考研英语的阅读理解精读100篇高分版TEXT13_大学英语阅读

考研英语的阅读理解精读100篇高分版TEXT13

　　Fortunatelyfor Tony and his peers, their rivals and the victims of crime cannot tell iftheir guns work any better than they can. Often, showing the bulge is enough to gain the respect of rival gangs. In robberies brandishing theweapon will usually do. Storekeepers do not wait for proof that it works.

　　Markets canovercome thinness, the paper says; they can also overcome illegality. But theycannot overcome both. A thin market must rely on advertising or a centralisedexchange: eBay, for example, has dedicated pages matching sellers of imitationpearl pins or Annette Funicello bears to the few, scattered buyers that can befound. But such solutions are too cumbersome and conspicuous for an undergroundmarket. The drugs market, by contrast, slips through the laws fingers because of the naturaldensity of drug transactions. Dealers can always find customers on theirdoorstep, and buyers can reassure themselves about suppliers through repeatedcustom. There are no fixed and formal institutions that the police could easilythrottle.

　　Indeed, theauthors argue that the gun market may be threadbare partly because the drugmarket is so plump. Gang-leaders are wary of gun-dealing because the extrapolice scrutiny that guns attract would jeopardise their earnings from coke anddope. Even Chicagos gang-leaders have to worry about the effect of crime on commerce.