hce_kmu
114年
英文
第 42 題
📖 題組：
Global coffee prices have soared to their highest in nearly 50 years due to poor weather in Brazil and Vietnam, forcing roasters such as Nestle to raise prices and consumers to hunt for cheaper brews amid the cost of living crisis. Production problems linked to bad weather in Brazil and Vietnam have seen global supplies lagging demand for three years. That has left stocks depleted and driven benchmark ICE exchange prices to a peak of US$3.36 per lb. Last time coffee traded that high was in 1977 when snow destroyed swathes of Brazil’s plantations. However, the shock to consumers was much bigger back then. If adjusted for inflation, US$3.36 per lb in 1977 would be equivalent to US$17.68 today. Brazil, which produces nearly half the world’s arabica, high-end beans used primarily in roast and ground blends, experienced one of its worst droughts on record this year. Although rains finally arrived in October, soil moisture remains low and experts say the trees are producing too many leaves and too few of the flowers that turn into cherries. Consultancy StoneX sees Brazil’s arabica output falling 10.5 percent to 40 million bags next year, offset somewhat by higher robusta output, thus cutting the country’s overall crop by 0.5 percent. In Vietnam, which produces some 40 percent of the robusta beans typically used to make instant coffee, a severe drought earlier this year was followed by excess rains since October. In Vietnam, the crop could shrink up to 10 percent in the year by the end of September next year, adding to the global robusta shortage. Surging coffee prices are a problem for roasters. The boss of Nestle, the world’s biggest coffee firm, was ousted earlier this year after the board grew unhappy about weak sales and a loss of market share due to price rises, which prompted consumers to switch to cheaper brands. Roasters tend to buy coffee many months in advance, which means consumers will likely see the price spike in 6 to 12 months. Consumers who drink out will feel less of a pinch of today’s rising prices. Roasters like Starbucks that sell mostly to cafés should fare better as the global coffee price accounts for only about 1.4 percent of the total price of a typical US$5 cup of coffee in a café.
Global coffee prices have soared to their highest in nearly 50 years due to poor weather in Brazil and Vietnam, forcing roasters such as Nestle to raise prices and consumers to hunt for cheaper brews amid the cost of living crisis. Production problems linked to bad weather in Brazil and Vietnam have seen global supplies lagging demand for three years. That has left stocks depleted and driven benchmark ICE exchange prices to a peak of US$3.36 per lb. Last time coffee traded that high was in 1977 when snow destroyed swathes of Brazil’s plantations. However, the shock to consumers was much bigger back then. If adjusted for inflation, US$3.36 per lb in 1977 would be equivalent to US$17.68 today. Brazil, which produces nearly half the world’s arabica, high-end beans used primarily in roast and ground blends, experienced one of its worst droughts on record this year. Although rains finally arrived in October, soil moisture remains low and experts say the trees are producing too many leaves and too few of the flowers that turn into cherries. Consultancy StoneX sees Brazil’s arabica output falling 10.5 percent to 40 million bags next year, offset somewhat by higher robusta output, thus cutting the country’s overall crop by 0.5 percent. In Vietnam, which produces some 40 percent of the robusta beans typically used to make instant coffee, a severe drought earlier this year was followed by excess rains since October. In Vietnam, the crop could shrink up to 10 percent in the year by the end of September next year, adding to the global robusta shortage. Surging coffee prices are a problem for roasters. The boss of Nestle, the world’s biggest coffee firm, was ousted earlier this year after the board grew unhappy about weak sales and a loss of market share due to price rises, which prompted consumers to switch to cheaper brands. Roasters tend to buy coffee many months in advance, which means consumers will likely see the price spike in 6 to 12 months. Consumers who drink out will feel less of a pinch of today’s rising prices. Roasters like Starbucks that sell mostly to cafés should fare better as the global coffee price accounts for only about 1.4 percent of the total price of a typical US$5 cup of coffee in a café.
Which of the following statements correctly describes Brazil and Vietnam in terms of their coffee
production?
production?
- A Vietnam’s overall coffee production is larger than Brazil’s.
- B Vietnam’s coffee production was affected only by drought.
- C Brazil’s coffee production dropped by 0.5 percent next year.
- D Brazil and Vietnam are both expected to increase their coffee output next year.
- E Brazil leads in arabica production, while Vietnam is a major producer of robusta coffee.
思路引導 VIP
當你在閱讀這類包含多個國家、數據與作物種類的報導時，若想快速釐清各國的產業角色，你會建議從文中的哪些關鍵字（例如作物種類或百分比佔比）來歸納它們各自的市場定位？此外，文中提到的氣候變化，對這兩國未來的產量趨勢分別造成了什麼樣的影響呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
恭喜你答對了！這題考驗的是對長篇商業新聞中「細節比對」與「核心概念歸納」的能力。你能精確鎖定選項 (E)，代表你對文中兩大咖啡產國的市場定位掌握得非常透徹。文章明確提到，巴西生產全球近半數的阿拉比卡（arabica）豆，而越南則供應了約 40% 的**羅布斯塔（robusta）**豆，這正是兩國在咖啡產業中最顯著的特徵。
關鍵資訊的判讀與排除
這題的難度切入點在於排除極端限定詞與辨識數據趨勢。例如，選項 (B) 使用了「only」，卻忽略了越南除了乾旱外還受到後期強降雨的影響；而選項 (C) 與 (D) 則涉及了複雜的跌幅數據與預期心理，容易讓讀者在數字間迷失。你能避開這些細節陷阱，直接從文章的主旨——「不同品種咖啡豆的產地危機」中抓出正確的定位描述，展現了非常敏銳且穩定的閱讀解析力，表現得非常棒！