首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Last week oil prices finally stopped rising. They now hover around $43 a barrel, a 20-year high. The average American family wil
Last week oil prices finally stopped rising. They now hover around $43 a barrel, a 20-year high. The average American family wil
admin
2012-02-24
29
问题
Last week oil prices finally stopped rising. They now hover around $43 a barrel, a 20-year high. The average American family will spend about $2,700 on gasoline this year (driving 22,000 miles). That’s twice as much as it spent on gas two years ago. These prices are having a predictable consequence. The consumer price index has risen by 4.9 percent to date, versus 1.9 percent last year. And last week President Bush’s economic adviser, Gregory Mankiw, acknowledged that a $10 rise in the price of oil probably translates into a half-percentage-point drag on economic growth. For countries like Japan, China and India, the effect is even greater. How did this happen? And can Washington—or anybody—to much about it?
The answer that flashed on our television screens is instability in the Middle East. Pipeline explosions in Iraq, tensions with Iran and terror attacks in Saudi Arabia all contribute to what analysts call the "security premium" on the price of oil. But that premium might be exaggerated. Oil prices are rising for broader, structural reasons. The world may have to get used to expensive oil.
The largest ingredient in current oil prices has been a massive increase in demand. This year’s growth is double what it has been for the past six years (on average). That’s because the United States is in recovery, Japan’s economy is finally back and Asia— particularly China and India—is growing fast. In fact, this year is likely to have the strongest global growth on record in three decades—unless oil prices choke it off.
While demand is up, supply can’t rise much. For a variety of reasons, almost no oil- producing country has "surplus capacity"—the ability to put substantially more oil into tile market. Oil companies have been slow to increase investments in production, and these expenditures take a few years to bear fruit. "Right now oil markets are tighter than they were on the eve of the 1973 oil shocks. And they will stay tight for the next two years. That makes the geopolitics of oil crucial," says Daniel Yergin, the chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
If there is trouble anywhere, it will probably cause an oil shock. And think of the possibilities—instability in Venezuela, Nigeria, Indonesia, Libya, Saudi Arabia or, of course, Iraq. Last year the markets could absorb the loss of Iraqi oil (during the war). This year they can’t. Iraq has to stay online. And all these other countries have to stay stable.
There is only one country with significant surplus capacity—Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has increased its production repeatedly over the past two years, or else prices would be higher still than they are. And the Saudis are making investments that will increase their surplus capacity by the end of the year. In a tight oil market, Saudi Arabia is the pivotal player.
Consider the irony. One of the Bush administrations (privately stated) reasons for going to war in Iraq was to reduce our dependence on Saudi Arabia’s oil power. It was a reasonable idea. But having botched the occupation, with Iraqi oil more insecure now than before the war, America is today more dependent on Saudi Arabia than ever before. Fortunately the Saudi regime has proved a responsible and reliable player, in this realm. "The Saudis are the central bankers of the world of oil. And they take that role seriously," says Yergin.
What to do about’ this new reality? George Bush proposes to increase U. S. production in Alaska. John Kerry calls for increased conservation. Bush is correct to argue that some increase in American production is important. In 1973, the United States imported one third of its oil from abroad. Today it imports two thirds. And exploration does not have to be ecologically devastating. Even if the major oilfields that are assumed to exist there were discovered in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, only a few thousand acres of the 19 million-acre refuge would be affected.
But the more lasting solution to America’s oil problem has to come from energy efficiency. American demand is the gorilla fueling high oil prices—more than instability or the rise of China or anything else. Between 1990 and 2000, the global trade in oil increased by 9.5 billion barrels. Half of that was accounted for for the rise in U. S. imports.
America is consuming more because it is growing more—but also because over the past two decades, it has become much less efficient in its use of gasoline, the only major industrial country to slide backward. The reason is simple: three letters—SUV. In 1990 sport utility vehicles made up 5 percent of America’s cars. Today they make up 55 percent. They violate all energy-efficiency standards because of an absurd loophole in the law that allows them to be classified as trucks.
Bashing the Saudis is easy these days. Controlling our own wastefulness is more difficult. But making no mistake as to which one will make a difference.
The following might be the solutions to America’s oil problem except ______.
选项
A、to criticize the Saudis for raising oil prices.
B、to increase conservation.
C、to increase energy efficiency.
D、to increase US production in Alask
答案
A
解析
本题考察对文章最后四段的理解。选项B、C和D都被提及,但作者认为A并不能解决美国的石油问题,故为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/dFpYFFFM
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Recently,apossiblealternativewayofproducingpaperhasbeensuggestedbyagriculturalists:andenvironmentalists:aplant
Recently,apossiblealternativewayofproducingpaperhasbeensuggestedbyagriculturalists:andenvironmentalists:aplant
A、protestorsusedwatercannonsagainstriotpoliceB、riotpolicethrewhomemadefirebombsatdemonstratorsC、someactiveprotes
Coffee,ahotbeveragefavoredbypeopleindifferentregions,issaidtohavebeen【1】______【1】______inEthiopia.Itwasfound
Oneofthestrangestthingsaboutdisputeoveradvertisingisthatthegreaterthefussthemuchofamysterytheindustryitse
Sometimesitwasaslongasayear;sometimesasshortastwenty-fourhours.Butalwayswewereinterestedindiscoveringjusth
TheRoslinInstituteannouncedlastweekthatithadappliedtopatentthemethodbywhichitsscientistshadclonedDollythes
Americaneconomistsoncespoofeduniversityeducationastheonlyindustryinwhichthosewhoconsumeitsproductdonotpurchas
Airpollutionexistsnotonlyoutdoor,butalsoindoor.Ithasgreateffectsonpeople,andtherearemanymeasurestakentocor
DemographyisthestatisticalstudyofhumanpopulationItcanbea-generalsciencethatcanbeappliedtoanykindofdynamicp
随机试题
目前,我国初级卫生保健工作已总结积累了很多宝贵的经验,但由于其自身特点及我国现实条件的制约使得它的全面实施还面临许多挑战,其顺利实施的关键在于,除了
这种组织模式合理吗?20世纪80年代,某大型企业由于任务不足,允许各分厂自己对外承揽加工业务。这样一来,传统的计划管理模式就不大适应了。主要问题是管得太死,缺乏灵活性。厂领导决定改革传统的组织结构模式,由直线职能制改为事业部制。成立了供应事业部、制造事业
下列哪一种运动可以出现在结肠而不在小肠
男性,24岁,3个月来右腕部出现一进行性增大的质硬肿物,伴疼痛,轻微外伤后疼痛症状明显加重。X线片示:桡骨远端存在偏心溶骨性骨质破坏区,伴有病理性骨折,骨皮质膨胀,有“肥皂泡样改变”。最可能的诊断是
根据委托方的要求,工程项目在进行到一定阶段后予以转让;房地产项目要求进行楼宇的销售工作等。这是项目直接管理子系统中的()
对于不放回简单随机抽样,所有可能的样本均值取值的平均值总是等于总体均值,这就是样本均值估计量的()。
我国传统式清真寺有明显的中轴线,其中礼拜正殿是()。
有如下类和对象的定义:classConstants{public;staticdoublegetPI(){return3.1416;}};Constantsconstants,下列各组
Whatiswrongwiththecassetterecorder?
"Thefatherlethissonhimselfmendthekite."Theitalicizedwordisusedtomodify________.
最新回复
(
0
)