询问英文Kicking the Big-Car Habit
[1] The commercial exploitation of crude oil has been among the most liberating technologies the world has ever known. When pumped through an internal combustion engine stuck in a metal box, refined oil has given freedom of movement to billions. Before the automobile, the life experience of most of tho who lived in the rich world were limited - as in much of the poor world they remain - to neighborhood and family. When shot through gas turbines on wings, oil has shrunk the planet in a way that was once the stuff of science fiction. Neither of my parents ever flew; both my children had flown 30,000 miles before they were 2 years old.
[2] But on Sept. 11, 2001, the world was reminded that oil is also a dangerous drug. The cheapest, most easily accessible oil rerves are in the Middle East, the most volatile region on earth. Future supplies of oil will be costly not simply in terms of dollars and cents but also in their effect on the environment. As tho in poor countries dream of the same freedom of movement that the wealthy have enjoyed for a century, oil's polluting effects will only get wor. The number of cars in Beijing, for example, is growing 15% a year, contribut
ing to the yellow - gray haze that often envelops the city.
[3] For all the reasons, it makes n to dream of a world that is far, far less dependent on oil than it is now. Winning the Oil Endgame: American Innovation for Profits, Jobs and Security, written by a team led by Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colo., is one of the best analys of energy policy yet produced. Lovins, who has been preaching the need for fuel efficiency for some 30 years, thinks big. His aim is to promote a t of policies that over the next two decades would save half the oil the U.S. us, before moving to a hydrogen-bad economy that dispens with oil altogether (save for possible u as a fuel to produce hydrogen). If that ems hopelessly Utopian, Lovins reminds us that we have done something very like it before. Spurred by the oil price shocks of the 1970s, the United States between 1977 and 1985 incread efficiency and cut oil consumption 17% (and net oil imports 50%) while the economy grew 27%. The key to that revolution was a huge increa in average miles - per - gallon of the U.S. automobile fleet. If we had continued to increa energy efficiency at the same rate, the stability of Iraq and Saudi Arabia would by now be of minor concern
to the U.S. policymakers. Instead, we bought SUVS and wasted two decades.
[4] Tho SUVS are no joke. In the United States, where 70% of oil is ud for transportation, any energy policy is necessarily also and automobile policy. The single key insight of Lovins report is to focus on the need to reduce the weight of cars (without sacrificing safety) by using advanced materials like carbon fiber and composites instead of heavy steel. When powered by hybrid technologies that combine electricity with the internal - combustion engine, such light vehicles will produce enormous oil savings. Lovins propos a nifty scheme, which would reduce the consumer price of such energy - efficient cars while increasing the price of gas guzzlers.
[5] So far, Japane firms, especially Toyota and Honda, have taken the lead in advanced automobile technology. The Japane car industry, Lovins said to me last week, has "uninhibited visionary leaders in a country which has no oil and is acutely aware of its oil dependence". If the U.S. automobile industry waits for years to e if lightweight fuel - efficient cars are more than a niche business, Lovins argues, it will one day discover that it has lost another market to overas firms. There is a need too for poli
tical leadership. Lovins insists the study's recommendations require "no major federal legislation". But at the very least, they need a Federal Government prepared to encourage states and localities to experiment with policies that increa energy efficiency.
[6] All reports that promi an easy solution to a complex problem need to be taken with a degree of skepticism, and Winning the Oil Endgame is no exception. The usual pork - barrel politics could quickly bog down some of the policy prescriptions in the book, like loan guarantees for the development of new energy - saving technologies. But in a nsible presidential election, the recommendations of Winning the Oil Endgame would be discusd and debated from now through November. Don't hold your breath.
I. Reading comprehension
1. Which of the following is not mentioned as one of the reasons of less dependent on oil?
A. Future supplies of oil will be more expensive.
B. Oil rerves will be hardly accessible.
C. Oil consumption will do harm to the environment.
D. Regional stability will be affected on earth.
2. The book Winning the Oil Endgame mainly talks about _______.
A. future hydrogen-bad economy
B. the promotion of energy efficiency policies
含反义词 C. the instability of Iraq and the Middle East
D. U.S. policymakers’ big concern of energy consumption
3. It can be inferred from Pars. 3 & 4 that the instability of the Middle East is partly becau, in this area, ______.
A. people are so rich
B. people have different religions from tho of the western people
C. the oil prerves are rich
D. people enjoy greater freedom of movement
4. Amory Lovins suggested reducing ______ to save energy consumption.
A. the function of cars
B. the size of cars
C. the decoration of cars
D. the weight of cars
5. According to this text, Japane firms have advanced automobile technology partly becau Japan _______.
A. has a long automobile history
B. has so many automobiles
C. has no oil and entirely depends on oil import
D. always takes the lead in advanced technology
II. Getting information
1. What has helped the planet become “smaller” than before?lol比赛视频
2. Which area on earth rerves the biggest amount of oil?
3. If people in poor countries enjoy the same freedom of movement as tho in rich countries, what will happen?
4. What is the cau of the yellow-gray haze frequently enveloping Beijing?
5. What has Amory Lovins been doing over the past 30 years?
6. What did the U.S. government do between 1977 and 1985, becau of the oil price sh
ocks in the 1970s?
7. If the United States had continued to increa energy efficiency from 1977, what would be the U.S. government official’s consideration about Iraq and Saudi Arabia?
8. What will happen to automobiles when they are powered by hybrid technologies?
9. What should the U.S. political leadership do to increa energy efficiency?映山红是什么花
10. What does the writer expect the government to do during the presidential election?
III. Vocabulary
exploit stuff envelop endgame composite
nifty guzzle uninhibited skepticism hold one’s breath
1. The _____ is quite difficult to deal with.
2. Her _____ laughter surprid everybody.凤首箜篌
3. The country _____ its natural resources in coal and timber.
4. The audience _______ as the acrobat walked along the tightrope.
5. The citizens had some ______ about the government’s policy.
6. Fog _____ the airport that morning.
7. Behavior is a _______ of individual and group influence.
8. They’ve been ______ beer all evening.
9. There is some old, smelly ______ in the back of the refrigerator.
10. He has got a ______ little gadget for squeezing oranges.
IV. Translation
摩托车下乡1. 我被这个问题卡住了，算不出结果。(stuck)
2. 我的毛衣洗过之后缩水了。(shrink)
3. 乘公共汽车、坐地铁或驾车都可以到达歌剧院。红枣养胃吗(accessible)
4. 局势很不稳定，暴乱者有可能试图推翻政府。(volatile)
拼搏励志语录5. 汽车电话是20世纪80年代的创新，但是现在它们已经很普遍了。(innovation)
6. 与会者免去通常的礼节，立即开始谈判。(dispen with)
7. 乌云促使我们在下雨之前更快地工作。(spur)
8. 到华盛顿后，那个参议员对政治运作的真正规律有了深刻的了解。(insight)
9. 院长深知需要更多医生和护士的急迫性。(acutely)
10. 在伊文斯先生念成绩报告单时，我们都屏住了呼吸。(hold one’s breath)
V. Writing task
Write about Energy Reform in some 120 words. Try to cover the following points.
