Elasticity is a term used a lot in economics todescribe the way one thing changes in a givenenvironment in response to another variable thathas a changed value.

　　弹性是经济学中经常使用的一个术语，用来描述在给定环境中一个变量相对于另一个变量发生一定比例改变的属性。

　　For example, the quantity of a specific product soldeach month changes in response to themanufacturer alters the product's price.

　　例如，每个月销售的特定产品的数量随着厂商改变产品的价格而变化。

　　A more abstract way of putting it that means pretty much the same thing is that elasticitymeasures the responsiveness of one variable in a given environment to a change in anothervariable, which in this instance is a change in price.

　　更为抽象的说法，弹性衡量的是给定环境中一个变量对另一个变量变化的响应性，在这个例子中是价格变化。

　　Or you could also say it measures "the sensitivity" of that variable.

　　或者你也可以说它测量了这个变量的“灵敏度”。

　　Often, e conomists speak of a demand curve, where the relationship between price and demandvaries depending upon how much or how little one of the two variables is changed.

　　通常，经济学家说的是需求曲线，即价格和需求之间的关系取决于两个变量中的一个变化了多少。

　　Some Examples of Elasticity and Inelasticity

　　弹性和非弹性的一些例子

　　It's not surprising when a manufacturer substantially increases a product's price, that consumerdemand should diminish.

　　当制造商大幅度提高产品价格时，消费者的需求就会减少，这不足为奇。

　　Many common items, such as aspirin, are widely available from any number of sources.

　　许多常见物品，如阿司匹林，可以从许多来源广泛获得。

　　In such cases, the product's maker raises the price at its own risk -- if the price rises even alittle, some shoppers might stay loyal to the specific brand -- at one time, Bayer nearly had alock on the U.S. aspirin market -- but many more consumers would probably seek the sameproduct from another manufacturer at the lower price.

　　在这种情况下，厂商提高价格就会有自己的风险——如果价格小幅上涨，一些消费者可能仍然会忠于特定的品牌——拜耳一度几乎占有了美国阿司匹林市场——但是更多的消费者可能会以较低的价格从其他厂商那里寻找相同的产品。

　　In such instances, the demand for the product is highly elastic and such instances e conomistsnote a high sensitivity of demand.

　　在这种情况下，对产品的需求是高度弹性的，经济学家注意到了需求的高度敏感性。

　　But in other instances, the demand is not elastic at all.

　　但在其他情况下，需求根本不具有弹性。

　　Water, for example, is usually supplied in any given municipality by a single quasi-governmental organization, often along with electricity.

　　例如，在任何特定的城市，水通常由一个单一的准政府组织供应，通常与电力一起供应。

　　When something consumers use daily, such as electricity or water, has a single source, thedemand for the product may continue even as the price rises -- basically, because the consumerhas no alternative.

　　当消费者日常使用的东西(比如电或水)只有唯一一个来源时，即使价格上涨，对产品的需求也还是会继续的，因为消费者们基本没有其他选择。