Vegetable oil has been known from antiquity. No household can get on without it, for it is used in cooking. Perfumes may be made from the oils of certain flowers. Soaps are made from vegetable and animal oils.
To the ordinary man, one kind of oil may be as important as another. But when the politician or the engineer refers to oil, he almost always means mineral oil the oil that drives tanks, aeroplanes and warships, motor-cars and diesel locomotives; the oil that is used to lubricate all kinds of machinery. This is the oil that has changed the life of the common man. When it is refined into petrol it is used to drive the internal combustion engine. To it we owe the existence of the motor-car, which has replaced the private carriage drawn by the horse. To it we owe the possibility of flying. It has changed the methods of warfare on land and sea. This kind of oil comes out of the earth. Because it burns well, it is used as fuel and in some ways it is superior to coal in this respect. Many big ships now burn oil instead of coal. Because it burns brightly, it is used for illumination; countless homes are still illuminated with oil-burning lamps. Because it is very slippery, it is used for lubrication. Two metal surfaces rubbing together cause friction and heat; but if they are separated by a thin film of oil, the friction and heat are reduced. No machine would work for long if it were not properly lubricated. The oil used for this purpose must be of the correct thickness; if it is too thin it will not give sufficient lubrication, and if it is too thick it will not reach all parts that must be lubricated.
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 world wide importance.
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 these creatures to become oil, it was necessary that they sliould 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 oilfields 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.
上一篇: 六级冲刺练习:阅读(127)
下一篇: 六级冲刺练习:阅读(140)
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:代词
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:听力获取信息必备词汇
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:冠词
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:与“嫦娥一号”有关的词汇
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:表示倾向性选择的短语的用法
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮总复习课件:Units3133
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:同义词近义词辨析59条
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮总复习课件:Unit13《People》
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:名词
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:情态动词与虚拟语气
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:主动表被动用法归纳
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮复习精品资料课件:Unit1 Lifestyles 生活方式
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮复习精品资料课件:Unit14 Careers 职业
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:省略、替代、强调及其他特殊句式
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮复习精品资料课件:Unit6 Design 设 计
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮复习精品资料课件:Unit16 Stories 故 事
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮总复习课件:Unit10《Money》
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:通过例句巧学高中词汇98句
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮总复习课件:Unit1《Lifestyles》
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:总复习 单元过关词汇、短语、句型测试
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:突破专题——短文改错
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:定语从句与状语从句
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:交际用语
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:语法专题 it的用法
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮复习精品资料课件:Unit13 People 人
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮复习精品资料课件:Unit11 TheMedia 传 媒
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:阅读理解与完形填空中容易混淆的单词总结
浙江省金华市孝顺高级中学2016届高考英语语法专题复习:陷阱题总结归纳-情态动词精讲精练
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语二轮复习精品课件:介词与连词
安徽省明光英普辅导中心高考英语一轮总复习课件:Unit16《Stories》