金融英語閱讀：市場(chǎng)是一個(gè)概念

Is the market a place? Or a thing? Neither, really. It's a concept. If you are growing tomatoes in your backyard for sale, you are producing for the market. You might sell some to your neighbor and some in your little stand by the roadside and some to the manager of the local supermarket. But in either case, you are producing for the market. Your efforts are being directed by the market. If people stop buying tomatoes, you will stop producing them. If you mow lawns to earn money, you are producing a service for the market. If your father a steelworker or a bricklayer or a truck driver or a dentist or a grocer, he is producing goods or services for the market.　

市場(chǎng)是一個(gè)地方嗎?是一樣?xùn)|西嗎?都不是，真的。市場(chǎng)是一個(gè)概念。如果你在自家的后院種番茄出售，你是在給市場(chǎng)提供產(chǎn)品。你可以將一些蔬菜賣給鄰居，將一些蔬菜擺在路邊的小攤上出售，將一些蔬菜賣給當(dāng)?shù)爻?jí)市場(chǎng)的經(jīng)理，在任何一種情況下，你都是在給市場(chǎng)提供產(chǎn)品。你的努力都是在市場(chǎng)的引導(dǎo)下作出的。如果人們不買你的番茄，你就不會(huì)種番茄。如果你割草掙錢，你是在為市場(chǎng)提供勞務(wù)。如果你父親是鋼鐵工人，或者是瓦匠，或者是卡車司機(jī)，或者是牙醫(yī)，或者是開食品雜貨店的，他也正在給市場(chǎng)提供商品或者勞務(wù)。

When you spend your income, you are buying things from the market. You may spend money in stores, supermarkets, gas stations, and restaurants. Still you are buying from the market. When the local grocer hires you to drive the delivery truck, he is buying your labor in the labor market.　　

當(dāng)你花錢時(shí)，你是在市場(chǎng)上購(gòu)買東西。你可以在商店、超級(jí)市場(chǎng)、氣站和餐館花錢，你還是在市場(chǎng)上購(gòu)買東西。當(dāng)本地的雜貨店雇你開送貨車，他是在勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)上購(gòu)買你的勞動(dòng)。

The market may seem to be a fuzzy sort of thing. But for each person (or business) who is making and selling something, it's very real. If nobody buys your tomatoes, it won't be long before you get the message. The market is telling you something. It's telling you that you are using your energies and resources in doing something the market doesn't want you to do.　　

市場(chǎng)似乎是一種含糊不清的東西，但是，對(duì)一個(gè)正在生產(chǎn)商品的人(或一家企業(yè))，它是實(shí)實(shí)在在的。如果誰也不買你的番茄，不需要很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間你就會(huì)得到信息。市場(chǎng)在告訴你一些道理，他在對(duì)你說，你做事所花的精力和使用的資源是市場(chǎng)上所不需要的。