198.A factory was trying
out a new process for producing one of its products, with the goal of reducing
production costs. A trial production run using the new process showed a 15
percent reduction in costs compared with past performance using the standard
process. The production managers therefore concluded that the new process did
produce a cost savings.

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Which of the following, if true, casts
most doubt on the production manager’s conclusion?

(A) In the cost reduction project that
eventually led to the trial of the new process, production managers had initially
been seeking cost reductions of 50 percent.

(C) While the trial was being
conducted, production costs at the factory for a similar product, produced
without benefit of the new process, also showed a 15 percent reduction.

(D) Although some of the factory’s
managers have been arguing that the product is outdated and ought to be redesigned,
the use of the new production process does not involve any changes in the
finished product. C

(E) Since the new process differs from
the standard process only in the way in which the stage of production are organized
and ordered, the cost of the materials used in the product is the same in both
processes.

在试验进行的时候，该工厂的另一种相似产品的生产成本也下降了15％，但是这种商品的生产并未得益于新流程。

请指教