1 . The law of supply and demand (需求) explains how the prices of goods and services are determined. Prices rise when there is an increase in demand. When there is an increase in supply, prices go down.

When the amount of goods being demanded is the same as the amount of goods being supplied, it stabilizes prices. However, if either side increases too much, it can create economic (经济的) problems. Tulip Mania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age when the prices of tulips rose and dropped rapidly. In the 1630s, the demand for these flowers increased so much that prices went out of control.

After tulips were introduced to the Netherlands, they became a symbol of wealth and position. As a result, the rare types were seen as valuable things and were trade at high prices. Soon, they grew in popularity as a trading product, and traders bought them to make a lot of money. Even ordinary people started to believe it was an easy way to make money and got involved (参与) in the trade of the tulips.

Prices kept on rising as more people wanted tulips. Some people began selling all of their possessions (财产) in order to buy them. And the prices became unbelievably higher than the value of the actual things. As the supply increased, however, some people thought the demand for tulips would not last and began to sell their tulips. Finally, prices dropped, and many were left poor with worthless tulips.

2 . The Largest Telcos in the World

To connect your phone, tablet, smartwatch, or computer to the Internet, you will need a provider who will offer you such a connection. These providers are namely telcos. You could say these companies represent the gates to the Internet. Unsurprisingly, telcos are some of the most powerful and influential companies in the world today. Here are some outstanding ones around the globe.

Founded in 1984, after the break-up of the original AT&T Corporation, Verizon today is the leading wireless operator in the United States. There are hundreds of millions of customers subscribing to its services in the country. Aside from its main brand (品牌), Verizon also owns Visible and Tracfone.

China Mobile is now the world’s largest communications provider by number of subscribers. This company started operating in 1997. Aside from its home market, it is also involved in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, and the UK through its CMLink brand and in Pakistan through its Zong 4G brand.

Established in 1995, Deutsche Telekom is by far the largest mobile communications company in Europe. Today, the company operates under its two main brands Telekom and T-Mobile in the European Union (Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, and Greece)and in the United States.

The AT & T brand has a rich history dating back to the very invention of the telephone although the AT & T company was founded in its current form in 1983. This American company has now additionally expanded beyond the United States to South America, including Mexico.

3 . When you see the Lion of Judah you do not think “e-commerce”. Its lower decks (甲板) have 467 beds where passengers sleep when travelling up the Amazon River. But when the Amazon’s largest department store, Bemol, started delivering to customers in the rainforest, these three-decker passenger boats were its chosen means of transport.

Bemol sold fridges and televisions in the traditional way from its stores in Manaus until 2018, when one of the founders’ grandsons, Denis Minev, took over. He suspected there were hundreds of thousands of customers up and down the Amazon that Bemol wasn’t reaching and decided to go to them.

But delivering parcels in the rainforest is difficult and expensive. Consumers in far places either had to pay up to 30% of the product’s price for shipping and wait a month or longer for the postal service to deliver it or spend money and time on shopping trips to Manaus. Mr Minev made what sounded like an impossible promise: to deliver an order placed online within a week for not more than the “Manaus price”.                                                                                          

Mr Minev’s experience at a cooking-gas firm, also owned by his family, showed him how challenging the Amazon’s delivery could be. So rather than bu his own boats, risking crashes, fuel theft and high debt, Mr Minev oulsourced (外包) delivery to the brightly painted ships that carry people and provisions around the region.                                          

To encourage Amazonians to place their first online orders, Bemol set up Wi-Fi in every town where it launched e-commerce. Amazonians who lack savings or credit cards can use zero-interest loans starting at $26 to finance their purchases; 85% of Bemol’s online sales are paid for in this way. Bemol allows returns, but encourages customers to accept vouchers (代金券) instead. “The traditional e-commerce model without a physical presence doesn’t work in the Amazon,” says Mr Minev.

5 . The fragrance of pressed grapes perfumes the mountain air in the small village of Tharma in Sangri county of the Tibetan autonomous region this time of year.

Grape cultivation in the county, which is the highest location on the planet where grapes are grown, sits at an average altitude of 3600 meters above sea level. It has increased the wealth of the residents and created a whole new local industry that is prospering. Organic grape growing was introduced to the county, which is blessed by a mild climate and moderate sunshine, via an Aid-Tibet project funded by Hunan province, and since 2011,the cultivation area has increased from less than 1 hectare(公顷) to nearly 666 hectares. The vineyards in Sangri county were recognized in 2021 for their production of green, pollution-free products.

“The harvest season for grapes and the best time for making wine are right now. We’ve finished with picking the grapes and we’ve been busy making wine lately,” Luo Minglu, a manager at Sangri County Pakdrub Rongshun Zhuangyuan Co-which operates the business-was quoted as saying by China News Service.

The company has played a key role in bringing suppliers and local households together to produce wine and other products that have improved the standard of living in the area.

Between 2016 and 2022, the company’s cumulative (累积的) grape yield reached 590 metric tons. More than 500 villagers were employed last year, with more than 2.9 million yuan($406,000) spent on salaries. The grape yield and the wine production of the company had reached 350 tons and 150 tons by 2022, respectively.

Yangjen Lhamo, an employee at Sangri County Pakdrub Rorgshun Zhuangyuan, said she and her sister have worked at the company for years, and not only do they enjoy their toils and spoils (辛勤劳作) but the vineyards are located very close to home. “I earn nearly 6,000, yuan a month, and I am very pleased with my job,” she said. “Thanks to the good policies from the government, it is easy to have a better life if we work hard.

Eat or heat?

No more ironing, limited oven use and showering at work—Europeans are trying to keep energy use down but the bills still keep climbing. Costs of energy for British consumers will rise by 80% from October,    1     will take the average annual household bills to ￡3, 549. This makes the energy crisis severer than    2     of the 1970s and 1980s.

Keetley    3     (lose) his job as a council adviser in April and lives on ￡600 a month from a social security scheme. Half of that goes on rent, he said, with the remainder barely covering the     4       (essential). He now eats one meal a day and although he has reduced energy consumption to a minimum, he spends more than 15% of his income on energy bills. “    5     cost of living has increased and yet you are expected to live on the money    6     (provide) for when there wasn’t a crisis... I either can have my heating on or eat,” Keetley said.

A household is defined as living in fuel poverty if it is low income and needs to spend 10% or even    7       (much) of its income on energy, according to UK charity National Energy Action and other British charities. Experts agree that despite this     8       (be) a hard season, Europe will       9       (undoubted) make it through the winter, but the concern is    10     will happen next year.

8 . The price of milk may be going up. There was not enough rain in some parts of the country last year and the bad weather may mean that a gallon (加仑) of milk will cost 41 cents more after October 1st.

California already has high milk prices and the California court does not want the price to go any higher. High milk prices will be very hard for some people. Families with many children will have to spend more money to buy milk. The poor and older people without much money will also be hurt by higher prices.

The court said that more milk from other states should be sold in California as the price of milk from other states is not as high. Some states got enough rain so their costs did not go up. People will then be able to buy the cheaper milk, meaning that unless milk producers bring their milk prices down, their milk will not sell.

The drought (干旱) around the country has meant market forces are likely to push milk prices up by as much as 41-cent a gallon by October 1st. Experts said this decision by the Californian court could reduce (减少) the effect of the price rise here.

The 41-cent increase would add to California’s already high milk prices so California must allow more milk producers from outside the state to sell their products there. This would then lead to increased supplies (供应), which would, as a result, stop milk prices from increasing.

9 . Many workers have had no choice but to adapt to working from home in recent months since offices shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic (新冠疫情). And the noisy situation and endless housework may result in a terrible emotion. A new option is waiting for you. That is WFH: work from a hotel.

Hotel Figuero

A special program titled Work Perks aims to reposition some of 94-year-old Hotel Figuero’s 268 rooms as day-use offices.

According to Managing Director Connie Wang, the set-up launched in June and is a great opportunity to get out of their houses with high-speed Wi-Fi, unlimited printing privileges and free parking. The 350-square-foot rooms sell for $ 129 per day, with an option to extend to an overnight stay for an additional $ 20.

The Wythe

A boutique hotel in Brooklyn. The hotel recently announced a partnership with co-working office space company Industrious through which it is recycling 13 second-story guest rooms to serve as offices for up to four people.

Each of the rooms has a small outdoor platform, and dogs are welcome. Pricing starts at $ 200 and goes up to $ 275, depending on how many people use the space.

The Sawyer

The Sawyer, in Sacramento, California, is offering pool cabanas (更衣室) for use as outdoor offices, complete with fast Wi-Fi, free parking and catered lunch for $ 150 per day.

HotelsByDay

Yannis Moati founded HotelsByDay back in 2015. That company has grown to include more than 1,500 hotels, and has seen a significant increase in the number of inquiries for day-use bookings lately.

Moati said the current situation will force hotels to upgrade themselves to stay alive, and he predicted that offering rooms for day-use only is one of the directions they will go.