Escalating worldwide demand for corn has led to a sharp increase in the market price of corn, and corn prices are likely to remain high. Corn is extensive used as feed for livestock, and because profit margins are tight in the livestock business, many farmers are expected to leave the business. With fewer suppliers, meat prices will surely rise. Nonetheless, observers expect an immediate long-term decrease in meat prices.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to justify the observers’ expectation?

1. The increase in corn prices is due more to a decline in the supply of corn than to a growth in demand for it.
2. Generally, farmers who are squeezed out of the livestock business send their livestock to market much earlier than they otherwise would.
3. Some people who ate meat regularly in the past are converting to diets that include little or no meat.
4. As meat prices rise, the number of livestock producers is likely to rise again.
5. Livestock producers who stay in the business will start using feed other than corn more extensively than they did in the past.

up D

觉得E不一定成立，并没有任何证据证明换成别的feed可以降低成本

d是依据短期的预测，肉价会上涨。那么肉价上涨必然会导致有新的人加入行业，从而在long-term 导致肉价再一次的下降

望指正