首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It’s easy to see why the price of gasoline is so upsetting to so many people. Gas prices are the one economic indicator you see
It’s easy to see why the price of gasoline is so upsetting to so many people. Gas prices are the one economic indicator you see
admin
2014-07-25
83
问题
It’s easy to see why the price of gasoline is so upsetting to so many people. Gas prices are the one economic indicator you see all the time, prominently posted on big signs—and the prices are at record levels, seemingly rising by the hour. That’s created a new pastime: driving around until you hit the big score, saving a nickel a gallon.
Is this a good use of your time? Not really, once you calculate how long it takes to drive around looking for a bargain and how much gas you burn doing it. If you’re already at the financial brink, higher gas prices might push you over—but for most people, they ought not to be that big a deal. Don’t believe me? Here are the numbers. During its first five years, the average vehicle costs its owner around $725 a month, according to Edmunds.com, an automotive Web site. That includes depreciation, insurance, maintenance and such, but not gas. That averaged $1.94 a gallon last week, up 45 cents from a year ago. The average vehicle uses 550 gallons of gas annually. Do the math, and at today’s price, it costs around $1,070 a year to fuel an average vehicle, up from $820. The difference: less than $25 a month. Forego the Big Gulp, hot dog and chips that you get along with your fill-up, and you’ll be ahead of the game.
If you must worry, at least worry about the right thing: the way energy prices will slow down the economy if they stay at current levels. "Higher energy costs flow into every nook and cranny of the economy," says Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Each dollar-a-barrel price hike acts like a $20 million-a-day tax—$7.3 billion a year—on the rest of the economy, with another $13 million a day for natural gas, also in short supply. Oil’s up $12 a barrel in the past year, a levy that runs more than $100 billion annually. Even in an $11 trillion economy, that stings.
Unlike previous price spikes, caused by supply shortages, the current jump is caused largely by higher demand as the U.S. economy recovers, China’s surges and the rest of the world’s fortunes improve. That’s the bad news part of the good economic news. But while supply and demand drive prices in the long term, in the short term they’re heavily influenced by financial players, such as traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yergin estimates that the combination of anxiety about the Middle East and financial players have added $6 to $8 a barrel to oil prices, which closed at $41.38 a barrel Friday. This means that even though world supplies are tight, oil could be knocked down to about $30.
Maybe we need some out-of-the-box thinking to dull this price spike. Sure, there’s a long-term problem, requiring less demand or more supply. But for now, perhaps the Bush administration could use the 660-billion-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve to push prices down. One approach, suggested by Loews CEO Jim Tisch, whose company has extensive energy holdings, is to trade some reserve oil for oil to be delivered in a year. Based on Friday’s prices, we could swap six barrels today for seven we’d get in 2005. That seems smarter than what we’re doing: filling the reserve at today’s prices. Think of it. We’d both save money and reduce current demand.
The White House isn’t going for that, however. "The president believes that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should be used only in the event of an emergency, not to manipulate prices," said White House spokesman Trent Duffy. It should be noted that Bush excoriated Bill Clinton for using the reserve to drive down heating-oil prices to help Al Gore. Sure, that was political— but not necessarily unsound economically.
OK, even if you insist on thinking inside the box, just remember that although the big picture is well worth your worry, your gas bill’s not worth obsessing over. After all, at the current prices, conserving’s important—even mental energy.
"Excoriated" in the sixth paragraph is closest in meaning to_____.
选项
A、exasperated
B、censured
C、praised
D、prevented
答案
B
解析
本题考察对第六段的理解。作者认为白宫不会同意使用储备油来降低目前的石油价格,并举例说明。由此可见,布什对克林顿的做法进行了谴责。选项B更符合文章内容,故为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/SlpO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
AgricultureinBritainI.Britishagricultureanditssupportingareas:accountforaround(1)______ofGNP.II.Smallpercentage
BritishHistory-QueenMary’sReignI.Historicevents:1)KingHenryVIIIwantedMary,his(1)______,tomarryhissonEdward.2
InMassachusetts,thestatecorrectionscommissionerhasaskeddistrictattorneystoslowdowntheirprosecutionsbecauseprison
Withthemobilephones’entranceintothecommonfamilies,thephonecallsintheclasseshavebecomeahotissue.Somepeoplec
______isconsideredtobethebest-knownEnglishdramatistsinceShakespeare,andhisrepresentativeworksareplaysinspiredby
Thechangesinlanguagewillcontinueforever,butnooneknowssure【M1】______whodoesthechanging.Onepossibilityis
Thechangesinlanguagewillcontinueforever,butnooneknowssure【M1】______whodoesthechanging.Onepossibilityis
Clearlyifwearetoparticipateinthesocietyinwhichwelivewemustcommunicatewiththeotherpeople.Agreatdealofcomm
______istheessenceoftheRenaissance.
随机试题
原发肾病综合征常可自发形成血栓的原因是()。
过期妊娠可选用的引产方式不包括
腺苷酸脱氨酶缺陷症属于何种疾病
银行对账是将企业的银行存款日记账和()进行核对,并生成银行存款余额调节表。
资产负债表中的“一年内到期的非流动负债”项目应当根据()科目贷方余额分析填列。
根据学习的定义,下列现象中属于学习的是()。
在某一个单处理机的系统中,外接了一台打印机,一台输入设备。当前在系统中有二个进程P0、P1已经就绪,进程P0首先获得处理机运行,调度算法为先来先服务,进程P0、P1的运行要求是这样的:P0:计算100ms,打印信息200ms,继续计算100ms,打印信息
在FDM中,主要通过(50)技术,使各路信号的带宽(51)。使用FDM的所有用户(52)。从性质上说,FDM比较适合于传输(53),FDM的典型应用是(54)。
一棵二叉树中共有80个叶子结点与70个度为1的结点,则该二叉树中的总结点数为
Mr.Ballwasamanofthirty-five.Theshopinwhichheworkedwasn’tmanaged(经营)wellandhe36less.Hehadhardlylefthisho
最新回复
(
0
)