The value of a product is determined by the ratio of its quality to its price. The higher the value of a product, the better will be its competitive position. Therefore, either increasing the quality or lowering the price of a given product will increase the likelihood that consumer will select that product rather than a competing one.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn above
A．It is possible to increase both the quality and the price of a product without changing its competitive position.
B．For certain segments of the population of consumers, higher-priced brands of some product lines are preferred to the lower-priced brands.
C．Competing products often try to appeal to different segments of the population of consumers.
D．The competitive position of a product can be affected by such factors as advertising and brand loyalty.
E．(E) Consumers’ perceptions of the quality of a product are based on the actual quality of the product.
参考答案：E
解析： 本题实际上就是在考单词。(E)选项中的the actual quality=value，与段落的第一句话“The value of product is determined by the ratio of its quality to its price”结合，可以很好地支持上述结论；(A)符合常识，似为真理，但与上面段落推理无关，所以不能支持段落推理的结论；(B)起到部分反对作用；(D)指出“广告与品牌忠实程度”这些其他原因可影响产品的竞争地位，所以反对了上面的结论，因此(D)也不正确。