Final answer:
Price controls distort price signals and prevent the natural system of supply and demand from working, as illustrated by historical examples like China's Great Leap Forward. These controls can lead to severe consequences when they interfere with market mechanisms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Price controls, such as those implemented during China's "Great Leap Forward", are meant to regulate prices in an effort to achieve certain economic or social goals. However, such controls often lead to unintended consequences because they do not change the underlying forces of demand and supply. For instance, keeping food prices artificially low led to catastrophic outcomes—depressed farm production and widespread starvation. This demonstrates that price controls, while perhaps well-intentioned, can distort price signals and prevent the natural system of supply and demand from working effectively.
Therefore, when answering whether price controls ensure that society distributes its resources fairly or distort price signals and prevent the natural system of supply and demand from working, the correct answers are that they distort price signals and prevent the natural system of supply and demand from working, which corresponds to options b and c being true.