China's farm produce prices edge up

 China's farm produce prices edge up

BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Farm produce prices in 36 large- and medium-sized cities trended slightly upward last week, the Ministry¹ of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday.

Last week, wholesale² prices for eight kinds of aquatic³ products went up 0.6 percent from a week earlier, while meat prices saw slight gains, the ministry said in an online statement.

The retail⁴ price of cooking oil edged up slightly, with colza oil up 0.1 percent.

The retail price of eggs continued to drop, down 0.7 percent from the previous week, while prices for 18 kinds of vegetables retreated further, with that of cabbages and tomatoes down 8.1 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Food prices account for around 30 percent of prices used to calculate the consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge⁵ of inflation.

The CPI rose 1.9 percent year on year in September, easing from 2 percent in August, official data showed.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

3 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。