The price of coffee beans hits a 12 – year high today. I thought there might

be some kind of coffee – market story, like we saw with cocoa earlier this summer.

But the main driver of coffee prices right now is simpler: Colombia has had

a few years of weak coffee harvests because of too much rain, which has reduced

the global supply. And coffee drinkers keep buying coffee, even as prices rise, in

other words, demand is unchanged.

The higher price of beans – up about 40 percent since March – means higher prices for the coffee you buy by the pound. But it probably won’t affect the coffee you buy by the cup.

Smuckers, which sells Folgers and Millstone coffees, recently said it was raising its prices because of the higher cost of beans. Starbucks, however, said it would absorb the higher cost of beans without raising prices.

“You see it much more in the grocery store because the raw materials are a big factor of cost,” Jose Sette of the International Coffee Organization told me. “In a coffee shop, your big expenses are rent and labor.”

While real – world supply and demand is the big driver of the price of beans, there may be some speculative action in coffee business in the future.

But futures (期货) of the high – grade Arabica beans are traded in the US, where regulations prevent speculators (投机商) from controlling the market, hoping such things won’t happen just as in London summer market. That suggests that prices should fall when supply improves – which may happen next year.

Some experts say that farmers in third world countries won’t actually benefit from higher prices in this case. When the price difference is due to supply and demand, the profit of the seller usually doesn’t go up.

1.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

    A．Why coffee is getting more expensive?

    B．How farmer benefits from the high price?

    C．Whether the US will control the coffee market?

    D．What has caused the reduction of coffee?

2.From the second paragraph we can infer that _______________________.

    A．Colombia is the coffee trading center of the world

    B．Colombia coffee output contains a final share of the world

    C．People need more and more coffee

    D．Coffee sales will be getting less and less

3.In this summer’s coffee bean market, ____________________________.

    A．the US made more rules about coffee prices

    B．speculators once held the coffee bean market in London

    C．coffee bean trading was seriously disorganized

    D．coffee bean prices were very low in the US

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

    A．The price difference determines the profit of the seller.

    B．Smuckers is a famous coffee manufacturer.

    C．Real – world supply and demand decides the prices.

    D．Coffee prices will become much higher next year.

The price of coffee beans hits a 12 – year high today. I thought there might
be some kind of coffee – market story, like we saw with cocoa earlier this summer.
But the main driver of coffee prices right now is simpler: Colombia has had
a few years of weak coffee harvests because of too much rain, which has reduced
the global supply. And coffee drinkers keep buying coffee, even as prices rise, in
other words, demand is unchanged.
The higher price of beans – up about 40 percent since March – means higher prices for the coffee you buy by the pound. But it probably won’t affect the coffee you buy by the cup.
Smuckers, which sells Folgers and Millstone coffees, recently said it was raising its prices because of the higher cost of beans. Starbucks, however, said it would absorb the higher cost of beans without raising prices.
“You see it much more in the grocery store because the raw materials are a big factor of cost,” Jose Sette of the International Coffee Organization told me. “In a coffee shop, your big expenses are rent and labor.”
While real – world supply and demand is the big driver of the price of beans, there may be some speculative action in coffee business in the future.
But futures (期货) of the high – grade Arabica beans are traded in the US, where regulations prevent speculators (投机商) from controlling the market, hoping such things won’t happen just as in London summer market. That suggests that prices should fall when supply improves – which may happen next year.
Some experts say that farmers in third world countries won’t actually benefit from higher prices in this case. When the price difference is due to supply and demand, the profit of the seller usually doesn’t go up

1. 1.

   Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Why coffee is getting more expensive?
   2. B.
      How farmer benefits from the high price?
   3. C.
      Whether the US will control the coffee market?
   4. D.
      What has caused the reduction of coffee?
2. 2.

   From the second paragraph we can infer that ______.
   

   1. A.
      Colombia is the coffee trading center of the world
   2. B.
      Colombia coffee output contains a final share of the world
   3. C.
      People need more and more coffee
   4. D.
      Coffee sales will be getting less and less
3. 3.

   In this summer’s coffee bean market,______.
   

   1. A.
      the US made more rules about coffee prices
   2. B.
      speculators once held the coffee bean market in London
   3. C.
      coffee bean trading was seriously disorganized
   4. D.
      coffee bean prices were very low in the US
4. 4.

   Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

   1. A.
      The price difference determines the profit of the seller
   2. B.
      Smuckers is a famous coffee manufacturer
   3. C.
      Real – world supply and demand decides the prices
   4. D.
      Coffee prices will become much higher next year

At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for copies of documents because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.

It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. “I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down,” says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.

Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a one-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.

Does all this mean environmental concerns (环境问题) have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. “I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling (回收利用),”said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.

1．The growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to        .

       A．the rapid development of small businesses         

       B．the opening up of new markets   

       C．the printing of high quality copies             

       D．the increased use of the Internet

2．Environmentalists believe more one possible way of dealing with the paper situation is     .

       A．to encourage printing more quality documents     

       B．to develop new printers using recycled paper   

       C．to find new materials for making paper     

       D．to plant more fast-growing paper

3．Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to develop new technologies because        .

       A．people are concerned about the environment  

       B．printers in many offices are working overtime  

       C．small companies need more hard copies  

       D．they see a growing market for printers

4．What would be the best title for the text?

       A．Computers and Printers               B．E-mail and the Business World

       C．Internet Revolution and Environment  D．Modern Technology and New Markets