<p>Could someone help me out with these?</p>
<p>"Mechanical pencils rule," my fifteen-year-old grandniece, Genevieve, declared when I invited her to be her generation's voice on school supplies. "Nobody sharpens anymore." Then, continuing with a fashion maven's hyperbole and arbitrary imperatives, she gave up a passionate disquisition on types of clickers, new grips, smaller lead sizes, and other niceties of pencil selection. As she consigned the yellow-painted wooden pencil to the wastebasket of history, I felt a rush of nostalgia for the perfumed sharpener shavings of my youth.</p>
<p>In lines 4-5, the author refers to a "fashion maven's" tone primarily in order to
(A) imply that Genevieve has only a superficial appreciation of mechanical pencils
(B) suggest that Genevieve is excessively concerned about her clothing
(C) illustrate some of the exaggerated claims made by mechanical pencil manufacturers
(D) emphasize the unpredictability of trends in consumer states
(E) indicate that Genevieve expresses her opinions with authority and flair</p>
<p>I chose E, but the answer is C.</p>
<p>Black holes are the most efficient engines of destruction known to humanity. Their intense gravity is a one-way ticket to oblivion, and material spiraling into them can heat up to millions of degrees and glow brightly. Yet, they are not all-powerful. Even supermassive black holes are minuscule by cosmic standards. They typically account for less than one percent of their galaxy's mass. Accordingly, astronomers long assumed that supermassive holes, let alone their smaller cousins, would have little effect beyond their immediate neighborhoods. So it has come as a surprise over the past decade that black hole activity is closely intertwined with star formation occurring farther out in the galaxy. </p>
<p>Which of the following most resembles the relationship between "black hole activity" and "star formation" (lines 11-12) as described in the passage?
(A) A volcanic eruption on one continent results in higher rainfall totals on another continent.
(B) Industrial emissions in one region lead to an increase in airborne pollutants in adjacent regions.
(C) A drought in a wilderness area causes a significant loss of vegetation in that area.
(D) Decreased oil production in one country results in higher gas prices in oil-dependent countries.
(E) Overfishing in a gulf leads to an increase in the population of smaller aquatic organisms.</p>
<p>I chose E, but the answer is C</p>
<p>Thanks ahead of time.</p>