讲解人 · 大仔
原文
But even after 17 years in hospitality, the last six months have taken him by surprise.
“It’s increasingly becoming near-impossible, “ he says.
Chiswell-Rivas is the co-owner of Thirst, a coffee shop by day and bar by night in Essex.
Surging wholesale coffee prices, an imminent National Insurance tax increase and a looming 6.7pc minimum wage rise are only some of the challenges.
“We’ve already put through a price increase pre-emptively, and we’ll probably put our prices up again in April, “ Chiswell-Rivas says,
“We also have to cut down on the hours for each person.”
Such bleak considerations underscore the brutal conditions that Britain’s coffee shops are up against in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s Budget, and as other costs mount.
Wholesale prices for Arabica coffee beans have risen by more than 80pc since the start of the year and are hovering near a record-high reached on Dec 10.
Pressures are felt both among independent coffee shops and at big chains.
Luke Johnson, the chairman of Gail’s, says that tax rises and wage pressures are a bigger concern than the rocketing cost of coffee beans.
From April businesses will have to start swallowing a £25bn tax rise.
Employers will have to make National Insurance contributions (NICs) of 15pc rather than 13.8pc.
On top of that, the minimum wage will receive another uplift from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour.
“There are a number of headwinds, “Johnson says,
“The increase in NICs is particularly a blow to those who employ a lot of part-time staff.
This period is one of the toughest I can remember in the best part of 40 years of being in the hospitality trade.”
带着问题听讲解
- 如何理解 near-impossible 这个表达？
- 文中提到的影响咖啡店生意的主要因素有哪些？
- 根据文章，为什么经营独立咖啡店变得越来越困难？
讲解
重点词汇
hospitality
/ˌhɑː.spɪˈtæl.ə.t̬i/
n. 餐饮服务业；酒店服务业；接待与旅游业；接待，款待；热情好客
- 英文释义：the activity or business of providing services to guests in hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.例句：The Chinese tourism and hospitality industry is rapidly recovering as international travel booms.
take sb. by surprise
令某人大吃一惊
- 例句：Reform's TikTok rise takes the party by surprise.近义短语：take someone aback（令某人大吃一惊）
- 例句：I was a little taken aback at the news.
surge
/sɝːdʒ/
v. 陡增，急剧上升；涌起，涌出
- 例句：Flood waters surged into their homes.例句：The gates opened and the crowd surged forward.例句：The Dow jumps 300 points as Nvidia and other AI stocks surge.词性拓展：surge（n. 剧增；翻涌）
- 搭配短语：a sudden surge of anger
- 搭配短语：a surge in demand
wholesale
/ˈhoʊl.seɪl/
adj. 批发的，成批卖的
- 搭配短语：wholesale prices词性拓展：wholesale（adv. 批发地；n. 批发价）相关单词：retail（n. 零售；adj. 零售的；零售地）
- 例句：Is that price retail or wholesale?
imminent
/ˈɪm.ə.nənt/
adj. 临近的，迫在眉睫的
- 搭配短语：imminent disaster/danger例句：Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court to delay the imminent ban of TikTok.
looming
/ˈluː.mɪŋ/
adj. 逼近的
- 相关词汇：loom（v. 阴森地逼近；赫然显现；隐约显现）
- 例句：Dark storm clouds loomed on the horizon.
- 例句：Donald Trump's tariff plans loom over the global economy.
例句：TikTok users are pushing back against the looming TikTok ban by downloading a Chinese app called RedNote.
pre-emptively
adv. 先发制人地，抢先地，预防性地
- 相关词汇：pre-emptive（adj. 抢先的、预防性的）
- 搭配短语：pre-emptive security solutions
例句：The company pre-emptively recalled its products after reports of a potential safety issue.
bleak
/bliːk/
adj. 困难的；凄凉的；荒凉的
- 例句：Prospects for the industry are extremely bleak.
underscore
/ˌʌn.dɚˈskɔːr/
v. 强调；在下面划线
- 例句：The President's visit underscores the administration's commitment to free trade.近义词：underline（v. 强调）近义词：highlight（v. 强调）
brutal
/ˈbruː.t̬əl/
adj. 残酷的，残忍的
- 搭配短语：a brutal dictator例句：Much of the world experienced a brutal heat wave last summer.
up against
面临着（某种困难）
- 英文释义：confronted with例句：We are up against a tight deadline for this project.相关短语：run up against（面临困难）
- 例句：The government is running up against considerable opposition to its tax reforms.
in the wake of
紧随某事而来，作为某事的结果
- 相关词汇：wake（n. 尾流，尾浪）例句：In the wake of raging wildfires in the Los Angeles region, President Joe Biden has cancelled his upcoming trip to Italy.
mount
/maʊnt/
v. 上升，增加；登上
- 词性拓展：mount（n. 山峰）搭配短语：Mount Everest（珠穆朗玛峰）例句：As the excitement mounted, the children became noisier.例句："As Risks Mount, China Races to Regulate Battery Recycling"
hover
/ˈhʌ.vɚ/
v. 徘徊；盘旋
- 例句：I heard the noise of a helicopter hovering overhead.例句：Inflation is hovering at three percent.
chain
/tʃeɪn/
n. 连锁企业，连锁店；一连串事物
- 例句：McDonald's is the world's largest fast food restaurant chain.
rocket
/ˈrɑː.kɪt/
v. 迅速上升
- 词性拓展：rocket（n. 火箭）近义词：skyrocket（v. 飞涨）例句：Unemployment has rocketed up again.
swallow
/ˈswɑː.loʊ/
v. 吞下；忍受
- 例句：She swallowed her disappointment.例句：This excuse was too much for them to swallow.
uplift
/ˈʌp.lɪft/
n. 抬升
- 搭配短语：an uplift in sales
headwind
/ˈhed.wɪnd/
n. 逆风
- 例句：Banks face headwinds amid global dirty money crackdown.相关词汇：tailwind（n. 顺风）
- 例句：Medicare reform is a thorny problem even when the political tailwinds are favorable.
blow
/bloʊ/
n. 重击
- 例句：She died after receiving a blow to the head.例句：Stranded astronauts receive a fresh blow with return update.
the best/better/greater part of
大部分，大半
- 例句：I spent the better part of a day cleaning that kitchen!例句：They live here for the greater part of the year.
