Pre-reading

Question: How many restaurants does McDonald’s have in Japan?

Intensive Reading

McDonald’s is a fast-food chain. The company has about 2,900 restaurants in Japan. Now, it has a big problem with potatoes.

麦当劳是一家快餐连锁店。该公司在日本有大约2900个门店。现在，它在土豆上遇到大问题了。

Japanese McDonald’s get potatoes from Canada. Now floods and snow storms are in Canada. Companies cannot transport the things which they make. The sea is dangerous. Ships must travel slowly. All these things mean that McDonald’s in Japan do not have enough potatoes.

日本麦当劳餐厅里的土豆供应来自加拿大。现在，加拿大出现了洪水和暴雪天气。企业无法运输其生产的产品。海洋上比较危险。货船必须缓慢行驶。这都意味着日本的麦当劳无法获得足够的土豆。

Now the company is selling only some fries. This situation will last one month. The same thing happens in December, too.

现在，麦当劳只出售少量薯条。这种情况将持续一个月。12月也曾发生同样的事情。

McDonald’s customers are not happy. The company sells its hamburgers for a lower price right now.

麦当劳的顾客很不满意。目前该公司已降价出售汉堡。

Notes:

1.fast-food chain：快餐连锁（店），指提供速食食物的连锁商家，如麦当劳、肯德基等。

2.snow storms：暴雪，类似表达还有rainstorm（暴雨），thunderstorm（雷雨，雷暴），均为可数名词。

3.transport：v. 运输，运送；指用交通工具运输某物。

4.customers：n. 顾客，客户；近义词consumer。

Exercise:

请根据文章内容，回答下述问题：

What causes short supply of potatoes in Japanese McDonald’s?