Snow, rain pushes China's farm produce prices up

 Snow, rain pushes China's farm produce prices up

BEIJING, Nov.6 (Xinhua) -- Rain and snow in China's north have driven farm produce prices slightly up in 36 large and medium-sized cities, the Ministry¹ of Commerce (MOC) said Tuesday.

In the week ending Nov. 4, the wholesale² price of 18 types of vegetables climbed 0.7 percent from a week earlier, according to the ministry.

Prices of cucumbers, potatoes and tomatoes jumped 8 percent, 6.8 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the price of eggs dropped 0.4 percent, down for the fourth consecutive³ week.

The retail⁴ price of grain and cooking oil edged up slightly, with prices of rice, colza oil and peanut oil up 0.2 percent, 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

The wholesale price of pork dropped 0.1 percent week-on-week, while prices of mutton and beef went up slightly by both rising 0.7 percent. The wholesale prices of eight kinds of aquatic⁵ products declined 0.2 percent from a week ago.

Food prices account for about 30 percent of the weighting in the nation's calculation of the consumer price index (CPI), the key gauge⁶ of inflation.

The CPI rose 1.9 percent year-on-year in September, easing from 2 percent in August, according to the country's statistics authority.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

3 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

6 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。