But you still have producers holding back corn supplies, even though hoarding is forbidden by law. In Stratford in
1597 seventy-five townsmen are found guilty of hoarding
corn Worse than this, "engrossers" buy up all the
local supply of an important commodity, such as eggs or
butter, in order to drive up the price. In the 1590s certain
unscrupulous businessmen buy up to twenty thousand
pounds of butter-and this is disastrous because it is an
important part of people's diet. Combined with hoarding,
this has dramatic consequences for the poor. In some
places the famine of 1594-97 proves as deadly as the
plague of 1563.
-- The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England,
Ian Mortimer
Which statement best describes the interaction of
central ideas in this passage?
O The passage shows that when people purposely
controlled the food supply, the poor were affected
the worst
The passage shows that people did not know how
to share with one another, which caused a
shortage in butter
The passage shows that businessmen bought and
sold food, which caused food prices to lower.