【答案解析】原文： At the beginning of the 20th century, on the Gulf Coast in the US State of Texas, there was a hill where gas leakage was so noticeable that schoolboys would sometimes set the hill on fire. Pattillo Higgins, a disreputable local businessman, became convinced that there was oil below the gassy hill. Oil wells weren’t drilled back then; they were essentially dug. The sand under the hill defeated several attempts by Higgins’ workers to make a proper hole. Higgins had forecast oil at a thousand feet, a totally made-up figure. Higgins subsequently hired a mining engineer, Captain Anthony Lucas. After encountering several setbacks, Captain Lucas decided to use a drill, and his innovations created the modern oil drilling industry. In January 1901, at 1,020 feet, almost precisely the depth predicted by Higgins’ wild guess, the well roared and suddenly ejected mud and six tons of drilling pipe out of the ground, terrifying those present. For the next nine days, until the well was capped, the well poured out more oil than all the wells in America combined. In those days, Texas was almost entirely rural with no large cities and practically no industry; cotton and beef were the foundation of the economy. Higgins’ well changed that. The boom made some prospectors millionaires, but the sudden surplus of petroleum was not entirely a blessing for Texas. In the 1930s, prices crashed, to the point that, in some parts of the country, oil was cheaper than water. That would become a familiar pattern of the boom-or-bust Texas economy. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard. 12. What did Texas businessman Pattillo Higgins believe? 13. What prevented Higgins’ workers from digging a proper hole to get the oil? 14. What does the passage say about Captain Lucas’ drilling method? 15. What do we learn about Texas’ oil industry boom?事实细节题。由短文可知，帕蒂罗.希金斯是当地一个声名狼藉的商人，他确信这座充满天然气的小山下面有石油。因此答案为A)。
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】原文： At the beginning of the 20th century, on the Gulf Coast in the US State of Texas, there was a hill where gas leakage was so noticeable that schoolboys would sometimes set the hill on fire. Pattillo Higgins, a disreputable local businessman, became convinced that there was oil below the gassy hill. Oil wells weren’t drilled back then; they were essentially dug. The sand under the hill defeated several attempts by Higgins’ workers to make a proper hole. Higgins had forecast oil at a thousand feet, a totally made-up figure. Higgins subsequently hired a mining engineer, Captain Anthony Lucas. After encountering several setbacks, Captain Lucas decided to use a drill, and his innovations created the modern oil drilling industry. In January 1901, at 1,020 feet, almost precisely the depth predicted by Higgins’ wild guess, the well roared and suddenly ejected mud and six tons of drilling pipe out of the ground, terrifying those present. For the next nine days, until the well was capped, the well poured out more oil than all the wells in America combined. In those days, Texas was almost entirely rural with no large cities and practically no industry; cotton and beef were the foundation of the economy. Higgins’ well changed that. The boom made some prospectors millionaires, but the sudden surplus of petroleum was not entirely a blessing for Texas. In the 1930s, prices crashed, to the point that, in some parts of the country, oil was cheaper than water. That would become a familiar pattern of the boom-or-bust Texas economy. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard. 12. What did Texas businessman Pattillo Higgins believe? 13. What prevented Higgins’ workers from digging a proper hole to get the oil? 14. What does the passage say about Captain Lucas’ drilling method? 15. What do we learn about Texas’ oil industry boom?事实细节题。由短文可知，当时的油井不是钻取的，基本上是挖出来的。希金斯的工人们几次想挖一个合适的洞都被山下的沙子挫败了。因此答案为D)。
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】原文： At the beginning of the 20th century, on the Gulf Coast in the US State of Texas, there was a hill where gas leakage was so noticeable that schoolboys would sometimes set the hill on fire. Pattillo Higgins, a disreputable local businessman, became convinced that there was oil below the gassy hill. Oil wells weren’t drilled back then; they were essentially dug. The sand under the hill defeated several attempts by Higgins’ workers to make a proper hole. Higgins had forecast oil at a thousand feet, a totally made-up figure. Higgins subsequently hired a mining engineer, Captain Anthony Lucas. After encountering several setbacks, Captain Lucas decided to use a drill, and his innovations created the modern oil drilling industry. In January 1901, at 1,020 feet, almost precisely the depth predicted by Higgins’ wild guess, the well roared and suddenly ejected mud and six tons of drilling pipe out of the ground, terrifying those present. For the next nine days, until the well was capped, the well poured out more oil than all the wells in America combined. In those days, Texas was almost entirely rural with no large cities and practically no industry; cotton and beef were the foundation of the economy. Higgins’ well changed that. The boom made some prospectors millionaires, but the sudden surplus of petroleum was not entirely a blessing for Texas. In the 1930s, prices crashed, to the point that, in some parts of the country, oil was cheaper than water. That would become a familiar pattern of the boom-or-bust Texas economy. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard. 12. What did Texas businessman Pattillo Higgins believe? 13. What prevented Higgins’ workers from digging a proper hole to get the oil? 14. What does the passage say about Captain Lucas’ drilling method? 15. What do we learn about Texas’ oil industry boom?事实细节题。由短文可知，在经历了几次挫折后，卢卡斯队长决定使用钻机，他的创新创造了现代石油钻探行业。因此答案为C)。
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】原文： At the beginning of the 20th century, on the Gulf Coast in the US State of Texas, there was a hill where gas leakage was so noticeable that schoolboys would sometimes set the hill on fire. Pattillo Higgins, a disreputable local businessman, became convinced that there was oil below the gassy hill. Oil wells weren’t drilled back then; they were essentially dug. The sand under the hill defeated several attempts by Higgins’ workers to make a proper hole. Higgins had forecast oil at a thousand feet, a totally made-up figure. Higgins subsequently hired a mining engineer, Captain Anthony Lucas. After encountering several setbacks, Captain Lucas decided to use a drill, and his innovations created the modern oil drilling industry. In January 1901, at 1,020 feet, almost precisely the depth predicted by Higgins’ wild guess, the well roared and suddenly ejected mud and six tons of drilling pipe out of the ground, terrifying those present. For the next nine days, until the well was capped, the well poured out more oil than all the wells in America combined. In those days, Texas was almost entirely rural with no large cities and practically no industry; cotton and beef were the foundation of the economy. Higgins’ well changed that. The boom made some prospectors millionaires, but the sudden surplus of petroleum was not entirely a blessing for Texas. In the 1930s, prices crashed, to the point that, in some parts of the country, oil was cheaper than water. That would become a familiar pattern of the boom-or-bust Texas economy. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard. 12. What did Texas businessman Pattillo Higgins believe? 13. What prevented Higgins’ workers from digging a proper hole to get the oil? 14. What does the passage say about Captain Lucas’ drilling method? 15. What do we learn about Texas’ oil industry boom?细节归纳题。由短文可知，当时的得克萨斯州几乎完全是农村，没有大城市，几乎没有工业；棉花和牛肉是经济的基础。希金斯的油井改变了这一点。丰富的石油使一些勘探者成为百万富翁，但是石油的突然过剩并不完全是得克萨斯州的福音。20世纪30年代，油价暴跌，以至于在美国的某些地区，石油比水还便宜。这将成为得克萨斯州经济繁荣或萧条的常见模式。因此答案为D)。