单选题
Wholesale prices in July rose more sharply than expected
and at a faster rate than consumer prices, {{U}} {{U}} 1
{{/U}} {{/U}}that businesses were still protecting consumers {{U}}
{{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}the full brunt (冲击) of higher energy
costs. The Producer Price Index, {{U}} {{U}} 3
{{/U}} {{/U}}measures what producers receive for goods and services, {{U}}
{{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}1 percent in July, the Labor Department
reported yesterday, double {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}economists
had been expecting and a sharp turnaround from flat prices in June. Excluding
{{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}and energy, the core index of
producer prices rose 0.4 percent, {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}}
{{/U}}than the 0.1 percent that economists had {{U}} {{U}} 8
{{/U}} {{/U}}Much of that increase was result of an {{U}} {{U}}
9 {{/U}} {{/U}}increase in car and truck prices. On
Tuesday, the Labor Department said the {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}}
{{/U}}that consumers paid for goods and services in July were {{U}} {{U}}
11 {{/U}} {{/U}}0.5 percent over all, and up 0.1 percent, excluding food
and energy. {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}the
overall rise in both consumer and producer prices {{U}} {{U}} 13
{{/U}} {{/U}}caused by energy costs, which increased 4.4 percent in the month.
(Wholesale food prices {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}0.3 percent
in July.) {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}July 2004, wholesale
prices were up 4.6 percent; the core rate {{U}} {{U}} 16
{{/U}} {{/U}}2.8 percent, its fastest pace since 1995.
Typically, increases in the Producer Price Index indicate similar changes in the
consumer index {{U}} {{U}} 17 {{/U}} {{/U}}businesses recoup
(补偿) higher costs from customers. {{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}}
{{/U}}for much of this expansion, which started {{U}} {{U}} 19
{{/U}} {{/U}}the end of 2001, that has not been the {{U}} {{U}}
20 {{/U}} {{/U}}. In fact, many businesses like automakers have been
aggressively discounting their products.
【答案解析】[解析] A选项expectable意为“能预期的，意料中的”，例如，Differences of opinion are quite expectable given the present information(在现在的情况下有不同的观点是意料之中的事情)。C选项expectation是名词，意为“预料、期望”，此处应该选形容词，故排除。D选项expecting也不合题意。B选项unexpected，“想不到的，意外的”，符合题意。
【答案解析】[解析] B选项by the end of意为“到……末”，引导的介词短语做时间状语的时候，句子通常用完成时；C选项in the end意为“最后，终于”，后面不跟of；to the end of意为“直到……末”，均不符合题意。A选项at the end of意为“在……末”，故为正确答案。