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
Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil
Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil
admin
2019-10-21
42
问题
Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $ 26 a barrel, up from less than $ 10 last December. This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary memories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled, and 1979 -80, when they also almost tripled. Both previous shocks resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline. So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time?
The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term.
Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s. In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past.
Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price. Energy conservation, a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energy-intensive industries has reduced oil consumption. Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or car production. For each dollar of GDP(in constant prices)rich economies now use nearly 50% less oil man in 1973. The OECD estimates in its latest Economic Outlook that, its oil prices averaged $22 a barrel for a full year, compared with $ 13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich economies by only 0.25 -0. 5% of GDP. That is less than one-quarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980. On the other hand, oil-importing emerging economies—to which heavy industry has shifted—have become more energy-intensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed.
One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economist’ s commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70% and in 1979 by almost 30%.
From the text we can see that the writer seems______.
选项
A、optimistic
B、sensitive
C、gloomy
D、scared
答案
A
解析
文章第三段第一句“Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s.”和第四段第一句都指出“Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were,and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price.”也就是说各国有很好的理由盼望现在的经济前景会比二十世纪七十年代的情况乐观。发达国家对石油的依赖性较以前有所下降,因而对石油价格变动的敏感度也降低,这些都表明作者是持有乐观态度的。故应选A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/lVIsFFFM
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
Youhavereadanarticleinamagazinewhichstates,"Economicdevelopmentwillinevitablygenerateindustrialwastewhichintu
______hasbeenbroadlycharacterizedbyitsopennesstotradeandforeigninvestment?______calledforreformineconomicandf
Answerquestionsbyreferringtothesynopsesof4differentbooksonenvironmentaleconomicsinapublisher’sbrochure.Not
AnswerQuestionsbyreferringtothesynopsesof4differentbooksonenvironmentaleconomicsinapublisher’sbrochure.Not
Forhigh-riskpropositionsyieldinghighreturns,thereisnothingtobeatthehandfulcompaniesmarketingeternallife.(31)th
Forhigh-riskpropositionsyieldinghighreturns,thereisnothingtobeatthehandfulcompaniesmarketingeternallife.(31)th
Forhigh-riskpropositionsyieldinghighreturns,thereisnothingtobeatthehandfulcompaniesmarketingeternallife.(31)th
Forhigh-riskpropositionsyieldinghighreturns,thereisnothingtobeatthehandfulcompaniesmarketingeternallife.(31)th
随机试题
某反应的活化能是33kJ.mol-1,当T=300K时,温度增加1K,反应速率常数增加的百分数约为()。
好发于回盲部的疾病有
A.卡托普利B.硝苯地平C.氢氟噻嗪D.氨甲喋啶E.美托洛尔可引起心动过缓的降压药()
A.吡咯里西啶类生物碱B.吲哚类生物碱C.莨菪烷类衍生物D.苄基异喹啉类生物碱E.二萜类生物碱川乌中生物碱的结构类型属于()。
投资机会研究的主要内容有()。
对价值小、数量多,不便于——清点的财产应该采用()进行盘点。
某十字路口的交通信号灯每分钟红灯亮25秒,绿灯亮30秒,黄灯亮5秒,当你到达该路口时,看见黄灯的概率为______。
仿照下面的示例,自拟一个描写对象,写一组句子,要求内容贴切,句式与示例相同。示例:晶莹的露水,即使是一滴,也会感激草尖的柔嫩,拥抱朝霞的艳丽,向往蓝天的广阔。仿句:___________________________
下列物权中,客体可以是不动产的是()
Whatpromptedthisconversation?
最新回复
(
0
)