单选题
Is there enough oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (保护区) (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 or 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 (意外之财) 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 in-significant. "We've never
had a document case of oil rig chasing deer out on to the pack ice." says Alaska
State Representative Scott Ogan. Not so far, 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?
A. It will exhaust the nation's oil reserves.
B. It will help secure the future of ANWR.
C. It will help reduce the nation's oil imports.
D. It will increase America's energy consumption.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为：“布什总统对在北极国家野生动物保护区开采石油有何看法?”A项意为“这将会耗尽美国的石油储备”；B项意为“这将会有助于保护北极国家野生动物保护区”；C项意为“这将会有助于减少美国的石油进口”；D项意为“这将会增加美国的能量消耗”。根据题干线索词President Bush和tapping oil in ANWR定位至第一段第三句，句中提到，布什总统认为在北极国家野生动物保护区开采石油会极大地提高美国的能源独立性，也就是说不再依赖从其他国家的石油进口，即减少石油进口。故C为正确答案。
单选题
We learn from the second paragraph that the American oil industry
______.
A. believes that drilling for oil in ANWR will produce high yields
B. tends to exaggerate America's reliance on foreign oil
C. shows little interest in tapping oil in ANWR
D. expects to stop oil imports from Saudi Arabia
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为“从第二段中我们知道，美国石油企业”。A项意为“相信在北极国家野生动物保护区进行石油钻探会有高产出”；B项意为“倾向于夸大美国对国外石油的依赖”；C项意为“对在北极国家野生动物保护区开采石油不太感兴趣”；D项意为“希望停止从沙特阿拉伯进口石油”。根据题干定位至第二段第一句，其中提到The oil industry goes with the high end of the range(石油企业认同在这个范围内的高产出的说法)，这里的range即指上段中的from 3 billion to 16 billion barrels。由此推知，美国石油企业认为北极石油开采会有高产出。故A为正确答案。
单选题
Those against oil drilling in ANWR argue that ______.
A. it can cause serious damage to the environment
B. it can do little to solve U.S. energy problems
C. it will drain the oil reserves in the Alaskan region
D. it will not have much commercial value
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为“那些反对在北极国家野生动物保护区开采石油的人认为”。A项意为“它会对环境造成严重破坏”；B项意为“它对解决美国能源问题几乎毫无帮助”；C项意为“它将会耗尽阿拉斯加的石油储备”；D项意为“它将不会有太多的商业价值”。根据上下文可知反对在北极开采石油的人(those against oil drilling in AN—WR)即环保主义者(environmentalists)。由此可定位至第三段，其中第二句提到，美国资源保护协会认为北极国家野生动物保护区的海岸平原所储藏石油量也许仅仅只有32亿桶，这对于缓解美国的能源问题几乎是杯水车薪，即几乎毫无帮助。由此推知，B为正确答案。
单选题
What do the environmentalists mean by saying "Not so far" (Line 1,
Para. 3)?
A. Oil exploitation takes a long time.
B. The oil drilling should be delayed.
C. Don't be too optimistic.
D. Don't expect fast returns.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 释义题。题干意为：“环保主义者说‘not so far’(第三段第一行)是什么意思?”A项意为“石油开采需要很长时间”；B项意为“石油开采应被延期”；C项意为“别太乐观了”；D项意为“不要期待快速的回报”。联系上下文，上文第二段是对石油开采的积极支持，而下文第三段则提出反对意见。由此推知，在四个选项中，C项与环保主义者所说“事实并非如此”的意思最接近。故C为正确答案。
单选题
It can be learned from the passage that oil exploitation beneath ANWR's
frozen earth ______.