Question

【題目】Energy independence has a nice ring to it．Doesn’t it? If you think so, you’re not alone, because energy independence has been the dream of American president for decades, and never more so than in the past few years, when the most recent oil price shock has been partly responsible for kicking off the great recession.

“Energy independence” and its rhetorical （修辭的） companion “energy security” are, however, slippery concepts that are rarely though through．What is it we want independence from, exactly?

Most people would probably say that they want to be independent from imported oil．But there are reasons that we buy all that old from elsewhere.

The first reason is that we need it to keep our economy running．Yes, there is a trickle（涓涓細(xì)流）of biofuel（生物燃料）available, and more may become available, but most biofuels cause economic waste and environmental destruction.

Second, Americans have basically decided that they don’t really want to produce all their own oil．They value the environmental quality they preserve over their oil imports from abroad．Vast areas of the United States are off-limits to oil exploration and production in the name of environmental protection．To what extent are Americans really willing to endure the environmental impacts of domestic energy production in order to cut back imports?

Third, there are benefits to trade．It allows for economic efficiency, and when we buy things from places that have lower production costs than we do, we benefit．And although you don’t read about this much, the United States is also a large exporter of oil products, selling about 2 million barrels of petroleum products per day to about 90 countries.

There is no question that the United States imports a great deal of energy and, in fact, relies on that steady flow to maintain its economy．When that flow is interrupted, we feel the pain in short supplies and higher prices．At the same time, we obtain massive economic benefits when we buy the most affordable energy on the world market and when we engage in energy trade around the world.

【1】What does the author say about energy independence for America?

A. It sounds very attractive．

B. It ensures national security．

C. It will bring oil prices down

D. It has long been everyone’s dream.

【2】Why does America rely heavily on oil imports?

A. It wants to expand its storage of crude oil（原油）.

B. Its own oil reserves are quickly running out.

C. It wants to keep its own environment undamaged.

D. Its own oil production falls short of demand．

【3】What does the author say about oil trade?

A. It proves profitable to both sides．

B. It improves economic efficiency．

C. It makes for economic prosperity．

D. It saves the cost of oil exploration．

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】C

【3】B

【解析】作為世界上最大的能源消費(fèi)國(guó)，美國(guó)的“能源獨(dú)立”聽(tīng)起來(lái)不錯(cuò)，這會(huì)改變?nèi)�球能源市�?chǎng)格局，對(duì)于保持經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)、保障能源安全、降低能源行業(yè)碳排放具有重大意義。

【1】A細(xì)節(jié)理解。按順序原則及題干信息定位首段。“If you think so，you're not alone”表明作者持有同樣想法，答案往“so”前面找——“Energy independence. It has a nice ring to it，doesn't it？” have a nice ring to sth.表示“聽(tīng)起來(lái)不錯(cuò)，令人向往”的意思，選項(xiàng)A的attractive是其同義改寫(xiě)。即使不了解短語(yǔ)，根據(jù)nice可判斷正態(tài)度，答案選A。

【2】A推理判斷。根據(jù)第五段Americans have basically decided that they don't really want to produce all their own oil．They value the environmental quality they preserve over their oil imports from abroad得相比從國(guó)外進(jìn)口石油，美國(guó)人更看重環(huán)境質(zhì)量，希望保持自己國(guó)家環(huán)境是完好的。選A。

【3】C細(xì)節(jié)理解。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段It allows for economic efficiency，and when we buy things from places that have lower production costs than we do，we benefit得知作者認(rèn)為石油貿(mào)易是有經(jīng)濟(jì)效益的。我們從中受益。選A。