Question

    That competition keeps prices down is well known. But it is hard to measure by just how much, because prices vary for all sorts of reasons, from differences in labour costs and rents to taxes. Rising to the challenge is a new paper in The Economic Journal by Giacomo Calzolari, Andrea Ichino, Francesco Manaresi and Viki Nellas, economists at the European University Institute, Bologna University and the Italian central bank. They looked at pharmacies(药房) and specifically at customers who may be particularly easy to rip off: new parents.

Using data for 2007 to 2010 covering about a fifth of pharmacies in Italy, the researchers measured the way in which prices of hygiene products for babies changed as the number of babies varied. They took advantage of a peculiar law from the 1960s, according to which regions with at most 7,500 people are allowed just one pharmacy (supposedly to keep the quality of services high). They compared prices in places with populations just below this threshold, and just above.

The products studied included some 3,000 varieties of shampoos, bath foams, baby wipes, creams and so on. Many are also used by adults on themselves. Some people, for example, prefer sun-cream labeled “for children” because of its high level of protection. When raising prices for these products, even a pharmacist with a monopoly(垄断) must consider the risk that adult users will switch to products that are not aimed at children. But a rise in the number of babies, and hence buyers who are parents, could tip the scales towards price increases. By contrast, the pharmacist should already be charging as much as parents are willing to pay for products without adult users, such as nappies.

The scholars found that pharmacists raised prices when there were more new parents----but only in regions with a single pharmacy, and not for nappies. In monopoly areas a doubling of the number of babies from one month to the next (not unusual in a small population) coincided with a 5% increase in the price of the basket of baby-hygiene products.

The study is timely. Italy’s government has started to loosen some of the many restrictions that stop competition in the pharmacy sector (though not yet the one that the researchers relied on). But such regulations are plentiful in many other lines of business, and not just in Italy. The consumers who pay the price are often those who find it hardest to travel to shop around----for example, people with crying babies on their hands.

1.What’s the purpose of the study?

A. To review the function of the special law for pharmacies.

B. To make clear the relation between competition and prices.

C. To collect the information on pharmacy business in Italy.

D. To gather the data on hygiene products for babies in Italy.

2.“tip the scales” in Paragraph 3 means “_____”.

A. Push the move B. Keep the level

C. Control the rise D. Break the balance

3.The government’s new measures will greatly benefit _____.

A. pharmacy owners B. local merchants

C. new parents D. adult users

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。研究人员利用2007年至2010年覆盖意大利约五分之一药店的数据，测量了婴儿卫生用品价格随婴儿数量变化的方式。学者们发现，当有更多的新父母时，药剂师就会提高药价，但仅限于只有一家药店的地区，而不是纸尿裤。

1.细节理解题。根据题干定位到文章第一段，第一行中间出现了转折but，重点看but后面的内容，“但是很难具体测量竞争到底影响了多少价格”，可知研究的目的是为了搞清楚竞争和价格之间的关系。

2.词义猜测题。tip the scales所在句子含义为“但是婴儿数量上升，因此那些孩子家长可能会________对于价格上涨”，A促进，B保持，C控制增长，D打破平衡，根据句意，婴儿多了家长（要购买）会推动价格上涨。

3.细节理解题。文章最后一段说政府要开始放宽一些禁止医药行业竞争的政策，所以会有减少垄断增加竞争，因此价格会降低，所以父母们会受益。