Bunuel wrote:
When first presented on the market, the now-ubiquitous microwave oven was anything but a hit with consumers. Percy Spencer, an employee with Raytheon who discovered the potential for cooking with microwaves, first presented the Radarange in 1947, a massive oven that weighed over 700 pounds and was around six feet tall. Over the next few years, Raytheon made some minor improvements to the microwave oven but was unable to elicit a positive reception from the public. It was not until Raytheon’s competitor Litton began developing microwave ovens of its own in the 1960s that the public embraced the new technology on a wide scale. Litton’s new oven jumpstarted the craze for microwaves and by 1975 about a million of them were in American homes.
Which of the following, if true, best provides an explanation for why Litton was more successful at selling microwave ovens in the United States than Raytheon?
(A) Litton marketed the microwave oven at a large trade show in Chicago, thereby gaining more consumers through publicity.
(B) Litton expanded its marketing to Japan, where the microwave ovens proved to be very popular.
(C) Litton made the microwave so popular that more than 90% of families in the U.S. now have a microwave.
(D) Litton’s model redesigned the microwave oven to its now-familiar compact size, so that it was affordable and fit easily into a kitchen.
(E) Litton had long been developing the technology for microwave ovens and had surpassed the technology used by Raytheon.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Overview: Question provides information about the origins of the microwave oven, explaining Percy Spencer’s role in its invention and its subsequent development by Raytheon. The passage gives details about Raytheon’s original model, and notes that the company was never able to attract a wide consumer audience to its Radarange microwave oven. However, in the 1960s, the Litton company began developing and marketing microwave ovens, with immediate success. The question asks students to consider which of the answer choices best explains the reason for Litton’s commercial success, in contrast to Raytheon’s lack of success.
The Correct Answer:D In the middle of the passage, the author notes that Raytheon’s Radarange model of the microwave oven was a large, heavy appliance for which general, consumers had little interest. Answer choice (D) indicates that the Litton company developed a far more compact oven that is still familiar today. Given the size of the Radarange and the negative public response, it is reasonable that consumers were far more interested in a small oven that could fit easily into a kitchen. Therefore, answer choice (D) is the best answer.
The Incorrect Answers:A The fact that Litton marketed its new oven at a trade show in Chicago might very well have contributed to the public awareness of the oven, but there is nothing within the passage to suggest that Raytheon did not do something similar. The best answer choice, therefore, indicates a reason for why consumers would clearly choose one over the other within the context of the passage, so answer choice (A) cannot be correct.
B The question specifically asks why Litton was more successful at selling microwave ovens in the U.S., so information about the response in Japan is irrelevant. Answer choice (B) can be eliminated at once.
C That Litton’s model made the microwave oven a popular appliance with American families, and that more than 90% of American families own microwaves today merely adds to the information in the paragraph and proves that Litton was very successful. It does not, however, explain why Litton was more successful than Raytheon. So, answer choice (C) cannot be correct.
E Answer choice (E) is tempting, because it indicates that Litton might have had better technology than Raytheon, and that the public responded by purchasing Litton’s oven instead of Raytheon’s. There is nothing in the passage to suggest, however, that Raytheon’s technology was flawed or inferior – only that Raytheon’s model was large and cumbersome. Thus answer choice (E) requires inferences that cannot reasonably be drawn from the passage, and it cannot be correct.
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