难句解析：
①The American economic system is organized around a basically private-enterprise, market-oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most.
▲这是一个有定语从句和宾语从句的复杂句。首先要抓住的核心句为The American economic system is organized around a... economy，economy前面的定语在开始阅读时可以不看。在economy后面是一个以in which引导的定语从句in which consumers largely determine，而这个从句中又有一个宾语从句what shall be produced。在定语从句中又有一个by引导的分词结构spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most作状语，说明消费者是如何决定应生产何种产品，而这个方式状语中又有一个定语从句that they want most。
△通过分析结构我们知道此句的所有意思都是围绕核心句的表语economy展开的，因此在阅读中应分层次，逐层理解对这一核心词的陈述，分清主次，全面理解。
②Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it.
▲首先要抓住句首的thus，看到这个词，就应想到此句是前面叙述引出的结论。再看句子结构，跳过状语in the American economic system，先抓住这是一个强调结构It is... that，因此所强调的部分是理解的重点，而它由三个平行成分组成，分别为the demand of individual consumers，the desire of businessmen to maximize profits和the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes，中间用coupled with和and连接。而在that后面的部分有两个并列宾语从句what shall be produced和how resources are used to produce it接在动词determine的后面。
△首先要抓住强调句型，并重点理解所强调的内容，其次要理解句中最后一个it所指代的对象是what shall be produced。
③An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers.
▲此句的结构与第一句类似，只是表语的定语从句更加复杂。
△此句在理解中的难点是定语从句by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers，为了方便理解，我们可以将此句and后的部分由被动句改为主动句：by which consumer demands can be expressed and producers can respond to consumer demands，这样就可以避免对responded to by producers的不理解。
④If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product.
▲这是一个有条件状语从句的主从句，从句由if引导，主体结构为... producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost...，其中producing more of a commodity是一个分词短语作主语，而主句以this为主语，里面包含一个定语从句which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product。
△此句在理解中的难点是句中代词的指代关系，其中第一个its所指的是commodity，而主句的主语this所指的是整个条件状语从句。主句中的定语从句也并不是修饰某一个特定的词，而是指整个主句表达to increase the supply offered by seller-producers。
⑤In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain rights, including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.
▲此句的主句结构为the concept embraces not only... but also...。主要的难点在其宾语部分，是一个not only... but also...连接的并列结构，而后面有一个长的补足语including the right to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual。
△此句的难点为如何理解复杂宾语，注意在开始的时候先应抓主句，可以先不理会逗号后面的补足语部分，然后再分析including后面的成分，同时要记住这一部分是修饰certain rights的。
来源:可可英语 http://www.kekenet.com/kaoyan/201408/317065.shtml