gmatnmein2010 wrote:As a result of consumers' increased awareness of the health risks associated with heavy consumption of red meat, the meat of the ostrich has become increasingly popular as a low-fat, low-cholesterol alternative to beef. Accordingly, the number of ostrich farms in the United States has nearly quadrupled since 1980, flooding markets with ostrich products. However, the price-per-pound of ostrich meat, adjusted for inflation, has not decreased at all over the past several years.
Which of the following, if true, would best explain the steady price-per-pound of ostrich meat?


1)The demand for ostrich products has outpaced the supply.
hold it

2)Ostriches are especially difficult to breed in captivity.
difficulty of breeding ostriches is not relevant to the market price

3)Other types of meat, such as pork and poultry, have decreased in price over the past several years.
If other types of meat have decreased in price, one might expect that ostrich meat would decrease as well to remain competitive.


4)Purveyors of beef have not attempted to counter beef's poor public image.
does not resolve the issue of why the price of ostrich meat has remained steady despite an abundant supply


5)The number of supermarkets that carry ostrich meat has increased steadily since 1980.
the price of the meat would decrease.

IMO A

though the demand for ostrich meat has increased the price per pound of ostrich meat is still the same. we need to explain this discrepancy.

1)The demand for ostrich products has outpaced the supply. [correct. if the demand has outpaced the supply, then there is a shortage and hence the price of the ostrich meat has not decreased. ]


2)Ostriches are especially difficult to breed in captivity. [let them be difficult to breed. but this does not talk about the cost factor involved. Eliminated]


3)Other types of meat, such as pork and poultry, have decreased in price over the past several years. [let any product decrease in price, how does this affect ostrich meat price? we are concerned abt only O meat. what happens to other types of meat is not our concern. Eliminated!]


4)Purveyors of beef have not attempted to counter beef's poor public image. [that is theie problem! why should that affect ostrich meat price. Eliminated!]


5)The number of supermarkets that carry ostrich meat has increased steadily since 1980.[now does this address our concer at all? let supermarkets increase, but how about the supply to these markets? that is important to explain this discrepancy. Eliminated!]

Hope this helps!

gmatnmein2010 wrote:As a result of consumers' increased awareness of the health risks associated with heavy consumption of red meat, the meat of the ostrich has become increasingly popular as a low-fat, low-cholesterol alternative to beef. Accordingly, the number of ostrich farms in the United States has nearly quadrupled since 1980, flooding markets with ostrich products. However, the price-per-pound of ostrich meat, adjusted for inflation, has not decreased at all over the past several years.
Which of the following, if true, would best explain the steady price-per-pound of ostrich meat?


1)The demand for ostrich products has outpaced the supply.


2)Ostriches are especially difficult to breed in captivity.


3)Other types of meat, such as pork and poultry, have decreased in price over the past several years.


4)Purveyors of beef have not attempted to counter beef's poor public image.


5)The number of supermarkets that carry ostrich meat has increased steadily since 1980.

We have to consider only 'price' of Ostrich meat to resolve the discrepancy. Only Answer choice (A) talks about price. If the demand for ostrich beef has outpaced the supply it means demand is more and supply is less. When this happens, price does not decrease. The discrepancy is resolved !!!

All the other answer choices talk about things 'other than' price of meat. Hence Eliminated.