oil
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. no one, however, seems to have realized the importance of this oil until it was found that 'paraffin-oil could be made from it; this led to the development of the wells and to the making of enormous profits. when the internal combustion engine was invented, oil became of worldwide importance.
2. what was the origin of the oil which now drives our motor-cars and aircraft? scientists are confident 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 the distant past, and was formed from living things in the sea. countless billions of minute 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 between layers of rock for an enormous length of time. the statement that oil originated in the sea is confirmed by a glance at 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 origin too. they are sedimentary rocks, rocks which were laid down by the action of water on the bed of the ocean. almost always the remains of shells, and other proofs of sea life, are found close to the oil. a very common sedimentary rock is called shale, which is a soft rock and was obviously formed by being deposited on the sea bed. and where there is shale there is likely to be oil.
3. geologists, scientists who study rocks, indicate the likely places to the oil drillers. in some cases oil comes out of the ground without any drilling at all and has been used for hundreds of years. in the island of trinidad the oil is in the form of asphalt, a substance used for making roads. sir walter raleigh visited the famous pitch lake of trinidad in 1595; it is said to contain nine thousand million tons of asphalt. there are probably huge quantities of crude oil beneath the surface.
4. the king of the oilfield is the driller. he is a very skilled man. sometimes he sends his drill more than a mile into the earth. during the process of drilling, gas and oil at great pressure may suddenly be met, and if this rushes out and catches fire, the oil well may never be brought into operation at all. this danger is well known and steps are always taken to prevent it.
5. there is a lot of luck in drilling for oil. the drill may just miss the oil although it is near; on the other hand, it may strike oil at a fairly high level. when the drill goes down, it brings up soil. the samples of soil from various depths are examined for traces of oil. if they are disappointed at one place, the drillers go to another. great sums of money have been spent, for example in the deserts of egypt, in 'prospecting' for oil. sometimes little is found. when we buy a few gallons of petrol for out cars, we pay not only the cost of the petrol, but also part of the cost of the search that is always going on.
6. when the crude oil is obtained from the field, it is taken to the refineries to be treated. the commonest form of treatment is heating. when the oil is heated, the first vapors to rise are cooled and become the finest petrol. petrol has a low boiling point; if a little is poured into the hand, it soon vaporizes. gas that comes off the oil later is condensed into paraffin. last of all the lubricating oils of various grades are produced. what remains is heavy oil that is used as fuel.
7. there are four main areas of the world where deposits of oil appear. the first is that of the middle east, and includes the regions near the caspian sea, the black sea, the red sea and the persian gulf, another is the area between north and south america, and the third, between asia and australia, includes the islands of sumatra, borneo and java.
8. the forth area is the part near the north pole. when all the present oilfields are exhausted, it is possible that this cold region may become the scene of oil activity. yet the difficulties will be great, and the costs may be so high that no company will undertake the work. if progress in using atomic power to drive machines is fast enough, it is possible that oil-driven engines may give place to the new kind of engine. in that case the demand for oil will fall, the oilfields will gradually disappear, and the deposits at the north pole may rest where they are for ever.
参考译文：油
1．油井的存在由来以久。北美的一些印第安人过去常常从宾夕法尼亚的 油井采集油来出售。一直以来，没有人认为到这种油的重要性，后来人们发 现它可提炼出煤油来，情况才为主一变。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，石油更具世界性重要意义。
2．现在驱动汽车和飞机的油的起源是什么?科学家对煤的形成一清二楚，然而论及石油时，他们就不那么有把握了。他们认为，处于地表下的油 起源于远古，并是由海洋生物形成的。数亿的微小海洋动物和植物繁衍生殖 并沉到海底。它们被厚厚的泥沙沉积物所覆盖，并由于化学变化、压力和温 度的作用过程，在漫长的时间中变成了我们所知道的石油。这些生物要变成 石油，必须被密封在岩层之中很长时间。如果瞧一瞧标明世界主要油田的地 图，石油起源于海洋之说便可得到证实，极少有油田是远离今天的海洋的。 在某些地方，天然气和石油从海底冒出海面。含油的岩石与海洋也有渊源关 系。它们是水成岩，是由海水作用沉至海底的。在有石油地方的附近几乎总 是有贝壳遗骸和其他海洋生物的证据。一种十分常见的水成岩叫油页岩，它 是一种很软的岩石，很明显是因为被压积在海底而后形成的。而哪儿有油页 岩，哪儿就可能有石油。
3．研究岩石的科学家即地质学家给石油钻井工指明可能产生油处。有些 地方，根本无需挖掘，油自动冒出地面，并已这样使用了几百年。在特立尼 达岛，石油以沥青——即用作铺路面的物质——的形式存在。沃尔特罗利爵 士在1595年访问过特立尼达的著名沥青湖，据说该湖的沥青容量有90亿吨。 在其地表下可能有大量原油。
4．油田的主角是钻井工。他们是熟练技术工人。有时他得把钻头钻入地 下一英里深。在钻探过程中，由于巨大的压力，可能会突然碰上气和油，而 如果油气喷出来并着了火，此油井便可能永远无法启用。这种危险是人人共 知的，因此人们采取防护措施。
5．在钻井采油中也常要碰运气。钻头可能离油很近，但却失之交臂。而 有时钻头可能在很浅处就碰上了油。钻头钻下去，把土带上来。人们检验从 不同深处带上来的土样以探明油迹。如果一处落空了，钻井工就转移到另一 处。为了“勘探”石油，已花费了巨额钱财，例如在埃及沙漠就是那样。有 时所获甚微。当我们为自己的汽车购买几加仑汽油时，我们付的不仅是汽油 的价钱，而且而包括了一部分不断在进行着的勘探费用。
6．当原油从油田取得后，就被送往炼油厂去处理。最常见的处理方式是 加热。油加热时最早升起的蒸汽冷却后就为最好的汽油。汽油沸点低，如果 倒上少许在手上，它立即就蒸发掉。稍后从油中分离出来的气体就被冷凝成 煤油，最后制出的是各种不同等级的润滑油。而剩下的部分是用作燃料的重 油。
7．世界上已探明的主要蕴藏石油地区有4个，第一是中东地区，包括里 海、黑海、红海和波斯湾附近地区，另一个是北美和南美间的油区，而第三、 个是亚洲和澳洲之间的油区，包括苏门答腊、婆罗洲和爪洼岛。
8．第四个油区是靠近北极那部分区域。当所有现今的油田都枯竭了的时 候，这一寒冷地区可能会成为石油竞争活动的场所。然而困难将是很大的， 同时代价也可能很高，因此没有一家公司肯承担这一任务。如果利用原子能 来开动机器方面的工作进展迅速，那么以油为动力的发动机可能让位于新型 发动机．在那么情况下，对石油的需求量将下降，油田将逐渐消失，而北极的 储油也可能永远睡在原地。