2. 职称英语
  3. Oil is the substance that lubricates the world’s economy. Because so many of

Oil is the substance that lubricates the world’s economy. Because so many of

游客2024-05-02  58
问题     Oil is the substance that lubricates the world’s economy. Because so many of our modern technologies and services depend on oil, nations, corporations, and institutions that control the trade in oil exercise extraordinary power. The "energy crisis" of 1973-1974 in the United States demonstrated how the price of oil can affect US government policies and the energy-using habits of the nation.
    By 1973, domestic US sources of oil were peaking, and the nation was importing more of its oil, depending on a constant flow from abroad to keep cars on the road and machines running. In addition, at that time a greater percentage of homes and electrical plants were run on petroleum than today. Then, in 1973, the predominantly Arab nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC)resolved to stop selling oil to the United States. The move was prompted by OPEC’s desire to raise prices by restricting supply and by its opposition to US support of Israel in the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War. The embargo(禁运)created panic in the West and caused oil prices to shoot up. Short-term oil shortage drove American consumers to wait in long lines at gas pumps.
    In response to the embargo, the US government enforced a series of policies designed to reduce reliance on foreign oil. These included developing additional domestic sources(such as those on Alaska’s North Slope), resuming extraction at sites that had been shut down because of cost inefficiency, capping the price that domestic producers could charge for oil, and beginning to import oil from a greater diversity of nations. The government also established a stockpile(贮存)of oil as a short-term buffer(缓冲)against future shortages. Stored underground in large salt caves in Louisiana, this stockpile is called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and currently contains over 600 million barrels of oil, roughly equivalent to one month’s supply. [br] We learn from the passage that in today’s world, whoever monopolizes the oil market will be able to______.
选项
答案 exercise extraordinary power
解析 细节辨认题。首段首句指出，石油是世界经济的润滑剂。第二句解释了石油重要的原因，即现代科技和服务都依赖于石油，控制石油交易的国家、公司和机构行使着超级权力。题干中从句的主语whoever monopolizes the oil market是对原文中的nations，corporations，and institutions that control the trade in oil的同义转述，故原文中的exercise extraordinary power为本题答案。
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