最新四级晨读主题美文100篇 74

解读石油价格(Getting real about gas prices)

Woe¹! Woe to the politician who is perceived to be failing to do something about the soaring price of gasoline, which has jumped about 20 percent in the past six months. AAA estimates the average two-car household will consume more than 1,200 gallons of gasoline a year. That means the 50-cents-a-gallon increase over the past year has families spending an extra $600 of after-tax money each year, squeezing middle- and low-income families the most.

可悲！在过去的六个月，政客们对石油价格骤升20%束手无策真是可悲。每星期，当司机加油时,总感觉被宰了。AAA估计平均有两部车的家庭一年要消耗1200多加仑汽油，也就是说，每加仑汽油升价50美分就使这个家庭在交税以后，还要多付600美元，这使得中下收入的家庭更加拮据。

Chinese drivers. This time nobody is sure that the spike² in oil prices will be short-lived.For Asia.,who could have imagined that India and China would become such big consumers? Chinese demand grew by 33 percent last year and by an additional 20 percent this year, pushing consumption to over 6 million barrels a day. China is on the verge³ of an exploding demand for automobiles⁵. Gasoline consumption will have risen from about 10 percent of China's oil needs 10 years ago to an estimated 40 percent by the end of this decade, when private car ownership is expected to soar to almost 28 million. Those people with incomes high enough to afford autos in India and China are growing by about 12 percent a year. No longer will 80 percent of the world's energy be used by only 20 percent of the world's population.

在中国，司机都认为这次石油价格骤升不会是短期的。对于亚洲，谁曾想得到印度和中国会成为这么大的消耗国。中国需求去年增长33%，今年还要再增加20%，使得消耗量每天超过600万桶。中国对汽车的需求很快就要激增，当私人汽车增加到2800万时，汽油的消耗也要从十年前的10%增加到这个年代底的估计的40%。在中国和印度能买得起汽车的人以每年12%增加。世界能源的80%不再是只被20%的人口所使用。

And what about supply? No one is paying attention to the experts' warnings, any more than they did nearly 50 years ago. Back then, the United States was the world's biggest oil producer, pumping more than half as much again as the Soviet⁶ Union and twice as much as many Middle Eastern countries. But the Cassandras, as it turned out, were right. U.S. production peaked, in 1970, at about 10 million barrels a day and is now at least 30 percent below that. As for the OPEC countries, we know very little about their potential for new energy sources. Most of their oil comes from a handful of old oil fields, concentrated in a small area called the "golden triangle." It has been years since any significant new fields have been found. Whether Saudi Arabia could step up production from its current level, 8 million barrels a day, to 20 million barrels a day by 2020 is questionable⁷. Political turmoil⁸, meanwhile, besets⁹ producers like Venezuela and Nigeria.

那么供应呢?尽管专家在50年前就提出警告,但没人注意.那时,美国是世界最大的石油出产国,出油量比苏联多一半,是一些中东国家有二倍.但事实证明,预言家是正确的.美国在1970年顶端时,每天出产大约1000万桶,而现在至少下降了30%.至于OPEC国家,我们对于他的能源潜力知之甚少。他们的大多数石油来自老的油井，集中在“金三角”地带，在新的油田发现之前，这状况还要持续很多年。沙特阿拉伯半岛能否在现在的每天800万桶水平上提高到2020年的2000万桶还是个问题。同时，政治上的骚乱困扰像委内瑞拉、尼日利亚这样的生产国。

So a crisis looms¹⁰. Matthew Simmons of Strategic Economic Decisions says that the crisis will be global because the $3 trillion-a-year energy industry underpins¹¹ every aspect of society。

所以能源危机正在迫近，经济战略中心的Matthew Simmons说这个危机是全球性的，因为每年3万亿的能源行业支撑着社会的各个方面。

What to do? We must provide an environment certain to attract the huge capital investment necessary to enhance and improve production of every energy resource--oil, gas, nuclear, hydro, coal, and renewables. The auto⁴ industry has shown how it can improve fuel efficiency, so we must work out a timely updating of such standards for cars, light trucks, and SUVs。No progress will be possible, however, without sacrifice. We will pay more dearly ,if we procrastinate¹². Failure to develop an energy policy means we can look forward to a lifetime of enriching the obscene sheiks, of wasting treasure and blood to defend the Middle East while impoverishing¹³ ordinary Americans and hobbling our economy.

那我们应该怎样做?我们必须营造一个环境，确保吸引大量的资金以提高每一种能源的生产，如石油，天然气，核能，氢，煤和可再生的能源。汽车生产业已经向我们展示了他们如何提高燃料效率，而我们要必须及时地对汽车，轻卡，越野车，制定一个新的这样的标准。任何进步都必须付出代价，如果我们在耽搁的话，就要付出更大的代价。如果能源政策失败就意味着我们一辈子要富足那个猥琐的酋长，一辈子要浪费钱财和鲜血去保卫中东，而同时我们国民贫穷，经济不前

1 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

3 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

4 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

5 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

8 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

9 besets   

v.困扰( beset的第三人称单数 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌

参考例句：

10 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 underpins   

n.基础材料( underpin的名词复数 )；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的第三人称单数 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• A powerful sense of mission underpins everything he does. 一种强烈的使命感支撑他所做的一切。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His presence at the crime underpins the case against him. 案子发生时他在场对他更不利。 来自辞典例句

12 procrastinate   

v.耽搁，拖延

参考例句：

• Most often we procrastinate when faced with something we do not want to do.面对不想做的事情，我们经常拖延。
• It's easy to procrastinate when the deadline seems infinitely far away.当最终期限总是遥遥无期时是很容易延期的。

13 impoverishing   

v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的现在分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• Slowly the wasters and despoilers are impoverishing our land. 浪费者和掠夺者们在慢慢地糟蹋着我们的土地。 来自辞典例句
• It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. 它使获得者蒙益，施予者也无损失。 来自互联网