Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. surplus (n.) [sur-pluhs, -pluhs] – an excess amount of something
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. surplus (n.) [sur-pluhs, -pluhs] – an excess amount of something
Example: There is a surplus of eggs in
our house so I had to give the extras to our neighbors.
2. staple (n.) [stey-puhl] – an important food that
is regularly eaten
Example: Rice is considered to
be an Asian diet staple, because it
is eaten every day in many Asian countries.
3. stockpile (v.) [stok-pahyl] – to gather and save a large supply of something for future use
Example: The family stockpiles canned goods in their house
in case of emergencies.
4. commodity (n.) [kuh-mod-i-tee] – in economics, something that can be bought and sold
Example: As valuable commodities, crude oil and coffee are
often sold in high prices.
5. offset (v.) [awf-set] – to use something to cancel or reduce the effect of something else
Example: The supermarket
increased the prices of their products to offset
rising business costs.
Article
Read the text below.
The price of olive
oil has dropped to its lowest in the last ten years as the demand for the
product decreased in Spain, Italy and Greece because of economic crises in
these countries.
The drop in the
demand for olive oil has resulted to surplus
of harvested olives in Spain, Italy and Greece. People from rural areas now worry about their incomes.
The three southern
European countries are the biggest suppliers of this Mediterranean diet staple, producing 70 percent of the
world’s olive oil. Olive oil production provides employment and income to
those who live in rural areas most especially in Andalucia, Spain where 33 percent of people have no jobs.
The European Union paid
companies to stockpile olive oil
in order to reduce the surplus and help maintain the employment in rural
areas. Policy makers believe this action
has set a minimum price for the commodity.
However, olive oil
still has to compete with cheaper kinds of vegetable oil. Eroski, which is a
popular supermarket chain in Spain, sells sunflower oil at 1.25 euros per
liter, compared to average-quality olive oil at 1.99 euros and premium
extra-virgin olive oil at 3.25 euros.
According to the
International Olive Oil Council, Spain’s demand for olive oil this year will
be the same amount in 2002 while Greece and Italy’s demand will be at their
1995 levels. The fall in these countries’ demand for olive oil has been only
partly offset by increased demand
in other countries.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
What is the staple food in your country?
·
How will your country survive if this staple
food becomes unavailable?
Discussion B
·
How important are farmers in your country’s
economy?
What
do you think of the farmers’ situation in Spain? What troubles do farmers in
your country face? Please explain further.