prep2-78,82

两道新PREP上的题

82.   (33511-!-item-!-188;#058&007598)

Technological improvements and reduced equipment costs have made converting solar energy directly into electricity far more cost-efficient in the last decade.  However, the threshold of economic viability for solar power (that is, the price per barrel to which oil would have to rise in order for new solar power plants to be more economical than new oil-fired power plants) is unchanged at thirty-five dollars.

Which of the following, if true, does most to help explain why the increased cost-efficiency of solar power has not decreased its threshold of economic viability?

A. The cost of oil has fallen dramatically.

B. The reduction in the cost of solar-power equipment has occurred despite increased raw material costs for that equipment.

C. Technological changes have increased the efficiency of oil-fired power plants.

D. Most electricity is generated by coal-fired or nuclear, rather than oil-fired, power plants.

E. When the price of oil increases, reserves of oil not previously worth exploiting become economically viable.

78.   (32009-!-item-!-188;#058&006754)

Kitchen magazine plans to license the use of its name by a line of cookware.  For a magazine, licensing the use of its name for products involves some danger, since if the products disappoint consumers, the magazine's reputation suffers, with consequent reductions in circulation and advertising.  However, experts have evaluated the cookware and found it superior to all other cookware advertised in Kitchen.  Therefore, Kitchen can collect its licensing fee without endangering its other revenues.

The argument above assumes which of the following?

A. No other line of cookware is superior to that which will carry the Kitchen name.

B. Kitchen will not license the use of its name for any products other than the line of cookware.

C. Makers of cookware will not find Kitchen a less attractive advertising vehicle because the magazine's name is associated with a competing product.

D. Consumers who are not regular readers of Kitchen magazine will be attracted to the cookware by the Kitchen name.

E. Kitchen is one of the most prestigious cooking-related magazines.

求高人解释。