学术英语 社科
Academic English for
Social Sciences
2
Economist
Just as you cannot become a mathematician,
psychologist, or lawyer overnight, learning to
think like an economist will take time.
However, what is the economist’s way of
thinking? What does it mean to think like an
economist? By learning this unit, you will
find the answers.
Unit 2
Economics
Unit Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Lead-in
Text A
Text B
Text C
Listening
Speaking
Writing
Unit 2
Economics
• Lead-in
– Who studies economics?
Unit 2
Economics
Lead-in
Just as you cannot become a mathematician
overnight, study economics and learn to think
like an economist will take time. However who
studies economics?
Task 1 Listen to a talk “Who studies economics?” and
complete the sentences.
Unit 2
Economics
Lead-in
abstract
1 Economics can seem __________
at first, but
practical
the field is fundamentally very _________.
2 Mick Jagger once studied at
the London School of Economics
_____________________________.
3 When asked in 2005 why The Rolling Stones were going
on tour again, Mick Jagger replied,
Supply and demand
“________________________.”
Unit 2
Economics
Lead-in
Task 2 Listen to the talk again and complete the
following table.
Name
Ronald Regan
Profession
Former President of the
United States
Michael Kinsley
Journalist
Steve Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer,
Microsoft
Mick Jagger
Singer for the Rolling Stones
Unit 2
Economics
• Text A
–Critical reading and thinking
– Difficult sentences
– English language for
academic purpose
• Specialized vocabulary
• Collocations
• Formal and informal English
• Signpost language
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
Critical reading and thinking of Text A
Text Analysis
Thesis: Economics is a science. The economist
works as a scientist.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
Critical reading and thinking of Text A
1 Science and scientists have its own language,
e.g. math, psychology, law.
Economics and economists are the same, e.g.
supply, demand, elasticity, consumer surplus.
2 Science and scientists use scientific method, e.g.
observation, devise theories, collect data, analyze,
test, shown with the example of Isaac Newton.
Economics and economists are the same; they use
observation and theory, e.g. a theory of inflation.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
Critical reading and thinking of Text A
Natural sciences or Social sciences?
Economics is a social science.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
Difficult sentences
 “The whole of science is nothing more than
the refinement of everyday thinking.” (Para. 4)
→ “Science is all just about improving everyday
thinking.”
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
Difficult sentences
 Yet, despite this lack of realism – indeed,
because of this lack of realism – studying these
models is useful for learning how the human body
works. (Para. 13)
→ Yet, although the models are not exactly the same
as real bodies – actually just because they are not
that realistic – they are useful to help people learn
how the human body works.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
Difficult sentences
 These models are stylized, and they omit
many details. (Para. 13)
→ These models are artificial rather than realistic,
and they don’t take many details into consideration.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
Difficult sentences
 Yet, despite this lack of realism – indeed,
because of this lack of realism – studying these
models is useful for learning how the human body
works. (Para. 13)
→ Yet, although the models are not exactly the same
as real bodies – actually just because they are not
that realistic – they are useful to help people learn
how the human body works.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Specialized vocabulary
（需求等的）弹性
 elasticity
___________
比较优势
 comparative advantage ___________
消费过剩
 consumer surplus _______________
 deadweight loss _______________
净损失
 high inflation
_______________
高通胀
货币量
 quantity of money _______________
 long-run effects of the policy _______________
长期政策效应
Text A
Unit 2
Economics
English language for academic purpose
Specialized vocabulary
economic policymaker
 经济政策制定者 ___________________
amount of currency in circulation
 货币流通量 ____________________________
supply and demand
 供需 ____________________
 货币政策
monetary policy
_______________
Unit 2
Text A
Economics
English language for academic purpose
Collocations
 address the subject
 devise / verify / refute theories
 collect / analyze / generate data
 the interplay between observation and theory
 doubt the validity of the theory
 face an obstacle
 make do with
 find a substitute for
 simplify the complex world / reality
 in circulation
 omit details
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Signpost language
cause and effect:
 clue words to indicate cause and effect:
because
the reason
lead to, result from
is due to
therefore
consequently
as a result
as a consequence
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Signpost language
 Signpost language to introduce the topic:
The main issues addressed in this paper are …
This study critically examines …
The objective of this paper is to ...
The purpose of this investigation is to ...
The aim of this paper is to ...
This paper reports on the results obtained …
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Signpost language
 Signpost language to introduce the topic:
This study was designed to ...
This paper argues that ...
The rest of this paper is organized in the following
way ...
This paper is structured as follows ...
The remainder of this paper is divided into five
sections ...
This paper begins by … It will then go on to … Finally, …
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Formal and informal English
Change the following sentences into a more formal
style of writing.
1 Whenever I'd visited there before, I'd ended up feeling
that it would be futile if I tried to do anything more.
→ Every previous visit had left me with a sense of the
futility of further action on my part.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Formal and informal English
Change the following sentences into a more formal
style of writing.
2 The cities in Switzerland had once been peaceful, but
they changed when people became violent.
→ Violence changed the face of once peaceful Swiss
cities.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Formal and informal English
Change the following sentences into a more formal
style of writing.
3 Because the technology has improved it’s less risky
than it used to be when you install them at the same time,
and it doesn't cost so much either.
→ Improvements in technology have reduced the risks
and high costs associated with simultaneous
installation.
Unit 2
Economics
Text A
English language for academic purpose
Formal and informal English
Change the following sentences into a more formal
style of writing.
4 The people in the colony rejoiced when it was promised
that things would change in this way.
→ Opinion in the colony greeted the promised change
with enthusiasm.
Text A
Unit 2
Economics
Suggested answers
Critical reading and thinking
The tree diagram below shows how the author illustrates
his points. Fill in the blanks according to the text..
Thinking like an economist
The economist works as
scientist
a(n) _________
Using scientific methods,
such as: make observations,
devise theories, collect
data, and analyze them.
Using different
assumptions
_____________
to answer
different
questions.
Building simplified
models
_________
to examine
various economic
issues.
Text A
Unit 2
Economics
Suggested answers
Critical reading and thinking
Answer the following questions.
1 What kind of rhetoric device does the author use in the
first two paragraphs?
Analogy.
2 What is the topic sentence of Paragraph 3?
Economists try to address their subject with a scientist’s
objectivity.
3 Why does the author quote Albert Einstein?
To support his idea about the essence of science.
4 Why is Newton’s theory still taught in undergraduate
physics courses around the world?
Because Newton’s theory is so successful at
explaining observation.
Unit 2
Suggested answers
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Economics
Answer the following questions.
5 What kind of obstacles do economists face when they
use theory and observation like other scientists?
It is often difficult and impossible to conduct experiments.
6 How do economists find a substitute for laboratory experiments?
They pay close attention to the natural experiments
offered by history.
7 For what reason do economists make assumptions?
Because assumptions can simplify the complex world
and make it easier to understand.
8 What do economic models consist of?
They consist of diagrams and equations.
9 What do all models in physics, biology, and economics share
in common?
They simplify reality to improve our
understanding of it.
Unit 2
Text A
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 1 Specialized vocabulary
2
Complete the following sentences with the correct form
of the terms in the box.
comparative advantage
deadweight loss
monetary policy
consumer surplus
high inflation
supply and demand
loss because they cause buyers
1 Taxes have deadweight
_______________
to consume less and sellers to produce less.
supply and demand of allow you to analyze
2 The tools ___________________
many of the most important events and policies that shape
the economy.
Consumer surplus is a good measure of
3 ____________________
economic well-being if policymakers want to respect
the preferences of buyers.
Unit 2
Text A
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 1 Specialized vocabulary
2
Complete the following sentences with the correct form
of the terms in the box.
comparative advantage
deadweight loss
monetary policy
consumer surplus
high inflation
supply and demand
4 In the 1970s, when the world experienced a relatively
_____________,
high inflation opinion polls often placed inflation as the
most important issue facing the nation.
5 It is the role of a central bank — an institution designed
to oversee the banking system, to carry out
monetary policy
_________________,
and regulate the quantity of money
in the economy.
Unit 2
Text A
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 1 Specialized vocabulary
2
Complete the following sentences with the correct form
of the terms in the box.
comparative advantage
deadweight loss
monetary policy
consumer surplus
high inflation
supply and demand
6 Trade can benefit everyone in society because it allows
people to specialize in activities in which they have a
_____________________.
comparative advantage
Unit 2
Text A
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 1 Signpost language
Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the
words and expressions in the above box. There may be more than
one correct answer.
resulted from his experience in the Vietnam War.
1 Karlin’s novels ____________
resulted in the
2 Months of secret talks with the rebels finally __________
release of the hostages.
3 Animals have died _________________
as a consequence of coming into contact
with this chemical.
The reason we didn’t consider her for the job was that
4 _____________
she didn’t have enough experience.
Unit 2
Text A
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 1 Signpost language
Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the
words and expressions in the above box. There may be more than
one correct answer.
5 Most computer users have never received any formal keyboard
Consequently their keyboard skills are inefficient.
training. ______________
Therefore two
6 Jewish weddings are both religious and civil. __________
official applications for marriage are necessary.
7 ___________
The cause of last week’s blackouts was a large power plant
suddenly going offline in Northern California.
8 Between 1990 and 1992, there were more than 1,000
led to job losses.
mergers in that industry — all of which ________
Text A
Unit 2
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 3 Formal English
Replace the underlined words in the following sentences with
the ones that are more daily-life.
1 At first, this new language may seem needlessly arcane.
Key:
secret
2 Economists try to address their subject with a scientist’s objectivity.
Key:
study
3 They approach the study of the economy in much the same way
as a physicist approaches the study of matter and a biologist
approaches the study of life.
Key: deal with
4 They devise theories, collect data, and then analyze these
data in an attempt to verify or refute their theories.
Key:
invent
Text A
Unit 2
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 3 Formal English
Replace the underlined words in the following sentences with
the ones that are more daily-life.
5 To beginners, it can seem odd to claim that economics is a science.
Key:
strange
6 Most people are not accustomed to looking at society through the
eyes of a scientist.
Key:
used
7 This observation motivated Newton to develop a theory of gravity
that applies not only to an apple falling to the earth but to any two
objects in the universe.
Key:
drove
Text A
Unit 2
Economics
Suggested answers
Language building-up
Task 3 Formal English
Replace the underlined words in the following sentences with
the ones that are more daily-life.
8 By contrast, economists studying inflation are not allowed to
manipulate a nation’s monetary policy simply to generate useful data.
Key:
control
9 For consumers of oil and oil products, such an event depresses
living standards.
Key:
reduces
10 And this opportunity persists long after the wartime increase in oil
prices is over.
Key:
continues to exist
Unit 2
Economics
• Text B
–
–
–
–
–
Lead in
Key terms
Critical reading
Difficult sentences
English language for
academic purpose
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Lead-in
Reading critically: questions for discussion
Discuss the following questions:
Life is regarded as a game. Do you agree?
Why or why not?
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Key terms
 Game theory :
the modeling of economic decisions by games
whose outcome depends on the decisions taken
by two or more agents, each having to make
decisions without information on what choices the
others are making.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Key terms
 Competitive strategies (竞争策略):
unbeatable strategies used in the context of the
fact that everyone else is also looking for them.
E.g. cooperation, or everybody playing the same
way; behave differently from one another
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Key terms
 Evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS)
(进化稳定策略):
a strategy which, if adopted by a population of
players, cannot be invaded by any alternative
strategy that is initially rare. An ESS is an
equilibrium refinement of the Nash equilibrium.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Key terms
 Rational human choice:
people will adjust their behavior in order to
maximize their gains.
 Nash equilibrium: 纳什均衡
a solution concept of a game involving two or more
players, in which each player is assumed to know
the equilibrium strategies of the other players, also
no player has anything to gain by changing only
his own strategy unilaterally.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Comparison between the two schools of researchers
Animal behaviorists
Evolutionarily stable
strategies
Economists
Nash equilibrium
Implication：
the way the strategies are
played has been hardwired
into the participants by the
processes of natural
selection
Implication:
adjust their behavior to
maximize their gains
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Dr Kurzban & Dr. Houser’s study
1. They call the economists’ assumption into
question.
2. Their new assumption: it may be fruitful to work
with the idea that human behavior, can
sometimes be governed by evolutionarily stable
strategies.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Making an experiment:
Public-goods game 公共物品博弈
a standard of experimental economics; in the basic game
subjects secretly choose how many of their private
tokens to put into the public pot. Each subject keeps the
tokens they do not contribute plus an even split of the
tokens in the pot.

Methods (see page 35, Para 4):
four players; interacted via a computer; virtual
tokens redeemable for money
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Making an experiment:

Game rules (see page 35, Para 4):
A player could keep some or all of the tokens and
any not kept were put into a pool, to be shared
among group members. The game continued for
a random number of turns.

At the end of the game (see page 35, Para 4):
The value of the pool was doubled and was
divided into four equal parts and given to the
player, along with the value of any tokens they
had held on to.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Making an experiment:
Three approaches a player can take (see page 35, Para 5):
1.Cooperate with his opponents to maximize group benefits
2.Free-ride (i.e., try to sucker cooperators)
3.Reciprocate (i.e., cooperate with those who show signs of
being cooperative, but not with free-riders)
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Making an experiment:
Results: (see page 35, Para 7):
1.Of 84 participants, 81 fell into one of the three categories.
2.Researchers ask these 81 participants to play games again to
test whether they change strategy. And they did not.
3. People’s behaviors are clear-cut, strategies stay stable with
the same average payoffs.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Making an experiment:
Conclusions (see page 35, Para 8):
1.It suggests that people’s approaches to cooperate with
their fellows are indeed evolutionarily stable.
2.Human behavior can sometimes be governed by
evolutionarily stable strategies
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Task 1 Work in pairs and discuss the following questions.
1 “Many people, it is said, regard life as a game.” Do
you agree? Why or why not?
2 What are the differences between behaviorists and
economists in terms of game theory? Use examples
to illustrate them.
3 What are the findings of Dr. Kurzban and Dr.
Houser’s study? How did they illustrate their point?
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Critical reading and thinking
Classroom activity:
Work in groups of 4 and play the public goods
game a Dr. Kurzaban and Dr. Houser did. You
may refer to Task 3 on Page 37.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Difficult sentences
 Each player was given a number of virtual tokens,
redeemable for money at the end of the game.
(Para.4)
→ Each player was given some virtual tokens
which were changed into real money at the end of
the game. (Real money was given to motivate the
participants to take the game seriously.)
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Difficult sentences
 Individual strategies are not expected to be
equally represented in a population. Instead, they
should appear in proportions that equalize their
payoffs to those who play them. (Para. 6)
→ Generally speaking, individual strategies are not
employed by the same number of people in a
population. The proportions of the strategy tend to be
equal to the extent of the payoffs brought by the
strategies.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Difficult sentences
 A strategy can be advantageous when rare and
disadvantageous when common. (Para. 6)
→ A strategy can be advantageous even though few
people adopt them and disadvantageous when it is a
common strategy adopted by many people.
Unit 2
Economics
Text B
Difficult sentences
 Of course, it is a long stretch from showing equal
success in a laboratory game to showing it in the
mating game that determines evolutionary
outcomes. (Para. 8)
→ Naturally just showing equal success in a
laboratory game is not the same as showing it the
mating game that determines evolutionary
outcomes. There is still a huge gap between them.
Unit 2
Economics
• Text C
–Critical reading
Unit 2
Text C
Economics Visit the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics of
China and find how the CPI of China is constructed. Complete the
following table, listing the categories in the order of proportion.
Categories of U.S. CPI
1
Housing
2
Transportation
3
Food and beverages
4
Medical care
5
Recreation
6
Education and
communication
7
Apparel
8
Other goods and
services
Categories of Chinese CPI
Food
Tobacco, liquor and articles
Clothing
Household facilities, articles and services
Health care and personal articles
Transportation and communication
Recreation, Education and Culture Articles
Residence
Unit 2
Economist
• Listening
– How to find major points
– Listening tasks
Unit 2
Listening
Economist
How to find major points
 Finding major points
Here are some clues that might help you
pick out important ideas:
• The speaker often pauses before
starting an important point;
• The speaker often uses repetition to
emphasize the point;
Unit 2
Listening
Economist
How to find major points
 Finding major points
The speaker may change the pitch, volume
and rhythm of their voice for emphasis;
• The speaker often uses introductory
phrases to precede an important point.
For instance, “It is essential for you to
know …”, “Remember that …”
• Some speakers use facial gestures or
body movement when they are
emphasizing a point.
Unit 2
Economist
Listening
Listening tasks
• Listen for a thesis statement at
the end of the introduction.
• Listen for rhetorical questions,
or questions that the speaker
asks, and then answers. Often
the answer is the thesis.
Unit 2
Economist
Listening
Listening tasks
Task 1 Listen to a lecture about how to study economics
well. Complete each of the following sentences with the
correct answer.
1 According to the lecture, the professor is most
B
likely teaching the course of
.
A Macroeconomics
B Principles of Economics
C Microeconomics
D Economic Behaviorism
Unit 2
Economist
Listening
Listening tasks
Task 1 Listen to a lecture about how to study economics
well. Complete each of the following sentences with the
correct answer.
2 The professor has introduced the
A
students to
in the past weeks.
A the ideas and methods of economics
B the great economists
C the important economic events
D the principles of economic policies
Unit 2
Economist
Listening
Listening tasks
Task 1 Listen to a lecture about how to study economics
well. Complete each of the following sentences with the
correct answer.
3 According to John Maynard Keynes,
economics is comparatively
C
A a difficult subject
B a subject many people excel at
C an easy subject
D a neither-easy-nor-difficult subject
.
Unit 2
Economist
Listening
Listening tasks
Task 1 Listen to a lecture about how to study economics
well. Complete each of the following sentences with the
correct answer.
4 The master-economist must possess a rare
combination of the gifts of the following people
D
except
.
A a historian
B a mathematician
C a philosopher
D a physicist
Unit 2
Economist
Listening
Listening tasks
Task 1 Listen to a lecture about how to study economics
well. Complete each of the following sentences with the
correct answer.
A
5 The professor encourages students to ____
so that they will become more and more
accustomed to thinking like an economist.
A have more practice
B do more homework
C do more reading
D take more courses
Listening
Unit 2
Economist
Listening tasks
Task 2 Listen to the lecture again and complete the
following paragraph taken from the lecture.
He must understand symbols and speak in words. He must
contemplate the (1) particular in terms of the general, and touch
abstract and (2) concrete in the same flight of thought. He must
study the present (3) in the light of the past for the purposes of
the future. No part of man’s nature or his institutions must lie
entirely (4) outside his regard . He must be purposeful and
disinterested in a simultaneous mood; as aloof and incorruptible as
an artist, yet sometimes (5) as near the earth as a politician .
Unit 2
Economist
• Speaking
– How to interrupt politely
Unit 2
Economist
Speaking
How to interrupt politely
In a seminar, being passive and quiet is not
necessarily polite. People have to learn to take
initiatives. However, an interruption at the wrong
moment can be rude and it is not polite for two
people to talk at the same time during a discussion.
Here are some expressions you can use to interrupt
politely and take your turn:
If I could just come in here, …
May I …
Excuse me, but …
Could I please just finish my point?
As I was saying …
Sorry to interrupt, but …
I’d just like to say that ...
What do you think about …?
Unit 2
Economist
Speaking
How to interrupt politely
Sometimes even making some “English” noise like
“um ... um ... um ...” can serve the purpose well. There
are also times when interrupting is perfectly
acceptable, e.g. when you fail to hear or understand
something the speaker has said; or when you want to
add a quick comment.
Unit 2
Economist
• Writing
– Writing an introduction
– Writing tasks
Unit 2
Writing
Economist
Writing an introduction
A research paper typically consists of the following
sections: the title, author, acknowledgements,
abstract, introduction, literature review, research
methods, results, discussion, conclusion and
references.
Unit 2
Writing
Economist
Writing an introduction
In this unit, we will focus on the introduction, which
aims to catch the readers’ attention and get them
prepared for the subject. It sets the stage for the
paper and puts your topic in perspective. In this part,
you need to:
1 Clearly identify your research topic, i.e., what you
are going to study or what your study is going to
accomplish.
2 Establish the context of your research by
summarizing the published literature on this topic.
3 Briefly explain your approach and rationale.
4 State the significance of your study.
Writing
Unit 2
Economist
Writing tasks
Task 1 Complete the following table about the main
components of the introduction.
Research topic
explanation of promise-keeping
Context of the
research
Previous psychological and
economic studies do not
distinguish commitment-based and
expectation-based explanations for
promise-keeping.
Approach and
rationale
experiment study
Significance of the
study
the first to report on an experiment
designed explicitly to distinguish
between and test the alternative
explanations
Unit 2
Get ready for Unit 3
Economist
Do the following tasks:
1. Find out main points of Text A;
2. Define the key terms with examples;
3. Mark the specialized vocabulary and explain
them;
4. Underline the collocations you think important.