2. 考研
  3. One of the most widely discussed subjects these days is energy crisis. Automobile drivers cannot get gasoline; homeowners may no

One of the most widely discussed subjects these days is energy crisis. Automobile drivers cannot get gasoline; homeowners may no

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问题    One of the most widely discussed subjects these days is energy crisis. Automobile drivers cannot get gasoline; homeowners may not get enough heating oil; factories are 【C1】______  by a fuel shortage.
   The crisis has 【C2】______  questions about the large oil companies and windfall 【C3】______  . Critics of the oil industry charge that the major companies are getting richer because of the oil shortage. Shortage, of course, drives prices up. As oil prices rise, the critics say, the oil companies will make more money (windfall profits) without doing a thing to 【C4】______  the extra cash. "Windfall" profits are sudden unearned profits-profits made 【C5】______  luck, or some special turn of events.
   The word itself tells what "windfall" means-- something blown down by the wind, such as trees, or fruit 【C6】______  from trees. But the word has taken on a special meaning. This meaning (getting something unearned) was first used in medieval England.
   This is 【C7】______  it started: at that time much of the land was in the hands of 【C8】______  barons. The rest of the people, commoners, lived and worked on their vast estates. They planted the seed, cared for the farm animals and harvested the crops. Not all the land, however, was used for farming. Every baron kept a large private forest for 【C9】______  deer and wild bear.
   When hungry, the people sometimes would kill the animals in the lord’s forest for food. And there were times 【C10】______  they might cut down trees for fuel. So, strong laws were passed to protect the forests, and the animals. Violations were severely 【C11】______ .
   But there was one way people could get wood from the forest. If they found trees blown down by the wind ("windfall") they were free to take them for use as fuel in their homes. And that is the meaning that has come down to us-something good gotten by luck or 【C12】______ .
   The common people of old England, often hungry and cold, must often have prayed for a good strong wind. Critics today 【C13】______  that the oil industry has also been praying for something just like it -some political or military 【C14】______  that might produce a windfall-- a rise in oil prices and profits.
   The oil companies deny that this is so. In Congress, critics of the oil companies have proposed a 【C15】______  on such profits. The debate on rising oil price will go on for some time, and most likely we will hear more and more about windfall profits.
【C14】______
选项 A、storm
B、power
C、mixture
D、contrast
答案A
解析 批评家抱怨石油公司总是祈求类似狂风的东西—政治或军事风暴，因为能为他们带来利益—提高油价。故选A项。其他三项的意思分别为：power能量、能力、权力； mixture混合(物)；contrast对照。
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