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  3. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave vent to their fury over high gasoline prices at executives of the nation’s five

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave vent to their fury over high gasoline prices at executives of the nation’s five

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问题     Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave vent to their fury over high gasoline prices at executives of the nation’s five largest oil companies on Wednesday, grilling the oilmen over their multimillion-dollar pay packages and warning them that Congress was intent on taking action that could include a new tax on so-called windfall profits. Such showdowns between lawmakers and oilmen have become a familiar routine on Capitol Hill. But with gas prices nearing ￥4 a gallon, and lawmakers headed home for a weeklong Memorial Day recess where they expect to get an earful from angry constituents, there is added urgency for Congress to appear active.
    But while momentum is building for several measures, which includes a bill that would allow the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to be sued in American courts under antitrust laws, there is little sign that any of the proposals would do much, if anything, to lower prices quickly. And the oil executives warned that government intervention might only make things worse. Instead, they called on Congress to allow more drilling and exploration for domestic oil.
    The increasing urgency to seem aggressive about gasoline prices was apparent on Tuesday when the House voted by an overwhelming 324 to 84 to approve the bill, commonly referred to as NOPEC, which classifies OPEC as a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Senate Democrats have included that measure as part of a package of legislation intended to address the high price of gasoline, along with the tax on windfall profits and a measure to tamp down speculation in the oil futures market that many lawmakers think is contributing to the run-up in prices.
    At the Judiciary Committee hearing, Democratic senators struggled to have the executives explain how oil prices had risen so high. The senators expressed doubt that basic laws of supply and demand were at work and suggested instead a more sinister combination of monopolistic behavior by oil-producing countries, speculation in the futures markets and sheer corporate greed.
    On Monday, President Bush signed a bill temporarily suspending the purchase of crude oil for the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Mr. Bush had initially opposed such action but relented after the House and Senate approved the bill by wide margins. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and a strong supporter of Senator Barack Obama’s presidential bid, made a particularly pointed attack, in which he seemed to warn the oil executives that they would soon no longer have such a good friend in the White House. He also adviced that Mr. Bush should be doing more to press the oil companies to help lower prices at the pump, while acknowledging that it would be difficult to pass a windfall profits tax while Mr. Bush was still in office.
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
选项 A、President Bush used to be reluctant to lower the oil price.
B、Democrats argue that greedy oil companies are the key factor of jumping oil price.
C、The nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is more than adequate.
D、The federal law bans the windfall profits tax in Bush Government.
答案B
解析 此题考查考生对原文多处细节的推理及理解句子之间关系的能力。本题看似考查最后一段，但其实应该结合上一段的结论，甚至从整篇文章来综合考虑和理解。上一段末文章提出石油价格上涨的三个原因——“石油出产国垄断”，“石油期货投机”及“石油公司的贪婪”；在最后一段中主要批判了布什总统的举措，民主党人认为布什应该采取更多措施扼制石油公司，从而从源头上降低油价。综合这些信息可以得知，在石油价格上涨的三个因素中，石油公司的贪婪是主要因素。所以B选项正确。
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