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            • 1． Tourists visiting Brazil for the World Cup are advised to pack a bathing suit, sunscreen, and a whole lot of cash. Home to some of the world’s most expensive restaurants and hotels, and with some prices rising more as the opening match approaches,Brazil will shock those visitors whose idea of a tropical paradise is paying $1 for a beachside beer.
                   Instead, Brazil is often the land of the $10 caipirinha, a local drink, the $100 risotto（意大利炖饭）and the $1,000-a-night hotel room, prices fueled by many of the same imbalances and government policies that have restrained economic growth in recent years. Even by European and U.S. standards, such prices for basic items are often staggering.
                   In Sao Paulo, a bustling business hub that is surrounded by some of the country’s largest coffee farms, a coffee often costs twice as much as in Lisbon, says Paulo Duarte, a pharmaceutical consultant who splits time between both cities. “It’s absurd,”Duarte said. “We’re talking about one
              country that produces coffee and another that imports it.”
                   High prices are nothing new inBrazil. The country has a long history of economic instability and runaway inflation (通货膨胀), which topped 2,400 percent a year as recently as 1993. Inflation these days is much more manageable, running at about 6 percent a year, though that is still high by international standards.Sao Paulo, for example, is the most expensive city in theAmericasand the 19th most expensive in the world, ahead ofNew YorkandLondon, according to a recent survey by the Mercer consulting firm.Riois among the world’s 30 most expensive cities.
                   One reason prices are so steep is that the cost of doing business is so high, thanks to a mix of taxes, import tariffs (关税), bureaucracy and poor infrastructure that can make Brazil a difficult place to operate. Economists have a name for that: “Custo Brasil,” or “Brazil Cost.” It can make goods manufactured 30 percent more expensive than those produced abroad, according to a study by the industry federation ofRio de Janeiro.
                   Even for tourists with some money to burn, creative solutions are often called for. Dimitar Bogdanov and Simeon Vassilev, a Hungarian couple who visited Rio de Janeiro for the first time early this year, paid $100 for a risotto at one of the city’s chic (别致的) restaurants. But they decided to change their big night plans, and managed to spend “only” $30 at a per-kilo buffet place where you pay by the weight of your serving. “Some things are way overpriced but some others are cheap compared to Europe,” Bogdanov said, recommending that tourists spend on Brazil’s famous rubber flip-flops, which can retail for $24 overseas but cost as little as $8 here.
                   Sometimes, though, there’s no getting around the problem, especially when it comes to the World Cup. The average hotel cost for the night of the final on July 13 inRiois 816 reais ($371), according to Trivago, a website that compares prices on over 190 booking websites. One two-star bed and breakfast in Copacabana is charging 2,000 reais ($909) for a small, poorly furnished room for that one night. By comparison, an 80-minute flight between New York and Washington under the same conditions costs as little as $167.
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