, 2005

Emily was at a garage sale where the price of every item was reduced by $10\%$ of its current price every $15$ minutes. At $9{:}00$ a.m., the price of a carpet was $\$10.00$. At $9{:}15$ a.m., the price was reduced to $\$9.00$. As soon as the price of the carpet fell below $\$8.00$, Emily bought it. At what time did Emily buy the carpet?

(A) $9{:}45$ a.m. (B) $9{:}15$ a.m. (C) $9{:}30$ a.m. (D) $10{:}15$ a.m. (E) $10{:}00$ a.m.