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Insect infestations in certain cotton-growing regions of the world have caused dramatic increases in the price of cotton on the world market.  By contrast, the price of soybeans has long remained stable.  Knowing that cotton plants mature quickly, many soybean growers in Ortovia plan to cease growing soybeans and begin raising cotton instead, thereby taking advantage of the high price of cotton to increase their income significantly, at least over the next several years.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the plan’s chances for success?

1. The cost of raising soybeans has increased significantly over the past several years and is expected to continue to climb.
2. Tests of a newly developed, inexpensive pesticide have shown it to be both environmentally safe and effective against the insects that have infested cotton crops.
3. In the past several years, there has been no sharp increase in the demand for cotton and for goods made out of cotton.
4. Few consumers would be willing to pay significantly higher prices for cotton goods than they are now paying.
5. The species of insect that has infested cotton plants has never been known to attack soybean plants.

这题选B。觉得很不可思意。

要削弱，就是说钟棉花不可行，种大豆可行。显然A指出了这种可能性，同时还征对文章提出的论据反驳（之所以去种棉花是因为其价格高，现在大豆价格也高了，所以没理由去钟棉花了）。

请NN指正。

A选项，种大豆的成本在过去几年里显著增加了，且有可能持续增加下去。

这不是削弱，因为大豆成本增加了，且大豆的售价稳定不变，所以种大豆的人会不种大豆而转种其他作物。

B选项，一项新发展起来的，不贵的杀虫剂测试显示它对环境安全和杀虫（那些在棉花作物中滋生的）功效都是很好的，所以棉花作物会因为没有病虫侵害而长得好，所以价格会下降。文中说，因为昆虫滋生导致棉花价格上升，没有昆虫，且杀虫剂不贵且有效，就导致价格下降，这样就不会再种棉花了，这是削弱。

刚接触CR，若有不当处请NN指正