【英译汉】
　　(1)Ever since the mid 1980s, when OPEC’s attempts to keep the oil price high collapsed in the face of rising supply,only w ar has been potent enough to lift the price back to the levels of the l970s．Thedifference today from the last era of high prices，says Tom Collina，of 20／20 Vision，an environmentalist group，is that oil producers are pumping as fast as they can，but cannot keep pace with demand． examda.
　　The robust economic growth of America，coupled with industrial revolutions in China and India，has helped to ensure a very different market for energy．(2)The world got used to relying on spare capacity of a few million b／d in Saudi Arabia that could always cap price spikes in an emergency(it did just that in the first Gulf war and again d—uring an oil-workers’strike in Venezuela in 2003)．But demand has 8teadily eaten awav reserves and investment has failed to keep up． In the tight markets for energy since 2004’ some identified a fear premium0f$1015 a barrel reflecting the threat of lost supply．Even slowez demand grclwth in 2005 did little to lower prices．examda.
　　(3)The tightness of capacity extends into refining and gas supply, leaving consumers vulnerable to any external shocks--such as the two hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, which hit the Gulf of Mexico in the autumn. The hurricanes put a dozen oil refineries accounting for 16% of US capacity temporarily out of action. American refining fell to its lowest level since March 1987, according to Petroleum Economist. The price of petrol rose above $ 3 a gallon a level shockingly high to Americans, cheap as it might seem to Japanese or Europeans. Democrats accused the oil companies of price gouging, while Republicans argued for an easing of environmental laws restricting oil drilling and refinery building. examda.
　　All this makes it a producers’ world, which no one has exploited as gleefully as Hugo Chdvez. Venezuela’s president has always believed in oil as a tool of geopolitics, to be used against American"imperialism". In 2004 he unilaterally raised the royalties on super-heavy crude production in the Orinoco belt from 1% to 16.6%--and may yet increase it to 30%. In 2005 he increased the tax rate paid by the foreign oil companies from 34% to 50%, and then hit them with huge bills for unpaid "back taxes".(4)The latest of his measures was to insist on the 22 foreign companies operating service contracts to switch, by December 31st 2005, to joint-ventures, in which the government would hold the lion’s share. All but Exxon Mobil eventually did so. examda.
　　Strangely, perhaps, consumers can learn a comforting lesson from all this. For all his mischief- making, even a populist like Mr Chdvez has never looked like cutting supplies to what Venezuela calls its"fundamental market" in America. America would notice a cut in Venezuelan supplies, which normally account for about 12-13% of its imports. But it could always buy oil on the world market. Venezuela would be worse hit. (5)It would be hard-pressed to find other markets for about half of its production, especially since most of its crude is high in sulphur and unsuitable for most refineries. [528 words]
　　超纲词汇
　　gleefully adv．愉快地
　　gouge v．诈骗，敲竹杠
　　hard—pressed adj．处于困境的，面临困难的
　　populist n．乎民主义者
　　potent adj．(政治上)强有力的
　　spike峰值

　【参考译文】
　　(1)20世纪80年代中期，由于石油供给增多，石油输出国组织试图保持高油价的努力以失败告终。从那时起，只有  战争才有足够的力量把油价提升到70年代的水平。
　　(2)世界习惯于依赖沙特阿拉伯每天几百万桶的额外供油能力。在紧急时，总能抑制住价格峰值(在第一次海湾战争时，  就起到了这个作用。在2003年委内瑞拉石油工人罢工时，又一次起了作用)。
　　(3)产能紧张延伸到石油精炼和汽油供应，使消费者经受不起任何外来的冲击，比如，去年秋天袭击墨西哥湾的两  次飓风，卡特里娜和丽塔，所造成的冲击。
　　(4)雨果·查维兹总统采取最新措施，坚持在2005年12月31日以前把22家外国公司控股的服务业合同转变为  合资，其中，政府要享有最大份额。除埃克森美孚公司外，其他公司最终都照办了。
　　(5)委内瑞拉生产的石油，大约有一半难以找到其他市场。特别是由于其大部分原油中硫的含量过高，不适合大多  数石油精炼厂。
　　【句结构解析】
　　(1)Ever since the mid一1980s，when OPEC’s attempts to keep the oil price high collapsed in the face of rising supply]。only war has been potent enough to lift the price back to the levels of the 1970s．
　　(2)The world got used to relying on spare capacity of a few million b／d in Saudi Arabia[that could always cap price spikes in an emergency(it did just that in the first Gulf war and again during an oil workers’strike in Venezue a in 2003)]．