58. Some people say that the
scarcity of food is a function of the finite limits of the earth’s resources,
coupled with a relentless rate of population growth. This analysis fails to
recognize, however, that much of the world’s agricultural resources are used to
feed livestock instead of people. In the LACE w:st="on">United StatesLACE>, for example, almost
one-half of the agricultural acreage is devoted to crops fed to livestock. A
steer reduces twenty-one pounds of inexpensive grain to one pound of expensive
meat. Thus, the scarcity of food is not merely a function of limited resources
and population growth.

Which one of the following is an
assumption that would allow the conclusion in the argument to be properly
drawn? 答案：E

(A) People prefer eating meat to
eating grain.

(B) Meat is twenty-one times more
expensive than grain.

(C) The limits of the earth’s
agricultural resources are not finite.

(D) More than one-half of the
agricultural acreage in the LACE w:st="on">United
StatesLACE> is devoted to drops fed to humans.

(E) Growing crops for human
consumption on the acreage currently devoted to crops for livestock will yield
more food for more people.