单选题
World oil demand is slowing down, led by weaker economic growth in the U.S. and China, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. While the agency didn''t say high oil prices are damping demand, weaker economic growth is projected in the world''s leading economies, as the U.S. and China lose steam from earlier strength this year and Japan''s rebound is cast in doubt as investors worry about inflationary pressures caused by the high cost of energy.
For the first time in more than half a year of constant upward revisions, the IEA, advisor to the world''s biggest economies, didn''t change its forecasts for how much more oil the world will need.
But it did increase its estimated overall demand by 750,000 barrels a day, reflecting changes to historical data stretching back 10 years. That left world oil demand in 2004 at 82.2 million b/d, up 2.53 million b/d on the year. Growth will moderate in 2005 to 2.2%, or 1.8 million b/d, at 84 million b/d.
A global slowdown is beginning to affect oil demand, according to IEA figures.
Government efforts to cool down China''s overheating economy will cut oil demand growth more than half from 24.6% in the second quarter to 9% in the third, the IEA said. But uncertainty remains about the future in China where restrictions on trucking and economic growth could push down demand, while extra refining capacity could boost it.
单选题
Why do people doubt about the pickup of Japan's economy?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】因果关系的判断。根据原文第一段最后一句“…Japan's rebound is cast in doubt as investors worry about inflationary pressures caused by the high cost of energy．”即“日本的反弹蒙上阴影，因为投资者担心能源费用过高而带来的通货膨胀压力”，由此可见，选项b的说法是正确的。 注意：掌握信号词，正确判断语义逻辑关系。上句中信号词as和caused by均表明了上下文存在因果关系。
单选题
According to the report, what did IEA keep doing in the past half a year?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】事实细节的找寻和判断。根据题干中IEA这一线索，发现原文第三段第一句有相关信息“But it did increase its estimated overall demand by 750,000 barrels a day…”即“据它估计，全部需求量将每天上调750,000桶”，由此可见，选项a的说法与之相符，是正确答案。 注意：掌握意义相近词组的替换。如原文increase…by与选项中revising…upwards意思相近。
单选题
Compared with this year, the estimated world oil growth for 2005 will__________.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】数字信息的找寻和判断。根据题干要求，找到原文相关信息处“Growth will moderate in 2005 to 2.2％，or 1.8 million b／d，at 84 million b／d.”即“2005年世界需求量将适度上涨2.2％，即每天上涨一百八十万桶，达到每天八千四百万桶”，由此可见，选项d的说法是正确的。 注意：正确排除干扰的数字信息，找出正确答案。
单选题
Which of the following is true about China?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】事实细节的找寻和判断。根据题干要求，发现原文相关信息处为最后一段最后一句“…China where restrictions on trucking and economic growth could push down demand…”，可知“中国对货车运输业和经济增长的限制可能会使需求走低，由此可见，选项b的说法与原文相符，是正确的答案。 注意：掌握同义词的替换。原文中push down与选项中reduce意思相同。
单选题
Which of the following is NOT the reason for the slowdown of world oil demand?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】因果关系的判断。根据题意可知原文第一段相关信息处，第一句“World oil demand is slowing down led by weaker economic growth in the U.S. and China…”显然，选项a和b的说法是正确的；日本的情况与前两个国家相仿“Japan's rebound is cast in doubt…”与选项d说法相符；而通货膨胀的问题，仅在说明为何日本经济反弹蒙上阴影时提及，而对全球石油需求并不相干，因此选项c的说法与原文不符，该项是正确答案。 注意：通过信号词正确判断因果关系。文中第一句中的led by直接将美国和中国的情况与石油需求减少形成因果关系；而第一段最后一句中的as将通货膨胀与日本情况挂钩，因此根据这一因果关系的判断，可迅速解题。