hce_kmu
114年
英文
第 44 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.
What does the phrase “feel less of a pinch” mean in the passage?
- A Gain more health benefits from coffee
- B Receive discounts on coffee purchases
- C Consume less coffee due to higher prices
- D Pay more for coffee than those who brew it at home
- E Experience less financial burden from price increases
思路引導 VIP
請留意文中提到咖啡豆價格僅佔咖啡廳一杯 5 美元咖啡成本的 1.4%。如果現在原物料（咖啡豆）價格大幅翻倍，對這杯 5 美元咖啡的總售價影響會很大嗎？而這種影響程度的大小，又會如何反應在消費者的金錢感受上呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你能精準選出 (E)，顯示你對文章語境的掌握非常敏銳。這題的核心在於理解慣用語 "feel the pinch"，在英文中它常用來形容「感受到經濟壓力」或「荷包縮水」。文章透過後續的數據說明，對在咖啡廳消費的人來說，雖然豆子價格大漲，但原始豆價僅佔一杯 5 美元咖啡售價的 1.4%，因此反映在終端售價上的波動極其微小。
語境線索與邏輯推論
這類題目在大型考試中具有很好的鑑別度，屬於中等難度的詞彙語意題。它不單純考驗單字量，更測試考生是否能連結前後文的邏輯。當你看到文章提到「1.4%」這個極低的比例，以及提到這類業者會「表現得更好（fare better）」時，這就是一個強大的邏輯暗示，指向價格波動對這類消費者的財務衝擊較小，進而確認了 (E) 選項中「經濟負擔（financial burden）」較輕的描述。