In this task, you're given a statement and three sentences as choices. Your job is to determine the neutral choice based on your inference from the statement and your commonsense knowledge. The neutral choice is a sentence that neither agrees nor disagrees with the statement. Indicate your answer as '1', '2', or '3', corresponding to the choice number of the selected sentence. If sentence X agrees with sentence Y, one's correctness follows from the other one. If sentence X disagrees with sentence Y, they can not be correct at the same time.

Statement: What it does mean, though, is that commoditization does its work not by becoming a reality (which would entail ever-shrinking margins and stagnant stock prices) but by remaining a perpetually present threat. Choices: 1. Commoditization works for industrialized nations not by being a reality but by being a threat. 2. Commoditization works not by being a reality but by being a threat. 3. Commoditization works not by being a threat but by being a reality.
1

Statement: About half of it, however, is out of bounds to all but the military, but that still leaves huge areas of sand and surf. Choices: 1. The entire beach is open to the public. 2. The sand is a bright white. 3. Half of the area is off limits to the general public.
2

Statement: It felt as thick as soup and he had to breathe shallowly. Choices: 1. The air was clean and crisp and he took deep breathes. 2. The thick air made it very difficult for him to breathe. 3. He took small breathes because it was so thick.

2