Little Luxuries

Fill the gaps with the words below. There are 26 gaps but 30 words, so there are 4 words you do not need to use.

Luxury goods are usually 1……………. that are rare, exotic and expensive. People 2……………. buying more and more luxury goods worldwide, but 3……………. luxury in the past the same as now? And who will buy luxury goods 4……………. the future?

In ancient Greece the typical 5……………. was fruit and cereals. For most people meat was a luxury and they 6……………. only eat it at religious celebrations, 7……………. it was a gift for the Gods. Fish was also a luxury and everyone knew the price 8……………. different types, so people could show how rich they were by the type of fish 9……………. bought. In 5th century Greece, eating a lot of fish or expensive fish meant 10……………. a person couldn’t control their desires. Athenians believed 11……………. you were out of control in one way, you were out of control in every way, so ‘fish lover’ became an insult.

In 17th century Holland, tulips became the 12……………. important luxury. At that time, most flowers were not 13……………. colourful, but tulips were. One particular tulip, ‘Semper Augustus’, was extremely beautiful 14……………. colourful. One tulip-lover in Amsterdam offered 3,000 guilders 15……………. one tulip bulb, which was about the yearly income of a rich merchant and about 16……………. the money Rembrandt received for one of his paintings. The price of a tulip bulb 17……………. up and up and in 1633, someone sold a farmhouse for three 18……………. tulip bulbs!

After World War Two in Europe, the middle classes wanted luxury goods, but they 19……………. afford large items, so smaller things 20……………. handbags, scarves, wallets and purses became luxury items and this is 21……………. true. For example, 90% of women in Japan 22……………. a designer handbag.

The luxury goods market is growing and is expected to be about £164 billion 23……………. the end of 2011. Now Chinese people buy 12% of luxury goods worldwide and 24……………. economists say that in 2020 they will probably buy 44% of all luxury goods, which means they 25……………. buy more luxury products then 26……………. the whole world buys now.