Government sells rice to lower prices

Nick's ESL News Lessons

A printable worksheet for news-based English conversation classes.

Date: 2025/03/11

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: Government sells rice to lower prices

Vocabulary Match

stockpile •• sellers
distributors •• fix
bid •• storage
resolve •• offer
bottleneck •• problem
distribution •• supply

Vocabulary Answers

stockpilestorage
distributorssellers
bidoffer
resolvefix
bottleneckproblem
distributionsupply

Article

The government is selling 150,000 tons of rice from its emergency stockpile to lower high rice prices. This is the first time they are doing this just to reduce prices. Usually, the stockpile is saved for emergencies like bad harvests or natural disasters. The rice will be available in stores by the end of the month.

Distributors who buy more than 5,000 tons of rice per year can bid to buy this rice. The highest bidders will get the rice first. Agriculture Minister Taku Eto said, "We have enough rice, but the price is double." He added, "We will do our best to resolve the bottleneck in the distribution chain."

The government always keeps 1 million tons of rice in storage for emergencies.

Quiz

  1. Why is the government selling rice from its stockpile?
  2. When will the rice be available in stores?
  3. Who can bid to buy the rice?
  4. How much rice does the government keep in storage for emergencies?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. To lower high rice prices.
  2. By the end of the month.
  3. Distributors who buy more than 5,000 tons of rice per year.
  4. 1 million tons.

Conversation

A:Did you hear the government is selling rice to lower prices?
B:Yes, I did! I hope it helps. Rice is so expensive now.
A:I know, right? I can't wait for the prices to drop.
B:Me too! I wonder who will get to buy the rice first.
A:The highest bidders, I think.
B:Let's hope they pass on the savings to us!

Discussion

  1. What is your favorite rice dish?
  2. Have you ever tried bidding for something?
  3. How do you think rice prices affect people?
  4. What would you do if you had a million tons of rice?

Source Material

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/03/10/japan/government-rice-stockpile-bidding/

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