Task 1

After reading the Wall Street Journal article below, please complete the two questions at the end.

Unilever Price Rises Herald Brexit Pain for British Consumers

The decline in sterling is pushing up prices and threatening the purchasing power of British households

LONDON?Consumer-products giant Unilever UL 0.37% PLC is raising its U.K. prices for everything from mayonnaise to shampoo after months of more-discreet increases amid a Brexit-triggered currency rout that is threatening Britons' buying power.

Unilever is asking its top grocery retailers here for price increases of 10% on average, according to people familiar with the matter. That demand set the stage for a brief public standoff with TescoTSCDY -0.35% PLC, Britain's biggest grocer. Tesco, which also is one of the world's largest retailers, on Wednesday began removing Unilever brands from its website after refusing to accept the higher prices. Late Thursday, Unilever said "the supply situation with Tesco in the U.K. and Ireland has now been successfully resolved." It gave no details.

Unilever confirmed on Thursday it has asked most of its sellers to pay higher prices for brands such as Hellmann's mayonnaise, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It also makes Marmite, a popular spread. It cited rising commodity costs in dollars, which?coupled with the sharp decline in the pound?have raised the cost of imported ingredients. The Anglo-Dutch company, the world's second-largest consumer goods maker after Procter & Gamble Co. , didn't detail its pricing demands.

"The price increases have landed," said Unilever finance chief Graeme Pitkethly on a call with analysts on Thursday.

It was unclear whether currency costs already have been passed along to consumers in Britain's ultracompetitive grocery market?or whether they ever will be. U.K. national chains have engaged in costly price wars for years, fighting each other and a band of ultra-low-price discounters for market share. If other consumer-goods giants, such as P&G and Mondelez International Inc., don't follow suit, shoppers would enjoy plenty of options for brands that keep budgets in check.

Low, Low Prices-For Now U.K. food prices have been deflating for two years, but the Brexit-driven plunge of the pound has them beginning to edge higher. U.K. Consumer Price Inflation 12% W After Brexit referendum 8 4 Aug. 2016 All items 0 0.6% Food w -2.2% 4 2008 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Source: U.K. Office of National Statistics THE WALL STREET JOURNAL