单选题 Is there enough oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)to help secure America's energy future? President Bush certainly thinks so. He has argued that tapping ANWR's oil would help ease California's electricity crisis and provide a major boost to the country's energy independence. But no one knows for sure how much crude oil lies buried beneath the frozen earth, with the last government survey, conducted in 1998, projecting output anywhere from 3 billion to 16 billion barrels.
The oil industry goes with the high end of the range, which could equal as much as 10% of U.S. consumption for as long as six years. By pumping more than 1 million barrels a day from the reserve for the next two to three decades, lobbyists claim, the nation could cut back on imports equivalent to all shipments to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. Sounds good. An oil boom would also mean a multibillion-dollar windfall(意外之才) in tax revenues, royalties (开采权使用费)and leasing fees for Alaska and the Federal Government. Best of all, advocates of drilling say, damage to the environment would be insignificant. "We've never had a documented case of an oil rig chasing deer out onto the pack ice," says Alaska State Representative Scott Ogan.
Not so fast, say environmentalists. Sticking to the low end of government estimates, the National Resources Defense Council says there may be no more than 3.2 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain of ANWR, a drop in the bucket that would do virtually nothing to ease America's energy problems. And consumers would wait up to a decade to gain any benefits, because drilling could begin only after much bargaining over leases, environmental permits and regulatory review. As for ANWR's impact on the California power crisis, environmentalists point out that oil is responsible for only 1% of the Golden State's electricity output—and just 3% of the nation's.

单选题 What does President Bush think of tapping oil in ANWR?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据短文第一段第二句“He has argued that tapping ANWR's oil would help ease California's electricity crisis and provide a major boost to the country's energy independence．”这一说法与选项C(It will help reduce the nation's oil imports，这将有助于减少(美国)国家的石油进口)实质上是一样的。故应为正确答案。“provide a major boost to”“为……提供推动力”。此处的argue认为，相当于believe或consider本题属事实细节对号入座题。

单选题 We learn from the second paragraph that the American oil industry ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据短文第二段第一句“The oil industry goes with the high end of the range，…”可知美国石油工业部认为对ANWR石油的开采会有很高的产量。gowith在此意为“接受……的观点”，相当于agree with somebody．or accept someone's idea or suggestion。the range指的是估测的预期产量幅度约在3 billion到16 billion barrels，即可能的开采量由下限30亿桶到上限160亿桶之间。the high end，上限。

单选题 Those against oil drilling in ANWR argue that ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据第三段第二句“…a drop in the bucket that would do virtually nothing to ease America's energy problems．”可知那些反对开采ANWR石油的人认为开采那里的石油对缓解美国能源短缺状况无济于事。do little to solve相当于do virtually nothing to solve。a drop in the bucket意为沧海一粟。本题亦属同义说法替代题。

单选题 What do the environmentalists mean by saying "Not so fast"(Line 1 ,Par

【正确答案】

【答案解析】从第三段可看出环保主义者认为ANWR的地下只能产出32亿桶油(the low end)，在后面也提到它解决不了美国的能源问题，因此与第二段美国石油工业的观点(the high end乐观)相悖。而not so fast位于第三段句首，其转折承接的作用，来体现第三段的观点与上一段相悖。因此not so fast为[C]项内容。本题属观点态度题。