单选题 Consumers in California seeking personal loans have fewer banks to turn to than do consumers elsewhere in the United States. This shortage of competition among banks explains why interest rates on personal loans in California are higher than in any other region of the United States.
Which of the following, if true, most substantially weakens the conclusion above?

A、 Because of the comparatively high wages they must pay to attract qualified workers, California banks charge depositors more than banks elsewhere do for many of the services they offer.
B、 Personal loans are riskier than other types of loans, such as home mortgage loans, that banks make.
C、 Since bank deposits in California are covered by the same type of insurance that guarantees bank deposits in other parts of the United States, they are no less secure than deposits elsewhere.
D、 The proportion of consumers who default on their personal loans is lower in California than in any other region of the United States.
E、 (E) Interest rates paid by California banks to depositors are lower than those paid by banks in other parts of the United States because in California there is less competition to attract depositors.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 本题读题重点也是段落最后一句话，其推理关系为缺乏竞争一贷款利率高，实际上，我们发现“缺乏竞争”是对“贷款利率高”的解释，暗含其是惟一原因。反对多用“有他因”的思路。(A)指出是由于加州的服务成本高而导致贷款利率高，所以(A)正确；(B)是在“personal loans”与“other types of loans”之间做了无关比较，且上面推理并未涉及“other types of loans”；(E)易误选，但(E)表明加州银行向储户支付的利率低，说明其成本低，但成本低应导致贷款利率低才对，这与“贷款利率高”的事实不符，而事实一般不能反对，所以(E)不对。