Business and government leaders also consider the inflation rate to be an important genera

l indicator. Inflation is a period of increased 【C1】______ that causes rapid rises in prices.【C2】______ your money buys fewer goods so that you get【C3】______ for the same amount of money as before, inflation is the problem. There is a general rise【C4】______ the price of goods and services. Your money buys less. Sometimes people describe inflation as a(n)【C5】______ 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【C6】______ Retired people, for instance, cannot【C7】______ on an increase in income as prices rise. Elderly people who do not work face serious problems in stretching their incomes to【C8】______ their needs in time of inflation. Retirement income【C9】______ any fixed income usually does not rise as fast as prices. Many retired people must cut their spending to【C10】______ rising prices. In many cases they must stop【C11】______ some necessary items, such as food and clothing. Even 【C12】______ working people whose incomes are going up, inflation can be a problem. The【C13】______ 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【C14】______ with rising prices, the standard of living goes down. People may be earning the same amount of money, but they are not living【C15】______ 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

【C16】______ the rate of change can be determined. A price index measures changes in prices using the price for a 【C17】______ year as the base. The base price is set【C18】______ 100, and the other prices are reported as a 【C19】______ of the base price. A price index makes【C20】______ possible to compare current prices of typical consumer goods, for example, with prices of the same goods in previous years.

【C1】

A．spending

B．demanding

C．consuming

D．saving