68. The following appeared in a memorandum¹ to the planning department of an investment firm.
“Costs have begun dropping for several types of equipment currently used to convert solar energy into electricity. Moreover, some exciting new technologies for converting solar energy are now being researched and developed. Hence we can expect that solar energy will soon become more cost efficient and attractive than coal or oil as a source of electrical power. We should, therefore, encourage investment in Solario, a new manufacturer of solar-powered products. After all, Solario’s chief executive was once on the financial planning team for Ready-to-Ware, a software engineering firm that has shown remarkable² growth since its recent incorporation³.”
投资公司计划部的备忘录：
将太阳能转化为电能的几种设备的成本最近降低了。而且，一些令人兴奋的转化太阳能的新技术正在研究和开发中。因此我们可以预期作为发电原料的太阳能将变得比媒和石油更便宜更吸引人。我们应该鼓励给新的太阳能动力产品制造商Solario投资。毕竟Solario的CEO曾是Ready－to－Ware（一家在其新近成立后表现出众的软件工程公司）的财务计划团队中的一员。
1.         The decrease of the cost of several types of equipment does not necessarily guarantee the reduction of the overall cost of the convertion of solar energy into electicity.
2.         It is still too early to say that the technologies for converting the solar energy that are being researched and developed will certainly make the solar energy cost efficient and attractive.
3.         Even if the cost reduction of the solar energy is immediately accessible, it is still imprudent to say the solar energy is more attractive compared with the coal and oil as a source of electrical power.
4.         The former performance of the CEO does not guarantee the future success of the Solario. From the autor's assertion, the CEO's ability to manage this solar energy company is, in fact, somewhat dubious⁴, because he or she once was on the financial planning team for Ready-to-ware, which is in the industry completely different from the Solario.
 
1，     除了价钱之外很可能有别的因素让人更喜欢石油。
2，     不知道cost下降后是否仍然比石油等的价钱高。而且研究也未必能成功.
3，    财务顾问不一定能做好CEO。

In this argument the planning department of investment firm reaches the conclusion that the firm should encourage investment in Solario—a new manufacturer of solar-powered products. The basis for this recommendation is the expectation that solar energy will soon become more cost efficient and attractive than other forms of energy. This expectation is based on recent declines in the cost of equipment used to convert solar energy into electricity and on new technologies that are being developed for this purpose. An additional reason give in support of this recommendation is that Solario’s chief executive was a member of the financial planning team for a company that has shown remarkable growth since its recent incorporation. While this argument has some merit, there are a few assumptions that deserve attention.
In the first place, the author assumes that the previous business experience of Solario’s chief executive will be an asset in the development of the new company. While this may be the case, the fact that the two companies deal in vastly different products is cause for some concern. The executive’s expertise⁵ in the software-engineering business will not necessarily be applicable to the solar-powered products business.
In the second place, the author assumes that the major impediment to the use of solar-powered products is the cost of solar energy and that, given a choice, consumers would prefer products powered by solar energy over those powered by energy derived⁶ from coal or oil. On the face of it, this assumption seems acceptable; but it may be that there are other factors besides cost that make solar energy less desirable than other forms of energy.
In conclusion, this argument is convincing. To strengthen the argument additional evidence indicating consumer preference for solar-powered products over products powered by conventional forms of energy would be desirable.