An American manufacturer of space heaters reported a 1994 fourth-quarter net income (total income minus total costs) of $41 million, compared with $28.3 million in the fourth quarter of 1993. This increase was realized despite a drop in U.S. domestic retail sales of space-heating units toward the end of the fourth quarter of 1994 as a result of unusually high temperatures.
Which of the following, if true, would contribute most to an explanation of the increase in the manufacturer’s net income ？（）
A. In the fourth quarter of 1994, the manufacturer paid its assembly-line workers no salaries in November or December because of a two-month-long strike, but the company had a sufficient stock of space-heating units on hand to supply its distributors.
B. In 1993, because of unusually cold weather in the Northeast, the federal government authorized the diversion of emergency funding for purchasing space-heating units to be used in the hardest-hit areas.
C. Foreign manufacturers of space heaters reported improved fourth-quarter sales in the American market compared with their sales in 1993.
D. During the fourth quarter of 1994, the manufacturer announced that it would introduce an extra-high-capacity space heater in the following quarter.
E. In the third quarter of 1994, a leading consumer magazine advocated space heaters as a cost-effective way to heat spaces of less than 100 square feet.
