Of the ＄1，311family food bill in1972，middlement received＄790，which was 33 per cent more than they had received in 1959.It appears that the middlemen’s profit has increased more than farmer’s. But some economists claim that the middleman’s actual profit was very low. According to economists at the First National City Bank，the profit for meat packers and food stores amounted to less than one per cent. During the same period all other manufacturers were making a profit of more than 5 per cent. 42)____.

　　43)

　　Vegetables and chicken cost more when they have been cut into pieces by someone other than the one who buys it. A family should expect to pay more when several “TV dinners” are taken home from the store. These are fully cooked meals，consisting of meat，vegetables，and sometimes desert，all arranged on a metal dish. The dish is put into the oven and heated while the housewife is doing something else. Such a convenience costs money. 44)____.

　　Economists remind us that many modern housewives have jobs outside the home.They earn money that helps to pay the family food bills. The housewife naturally has less time and energy for cooking after a day’s work. She wants to buy many kinds of food that can be put on her family’s table easily and quickly. 45)____

　　It appears that the answer to the question of rising prices is not a simple one.Producers，consumers，and middlemen all share the responsibility for the sharp rise in food costs.

　　[A] Thus，as economists point out: “Some of the basic reasons for widening food price spreads are easily traceable to the increasing use of convenience foods，which transfer much of the time and work of meal preparation from the kitchen to the food processor’s plant.”

　　[B] They are among the “middlemen” who stand between the farmer and the people who buy and eat the food. Are middlemen the ones to blame for rising food prices?

　　[C] “If the housewife wants all of these. ”the economists say，“that is her privilege，but she must be prepared to pay for the services of those who make her work easier.”

　　[D] Who then is actually responsible for the size of the bill a housewife must pay before she carries the food home from the store? The economists at First National City Bank have an answer to give housewives，but many people will not like it. These economists blame the housewife herself for the jump in food prices. They say that food costs more now because women don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen. Women prefer to buy food which has already been prepared before it reaches the market.

　　[E] However，some economists believe that controls can have negative effects over a long period of time. In cities with rent control，the city government sets the maximum rent that a landlord（房主）can charge for an apartment.

　　[F] Economists do not agree on some of the predictions. They also do not agree on

　　the value of different decisions. Some economists support a particular decision while others criticize it.