单选题 The nations biggest retailers reported strong sales during the last six months. During this period of strong sales, profits were weaker than usual. This state of affairs is unusual since or ordinary when sales increase, profits also increase. Which of the following, if true during the last six months, most helps to account for the unusual state of affairs described above?

A、 A decrease in interest rates allowed many retailers to increase their inventories without having to pay high interest that cut into profits
B、 Sales of women"s and children clothing were up by more than 20 percent while sales of men"s clothing were up by an insignificant amount
C、 Two of the largest independent retailers managed to buy their merchandise at lower prices
D、 The nation"s largest retailers attracted more customers by dramatically advertising the amount of money spent on advertising
E、 Many retailers raised prices in order to take advantage of the recent growth in consumer spending

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题在GRE机考中重考，只不过是把(D)放入段落并划线，然后问(D)的作用。要解释“国家最大的零售商的销售量增加，但是利润下降”的事实，就要找产生这个差异的原因，该事实是由“the nations biggest retailers”提出，因此，找差异原因时应紧紧围绕这个关键词进行寻找，本题的五个选项中只有(D)涉及了这个关键词，(D)指出“销售量增加利润”，而“下降起因于广告费的增加”，因此，(D)是正确答案。(A)、(B)、(C)和(E)都与国家最大的零售商无关，所以都是错误选项。