One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economist’s commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%.
51. The main reason for the latest rise of oil price is
[A] global inflation.
[B] reduction in supply.
[C] fast growth in economy.
[D] Iraq’s suspension of exports.
[答案] B
[解题思路]
本题可以采用排除法。首先，C、D选项都出现在第二段，是上一次石油价格上涨的因素，与这一次的无关。原文第一段的倒数第二句话指出“Both previous shocks resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline”(前两次的油价暴涨都导致了两位数的通货膨胀和全球性的经济衰退)，可见A选项中的inflation是结果而不是原因。而第一段第二句话指出“Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $26 a barrel, up from less than $10 last December”(自从石油输出国组织欧佩克在3月决定减少原油供应，原油的价格便从去年12月的每桶不到10美元攀升到约每桶26美元)，可见真正的原因在于石油供应的减少，因而B选项正确。
[题目译文]
最近石油价格上涨的一个主要原因是 。
[A] 全球性的通货膨胀
[B] 供应的减少
[C] 经济的迅速发展
