Year 7 OCR Economics Summer Bridging Course | Year 7 OCR 经济暑期预习与衔接课程

📚 Year 7 OCR Economics Summer Bridging Course | Year 7 OCR 经济暑期预习与衔接课程

Welcome to your Year 7 Economics bridging course! This guide is designed to help you build a solid foundation before you start the OCR curriculum in September. We will explore fundamental ideas like scarcity, choice, and how people use limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants. Each section introduces a key concept in simple language, followed by a Chinese explanation to strengthen your bilingual understanding. Let’s begin the journey into the fascinating world of economics.

欢迎来到 Year 7 经济学衔接课程！本指南旨在帮助你在九月份开始 OCR 课程之前打下扎实的基础。我们将探索稀缺性、选择以及人们如何用有限的资源满足无限欲望等基本概念。每个部分先用简单的英文介绍核心概念，再用中文解释，强化你的双语理解。让我们开启这段迷人的经济学之旅吧。

1. What is Economics? | 什么是经济学？

Economics is the study of how people make choices when there is not enough of something to go around. It looks at how individuals, businesses, and governments decide what to produce, how to produce it, and who gets the goods and services. At its heart, economics is about making the best possible use of limited resources.

经济学研究的是当某种东西不够分配时人们如何做出选择。它关注个人、企业和政府如何决定生产什么、如何生产以及谁来获得商品和服务。经济学的核心思想就是如何最好地利用有限的资源。

Think of a pizza that must be shared among five friends. If everyone wants a slice, you have to decide how to cut it fairly. Economics uses similar thinking to solve bigger problems like building roads, funding schools, or controlling pollution.

想象一个披萨要分给五个朋友。如果大家都想吃，你就要决定如何公平分配。经济学用类似的思路去解决更大的问题，比如修路、为学校拨款或控制污染。

2. Scarcity and the Basic Economic Problem | 稀缺性与基本经济问题

Scarcity means that there are not enough resources to satisfy all our wants. Resources such as time, money, land, and labour are limited, while human wants are unlimited. This gap between limited resources and unlimited wants is called the basic economic problem.

稀缺性是指没有足够的资源来满足我们所有的欲望。时间、金钱、土地和劳动力等资源是有限的，而人类的欲望却是无限的。有限资源与无限欲望之间的差距就是所谓的基本经济问题。

Because of scarcity, we must make choices. If you have £10, you cannot buy both a book and a cinema ticket if each costs £6. You must choose one and give up the other. The same principle applies to how a country spends its tax money – on healthcare or on roads.

由于稀缺性的存在，我们必须做出选择。如果你有 10 英镑，而一本书和一张电影票各要 6 英镑，你就无法两者兼得。你必须选择一个而放弃另一个。同样的原理也适用于国家如何花费税收——用于医疗还是公路建设。

3. Needs vs Wants | 需要与欲望

In economics, we distinguish between needs and wants. Needs are essential for survival, such as food, water, shelter, and clothing. Wants are things we desire but could live without, like video games, holidays, or designer trainers. This distinction helps us understand why we prioritise some purchases over others.

在经济学中，我们需要区分需要和欲望。需要是生存所必需的，例如食物、水、住所和衣服。欲望则是我们渴望但并非必需的东西，比如电子游戏、度假或名牌运动鞋。这种区分有助于我们理解为什么我们优先选择某些消费。

However, what counts as a need can change over time and across cultures. A mobile phone might be seen as a want by some, but for others it is essential for work or staying safe. The line between needs and wants is not always fixed.

然而，什么是需要会随着时间和文化的不同而变化。手机在某些人看来可能是欲望，但对其他人来说却是工作或保障安全所必需的。需要和欲望之间的界限并不总是一成不变的。

4. Choice and Opportunity Cost | 选择与机会成本

Every choice involves giving something up. The next best alternative you give up is called the opportunity cost. For example, if you spend Saturday afternoon studying economics instead of playing football, the opportunity cost is the fun and exercise you miss from football.

每一个选择都意味着放弃某些东西。你所放弃的次优选择被称为机会成本。例如，如果你周六下午用来学习经济学而不是踢足球，那么机会成本就是你错过的踢足球带来的乐趣和锻炼。

Opportunity cost is not about money; it is about the value of the foregone alternative. A government choosing to invest in a new railway line may have to sacrifice building a new hospital. The opportunity cost is the health benefits the hospital would have provided.

机会成本与金钱无关；它关乎被放弃选择的代价。政府选择投资新建一条铁路线，可能就要放弃建造一所新医院。机会成本就是那所医院原本可以带来的健康效益。

Opportunity Cost = Value of Next Best Alternative Foregone

机会成本 = 所放弃的次优选择的价值

5. Factors of Production | 生产要素

Resources used to produce goods and services are called factors of production. There are four main types: land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship. Land includes all natural resources. Labour is the human effort. Capital covers man-made tools and machinery. Entrepreneurship is the ability to bring the other factors together to start a business.

用来生产商品和服务的资源被称为生产要素。主要有四种：土地、劳动力、资本和企业家才能。土地包括所有自然资源。劳动力是人类的努力。资本指人造工具和机器。企业家才能则是把其他要素组合起来创业的能力。

Factor	Meaning	Example
Land	土地	Oil, forests, water
Labour	劳动力	Teachers, factory workers
Capital	资本	Machines, computers, buildings
Entrepreneurship	企业家才能	A founder starting a tech start-up

6. Goods and Services | 商品与服务

Goods are physical items that we can see and touch, like a pen or a sandwich. Services are actions provided by others, such as a haircut or a bus ride. Both are produced to satisfy people’s wants and needs, and both have an economic value.

商品是我们可以看见和触摸到的实物，比如笔或三明治。服务是他人提供的行动，比如理发或乘坐公交车。两者都是用来满足人们的欲望和需要，并且都具有经济价值。

Goods can be further classified as consumer goods (for direct use by people) and capital goods (used to produce other goods). A toaster is a consumer good, while a bakery oven is a capital good. Services are often intangible and consumed at the same time they are produced.

商品可以进一步分为消费品（供人们直接使用）和资本品（用来生产其他商品）。烤面包机是消费品，而面包店的烤箱是资本品。服务通常是无形的，并且在生产的同时被消费。

7. Introduction to Economic Agents | 经济主体简介

An economy is made up of different decision-makers, or economic agents. The main ones are households, firms, and the government. Households supply factors of production (like labour) and consume goods and services. Firms produce goods and services. The government sets rules and provides public services.

经济体由不同的决策者，也就是经济主体构成。主要的经济主体包括家庭、企业和政府。家庭提供生产要素（如劳动力）并消费商品和服务。企业生产商品和服务。政府制定规则并提供公共服务。

Interaction between these agents creates the circular flow of income. Households give labour to firms and receive wages; they then use that income to buy products from firms. The government collects taxes and spends them on things like schools and roads, influencing the circular flow.

这些主体之间的互动创造了收入循环流动。家庭向企业提供劳动力并获得工资；然后他们用收入去购买企业的产品。政府征收税收并将其用于学校、道路等开支，从而影响循环流动。

8. The Role of Money | 货币的作用

Money serves three main functions: it is a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account. As a medium of exchange, it avoids the need for barter. As a store of value, it allows us to save. As a unit of account, it helps us compare the value of different items.

货币有三个主要职能：交易媒介、价值储藏和计价单位。作为交易媒介，它避免了物物交换的麻烦。作为价值储藏，它让我们可以储蓄。作为计价单位，它帮助我们比较不同物品的价值。

Without money, you would have to trade a chicken for a haircut – an exchange that would only work if the barber wanted a chicken. Money simplifies trade and makes the economy run smoothly.

如果没有货币，你就需要用一只鸡去换一次理发——只有当理发师想要鸡时这种交换才可能实现。货币简化了交易，使经济顺畅运行。

9. Supply and Demand: A First Look | 供给与需求：初步了解

Supply is the amount of a good or service that producers are willing to offer at different prices. Demand is the amount that consumers are willing and able to buy. Prices are often determined by the interaction of supply and demand in a market.

供给是指生产者在不同价格下愿意提供的商品或服务数量。需求是指消费者愿意并且能够购买的数量。价格通常由市场中供给与需求的相互作用决定。

If a new video game is very popular (high demand) but only a few copies are made (low supply), its price will rise. If many farmers grow strawberries and there is a huge harvest, the price of strawberries may fall because supply is high.

如果一款新电子游戏非常流行（高需求）但只生产了少量拷贝（低供给），其价格就会上涨。如果很多农民种植草莓并获得了大丰收，草莓的价格可能会下降，因为供给很大。

• Law of Demand: As price rises, quantity demanded usually falls.
• 需求定律：价格上升时，需求量通常下降。
• Law of Supply: As price rises, quantity supplied usually rises.
• 供给定律：价格上升时，供给量通常上升。

10. Markets and How They Work | 市场及其运作方式

A market is any place or system where buyers and sellers come together to exchange goods, services, or resources. It doesn’t have to be a physical location – online markets are just as real. Prices in a market help coordinate decisions, guiding resources to where they are most valued.

市场是买卖双方聚集在一起交换商品、服务或资源的任何场所或系统。它不一定是实体场所——线上市场同样真实。市场中的价格有助于协调决策，引导资源流向最有价值的地方。

Think of a school fete cake stall: if a type of brownie sells out quickly, the students running the stall might raise the price next time or bake more. This is a tiny market, but it shows the same forces at work as a stock exchange.

想象学校义卖会上的蛋糕摊：如果某种布朗尼很快售罄，负责摊位的同学下次可能会提高价格或多做一些。虽然这只是一个小小的市场，但它展现出的力量与股票交易所是相同的。

11. Saving, Spending, and Budgeting | 储蓄、消费与预算

Understanding how to manage money is a key life skill closely connected to economics. A budget is a plan for how to spend and save your income. By budgeting, you can make sure you meet your needs first, then use remaining money for wants or savings.

理解如何管理金钱是与经济学紧密相连的关键生活技能。预算是计划如何支出和储蓄收入的方法。通过预算，你可以确保先满足需要，然后将剩余的钱用于欲望或储蓄。

Simple budgeting involves dividing your money into categories. For example, you might save 20% of your allowance, spend 50% on snacks and entertainment, and donate 10% to charity, keeping the rest for future goals. This mirrors how governments and firms allocate their budgets.

简单的预算包括将钱分成不同类别。例如，你可以把零花钱的 20% 存起来，50% 用于零食和娱乐，10% 捐给慈善机构，剩余部分留作未来目标使用。这反映了政府和公司如何分配他们的资金。

12. Why Study Economics? | 为什么学习经济学？

Economics helps us understand the world – from why some countries are rich while others struggle, to how individual choices affect the environment. It gives you tools to think critically about news, make better personal decisions, and even influence public policy when you grow up.

经济学帮助我们理解世界——从为什么有些国家富裕而其他国家贫穷，到个人选择如何影响环境。它为你提供了批判性思考新闻、做出更明智个人决策的工具，甚至长大后还能影响公共政策。

As a Year 7 student, you are at the perfect age to start asking economic questions. Why does a bottle of water cost more at the cinema? Why do some football players earn so much? These are all economic puzzles waiting to be solved. Your bridging course has given you a head start – enjoy the learning journey ahead!

作为一名七年级学生，你正处于开始提出经济学问题的理想年龄。为什么一瓶水在电影院卖得更贵？为什么一些足球运动员能赚那么多钱？这些都是有待解决的经济学谜题。你的衔接课程已经为你抢占了先机——祝你在接下来的学习旅程中愉快充实！

Published by TutorHao | Economics Revision Series | aleveler.com

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