An important new industry, oil refining, grew after the Civil war. Crude oil, or petroleum - a dark, thick ooze from the earth - had been known for hundreds of years, but little use had ever been made of it. In the 1850s Samuel M. Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, began collecting the oil from local seepages and refining it into kerosene. Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a raw material.
Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becoming harder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began to search for new supplies of petroleum.
The first oil well was drilled by E.L. Drake, a retired railroad conductor. In 1859 he began drilling in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers called it Drakes Folly. But when he had drilled down about 70 feet , Drake struck oil. His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day.
News of Drakes success brought oil prospectors to the scene. By the early 1860s these wildcatters were drilling for black gold all over western Pennsylvania. The boom rivaled the California gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and Wild West atmosphere. And it brought far more wealth to the prospectors than any gold rush.
Crude oil could be refined into many products. For some years kerosene continued to be the principal one. It was sold in grocery stores and door-to-door. In the 1880s refiners learned how to make other petroleum products such as waxes and lubricating oils. Petroleum was not then used to make gasoline or heating oil.
公共英语五级听力答题思路与方法
PETS三级写作范文精题精选11篇(11)
PETS三级写作范文精题精选11篇(7)
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit5WeatherandClimate
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit1Greetingandintrouduction
PETS三级写作范文精题精选11篇(9)
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit6EatingandDrinking
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit8AtHome
公共英语二级考试听力解题技巧
英语等级二级(PETS2)完形填空高分全攻略
PETS三级作文的应试技巧(1)
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit4Environment
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit12ShopsandCommodities
PETS专家谈PETS二级考试听力命题思路
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit3HouseandFamily
PETS专家谈PETS二级考试听力题规律
PETS二级英语知识运用练习
公共英语三级学习笔记Unit14Holidaysandfestivals
PETS二级考试听力理解题型解析
多方训练提升PETS-2听力水平
PETS三级写作范文精题精选11篇(3)
PETS专家谈二级听力命题规律及高分对策
PETS三级写作范文精题精选11篇(8)
PETS专家谈PETS二级考试听力解题技巧
PETS三级写作范文精题精选11篇(5)
公共英语二级考试听力解题技巧
PETS三级写作范文精题精选11篇(10)
2012公共英语:PETS听力经典例题精解
PETS三级作文的应试技巧(2)
如何短期提高三级短文写作能力
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |