填空题

Business and government leaders consider the inflation rate to be an important general indicator. Inflation is a period of increased spending that causes rapid rises in prices. When your money buys fewer goods so that you get (51) for the same amount of money as before, inflation is the problem. There is a general rise (52) the prices of goods and services. Your money buys less. Sometimes people describe inflation as a time when "a dollar is not worth a dollar anymore".
Inflation is a problem for all consumers. People who live on a fixed income are hurt the best. Retired people, for instance, can not count (53) an increase in income as prices rise. Elderly people who do not work face serious problems in stretching their incomes to (54) their needs in time of inflation. Retirement income or any fixed income usually does not rise as fast as prices. Many retired people must cut their spending to keep up with rising prices. In many cases they must stop (55) some necessary items, such as food and clothing. Even for working people whose incomes are going up, inflation can be a problem. The cost of living goes. (56) , too. People who work must have even more money to keep up their standard of living. Just buying the things they need costs more. When incomes do not keep pace with (57) prices, the standard of living goes down. People may be earning the same (58) of money, but they are not living as well because they are not able to buy as many goods and services.
Government units gather information about prices in our economy and publish it as price indexes from (59) the rate of change can be determined. A price index measures changes in prices using the price for a given year as the base. The base price is set at 100, and the other prices are reported as a percentage of the base price. A price index makes (60) possible to compare current prices of typical consumer goods, for example, with prices of the same goods in previous year.