VOA慢速英语--世界各地的商品和服务成本都在上升

Costs of Goods, Services Increase around the World

With coronavirus restrictions¹ easing in some places, companies around the world are struggling to find workers, ships, parts and fuel. Such shortages have led to higher prices for goods and services and have threatened economic recovery.

In Britain, the nation's largest chicken producer warned that the 20-year period of cheap food prices is ending. The head of the producer said food prices will go much higher because of increasing costs for labor² and supplies.

"The days when you could feed a family of four with a 3 pound ($4) chicken are coming to an end," said Ranjit Singh Boparan. He owns 2 Sisters Food Group in Britain.

In Japan, dairy products maker³ Meiji Holdings has increased prices of some products by up to 12.8 percent. It is the maker's first price increase since 2008. Other food companies have also raised prices on their main product lines for the first time in many years.

Yuka Urakawa has noticed the price changes in her country. She called the increases "terrible." She noted⁴ that people's earnings⁵ have not increased, and taxes are rising. "People are increasingly becoming poor," she said.

On Thursday, the Swedish central bank reported that inflation in the northern European country reached its highest level in more than 10 years. Similar reports came from Spain and Ireland.

Worker shortages are leading to major delays at ports in the United States. This week, President Joe Biden announced that workers at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will work around the clock to unload about 500,000 containers waiting on ships.

Higher energy prices

Oil prices rose by about 1 percent on Thursday. Top oil producer Saudi Arabia has dismissed calls for increasing oil output.

The average U.S. cost of a gallon of gasoline is now at a seven-year high. And the U.S. Energy Department expects winter fuel costs to go much higher. The Reuters news agency reported that the Biden administration has been speaking with U.S. oil and gas producers about helping⁶ to bring down fuel costs.

In China, shortages of coal, high fuel prices and increasing post-pandemic demand have led to a halt in production at factories supplying goods to the world.

The International Energy Agency wrote in its monthly oil report, "Higher energy prices are also adding to inflationary pressures that, along with power outages, could lead to lower industrial activity and a slowdown in the economic recovery."

Limited supply of semiconductors⁸

The Dutch mapping software company TomTom reported Thursday that its sales dropped 21 percent in the third quarter of the year. It also warned that supply chain problems in the automobile⁹ industry could last until the first half of 2022. The company supplies its software to carmakers.

TomTom's Chief Financial Officer Taco Titulaer told Reuters, "collectively, we have underestimated how big the supply chain issues, and especially for semiconductor⁷ shortages, have been or have become."

Italian-American vehicle maker CNH Industrial NV said on Wednesday it will temporarily shut several European manufacturing centers because of difficulties in finding parts.

Some other carmakers, such as Toyota, are hoping to restart production in December with new shipments from pandemic-hit suppliers. Toyota officials told Reuters that the company plans to build an extra 97,000 vehicles between December and March. They will do so by possibly adding weekend work periods.

Increasing demand for semiconductors is good news for Taiwan's TSMC. The world's largest contract chipmaker reported a nearly 14 percent jump in third-quarter profits this year.

TSMC and Taiwan have become central to efforts aimed at fixing the worldwide chip shortage, which has also hit manufacturers of smartphones, laptop computers and home machinery¹⁰.

Words in This Story

cheap - adj. not costing a lot of money

inflation - n. a continual increase in the price of goods and services

gallon - n. a unit of liquid measurement equal to 3.8 liters

semiconductor - n. electronic chip or circuit

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 semiconductor   

n.半导体

参考例句：

• In the beginning,engineers hoped to use semiconductor lasers.在开始时，工程师们希望能够利用半导体激光器。
• The main agent of the company brand semiconductor sales.本公司主要代理各品牌半导体销售。

8 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

9 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

10 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。