中国石油职称英语考试通用教材电子版（2007年）十六a

16.A World without Oil(假如世界没有石油)
　　1. Have you ever stopped to think how your life would change if the world ran out of oil? Take a look at your day.
The roof of your home is probably made waterproof¹ by an oil product, bitumen². The same product is used for the road
surface outside your home. Before you leave to go to work or school, just examine your surroundings. Is the room warmer
than the cold air outside? Oil, or electricity from oil-fed generators³ may be keeping you comfortably warm. If you are comfortably cool in a tropical climate, your air conditioning
unit may 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？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 will probably see some plastic fittings such as tiles and working surfaces; polystyrene cups;
curtains made from synthetic⁴ materials; disinfectants and detergents⁵. All owe their origin to the oil known as petroleum⁶ (Latin/Greek ’
petra’, rock, and Latin ’oleum’, oil), found deep in the earth. Look inside the medicine cupboard for more petroleum products,
medical paraffin and petroleum
jelly. Cosmetics⁷ such as face creams, lipsticks⁸ and hair preparations are often based on petroleum.
　　2、在厨房和浴室里你可能看到一些塑料器具，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、消毒剂和去污剂。所有这些都是来自称为“Petroleum”的石油。“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。
　　3. When you’re out, notice the fields and gardens. Fertilizers and insecticides made from petroleum can improve crop production. Recently protein
feeds for animals have been developed by growing yeast⁹ in a petroleum based stock. As you head for your bus, train or car, all of which
use petroleum products in the form of fuel to move them and lubricants to keep them in working order, take a look in the mirror. What are
you wearing today? A polyester shirt or dress, nylon socks or stockings, and acrylic sweater-a raincoat of PVC (polyvinyl chloride)? All of these are 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。最近已经研制出一种动物食用的蛋白质饲料，它是用石油作为基本原料加上酵母而制成的。公共汽车、货车或小轿车，都是靠石油产品作燃料开动的，用润滑油保持这些车辆正常工作。当你去乘车之前要照一照镜子。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