新概念英語第四冊
Lesson 36 The cost of government
1 . The administrative overheads of a business are low to the extent that everyone working in the business can be trusted to behave in a way that best promotes the interests of the firm.如果企業中的每個人都在真誠地為提高企業利潤而工作，那麼企業的管理費用就會降低到相應的程度。
2 . If a nation is essentially disunited, it is left to the government to hold it together.如果一個國家實際上處於分裂狀態，使之聯合起來就是政府的事了。
3 . If they can each be trusted to take such responsibilities.如果企業的每個人都信得過，人人都認真負責，
4 . An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一個企業為了繼續經營，不得不支出一定的費用和開銷。
5 . then administrative overheads will be low.行政管理費用就會降低。
6 . the cost of managing and administering the business.企業行政管理費。
7 . and reduces correspondingly the amount of economic resources that could be used for developing the country.從而相應地減少了那部分可以用來發展國家的經濟資源。
8 . Such administrative overheads in a business are analogous to the cost of government in a nation.一家企業的這種行政管理開支類似於一個國家的政府管理所用的開支。
9 . For our purposes, we are concerned only with one kind of cost----就我們的目的而言，我們只關心一種費用-
10 . Where the cost of government is high, resources for development are correspondingly low.凡是政府管理費用高的地方，用於發展國家經濟的資金就會相應地減少。
11 . and to exercise such initiative as falls within their sphere,在各自的工作範圍內發揮主動性，
12 . And it should not be forgotten how small those resources are in a poor and backward country.不應忘記，在一個貧窮落後的國家裡，那部分財力是很有限的。
13 . This increases the expense of government,這樣一來就增加了政府的開支，
14 . This may be illustrated by comparing the position of a nation with that of a private business enterprise.把國家的狀況同私人企業的狀況加以比較，就可以看清這個問題。