Passage 3
When it recently acquired former rival Holly Farms, Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, Inc. became the largest producer and marketer of pre-cooked chicken products in the United States. Before buying Holly Farms, Tyson's chicken production was strained as it attempted to keep up with the demands of its booming food-service business and the public's increasing preference for chicken. However, in addition to gaining Holly Farms 'pre-cooked chicken operation, Tyson has also inherited some of the same problems Holly Farms had with this type of product.
Over the last few years, as more health-conscious consumers sought diets lower in calories and cholesterol, the demand for chicken steadily rose. Because of this , and the growing demand for food that could be easily and quickly prepared at home, Holly Farms executives believed that their line of pre-cooked chicken products would be a great success. They did not anticipate the extensive distribution problems they would encounter. They also underestimated the high costs and waste invoIved with selling prepared foods.
The highest costs associated with pre-cooked chicken are distribution costs. One supermarket analyst refers to the distribution of fresh foods as a distribution "nightmare. "He contends that there is no way that fresh food producers can adequately support their products at the retail level.
Perishable prepared foods are expensive to produce (labor costs are tremendous), relatively expensive for the consumers to buy, and subject to spoilage loss. The biggest problem with pre-cooked chicken is its short shelf life. Grocery retailers are accustomed to ordering food products long in advance, warehousing the products, and then placing them on shelves as shelf-space availability dictates. Grocers who did not make proper adjustments when handling Holly Farms products began to lose much of the chicken to spoilage because it was stored too long in warehouses. So even though consumers seemed to like the products, quite a lot of supermarkets began to discontinue carrying them.
Holly Farms was trying to sell a popular consumer item that many supermarkets did not like. Also , since many supermarket chains are experimenting with their own versions of prepared chicken, some are not anxious to cooperate with Tyson in ironing out the distribution problems.
Tyson will need extensive interaction with retailers in order for its pre-cooked chicken line to be successful. Tyson may need to explore more advanced cooking technology that will enable its chicken products to have longer shelf lives. Tyson officials may have to rethink the entire distribution process set up by Holly Farms.
Para. 2 tells us all of the following EXCEPT that ______。
A、in recent years more and more consumers were concerned with their health
B、chicken was considered to be a low-calorie food with less cholesterol
C、Holly Farms executives were confident of the success of their pre-cooked chicken products
D、Holly Farms executives were well aware of the problems they may encounter
【正确答案】：D
【名师解析】:选项D表示Holly Farms的高管们完全意识到他们可能遇到的问题。然而，根据第二段的内容，Holly Farms的高管们相信他们的预煮鸡肉产品将会非常成功，但他们并没有预见到他们将遇到的广泛的分销问题。他们还低估了销售预制食品的高成本和浪费。因此，选项D与文章内容不符，正确答案是D。
