2 . UK taxpayers will pay tens of millions of pounds towards the cost of the King’s coronation.     1    , including fans of the royals, who feel the expense particularly upset.

    2    , which has stood above 10% in March, down slightly from the month prior, but still far higher than in the United States and Europe.

    3    . They were rising at their fastest rate in more than 45 years in March as high input and labor costs have hurt domestic producers, and as a weaker pound has made imports more expensive.

The strain has pushed record numbers of people toward the UK’s legions of food banks providing free groceries as wages have failed to keep pace with inflation.

The Trussell Trust, which distributes groceries to about 1,200 food banks, said last week that its network had handed out nearly 3 million emergency food parcels in the year to the end of March.    4    , and a 37% rise on the previous 12-month period.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented rise in the number of people coming to the food bank.    5    .” Brian Thomas, chief executive at South Tyneside Foodbank, located in England’s northeast, said in a statement.

Demand for the world’s     1     (smell) fruit has soared 400%, fueled by China’s ‘craze’ . Some say it’s sticky-sweet, others say it smells like socks. Love it or hate it, the appetite for durians is growing     2     (greed) — especially in China. Global demand for polarizing fruit soared 400% year-on-year, according to HSBC which said it’s accelerated by a “craze” for the fruit in China. “Contrary     3     global trends, durian demand is surging by 400% year-on-year     4     (lead) almost solely by a craze in China.”, a report released by the bank on Monday said.

Over the past two years, China     5     (import) $6billion worth of durians - accounting for 91% of global demand, HSBC’s ASEAN economist Aris Dacanay said in the report. The “durian boom” is largely concentrated in China. Chinese consumers view it not only as a fruit but also as a great gift,     6     the receiver see the giver’s wealth from at once. Additionally, it has become more common in China     7     (include) durians as part of customary gifts to friends and relatives upon engagement (订婚) . While the boom in China’s durian demand started as early as 2017, the uptick only picked up from late 2022, according to data from HSBC. The “king of fruits” sells for more than $10 a kilo in China, compared to     8     average of around $6 a kilo across Southeast Asian countries. And the main supplier of this surge     9     demand lies in ASEAN,     10     (account) for 90% of the world’s durian exports in 2022. Thailand alone makes up 99% of total durian exports in the 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Luckin Coffee has joined forces with Kweichow Moutai,     1     (represent) of Chinese sauce-flavor liquor, for an unusual offering: alcoholic lattes.

The latte, packaged with an iconic Moutai label and     2     (contain) less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume of 53 degrees Moutai, soon became one of the most     3    (discuss) topics on Chinese social media.

An employee with Luckin Coffee said the special latte made up most of the orders at her shop. "It seems that people prefer iced latte, so we quickly used     4     the ice at the branch. The number of orders was scary, nearly all of them being the Moutai-flavored latte.”

Though the drink has become a hit, many users wondered if it was safe to consume. “     5     (basic) underage people, pregnant women, drivers and those who are allergic to alcohol are advised not to order the drink, despite Luckin’s     6     (commit) to adding less than 0.5 percent alcohol.” Zhu Danpeng, a food industry analyst, said.

He also pointed out, “the launch comes as Kweichow Moutai,     7     alcohol sells at an average market guide price of 1,499 yuan,     8     (seek) ways to be more accessible and pull in a new generation of users for years”.   Apart from Moutai ice cream, the new drink is the latest effort by Moutai     9     (diversify) its offerings.

By working with Luckin Coffee, which surpasses Starbucks as the largest coffee house operator in China, Moutai has also made its brand younger and has generated more opportunities to develop its    10     (extend) product portfolio (产品组合) for younger consumers in the future．

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.