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1. Have you ever stopped to thinkhowyour lifewouldchangeifthe worldranout of oil?Takea look atyour day. The roof of your home is probably madewaterproofby an oil product, bitumen. The same productis used forthe road surfaceoutsideyour home. Before you leave to go to work or school, justexamineyour surroundings. Is the roomwarmer thanthe cold air outside? Oil, orelectricityfromoil-fed generators may be keeping you comfortablywarm. If you are comfortably coolina tropical climate,your airconditioning unitmay also depend on oil-fed generators.
1.你曾想过没有，如果世界上用尽了石油，你的生活会发生什么样变化呢(虚拟语气)？请看一看你的日常生活。你家的屋顶可能是用一种叫沥青的石油产品做成防水的。沥青同样可用来铺你家外面的路面。在你离家去上班或上学之前，请观察一下你周围的环境。房间里会比外面冷空气暖和吗？这是石油或由燃油发电机（oil-fed generators）发出来的电使你感到舒适温暖。如果你在炎热的气候里感到舒适凉爽，那么你家的空调器可能也是靠燃油发电机工作的。
2. In the kitchen and the bathroom you willprobably see some plasticfittingssuch as tiles and workingsurfaces; polystyrene cups;curtainsmade from synthetic materials; disinfectants and detergents. All owe their origin to the oilknownas petroleum(Latin/Greek'petra', rock, and Latin 'oleum', oil),founddeep in the earth.Lookinside the medicine cupboardformore petroleum products, medical paraffin and petroleum jelly. Cosmetics such as face creams, lipsticks andhairpreparations are often based on petroleum.
2、在厨房和浴室里你可能看到一些塑料器具（fittings），如塑料地板和塑料操作台面、聚苯乙烯杯子、合成材料的浴帘(curtains made from synthetic materials)、消毒剂和去污剂。所有这些都是来自称为“Petroleum”的石油(allowetheir origintotheoilknownas petroleum)。“Petroleum”(石油)是由拉丁或希腊文"petro"(岩石)和拉丁文"oleum"(油)组成，深埋在地下。向药厨里看看，你可以找到更多的石油产品，如药用石蜡和凡士林。化妆品如雪花膏、唇膏、洗发剂等，常用石油作为基本原料(are often based onpetroleum)。
3. When you're out, notice the fields and gardens. Fertilizers and insecticides madefrom petroleumcan improve crop production. Recentlyproteinfeedsfor animalshavebeen developed by growing yeast in a petroleum based stock.Asyouhead foryour bus, train or car, all of which use petroleumproductsin the form offuelto move themand lubricantsto keep theminworking order,take a lookin the mirror. What are you wearing today? A polyestershirt or dress,nylonsocksor stockings, and acrylicsweater-a raincoat of PVC (polyvinylchloride)?All of theseare based on petroleum products.
3、当外出时你会看到农田和花园。化肥和杀虫剂是由石油制取的，可以使农作物增产。最近已经研制出一些动物食用的蛋白质饲料（protein feeds for animals），它们是用石油作为基本原料（in a petroleum based stock）加上酵母而制成的。公共汽车、货车或小轿车，都是靠石油产品作燃料开动的(to move them)，用润滑油保持这些车辆正常工作(to keep them in workingorder)。当你去乘车之前要照一照镜子(as you head for your bus,take a look in the mirror)。看看今天穿什么衣服好？是化纤服装（衬衫还是外套），是尼龙袜（短袜还是长袜），晴纶毛衣还是塑料雨衣？而所有这些都是用石油产品作原料的(all of these are based on petroleum products)。
4. Scientists predict that the world's known oil resourceswill run outearly in the nextcentury. But long before then the worldwill have to decide on itspriorities. Can we afford to usesomuch of our limited petroleum suppliesfor private motoring?Shouldairlines compete on similar routesallowingplanes to fly longdistanceswithempty passenger seats?What alternative energy resources can be developed?
4、科学家预言世界上已探明的石油资源(the world's known oil resources)将在下个世纪初用尽。但远在那时候以前(but long before then)，世界就必须确定石油是优先考虑控制使用的物资。石油储量既然有限，我们还能把那么多的石油用于私人汽车吗？难道航空公司还应该为了在类似的航线上竞争而允许他们的客机有空座的长途飞行吗？能开发出什么样的替代能源呢？
5. There isanold English saying, "Necessity is themother ofinvention,"whichmeans that when you are faced with a need youwill discoversome way of fulfillingit. Already scientists are proposing some fascinating solutions.There is one suggestionthatthe wheeled traffic andthe footsteps of crowdswalkingthe streetsin major citiescouldgenerate energy.One companyhas presentedan ideain whichmetalstripsinsertedinpavementsand roadsoperate fly wheels by means of a piston actionusing hydraulic fluid. They saythe humanandwheeled trafficin a busy citycentercould provide enoughenergytolight the streets of an entire townorpower the heating system for a hospitalor school. Some people are developing sophisticated versions of the windmill. Engines can runonalcohol, so surplus sugar canecould be used toproduce energy. An air shippoweredby energy from the sunhas been suggested. Such "sunship" would havea large enoughsurface areatocarry the enormous numberofsolar cells necessaryto move anyappreciable load. Such "sun ship" might travelat over one hundred kilometers an hour.In such circumstances, of course, the tropical parts of the worldwouldhavea head start in the raceto findnewenergy sources.
5、英国有一句古话“需要是发明之母”(Necessity is the mother of invention.)。这意味着当你面对(be faced with)一种需要时，你将发现一种方法满足它(some way of fulfilling it)。科学家们已经在提出一些迷人的(fascinating)解决方案。有一个建议提出，在大城市街道上，拥挤的人群走的脚步和路面上往来行使的车辆可以用来生产能量。一个公司提出这样想法：嵌在人行道和路面上的金属条用液压活塞的作用(a piston action using hydraulic fluid)使飞轮转动。他们说，在繁华大城市的中心，人群和过往车辆可提供足够的能量为整个城镇的街道照明或者为一个医院或学校提供供暖系统的动力。某些人正在研制高级的风车技术(sophisticated versions of the windmill)。发动机可用乙醇作燃料开动，因此，过剩的甘蔗(surplus sugar cane)可用来产生能量。还有人建议用太阳能作动力来驱使飞艇(airship)。这种“太阳能飞艇”(sun ship)必须要很大的面积以携带大量的太阳能电池(to carry the enormousnumber of solar cells)，这样才有可能运载可观的载荷(any appresiable load)。这种“太阳能飞艇”也许每小时能航行100多公里。当然倘若这样(in such circumstances)，世界的热带地区在寻找新能源的竞赛中将会领先一步(would have a head start)。
