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  3. Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attribute

Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attribute

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问题 Seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke stated that as much as 99 percent of the value of any useful product can be attributed to "the effects of labor." For Locke’s intellectual heirs it was only a short step to the "labor theory of value," whose formulators held that 100 percent of the value of any product is generated by labor (the human work needed to produce goods) and that therefore the employer who appropriates any part of the product’s value as profit is practicing theft.
Although human effort is required to produce goods for the consumer market, effort is also invested in making capital goods (tools, machines, etc.), which are used to facilitate the production of consumer goods. In modern economies about one-third of the total output of consumer goods is attributable to the use of capital goods. Approximately two-thirds of the income derived from this total output is paid out to workers as wages and salaries, the remaining third serving as compensation to the owners of the capital goods. Moreover, part of this remaining third is received by workers who are shareholders, pension beneficiaries, and the like. The labor theory of value systematically disregards the productive contribution of capital goods—a failing for which Locke must bear part of the blame.
Which of the following arguments would a proponent of the labor theory of value, as it is presented in the first paragraph, be most likely to use in response to lines 23-25?
选项 A、The productive contributions of workers and capital goods cannot be compared because the productive life span of capital goods is longer than that of workers.
B、The author’s analysis of the distribution of income is misleading because only a small percentage of workers are also shareholders.
C、Capital goods are valuable only insofar as they contribute directly to the production of consumer goods.
D、The productive contribution of capital goods must be discounted because capital goods require maintenance.
E、The productive contribution of capital goods must be attributed to labor because capital goods are themselves products of labor.
答案E
解析 Application
The passage asks us to identify the most likely response of a proponent of the labor theory of value, as the theory is described in the passage, to lines 23-25. Because the statement in lines 23-25 is a criticism of the theory, it is reasonable to expect that a likely response of a proponent of the theory may be to defend the theory against this criticism.
A The labor theory of value, as described by the author, would suggest that the relative contributions of workers and capital goods can be compared. According to the theory (as described by the author), it is labor that makes the fundamental contribution—a clear comparison. So the statement that the relative contributions cannot be so compared would not defend the theory.
B Although this option may offer a reasonable criticism of an aspect of the passage, it does not offer a criticism of the point that is made in lines 23-25.
C The statement in this option may seem to describe how, according to the author, capital goods get their value. Restating this point of the author would not defend the labor theory of value against the author s arguments.
D This statement is consistent with the content of the passage; for example, the discount due to maintenance could already be figured into the calculations behind the author’s claims as to the relative importance of capital goods and labor.
E Correct. If the productive contribution of capital goods is attributed to labor, then the author’s claim, against the labor theory of value, that this productive contribution should not be attributed to labor, would be incorrect. The labor theory of value might therefore be justified when, according to lines 23-25, it "systematically disregards the productive contribution of capital goods."
The correct answer is E.
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