新西兰英语 462 Inflation

 　　Statistics¹ New Zealand gave the Consumer Price Index figures (CPI) yesterday. Stats NZ staff visit 3,000 shops all around New Zealand to check prices.

　　The figures for the June quarter show how much prices have changed since March. The CPI is up 1% from 3 months ago. This is mostly because the costs of petrol, food, air travel and electricity have all gone up. This is not a surprise. We know we are paying more than before.

　　Stats NZ also gave the change in the CPI for the year since June 2010 and it showed an increase of 5.3%. This was partly because of the GST increase from October 1st last year. Transport costs have gone up 11% in the last year. This includes petrol, second-hand² cars and air travel. Electricity has gone up 7.8%. Food has gone up 7%. While vegetables have increased in price nearly 20% over the last year, fruit has actually gone down. Alcohol and accommodation costs have gone down a little.

　　The Reserve Bank tries to keep inflation³ below 3%. If inflation goes too high, workers will want higher wages. Higher wages increase inflation because we have to pay more for goods.

　　Grammar

　　Note the prepositions:

　　Noun: an increase of x%, a decrease of x%

　　Verb: increased (by) x%, is up / down (by) x%, gone up / down (by) x%,

　　Verbs:

　　Note the number of verbs in the present perfect. This tense shows something that started in the past (in April, or in June last year) and affects the situation today. e.g. Food has gone up (since June last year).

　　Questions

　　Do you think the high Kiwi dollar will bring down transport prices? Will the high dollar affect inflation?

　　It’s hard to understand why vegetable prices have gone up but fruit prices have gone down. Can you think of a reason for this?

1 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

2 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

3 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。