Alright, let's dissect this situation. Country B wants to use ethanol as an alternative to foreign oil. The passage tells us they've got enough ethanol from agricultural by-products to meet their current energy demand. The goal is to see under what conditions this plan might succeed.
Here’s the plan, in simple terms: "We don’t have enough oil. Let's use our ethanol (which we have enough of) in cars to reduce how much foreign oil we need."
Now, let's evaluate our answer choices:
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(A) Electric power is not a superior alternative to ethanol in supplementing automobile gasoline consumption.
This choice relates to another alternative (electricity), but the passage focuses on ethanol. Even if electricity was superior, it wouldn’t directly impact the ethanol plan.
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(B) In Country B, domestic production of ethanol is increasing more quickly than domestic oil production.
While this is a positive sign for the plan, it's not critical. The passage already tells us that they produce enough ethanol to meet current demand. It doesn't rely on the growth rate.
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(C) Ethanol is suitable for the heating of homes and other applications aside from automobiles.
This talks about other uses of ethanol, but the passage specifically discusses using ethanol for automobiles. We're not concerned with other applications here.
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(D) In Country B, gasoline consumption is not increasing at a substantially higher rate than domestic oil and ethanol production.
Now, this is important! If gasoline consumption rapidly increases and surpasses the combined production of domestic oil and ethanol, then Country B would still depend on foreign oil. This assumption is vital for the plan to work.
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(E) Ethanol is as efficient as gasoline in terms of mileage per gallon when used as fuel for automobiles.
While efficiency is a concern for consumers, this doesn’t directly impact the country's dependence on foreign oil. Even if ethanol was less efficient, the main goal is to replace foreign oil, not to ensure efficiency.
Therefore, the most crucial assumption to ensure Country B's success in reducing dependence on foreign oil is:
(D) In Country B, gasoline consumption is not increasing at a substantially higher rate than domestic oil and ethanol production.
I hope that clears things up! The future of Country B's energy seems intriguing! 🚗💨🌽