题目内容
Is the United States Addicted to Gasoline Used in everything from lipstick and lubricants to motor oil and medications, oil is one product the world just can’t seem to get enough of. The United States especially, which consumes roughly 21 million barrels of the stuff a day, has quite an attachment to this ubiquitous(普遍存在的) product. And while oil can be refined into a variety of products, Americans seem to prefer theirs in the form of gasoline. In fact, the United States consumes more gasoline than South America, Europe, Africa and Asia combined. So what’s with the United States and its gasoholic tendencies Is the country truly addicted to gasoline, and if so, what factors led it to get hooked While the United States obviously has quite a fixation with the amber liquid, its fondness for gasoline probably doesn’t fit the official criteria for an addiction. Rather, the affinity is more like a bad habit spurred on by a number of government policies put into place over the years. Combine a relatively wealthy nation with low fuel taxes, low fuel efficiency requirements and a poor public transportation system, and you have the perfect climate for a gasoline obsession. As opposed to other countries like Denmark, where high purchase taxes on cars can deter driving, the United States has few roadblocks to impede their gas-guzzling ways. Quite the opposite, in fact--with a vast road system crisscrossing the country and relatively cheap fill-up stations every few miles, what are American citizens to do Why, drive of course! And drive they do, as there are more than 244 million vehicles roaming U.S. highways--755 cars for every 1,000 people. Lots of cars don’t automatically equal high gasoline consumption though. Consider Portugal, which has 773 cars for every 1,000 people, yet consumed less than 45,000 barrels of gasoline a day in 2004. True, the United States is much larger than Portugal, but that’s not the only reason its gasoline consumption far outpaces every other nation. Despite the fact that Americans now own fewer vehicles than they used to, the vehicles they do own travel farther and require more gasoline than those of any other industrialized nation. Appetite for Gasoline While the unprecedented price of $4 per gallon of gasoline may have come as a shock to Americans during the summer of 2008, citizens in other countries have been paying at least that much for years. Across Europe, high fuel taxes equate to gasoline prices regularly in the range of $8 per gallon. In the United States, where the average gas tax in July 2008 was $0.49 per gallon, lower prices have encouraged a range of habits that have simply exacerbated (使加剧) gasoline consumption. While Europeans were gravitating toward smaller, more efficient cars to save money at the pump, their American counterparts were ogling gargantuan SUVs. Stemming from consumer demand as well as government requirements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and make cars more efficient, the average vehicle in Europe gets more than 32 miles per gallon. In the United States, though, a similar-size car doesn’t even manage 22 mpg (35 kpg). Why the discrepancy Perhaps because fuel efficiency standards in the United States were largely ignored from 1985 to 2005. If those standards had instead been raised as little as 0.4 miles per year, the United States could possibly have saved about 3.3 million barrels of oil a day. The demand for fuel efficiency in Europe also creates a better market for diesel cars, further lessening the area’s reliance on gas. Only 4 percent of the cars in the United States run on diesel; in Europe the percentage is 10 times higher. Again, Americans can lay some of the blame for that on their government, which discourages the more fuel-efficient diesel cars by taxing this fuel more heavily. The United States’ appetite for gasoline can’t solely be attributed to the large number of inefficient cars on the road. As you learned on the previous page, those cars drive an awful lot of miles--an awful lot being 7 billion miles every day. Part of that long commute can be traced to personal choice--with access to historically low gas prices, Americans saw no need to live near the city center to save energy like people in some other countries do. Instead, they packed up and headed out to the suburbs. The other side of that coin is the government’s inability to fund public transportation projects adequately. Whereas new highway construction receives an ample 80 percent of federal funding, new public transportation projects receive just 50 percent. In 2009, the proposed U.S. budget would cut $202 million from transit spending and transfer $3.2 billion from funds dedicated to transit. These cuts come despite an estimate from the Treasury Department that the Highway Trust Fund and the Mass Transit Account will both face massive deficits in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Meanwhile, the governments of other nations throughout Europe and Japan and China have avidly supported transportation alternatives like high-speed rail. Better public transportation options combined with more compact cities equals less gasoline consumption. In Paris, people complete almost half of their trips without cars; in the United States, that number is closer to 20 percent. Kick the Gasoline Habit Americans have made several attempts to kick the gasoline habit cold turkey, but every time, their thirst for fuel wins out. The country’s gasoline consumption abated during recessions in 1975, 1980 and 1990, only to resume an aggressive climb once the economy improved. However, many experts now believe the most recent decline in consumption--the largest sustained drop in 16 years--could be here to stay. Due to record high gasoline prices in the summer of 2008, Americans made big changes to cut back their fuel consumption. They drove 9.6 billion miles less in May than compared with the year before, and their gasoline consumption in July 2008 was 3.6 percent lower than last year’s level. If high gasoline prices were the only player in this game, those gains would probably follow the trend of past successes and simply rebound. This time, though, the high gas prices were compounded by a weak housing market and an even weaker economy, where prices for all consumer goods were up 4.3 percent from a year before--a 16-year high. According to the Energy Information Administration, every 1 percent decrease in personal income leads to a 0.5 percent reduction in gasoline consumption. The double whammy (致命打击) of high gas prices and a weak consumer market seems to have forced Americans to do more than just scale back their driving. Americans appear to have made changes that will have a lasting impact even if fuel prices drop back down. They’ve started buying smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, and they’ve traded their houses out in the suburbs for homes more convenient to where they work. The government has even gotten on board to some degree by enforcing more rigorous fuel-efficiency standards and offering subsidies on some hybrid vehicles. In January 2008, sales of large cars were down 26.5 percent from last year, while small-car and crossover vehicle sales were up 6.5 percent and 15.1 percent, respectively. Although most Americans would probably agree that coping with high gas prices hasn’t been pleasant, perhaps it has at least given the atmosphere somewhat of a reprieve. U.S. transportation accounts for an entire third of its CO2 emissions and produces more of these emissions than any other nation. While regular smog alerts and threats of global warming fail to generate much action, $4 per gallon at the pumps seems to do the trick. If the rest of the world has learned anything from watching the United States cope with its ballooning gas prices, it’s that to get its stubborn citizens to change, one may have to resort to the old adage of "no pains, no gains.\ In other countries, the governments greatly support ______ as an alternative of transportation.
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Seven Financial Tips from the Great Depression Having lived through the Depression, our grandparents and great-grandparents formed a lack of trust in banks and turned to burying cash in the backyard or hiding it under the mattress. Our current economic downturn doesn’t yet call for such drastic measures but there are things we can learn from those who went through this challenging era and prospered. Food: Grow a Garden Growing at least some of your own food can save a lot of money, and provide the satisfaction that comes from eating local, really local. Consider starting a community garden such as the Depression-era community relief gardens, or the World War II Victory Gardens, searching step-by-step instructions on the Internet, and applying those ideas to any project that you can implement on someone’s vacant lot (with permission ). Entertainment: Enjoying the Simple Things Not everything about the Depression was actually depressing. In hard times, we can sometimes find a lot of pleasure in remembering to enjoy the simple things in life. During the 1930s, games like Monopoly became popular because they gave people hope and allowed them to dream of a better life. Remember some of the board games from your childhood, and plan a low-tech outing with friends and family. It will also help you remember that you don’t absolutely need every single gadget (小玩意) that hits the store shelves, and on top of that it will be a bit cheaper than spending the day at Disneyland. Transportation: How Many SUVs Does Your Family Need Hitchhiking (搭乘) was prevalent in the Great Depression, and this is one area that can at least offer some creativity, although Mint absolutely does not recommend that you sell your car and get to work each day by holding up a thumb next to the freeway, nor should you become a hobohemian (流浪汉) and hop trains to get around. However, since owning a car is more of a luxury than a necessity, we can learn from the community aspect and form carpools, walk to the store if it’s only a mile away, and if you are lucky enough to have a half-decent public transportation system, Google Maps now shows your time and cost to drive relative to taking a bus or walking. Consider moving closer to where you work and walk or ride a bike instead. Like Dave Ramsey, author of Total Money Makeover, says: "If you are willing to live like no one else now, you can live like no one else later."Essentially, by defying convention, even for a relatively short amount of time, you can save a hefty sum of money. Housing: Downsize or Rent a Room We all have different situations, and this is one of the most pressing issues facing our nation and the world right now. You might be just out of college and trying to make it on your own, or you might be paying for your child’s college now, but there are definitely lessons to be learned from the Depression. In some cases, it may be beneficial to sacrifice a bit of privacy in the short-term in order to get back on track (回 到正轨) financially. Rent an extra bedroom to a friend, have your child move back home if you are struggling to send him or her rent money every month, or downsize your home. You don’t have to necessarily make a gut-wrenching (搜肠刮肚的) decision overnight, but do yourself a favor and at least check out some listings on Craigslist for rentals, or have a real estate agent e-mail you listings in a cheaper price range. If a great deal pops up that piques your interest, you can at least bat around the idea with your family. If you are single, just go for it! Jobs/Entrepreneurship: Nothing Left to Lose Due to the extensive public works projects in the 1930s, there was at least a bit of relief for the unemployed masses. People simply took any work they could, and often worked 12 hour days. If you are looking for employment, you might consider looking for a position that is slightly below your ideal salary, but that seems to have the most potential for advancement. If you are entrepreneurial, and perhaps have already fallen behind on bills, one positive thing about the current economic climate is that you are starting over at a time when many other people are also faced with starting from scratch (白手起家) financially, and perhaps you may even be in a position where you literally have nothing left to lose, which can be a great time for personal innovation and taking the risk to start in a new industry or implement an idea that’s always been in the back of your mind. It’s time for boot-strapping(步步为营法) ! Credit: Redefining What You Can Afford and Need If you have credit available, you might be tempted to use it before the bank cuts the credit line. Don’t do it. Going into debt will only hurt you in the long run. Instead, remember the words of your grandmother and heed this simple, age-old advice--"if you can’t afford to pay cash, you can’t afford it". Money Management/Budgeting: Simplify Your System When you simply have no money, it is easy to keep spending under control because it is impossible to spend. In many cases, one spouse saved money in the cupboard and even hid it from the other spouse. There is a good trick to be found here that requires a lot of discipline. If, for example, you are getting hit with overdraft ( 透支) fees, you need to establish a barrier that you absolutely will not dip below (even if it means paying a bill late). Take the cue from the 1930s and use cash rather than debit for your petty purchases, especially when you are close to zero in your account. This will help avoid paying $36 for that pack of gum if an unexpected payment goes through your account and causes an overdraft fee. For our grandparents and great-grandparents who lived through the 1930s, many months surely consisted of living in survival mode, and there were much fewer recurring expenses and bills to be paid, so it was possible in a lot of cases to keep track of spending without even necessarily writing it down. Today, we have several types of accounts, in many cases at different institutions, with new types of debt and monthly payments to keep track of, so take a look at Mint’s free software today and start tracking your spending automatically to find areas where you can save money. It is better to ______ that you will not dip below while you are facing the problem of overdraft fees.
Seven Financial Tips from the Great Depression Having lived through the Depression, our grandparents and great-grandparents formed a lack of trust in banks and turned to burying cash in the backyard or hiding it under the mattress. Our current economic downturn doesn’t yet call for such drastic measures but there are things we can learn from those who went through this challenging era and prospered. Food: Grow a Garden Growing at least some of your own food can save a lot of money, and provide the satisfaction that comes from eating local, really local. Consider starting a community garden such as the Depression-era community relief gardens, or the World War II Victory Gardens, searching step-by-step instructions on the Internet, and applying those ideas to any project that you can implement on someone’s vacant lot (with permission ). Entertainment: Enjoying the Simple Things Not everything about the Depression was actually depressing. In hard times, we can sometimes find a lot of pleasure in remembering to enjoy the simple things in life. During the 1930s, games like Monopoly became popular because they gave people hope and allowed them to dream of a better life. Remember some of the board games from your childhood, and plan a low-tech outing with friends and family. It will also help you remember that you don’t absolutely need every single gadget (小玩意) that hits the store shelves, and on top of that it will be a bit cheaper than spending the day at Disneyland. Transportation: How Many SUVs Does Your Family Need Hitchhiking (搭乘) was prevalent in the Great Depression, and this is one area that can at least offer some creativity, although Mint absolutely does not recommend that you sell your car and get to work each day by holding up a thumb next to the freeway, nor should you become a hobohemian (流浪汉) and hop trains to get around. However, since owning a car is more of a luxury than a necessity, we can learn from the community aspect and form carpools, walk to the store if it’s only a mile away, and if you are lucky enough to have a half-decent public transportation system, Google Maps now shows your time and cost to drive relative to taking a bus or walking. Consider moving closer to where you work and walk or ride a bike instead. Like Dave Ramsey, author of Total Money Makeover, says: "If you are willing to live like no one else now, you can live like no one else later."Essentially, by defying convention, even for a relatively short amount of time, you can save a hefty sum of money. Housing: Downsize or Rent a Room We all have different situations, and this is one of the most pressing issues facing our nation and the world right now. You might be just out of college and trying to make it on your own, or you might be paying for your child’s college now, but there are definitely lessons to be learned from the Depression. In some cases, it may be beneficial to sacrifice a bit of privacy in the short-term in order to get back on track (回 到正轨) financially. Rent an extra bedroom to a friend, have your child move back home if you are struggling to send him or her rent money every month, or downsize your home. You don’t have to necessarily make a gut-wrenching (搜肠刮肚的) decision overnight, but do yourself a favor and at least check out some listings on Craigslist for rentals, or have a real estate agent e-mail you listings in a cheaper price range. If a great deal pops up that piques your interest, you can at least bat around the idea with your family. If you are single, just go for it! Jobs/Entrepreneurship: Nothing Left to Lose Due to the extensive public works projects in the 1930s, there was at least a bit of relief for the unemployed masses. People simply took any work they could, and often worked 12 hour days. If you are looking for employment, you might consider looking for a position that is slightly below your ideal salary, but that seems to have the most potential for advancement. If you are entrepreneurial, and perhaps have already fallen behind on bills, one positive thing about the current economic climate is that you are starting over at a time when many other people are also faced with starting from scratch (白手起家) financially, and perhaps you may even be in a position where you literally have nothing left to lose, which can be a great time for personal innovation and taking the risk to start in a new industry or implement an idea that’s always been in the back of your mind. It’s time for boot-strapping(步步为营法) ! Credit: Redefining What You Can Afford and Need If you have credit available, you might be tempted to use it before the bank cuts the credit line. Don’t do it. Going into debt will only hurt you in the long run. Instead, remember the words of your grandmother and heed this simple, age-old advice--"if you can’t afford to pay cash, you can’t afford it". Money Management/Budgeting: Simplify Your System When you simply have no money, it is easy to keep spending under control because it is impossible to spend. In many cases, one spouse saved money in the cupboard and even hid it from the other spouse. There is a good trick to be found here that requires a lot of discipline. If, for example, you are getting hit with overdraft ( 透支) fees, you need to establish a barrier that you absolutely will not dip below (even if it means paying a bill late). Take the cue from the 1930s and use cash rather than debit for your petty purchases, especially when you are close to zero in your account. This will help avoid paying $36 for that pack of gum if an unexpected payment goes through your account and causes an overdraft fee. For our grandparents and great-grandparents who lived through the 1930s, many months surely consisted of living in survival mode, and there were much fewer recurring expenses and bills to be paid, so it was possible in a lot of cases to keep track of spending without even necessarily writing it down. Today, we have several types of accounts, in many cases at different institutions, with new types of debt and monthly payments to keep track of, so take a look at Mint’s free software today and start tracking your spending automatically to find areas where you can save money. To avoid going into debt, you should ______
The Development of Television Technology Radio and television were major agents of social change in the 20th century. Radio was once the center for family entertainment and news. Television enhanced this revolution by adding sight to sound. Both opened the windows to other lives, to remote areas of the world, and to history in the making. News coverage changed from early and late editions of newspapers to broadcast coverage from the scene. Play-by-play sports broadcasts and live concerts enhanced entertainment coverage. For many, the only cultural performances or sports events they would ever hear or see would emanate from the speakers or the screens in their living rooms. Each has engaged millions of people in the major historical events that have shaped the world. If people could look at the sky and see how it is organized into frequency bands used for different purposes, they would be amazed. Radio waves crisscross the atmosphere at the speed of light, relaying incredible amounts of information---navigational data, radio signals, television pictures--using devices for transmission and reception designed, built, and refined by a century of engineers. Key figures in the late 1800s included Nikola Tesla, who developed the Tesla coil, and James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz, who proved mathematically the possibility of transmitting electromagnetic signals between widely separated points. It was Guglielmo Marconi who was most responsible for taking the theories of radio waves out of the laboratory and applying them to practical devices. His "wireless" telegraph demonstrated its great potential for worldwide communication in 1901 by sending a signal--the letter "s"--in Morse code a distance of 2,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Radio technology was just around the comer. Immediate engineering challenges addressed the means of transmitting and receiving coded messages, and developing a device that could convert a high frequency oscillating signal into an electric current capable of registering as sound. The first significant development was "the Edison effect", the discovery that the carbon filament in the electric light bulb could radiate a stream of electrons to a nearby test electrode if it had a positive charge. In 1904, Sir John Ambrose Fleming of Britain took this one step further by developing the diode which allowed electric current to be detected by a telephone receiver. Two years later, American Lee De Forest developed the triode, introducing a third electrode (the grid) between the filament and the plate. It could amplify a signal to make live voice broadcasting possible, and was quickly added to Marconi’s wireless telegraph to produce the radio. Radio development was hampered by restrictions placed on airwaves during World War I. Technical limitations were also a problem. Few people had receivers, and those that did had to wear headsets. Radio was seen by many as a hobby for telegraphy buffs. It would take a great deal of engineering before the radio would become the unifying symbol of family entertainment and the medium for news that was its destiny. In the mid-1920s, technical developments expanded transmission distances, radio stations were built across the country, and the performance and appearance of the radio were improved. With tuning circuits, capacitors, microphones, oscillators, and loudspeakers, the industry blossomed in just a decade. By the mid-1930s almost every American household had a radio. The advent of the transistor in the 1950s completely transformed its size, style, and portability. Both television and radar were logical spin-offs of the radio. Almost 50 years before television became a reality, its fundamental principles had been independently developed in Europe, Russia, and the United States. John Baird in England and Charles Jenkins in the United States worked independently to combine modulated light and a scanning wheel to reconstruct a scene in line-by-line sweeps. In 1925, Baird succeeded in transmitting a recognizable image. Philo T. Farnsworth, a 21-year-old inventor from Utah, patented a scanning cathode ray tube, and Vladimir Zworykin of RCA devised a superior television camera in 1930. Regularly scheduled broadcasts started shortly thereafter, and by the early 1940s there were 23 television stations in operation throughout the United States. Shortly after World War Ⅱ, televisions began to appear on the market. The first pictures were faded and flickering, but more than a million sets were sold before the end of the decade. An average set cost $500 at a time when the average salary was less than $3,000 a year. In 1950 engineers perfected the rectangular cathode-ray tube and prices dropped to $200 per set. Within 10 years 45 million units were sold. A study of how human vision works enabled engineers to develop television technology. Images are retained on the retina of a viewer’s eye for a fraction of a second after they strike it. By displaying images piece by piece at sufficient speed, the illusion of a complete picture can be created. By changing the image on the screen 25 to 30 times per second, movement can be realistically represented. Early scanning wheels slowly built a picture line by line. In contrast, each image on a modem color television screen is comprised of more than 100,000 picture elements (pixels), arranged in several hundred lines. The image displayed changes every few hundredths of a second. For a 15-minute newscast, the television must accurately process more than 1 billion units of information. Technical innovations that made this possible included a screen coated with millions of tiny dots of fluorescent compounds that emit light when struck by high-speed electrons. Today this technology is in transition again, moving away from conventional television waves and on to discrete digital signals carried by fiber optics. This holds the potential for making television interactive--allowing a viewer to play a game or order action replays. Cathode ray tubes with power-hungry electron guns are giving way to liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. Movie-style wide screens and flat screens are readily available. Digital signals enable High Definition Television (HDTV) to have almost double the usual number of pixels, giving a much sharper picture. The advent of cable television and advances in fiber-optic technology will also help lift the present bandwidth restrictions and increase image quality. Television technology was developed based on the theory of ______.
10 Skills You Need to Succeed at Almost Anything What does it take to succeed. A positive attitude Well, sure, but that’s hardly enough. The Law of Attraction The Secret These ideas might act as spurs to action, but without the action itself, they don’t do much. Success, however, it’s defined, takes action, and taking good and appropriate action takes skills. Some of these skills (not enough, though) are taught in school (not well enough, either), others are taught on the job, and still others we learn from general life experience. Below is a list of general skills that will help anyone get ahead in practically any field, from running a company to running a gardening club. Of course, there are skills specific to each field as well--but my concern here is with the skills that translate across disciplines, the ones that can be learned by anyone in any position. 1. Public Speaking The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and forcefully in front of an audience--whether an audience of one or of thousands--is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything--products, of course, but also ideas, ideologies, worldview, and yourself--which means more opportunities for career advancement, bigger clients, or business funding. 2. Writing Writing well offers many of the same advantages that speaking well offers: good writers are better at selling products, ideas, and themselves than poor writers. Learning to write well involves not just mastery of grammar but the development of the ability to organize one’s thoughts into a coherent form and target it to an audience in the most effective way possible. Given the huge amount of text generated by almost every transaction--from court briefs and legislation running into the thousands of pages to those foot-long receipts you get when you buy gum these days--a person who is a master of the written word can expect doors to open in just about every field. 3. Self-management If success depends on effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus your attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. Strong organizational skills, effective productivity habits, and a strong sense of discipline are needed to keep yourself on track. 4. Networking Networking is not only for finding jobs or clients. In an economy dominated by ideas and innovation, networking creates the channel through which ideas flow and in which new ideas are created. A large network, carefully cultivated, ties one into not just a body of people but a body of relationships, and those relationships are more than just the sum of their parts. The interactions those relationships make possible give rise to innovation and creativity--and provide the support to nurture new ideas until they can be realized. 5. Critical Thinking We are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of times more information on a daily basis than our great-grandparents were. Being able to evaluate that information, sort the potentially valuable from the trivial, analyze its relevance and meaning, and relate it to other information is crucial--and woefully under-taught. Good critical thinking skills immediately distinguish you from the mass of people these days. 6. Decision-Making The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making--knowing what to do based on the information available. While not being critical can be dangerous, so too can over-analyzing, or waiting for more information before making a decision. Being able to take in the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes. 7. Math You don’t have to be able to integrate polynomials (多项式) to be successful. However, the ability to quickly work with figures in your head, to make rough but fairly accurate estimates, and to understand things like compound interest and basic statistics gives you a big lead on most people. All of these skills will help you to analyze data more effectively--and more quickly--and to make better decisions based on it. 8. Research Nobody can be expected to know everything, or even a tiny fraction of everything. Even within your field, chances are there’s tar more that you don’t know than you do know. You don’t have to know everything--but you should be able to quickly and painlessly find out what you need to know. That means learning to use the Internet effectively, learning to use a library, learning to read productively, and learning how to leverage your network of contacts--and what kinds of research are going to work best in any given situation. 9. Relaxation Stress will not only kill you, it leads to poor decision-making, poor thinking, and poor socialization. So be failing to relax, you knock out at least three of the skills in this list--and really more. Plus, working yourself to death in order to keep up, and not having any time to enjoy the fruits of your work, isn’t really "success". It’s obsession. Being able to face even the most pressing crises with your wits about you and in the most productive way is possibly the most important thing on this list. 10. Basic Accounting It is a simple fact in our society that money is necessary. Even the simple pleasures in life, like hugging your child, ultimately need money--or you’re not going to survive to hug for very long. Knowing how to track and record your expenses and income is important just to survive, let alone to thrive. But more than that, the principles of accounting apply more widely to things like tracking the time you spend on a project or determining whether the value of an action outweighs the costs in money, time, and effort. It’s a shame that basic accounting isn’t a required part of the core K-12 curriculum. Even within your field, it is very possible that ______
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