Business and government leaders also consider the inflation
rate to be an important general indicator. Inflation is a period of increased
spending that causes rapid rises in prices. 16
your money buys fewer goods so that you get
17 for the same amount of money as before, inflation is the
problem. There is a. general rise 18 the price 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 19 . Retired people, for instance, cannot count on an increase in income as
prices rise. Elderly people who do not work face serious problems in stretching
their incomes to 20 their needs in time
of inflation. Retirement income 21 any
fixed income usually does not rise as fast as prices. Many retired people must
cut their spending to 22 rising prices.
In many cases they must stop 23 some
necessary items, such as food and clothing. Even 24
working people whose incomes are going up, inflation can be a
problem. The 25 of living goes up, 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 26 with rising prices, the standard of living
goes down. People may be earning the same amount 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 27
the rate of change can be determined. A price index measures
changes in prices using the price for a 28 year as the base. The base price is set at 100, and the other prices are
reported as a 29 of the base price. A
price index makes 30 possible to
compare current prices of typical consumer goods, for example, with prices of
the same goods in previous years.
A. live up to
B. catch up on
C. put up with
D. keep up with