新东方英语背诵美文50篇 第三十四篇 Oil Refining
Oil Refining
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 1850’s 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 “Drake’s Folly”. But when he had drilled down about 70 feet(21 meters), Drake struck oil. His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day.
新东方英语背诵美文50篇 | |
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第一篇 Youth 青春
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第二篇 Three Days to See(Excerpts) 假如给我三天光明
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第三篇 Companionship of Books 以书为伴
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第五篇 Ambition 抱负
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第四篇 If I Rest, I Rust 如果我休息,我就会生锈
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第六篇 What I have Lived for 我为何而生
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第七篇 When Love Beckons You 爱的召唤
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第八篇 The Road to Success 成功之道
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第九篇 On Meeting the Celebrated 论见名人
- 新东方英语背诵美文30篇 第十篇 The 50-Percent Theory of Life 生活理论半对半