阅读理解 In technologically advanced societies, the enormous consumption of energy per head is one aspect of the ever-increasing pressure man is placing on his environment. Early industrial man used three times as much energy as his agricultural ancestor; modern man is using three times as much as his industrial ancestor. If present trends continue, the rate of consumption will have tripled (3倍) again by the end of the century. The problem lies in the fact that most of our current energy sources are finite. The hard truth is that a day will come when there is little or no exploitable coal, oil or natural gas anywhere. The sharp rise in the price of oil over the last decade has been unpleasant for many parts of the world but in the long run it is beneficial, partly because it discourages waste and partly because it has forced many nations to seek ways of developing better and more permanent sources of energy. Energy sources may initially be divided into two kinds: nonrenewable (i.e. finite) and renewable. The former group includes coal, oil, and gas, in the long run, nuclear; the latter hydro-powers, solar power and wind power. The energy from all these sources ultimately derives from the sun. There is a further source — geothermal— which depends on the earth''s own heal. In practice this may be classed as nonrenewable as it is exploitable in only a few places and even that is limited. There is a second distinction that is often made between conventional and non-conventional energy sources. A conventional energy source is one which is at present widely exploited. In view of the points made in paragraph 1 (above) it will be realized that, broadly, the conventional sources are the non-renewable ones. This is not entirely true, however, as a good deal of oil is locked up in solid form in rock (tar sands and oil shale) and this source, though non-renewable, is also non-conventional, since it has not so far been developed very much.
单选题 The sentence "The sharp rise in the price of oil...in the long run it is beneficial" in lines 7-8, paragraph 1, means __________.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】这是一道细节性问题。石油价格上涨一方面能抑制浪费，另一方面使许多国家寻找更好更持久的开发能源的办法，这句话中没有提到石油生产者经商赚钱的事，因此选C)．
单选题 What''s the meaning of "geothermal" in line 4, paragraph 2?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】这是一道词汇性问题。参见第二段第四句，第二个破折号后“which depends on the earth''s own heat,”因此选D)．
单选题 We are warned that__________.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】这是一道细节性问题。从字面上理解，不可更新能源当然会越用越少，第一段第五句提到总有一天可开发的能源如煤、油、气会用完。文章中没有提到地热是永恒的，虽然可更新能源会越用越多，但能源是会有的，因此选A)．
单选题 If we continue to consume energy at the present rate, by the end of the century, we shall have used energy _________.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】这是一道细节性问题。根据文章第一段知道：早期工业者以农业祖先3倍的速度消耗能源，现代人又以早期工业者3倍的速度消耗能源。照现在的消费趋势，到20世纪末能源消耗量又是文章中提到的“目前”的3倍。所以现在以27倍于农业祖先的速度消耗能源。
单选题 Which of the following is correct according to the passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】这是一道细节性问题。不可更新能源如煤、油、气是有限的，因此A)可排除；可更新能源包括太阳能，此种能源是大量的，因此B)可排除；不可更新能源与非传统能源之间是有关系的，文中就列举了石油的例子。石油以固体形式存在于沥青与页岩之中，尽管是不可更新能源，它也是非传统能源，只是因为没有开发罢了，因此C)排除。