The sharp drop in world oil prices has led oil companies in the United States to dismiss thousands of workers. Some companies have also suspended new oil drilling and exploration projects. The drop in oil prices has also affected small service companies and even stores that do business with oil companies in big producer states like Texas. But the drop in oil prices has not been bad for everyone.

Oil platform workers are often called roughnecks. In Texas, many roughnecks have lost their jobs because of the drop in oil prices. The effect of falling prices has been worse in states like Alaska and North Dakota. That is because production costs are higher there than they are in the Eagle Ford area of south-central Texas.

Adam Perdue is an economist at the University of Houston’s Institute for Regional Forecasting. He has been studying the effect of falling oil prices in Texas. He says oil company exploration and production budgets are being cut between 10 and 50 percent, with most of them being cut by a third. He thinks the lower spending will affect the local economy.

The economic slowdown will affect companies that make pipes and other equipment for oil exploration and production. It will also have an effect on trucking companies that supply sand and chemicals, and other small businesses that serve the energy industry.

But low oil prices are good for chemical companies. They use hydrocarbons found in oil to make fertilizer, plastic and other products. Adam Perdue says a new chemical plant project near Houston will provide jobs for many skilled workers.

“A lot of these roughnecks that are going to lose their jobs out there in the field are going to be able to come home and get a welding job or a construction job,” he says. But some oil industry experts believe prices will rise again in about six months when the oversupply of oil is reduced. 

本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写，禁止复制和任何商业用途，版权所有，侵权必究！

1.What does the underlined word “dismiss” in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A serve

B invite

C hire

D fire

解析：选D。D 猜测词义题。根据句意，世界石油价格的暴跌应导致公司裁员，故选D。

2.Why the effect of falling prices is worse in North Dakota?

A Roughnecks there have lost their jobs.

B The oil production there costs more.

C Oil platform there has been closed.

D Oil prices there have fallen more sharply.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第二段That is because production costs are higher there than they are in the Eagle Ford area of south-central Texas可知，那里的石油生产费用更高，因此情况更糟糕。 故选B。

3.What does Adam Perdue’s study show?

A Adam Perdue is a great economist of today.

B The local economy has been cut by one third.

C Oil company exploration should be carried on.

D Cut of oil costs will influence the local economy.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。由文章第三段He thinks the lower spending will affect the local economy可知，减少支出将会影响地方经济，故选D。

4.Which of the following has benefited from the drop in oil prices?

A Oil service companies.

B Chemical companies.

C Welding companies.

D Construction companies.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第五段But low oil prices are good for chemical companies.可知答案，故选B。

5.From the last paragraph, we can infer that ______.

A the oversupply of oil will bring in more money

B the roughnecks have to come home after work

C the world oil problem is likely to last another half year

D a construction job will be more and more competitive

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。由最后一段最后一句...experts believe prices will rise again in about six months...推断，油价在大约六个月后会重新上涨，则油价低迷的状况还会持续约半年，故选C。