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
89
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.
According to the author, what is the most serious consequence of the current higher oil price?
选项
A、The economy will slow down.
B、Fewer people can afford to drive.
C、People try to save pennies a gallon.
D、People are wasting time looking for cheap oil.
答案
A
解析
本题考察对第三段的理解:油价上涨的最严重后果是经济发展变得迟缓。故选项A为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/qlpO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Whatistheofficialreportofthedeathsintheearthquake?
Whichgroupofpeopleseemstobethemoststraightforward?
A、Thecouplewhowanttohaveadivorce.B、Youngpeoplewhohaveconflictswiththeirparents.C、Peoplewhoarenotsatisfiedwi
A、because98%abortionswerecarriedoutbefore20weeksB、becausepregnancycanbediagnosedearlierthanbeforeC、becausesur
DealingwithLifeAbroadI.Cultureshockoflifeabroad1)Moreandmorepeopletendtogoabroad—Goabroadtowork,studyort
AmericanGroupDynamicsToday,inWesternresearchinstitutesanduniversitydepartment,muchworkisdoneasateamprojecta
RobinsonCrusoeby________laidafoundationforBritishrealistictraditionofnovels.
Therearemoredrugsdispensedforpainthanforanyotherdiseaseonthisplanet.Drugcompaniesenjoyearninghugeprofitsf
Ashumankindmovesintothethirdmillennium,itcanrightfullyclaimtohavebrokenanewgroundinitsage-oldquesttomaster
随机试题
江山房地产开发公司通过公开招标的方式与宏达建筑公司签订建设工程施工合同。将其开发的盛世豪庭住宅项目交予宏达建筑公司进行施工建设。请据此回答以下问题。若该建设工程竣工且经验收质量合格,但江山房地产公司拒付合同约定的工程价款。已知建设工程已经部分抵押给银行
一份执行政府定价的买卖合同,买方逾期提货,则()。
下列项目中免征土地增值税的是( )。
A公司通过其在中国的30家店铺销售多种高质量的运动服和运动鞋。在国家经济不断增长的情况下,该公司目前是盈利的,但这几年的利润空间一直在减少,公司尚未对此查明原因。每家店铺均采用电子系统记录库存。所有商品都由各店铺提供详细的产品要求,然后由驻孟加拉国的总部集
对管理者的培训通常包括()。
资本周转的时间包括()。
统计结果表明,就糖尿病的发病率看,城市为农村的近三倍,有人认为这归咎于城市人高脂肪、高蛋白、高热量食物的高摄入量。而农村相对较少有人具备这种“富贵病”的条件。其实,这种看法很难成立,因为它忽略了这样一个事实:目前城市人均寿命高于80岁,而农村的则不到60岁
公众充权:指在公共政策的制定、执行、评估、监督过程中,公众积极参与,充分表达自己的利益主张,以推动公共政策过程的民主化与科学化。下列属于公众充权的是
(1)求函数项级数e-x+2e-2x+…+ne-nx+…收敛时x的取值范围;(2)当上述级数收敛时,求其和函数S(x),并求∫ln2ln3S(x)dx.
Thestoryofthe【S1】______Titaniccontinuesto【S2】______peopletodaypartlybecauseofthe1998Hollywoodmovies,Titanic.Peopl
最新回复
(
0
)