📚 Key Economic Terminology for Year 7 WJEC: A Quick Guide | Year 7 WJEC 经济词汇术语速记指南
Learning economics is not just about graphs and money — it starts with the language. When you understand the key terms, you unlock the whole subject. This guide presents essential WJEC Year 7 economics vocabulary in a simple, bilingual format. Each term comes with a clear English explanation followed by a Chinese equivalent, helping you build a solid foundation fast. Use the memory tips to make the words stick.
学习经济学不只是图表和金钱——它从语言开始。当你理解了关键术语，你就能开启整个学科的大门。本指南以简单的双语形式呈现 WJEC 七年级经济学的核心词汇。每个术语都配有清晰的英文解释和中文释义，帮助你快速打下扎实基础。利用记忆技巧让这些词汇深深印在脑海中。
1. Scarcity and Choice | 稀缺性与选择
Economics starts with a simple truth: we cannot have everything we want. Resources are limited, but human desires are endless. This tension is called scarcity, and it forces us to make choices every day.
经济学始于一个简单的事实：我们无法拥有想要的一切。资源是有限的，但人类的欲望是无穷的。这种紧张关系被称为稀缺性，它迫使我们每天都要做出选择。
Scarcity: The basic economic problem that there are not enough resources to satisfy all our unlimited wants. Even rich countries face scarcity with time and natural resources.
稀缺性：基本的经济问题，即没有足够的资源来满足我们无限的欲望。即使是富裕国家也面临时间和自然资源的稀缺。
Choice: Selecting one option over others because of scarcity. Every time you decide how to spend your pocket money or your free afternoon, you are making an economic choice.
选择：由于稀缺性而在其他选项中选择一个。每次你决定如何使用零花钱或如何度过下午的自由时光，你都在做出经济选择。
2. Opportunity Cost | 机会成本
Whenever you make a choice, you give up the next best alternative. This sacrifice is the opportunity cost. It is not always about money — it could be time, effort, or enjoyment you lose.
每当你做出一个选择，你就放弃了次优的替代方案。这种牺牲就是机会成本。它不总是与金钱有关——它可能是你失去的时间、精力或乐趣。
Opportunity cost: The value of the next best alternative that you forgo when a choice is made. If you spend an hour playing video games instead of studying, the opportunity cost is the knowledge you could have gained.
机会成本：当你做出选择时，放弃的次优选择的价值。如果你花一小时打游戏而不是学习，机会成本就是你本可以获得的知识。
Trade-off: The act of balancing two desirable but conflicting options. Societies face trade-offs between producing more tanks or more bread.
权衡取舍：在两个可取但冲突的选项间取得平衡。社会面临着生产更多坦克还是更多面包的权衡取舍。
3. Needs and Wants | 需要与欲望
To understand scarcity, we must separate needs — things essential for survival — from wants, which are things that make life more comfortable but are not necessary.
要理解稀缺性，我们必须区分需要和欲望。需要是生存必需的东西，而欲望是让生活更舒适但不是非有不可的东西。
Needs: Basic requirements for life, such as food, water, shelter, and clothing. Without these, a person’s health and safety are at risk.
需要：基本的生存要求，如食物、水、住所和衣物。没有这些东西，人的健康和安全就会受到威胁。
Wants: Desires for goods and services that are not essential for survival. A new smartphone, a holiday, or designer shoes are all wants.
欲望：对并非生存必需的商品和服务的渴望。一部新手机、一次度假或名牌鞋都是欲望。
4. Goods and Services | 商品与服务
Everything we buy falls into two categories: goods are physical items we can touch, while services are activities performed for us. Both satisfy our wants and needs.
我们购买的所有东西都分为两类：商品是我们能触摸到的有形物品，而服务是为我们执行的活动。两者都满足我们的欲望和需要。
Goods: Tangible products like books, apples, bicycles, and computers. They can be stored and used later.
商品：有形的产品，如书、苹果、自行车和电脑。它们可以储存起来以后使用。
Services: Intangible acts that people perform for others, such as haircuts, teaching, transport, and banking. Services are consumed at the point of delivery.
服务：人们为他人执行的无形行为，如理发、教学、运输和银行服务。服务在提供的那一刻被消费。
5. Factors of Production | 生产要素
To produce goods and services, we need inputs called factors of production. There are four classic categories, often remembered by the acronym CELL: Capital, Enterprise, Labour, and Land.
要生产商品和服务，我们需要称为生产要素的投入。有四种经典分类，通常用首字母 CELL 来记忆：资本、企业、劳动力和土地。
Land: All natural resources used in production, including soil, minerals, water, forests, and oil. The reward for land is rent.
土地：用于生产的所有自然资源，包括土壤、矿物、水、森林和石油。土地的报酬是租金。
Labour: The human effort, both physical and mental, that goes into making goods and services. Labour earns wages.
劳动力：用于生产商品和服务的人的体力和脑力努力。劳动力赚取工资。
Capital: Man-made tools, machinery, and buildings used to produce other goods. Think of hammers, factory robots, and school desks. Capital earns interest.
资本：用于生产其他商品的人造工具、机器和建筑物。想想锤子、工厂机器人和课桌。资本赚取利息。
Enterprise: The skill of combining the other three factors, taking risks, and innovating. Entrepreneurs earn profit.
企业：结合其他三种要素、承担风险和创新的技能。企业家赚取利润。
6. Producers and Consumers | 生产者与消费者
Every economy involves two main groups: producers who make goods and services, and consumers who use them. Their interaction drives the market.
每个经济体都包含两大群体：制造商品和服务的生产者，以及使用它们的消费者。他们的互动驱动着市场。
Producer: A person, company, or country that creates goods or provides services. A baker, a car manufacturer, and a school are all producers.
生产者：创造商品或提供服务的个人、企业或国家。面包师、汽车制造商和学校都是生产者。
Consumer: Someone who buys and uses goods and services to satisfy their needs and wants. You are a consumer when you buy lunch or stream music.
消费者：购买并使用商品和服务来满足自己需要和欲望的人。当你购买午餐或在线听歌时，你就是消费者。
7. Markets and Exchange | 市场与交换
A market is not just a physical place. It is any arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to exchange goods, services, or resources. Markets can be local, national, or global.
市场不仅仅是一个实体场所。它是任何允许买方和卖方交换商品、服务或资源的安排。市场可以是当地的、全国的或全球的。
Market: A mechanism where producers and consumers interact to decide what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce. Online shopping and farmers’ stalls are both part of markets.
市场：一种机制，生产者和消费者在此互动，以决定生产什么、如何生产以及为谁生产。网购和农贸市集都是市场的一部分。
Exchange: The act of giving one thing and receiving another. Modern exchange usually uses money, but it can also involve barter — trading goods directly without money.
交换：给出一样东西而收到另一样东西的行为。现代交换通常使用货币，但也可以包括物物交换——不使用货币直接交易商品。
8. Supply and Demand | 供给与需求
Supply and demand are the two forces that determine prices in a market. When demand for a good rises and supply stays the same, prices tend to go up. When supply increases and demand is unchanged, prices tend to fall.
供给和需求是决定市场价格的两股力量。当对一种商品的需求增加而供给不变时，价格往往会上涨。当供给增加而需求不变时，价格往往会下跌。
Demand: The quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy at different prices. The law of demand says that as price falls, demand usually rises.
需求：消费者在不同价格下愿意并且能够购买的商品或服务的数量。需求定律指出，当价格下降时，需求量通常会上升。
Supply: The quantity of a good or service that producers are willing and able to offer for sale. According to the law of supply, as price rises, the quantity supplied also tends to rise.
供给：生产者在不同价格下愿意并且能够提供出售的商品或服务的数量。根据供给定律，当价格上升时，供给量通常也会上升。
9. Price and Value | 价格与价值
Price and value are related but not identical. The price is what you pay in money; value is how much benefit or satisfaction you get. A bottle of water is cheap, but its value is huge if you are thirsty in a desert.
价格和价值有关联但不相同。价格是你支付的金钱数目；价值是你获得的利益或满足程度。一瓶水很便宜，但如果你在沙漠中口渴难耐，它的价值就巨大无比。
Price: The amount of money a buyer pays to obtain a good or service. It is determined by the interaction of supply and demand in a market.
价格：买方为获得商品或服务而支付的金钱数量。它由市场中的供给和需求相互作用决定。
Value: The worth or usefulness of a good or service to a consumer. Value can be subjective — a football fan might place high value on a ticket to a cup final.
价值：商品或服务对消费者的有用性或重要性。价值可以是主观的——一位足球迷可能会对一场杯赛决赛的门票赋予很高的价值。
10. Money and its Functions | 货币及其功能
Before money existed, people used barter, which was slow and inconvenient. Money solves these problems by serving three main functions: it is a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account.
在货币出现之前，人们使用物物交换，这种方式既缓慢又不方便。货币通过发挥三种主要功能解决了这些问题：它是交换媒介、价值储存手段和计价单位。
Medium of exchange: An item that is widely accepted as payment for goods and services. Instead of swapping a chicken for a haircut, you can use money.
交换媒介：被广泛接受作为商品和服务支付手段的物品。你不用拿一只鸡去换理发，而可以使用货币。
Store of value: Money can be saved and used later because it holds its value over time. A coin kept in a piggy bank is an example.
价值储存：货币可以储存起来以后使用，因为它能随时间保持价值。存钱罐里的硬币就是一个例子。
Unit of account: Money provides a common measure of the value of goods and services. Prices in pounds or dollars let us compare the worth of very different items.
计价单位：货币提供了一个衡量商品和服务价值的共同尺度。以英镑或美元标价使得我们可以比较完全不同物品的价值。
11. Specialisation and Division of Labour | 专业化与分工
When workers focus on a narrow range of tasks, they become faster and more skilled. This is called specialisation. Within a factory, dividing the production process into many small steps is known as the division of labour.
当工人专注于少数任务时，他们会变得更快、更熟练。这被称为专业化。在工厂里，将生产过程分解为许多小步骤，这就是分工。
Specialisation: Concentrating on a particular job or product rather than trying to do everything. A country might specialise in growing tropical fruit because of its climate.
专业化：集中于特定的工作或产品，而不是什么都做。一个国家可能因为气候原因而专门种植热带水果。
Division of labour: Breaking a complex job into separate small tasks, each performed by different workers. This increases efficiency and output. Adam Smith used the example of a pin factory.
分工：将复杂工作拆分为独立的细小任务，由不同工人分别完成。这提高了效率和产量。亚当·斯密以制针工厂为例说明了这一点。
12. Economic Decision-Making and Budgeting | 经济决策与预算编制
Every day, individuals, businesses, and governments make economic decisions. Good decision-making involves comparing the expected costs and benefits of each possible action. A budget helps you plan how to use your limited income.
每天，个人、企业和政府都在做经济决策。好的决策需要比较每个可能行动的预期成本和收益。预算能帮助你规划如何使用有限的收入。
Cost-benefit analysis: A process of weighing up the pros (benefits) and cons (costs) of a choice. If the benefit of buying a new bag outweighs its price, it may be a sound decision.
成本效益分析：权衡一个选择的利（效益）与弊（成本）的过程。如果买一个新书包带来的益处大于它的价格，这可能就是一个明智的决定。
Budget: A plan for future income and spending. Setting a weekly pocket-money budget helps you avoid running out of cash before the end of the week.
预算：对未来收入和支出的计划。设定每周的零花钱预算，可以帮助你避免在周末之前就把钱花光。
Saving: Putting aside part of your income instead of spending it immediately. Savings create a financial cushion for emergencies or future purchases.
储蓄：将部分收入存起来而不是马上花掉。储蓄能在紧急情况或未来的大额消费中提供经济缓冲。
Published by TutorHao | Economics Revision Series | aleveler.com
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