Question

Petroleum, consisting of crude oil（原油） and natural gas, seems to originate from organic matter in marine sediment（海洋沉淀物）.Tiny organisms settle to the seafloor and gather in marine mud. The organic matter may partially break down, using up the dissolved oxygen in the sediment. As soon as the oxygen is gone, decay stops and the remaining organic matter is preserved.

Continued sedimentation buries the organic matter and subjects it to higher temperatures and pressures, which change the organic matter to oil and gas. As muddy sediments are pressed together, the gas and small drops of oil may be squeezed out of the mud and may move into sandy layers nearby. Over millions of years, accumulations of gas and oil can collect in the sandy layers. Both oil and gas are less dense than water, so they generally tend to rise upward through rock and sediment.

Oil pools are valuable underground accumulations of oil, and oil fields are regions underlain by one or more oil pools. When an oil pool or field is discovered, wells are drilled into the ground. When the well reaches a pool, oil usually rises up the well because of its density difference（密度差） with water beneath it or because of the pressure of expanding gas trapped above it. Although this rise of oil is almost always carefully controlled today, strong natural flows of oil were common in the past. Gas pressure gradually dies out, and oil is pumped from the well. Water or steam may be pumped down neighboring wells to help push the oil out.

As oil becomes increasingly difficult to find, the search for it is extended into more unfriendly environments. The development of the oil field on the North Slope of Alaska and the construction of the Alaska pipeline are examples of the great expense and difficulty involved in new oil discoveries. Offshore drilling platforms extend the search for oil to the ocean’s continental shelves. More than one-quarter of the world’s oil and almost one-fifth of the world’s natural gas come from offshore, even though offshore drilling is six to seven times more expensive than drilling on land.

Of course, there is far more oil underground than can be recovered. Even given the best exploration techniques, only about 30 to 40 percent of the oil in a given pool can be brought to the surface. The rest is far too difficult to reach and has to remain underground.

1.Which of the following is true about petroleum formation?

A. Microscopic organisms that live in mud produce crude oil and natural gas.

B. Large amounts of oxygen are needed for petroleum formation to begin.

C. Petroleum is formed when organic material in sediments combines with decaying organisms.

D. Petroleum formation appears to begin in marine sediments where organic matter exists.

2.What does the development of the Alaskan oil field mentioned illustrate?

A. More petroleum is extracted from the sea than from land.

B. Drilling for oil requires huge financial investments.

C. The global demand for oil has been increasing over the years.

D. The North Slope of Alaska has substantial amounts of oil.

3.What does the author mainly intend to tell us in the passage?

A. The formation, processing and exploration of petroleum

B. The specific techniques involved in oil exploration.

C. The changing relationships between countries.

D. The future intense situation in oil product markets.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A. Available exploration techniques serve our purpose of exploring oil very well.

B. More and more public regions will be further protected from being drilled in the future.

C. Countries may suffer from unpleasant relationships for respective benefits in exploring oil.

D. Powerful flows of oil is a phenomenon which can be witnessed rarely now.

Answer 1

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章大意：主要主要介绍了石油的形成以及探究石油的开采与挖掘和阻碍石油开发的因素。

1.seems to originate from organic matter in marine sediment“可以判断石油始于海洋沉淀物，故选D适合。

2. 细节理解题。根据文章第四段中的“The development of the oil field on the North Slope of Alaska and the construction of the Alaska pipeline are examples of the great expense and difficulty involved in new oil discoveries“可知油田投资的费用很大，故答案为B。

3.

4. 结合文章的大意，从最后一段的“only about 30 to 40 percent of the oil in a given pool can be brought to the surface“来看目前的石油开采技术还不够完善故A项错误；B和C项内容没有涉及；故选D项。

考点：考查科技文阅读