【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】
the steep rise in the sale of personal computers over the past ten years是两方面的原因促成的：一是Intel chips的大范围使用(即文中的this success)；二是微软软件在市场的主导地位(dominance)。
[听力原文]<9>-<10>
Intel based in California has gone from strength to strength since launching the world's first microprocessor, the brains inside a computer a quarter of a century ago. More than 80% of computers now use Intel chips. This success combined with the dominance of the software provided by Microsoft has helped fuel the steep rise in the sale of personal computers seen over the past ten years. Intel profits in the first three months of this year were more than 1.9 billion dollars compared with just under 900 million over the same period in 1996. Intel is putting much of this down to the success of the MMX launched in January and the enhanced version of the Pentium processor and enabling better computer graphics and sound. But at the same time, Intel warned that revenue in the next three months would be flat and competition is becoming more fierce as smaller rivals in the United States launch chips reckoned to be just as efficient but cheaper.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】本题的答题关键在于理解．．．revenue in the next three months would be flat．．.特别是对flat的理解。