中石油2016通用英语选读课文43Oil石油.docVIP

43 Oil 石油 1. The existence of oil wells has been known for a long time. Some of the Indians of North America used to collect and sell the oil from the wells of Pennsylvania宾夕法尼亚. No one, however, seems to have realized the importance of this oil until it was found that paraffinn石蜡-oil煤油 could be made from it; this led to the development of the wells and to the making of enormous巨大的 profits. When the internal combustionn燃烧 engine内燃机 was invented, oil became of worldwide importance. 1、油井的存在由来已久。北美的一些印第安人过去常常去宾夕法尼亚的油井采集油来出售。一直以来，没有人认识到这种油的重要性，后来人们发现它可提炼出煤油来，情况才为之一变。自此油井遂蓬勃发展，巨额利润也由此产生。当内燃机发明后，石油更具有世界性重要意义。 2. What was the origin of the oil which now drives our motor-cars and aircraft? Scientists are confident确信的 about the formation of coal, but they do not seem so sure when asked about oil. They think that the oil under the surface of the earth originated in起源于，产生于 the distant past, and was formed from living things in the sea. Countless无数的 billions十亿 of minute微小 sea creatures and plants lived and sank to the sea bed. They were covered with huge deposits of mud; and by processes of chemistry, pressure and temperature were changed through long ages into what we know as oil. For there creatures to become oil, it was necessary that they should be imprisoned密封，禁锢 between layers of rock for an enormous length of time. The statement that oil originated in the sea is confirmed by a glance at瞧一瞧，看一看 a map showing the chief oilfield of the world; very few of them are far distant from the oceans of today. In some places gas and oil come up to the surface of the sea from its bed. The rocks in which oil is found are of marine海洋的 origin起源 too. They are sedimentaryadj沉积的，沉淀性的 rocks水成岩, rocks which were laid down by the action of water on the bed of the ocean. Almost always the remains遗骸 of shells贝壳, and other proofs证据 of sea life, are found close to the oil. A very common sedimentary rock is called shalen油页岩，页岩, which is a soft rock and was obviously formed by being deposited on th