Q7 - If grain prices double then

[hyewonkim89]

I got this questions right but still struggled to eliminate (B).

I picked (C) because it explained the difference between the cost of the bread and the cost of grain-fed beef whereas (B) only mentions wholesale prices of the two.

Will someone give me a better explanation for eliminating (B)?

Thanks in advance!

[zee.brad]

I got this questions right but still struggled to eliminate (B).

I picked (C) because it explained the difference between the cost of the bread and the cost of grain-fed beef whereas (B) only mentions wholesale prices of the two.

Will someone give me a better explanation for eliminating (B)?

Thanks in advance!

B doesn't really explain the phenomenon. We r asked to explain why beef price almost doubled while bread only rise 10-15%. Even B is the case, we cannot really explain it. Beef is way more expensive than bread so what? Any idea why grain prices affect beef more than bread? No. But C gives a reason, because grain only takes a tiny part in the cost of making bread while it takes huge chunk of cost of producing beef, so grain price increases didn't affect bread as much as beef.

[rinagoldfield]

Great conversation!

This is an explain-a-result question, so we first want to identify the paradox. Here we want to understand why the price of bread would rise 10-15% while the price of grain-fed beef would double following a spike in grain price. Only one answer choice will resolve this paradox; the others will be irrelevant or undermine the paradox.

(A) and (D) only address beef, and say nothing about bread. (A) and (D) are irrelevant.

(B) is tempting, since it addresses both bread and beef. However, we could interpret (B) as undermining the paradox. It suggests that the price of beef is directly proportional to the price of bread. Put another way, Beef = 10Bread. However, in our paradox, the price of bread and beef are NOT directly proportional to one another. The price of beef skyrockets when the price of bread inches upward.

(C) explains the paradox. (C) suggests that grain forms a huge part of the cost of producing beef but forms only a small fraction of the cost of producing bread. It makes sense, then, that an uptick in the price of grain would affect the beef industry more than the bread industry.

(E) also addresses both grain and beef, but is irrelevant. It discusses where retailers buy their grain and beef but fails to discuss the costs associated with each product.

Hope this helps.