Getting a Good Deal

Future 3
Unit 6 Reading
BEFORE YOU READ
A Read the tip.

READING TIP: Making inferences

Sometimes a writer does not give you all the information about a topic. The reader has to
look closely at the information and make inferences based on the article. An inference is
an educated guess, that is, an idea based on your own knowledge. When you apply this
guess to what you read (when you make inferences), you can better understand the ideas
in a article. You can develop your own opinion about the writer’s ideas.

Choose the correct answer.

1. What is an inference?
a. An experience the reader has had
b. A guess based on the reader’s experience
c. A suggestion the writer makes
d. A conclusion the writer makes in the article

2. What inference can you make from this paragraph?

Different groups of people often pay different

amounts for the same product. For example, when a
person has health insurance, the charge for medical
care is higher. A person without insurance is
charged less. In the same way, people in different
countries are charged different amounts for the
same drugs.

a. People in rich countries pay more for drugs.

b. People in poor countries pay more for drugs.
c. People in all countries pay the same for drugs.
d. People with health insurance pay less for drugs.

B PREVIEW THE ARTICLE. Read the title and the words in bold. Choose the correct answer.
1. What is the purpose of the article?
a. To show how people can earn money by selling things
b. To show different factors that can affect the price of a product
c. To show the cost of making products

2. Which is not one of the factors described in the reading?

a. The cost of production
b. The cost of distribution
c. The amount of money the consumer makes

Copyright © 2017 by Pearson Education, Inc. Photocopying for classroom use is permitted. Future 3, Unit 6: Reading 1
 Have you noticed that the price of items you
usually buy goes up and down? Sometimes the
same product has a different price on a different
day. It may have a different price on the same day,
5 but from a different seller. Economists study these
changes in prices. They look for the causes of these 25 Another effect on prices is price discrimination.
price changes.
One thing that affects price is the cost to distribute
goods. It’s not surprising that a dress at a big retail
10 store may be a lot less than the same dress at a
small boutique. A big store can buy a lot of clothes
at one time. As a result, distributors, the people
who bring the goods to the store, can give big
discounts for “buying in bulk.” It costs the store
15 less for the goods, so the store can charge less and
still make money.
Another factor in changing prices is the cost of
production. The cost of things that make up a
product can go up or down. As a result, cost of the
20 product can change. For example, the price of
gasoline often goes up or down. One reason is the
change in the cost of oil. When oil prices change,
there is a change in the things that we make from
oil, such as gasoline.
This means that two groups of people can be charged
a different price for the same product. A good
example of this is in healthcare. Many times, when a
person has health insurance, the charge for medical
30 care is higher. A person without insurance is charged
less. Similarly, drug companies charge different
amounts for the same drug in different countries.
The power of the consumer also affects prices.
When consumers have a lot of choices, prices can
35 go down. When consumers know about different
places to buy a product, they can avoid higher
prices. When they can “shop around” and find a
lower price, they can create competition.
Competition can bring prices down. When there is
40 little competition, prices often remain high.

READ
LISTEN AND READ. Then choose the main idea.

The main idea of the article is .

a. a dress at a big store costs less than the same dress at a small store
b. prices go up and down depending on business costs and the power of the buyer
c. people who have insurance are charged more for the same service compared to people
without insurance
d. when oil prices change, the price of gasoline also changes

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CLOSE READING 1
DETAILS. Read the article again. Answer the questions with details from the article.

1. Which of these would be more expensive? Where is this information in the article?
a. A dress from a store that buys in bulk a. Lines 9 –11
b. A dress from a small boutique b. Lines 20 – 22
c. A dress from a big retail store c. Lines 28 – 30

2. What does not cause the price Where is this information in the article?
of gasoline to change?
a. When there is a change in the cost a. Lines 5 –7
of oil b. Lines 28 – 30
b. When the consumer has insurance c. Lines 20 – 24
c. When there is a change in the cost
of production

3. What happens when consumers have Where is this information in the article?
more choices?
a. The cost of distribution goes up. a. Lines 33 – 35
b. Prices go down. b. Lines 25 – 27
c. Prices go up. c. Lines 17–19

CLOSE READING 2
Read the article again. Answer the questions with details from the article.

1. Why are clothes cheaper at a Where is this information in the article?

bigger store?
a. Because the store can buy more a. Lines 11–14
clothes at one time b. Lines 20 – 24
b. Because the things that make up c. Lines 28 – 30
the clothes are cheaper
c. Because of price discrimination

2. What happens when the cost of oil Where is this information in the article?
goes up?
a. The price of gasoline goes down. a. Lines 35 – 38
b. The price of gasoline goes up. b. Lines 27– 30
c. The price of drugs goes down. c. Lines 20 – 24

3. What is an example of price Where is this information in the article?

discrimination?
a. Prices go down because stores a. Lines 2 – 4
buy in bulk. b. Lines 14 –16
b. Prices go up when the cost of c. Lines 28 – 31
production goes up.
c. The charge for medical care is
higher for people with insurance.

Copyright © 2017 by Pearson Education, Inc. Photocopying for classroom use is permitted. Future 3, Unit 6: Reading 3
4. In the article, what is an example of the Where is this information in the article?
power of the consumer?
a. Buying in bulk a. Lines 35 – 38
b. Price discrimination b. Lines 27– 30
c. Shopping around c. Lines 17– 20

VOCABULARY 1
Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right. Draw a line to the meanings
to make a match.

1. In Line 8, distribute means a. a lower price for a product.

2. In Line 11, boutique means b. making something.
3. In Line 14, discount means c. bring something to different places.
4. In Line 18, production means d. a small store.

VOCABULARY 2
Write the words in the blanks to complete the sentences.

bulk   competition   discrimination   an economist

1. In Line 5, a person who studies production, distribution, and sales is

 .
2. In Line 14, a large amount of something is  .
3. In Line 25, different treatment of different groups is an example of
 .
4. In Line 38, when one business tries to do better than another business by offering
better services or prices, it is called  .

VOCABULARY 3
Read the underlined words from the article. Then choose the phrase that defines the word.

1. Consumers pay less when they have good information.

a. People who buy products
b. People who move products
c. People who study how the economy works

2. Distributors charge less when they move big amounts of a product.

a. People who make money
b. People who move products
c. People who make things

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3. The result of lower production cost is lower prices.
a. The reason for something
b. The price a business charges for something
c. The effect or consequence of something

SUMMARIZE
Write the sentences in the correct part of the chart.

a. People in poorer countries and richer countries pay different amounts for
the same medicine.
b. The cost of making things affects the price of a product.
c. People pay less when they can shop around.
d. The same product can have a different price in big stores and small stores.
e. Competition can cause prices to come down.
f. Health insurance can increase the cost of medical care for some people.
g. Consumers pay less when stores can buy in bulk.
h. When the price of oil goes down, the price of gasoline goes down, too.

What Makes Prices Change?

The cost to distribute goods
Examples:

The cost of production

Examples:

Price discrimination
Examples:

The power of the consumer

Examples:

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 Show what you know!
STEP 1. T  he article talks about factors that affect the price of things you buy. Make a list
of the things you often buy. Are the prices of these items different in different places and
at different times? Check (✓) the items that often have different prices.

STEP 2. T
 alk to a partner or a small group. Talk about your list. Choose the products that
often change price. What could cause those changes? Think about the article and your
own experiences.

You can begin:

I buy every week. Sometimes I pay more, and sometimes I pay less.
I pay more when  .

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