Wholesale prices in July rose more sharply than expected and at a faster rate than consumer prices,【C1】______ that businesses were still protecting consumers 【C2】______ the full brunt(冲击) of higher energy costs. The Producer Price Index,【C3】______ measures what producers receive for goods and services,【C4】______ 1 percent in July, the Labor Department reported yesterday, double【C5】______ economists had been expecting and a sharp turnaround from flat prices in June. Excluding【C6】______ and energy, the core index of producer prices rose 0.4 percent,【C7】______ than the 0.1 percent that economists had【C8】______ . Much of that increase was a result of an【C9】______ increase in car and truck prices. On Tuesday, the Labor Department said the【C10】______ that consumers paid for goods and services in July were【C11】______ 0.5 percent over all, and up 0.1 percent, excluding food and energy. 【C12】______ the overall rise in both consumer and producer prices【C13】______ caused by energy costs, which increased 4.4 percent in the month. (Wholesale food prices【C14】______ 0.3 percent in July.【C15】______ July 2004, wholesale prices were up 4.6 percent, the core rate【C16】______ 2.8 percent, its fastest pace since 1995.) Typically, increases in the Producer Price Index indicate similar changes in the consumer index【C17】______ businesses recoup (补偿) higher costs from customers.【C18】______ for much of this expansion, which started【C19】______ the end of 2001, that has not been the【C20】______ . In fact, many businesses like automakers have been aggressively discounting their products.
【答案解析】解析：语法知识。本句意思是“两倍于经济学家们所预期的上涨幅度”。此处考查倍数表达和名词性从句。倍数表达可以由“倍数+n．”这个结构构成，比如The birth rate in 2000 is twice that in 1999 (2000年的出生率是1999年的两倍)。此处，倍数后面的名词由what引导的名词性从句充当。
单选题
【C6】
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：上下文推理。本句的意思是“除食品和能源之外，生产价格核心指数上升了0．4％”。本题为词汇再现题，根据第三段的词汇再现(excluding food and energy)，可以确定此处选food，A项为正确答案。
【答案解析】解析：上下文语义。根据上文(wholesale prices were up 4．6 percent)和下文(its fastest pace since 1995)，可以确定the core rate是上升的。A项dropped和B项declined都表示“下降”的意思，可以排除。C项lifted“提高，举起”为及物动词，可以排除。D项climbed作不及物动词时意为“攀升”，符合题意，为正确答案。
【答案解析】解析：习惯搭配。本句的意思是“开始于2001年年底”。at the end of意为“在……末”，符合题意，所以A项为正确答案。by the end of意为“到……末”，by the end of引导的介词短语作时间状语时，句子通常用完成时；in the end意为“最后，终于”，后面不跟of；to the end of意为“直到……末”。