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Hi Folks,

Let's apply the Kaplan method here.

Step 1: Identify the Question Type. The word 'explain' gives it away--this is an Explain question. That means that we are not dealing with an argument--there is no evidence, assumption, or conclusion. Rather, we have two facts that appear to contradict--and that's what we'll look for.

Step 2: Untangle the Stimulus. This is a tricky prompt, and there seems to be some trouble understanding it. The prompt references "the cost per gallon of gasoline at which it would become more economical to operate an electric car than a regular gas-powered". And this point has nothing do do with the actual price of gas!

Although picking numbers is usually a math strategy, it can also be useful in situations like this to illustrate a complex stimulus. In this case, let's imagine that an electric car costs $5000 more than a gas car. And let's imagine that the electric burns 1000 gallons less fuel over its lifetime.

If gas costs $5/gallon, then these to cars are a financial wash. The $5000 you spent on the electric car is exactly canceled by the $5 * 1000 dollars you save on gasoline. On the other hand, gas at $4 means you lose money on an electric car, and gas at $6 means you save money with an electric car. In other words, the actual value of gas is completely irrelevant to the prompt itself--we're talking about a hypothetical price that tells us which car is more efficient!

So now that we've decoded the prompt, we can paraphrase it--or, specifically, paraphrase the contradiction. In this case, we know two things: that electric cars have improved in an absolute sense, but that price point remains the same. Thus, our paraphrase is

"The efficiency of electric cars has improved in absolute terms, but it hasn't improved relative to gas-powered cars."

Step 3: Predict an Answer

Once we've boiled it down to these terms, the answer should jump out at us. How could electric cars improve in efficiency, but still not be better than gas cars? The gas cars must be getting better too!

Step 4: Evaluate the answer choices.

So now we know what we're looking for: something that shows how gas-powered cars are becoming more efficient. With that prediction in mind, (C) stands out as the best match and the correct answer.