: first, estimate the total amount paid (by the givers)
for all the holiday gifts you received; second, apart from the emotional value of the items, if you
did not have them, how much would you be willing to pay to get them? His results were unpleasant:
on average, a gift was valued by the receiver well below the price paid by the giver.
The most conservative(保守的) estimate put the average receiver's valuation at 90% of the
buying price. The missing 10% is what economists call a deadweight loss(无谓损失)because it's
a waste of resources that could be avoided without making anyone poorer. In other words, if the
giver gave the cash value of the purchase instead of the gift itself, the receiver could then buy what
he/she really wants and be better off for no extra cost. It suggests that in America, where givers
spend $40 billion on Christmas gifts, $ 4 billion is being lost annually in the process of gift giving.
Add in birthdays, weddings and non Christian occasions, and the figure would balloon. So should
economists call for an end to gift giving, or at least press for money to become the gift of choice?
1. Why do some people regard the holiday season in western economies a treat?
A. Because the economic situation in US has been depressing.
B. Because American sellers make a quarter of their yearly sales through holiday seasons.
C. Because holiday spending can speed up GDP growth.
D. Because sellers can make as much profit as 60 % every holiday season.
2. What's the main idea for the second paragraph?
A. In many cases the gifts cannot meet the receivers' needs.
B. The purchases made over holiday season are actually a waste of money.
C. It's really not easy to guess the others' preferences.
D. Much of the holiday spending is on gifts for others.
3. The purpose of Joel Waldfogel's study is to _____.
A. prove the mismatch between wants and gifts
B. estimate the disparity (差距) between wants and gifts in economic terms
C. spark new ideas of economic studies on holiday spending
D. discover the exact cost of holiday spending on gift giving
4. Economists think of the misusing 10% of holiday spending as a deadweight loss because_______.
A. the cash value of the purchase is lower than the buying price
B. it is actually a waste of resources in economic terms
C. with the money the givers can be better off for no extra cost
D. it makes many people even poorer for spending more on unwanted gifts
5. According to the passage altogether how much money is wasted every year on gift giving?
A. About $4 billion.
B. About 10% of the total value.
C. About $40 billion.
D. Much more than $4 billion.
