VOA标准英语2011--Lower Oil Price Helps Consumers But Mark

Lower Oil Price Helps Consumers But Market Volatility¹ Remains²

In recent months, crude oil prices have experienced their sharpest drop since the 2008 financial crisis, and now stand at around $80 a barrel.
Alongside one of the main highways leading into the U.S. capital, a European tourist is filling up his rental³ car at a gas station.
Fluctuating prices
Felix Braz believes that lower gasoline prices will be shortlived.
"Of course, it will go back up because the needs all over the world are growing," he said. "And the reserves they are not growing and it's not very difficult to understand that one day or another we'll get short of gasoline."
Braz is from Luxembourg, where the price is almost double that in the United States because of fuel taxes.
Another customer at the gas station is Jordanian-born Ahmed Al Hellu. He thinks gas in America is already too expensive.
"The other day I was talking to a friend in Qatar and he said the gallon is 75 cents, comparing to what we have here -- $3.99, almost $4.00 a gallon that's a difference you know. That's a pain in the pocket," he said. 
Al Hellu runs an import business and says cheaper fuel would provide a much-needed break for him.
"Not only me. It will have a big impact on the whole country, because when the prices come down you have people transporting goods or things for their stores, the prices will come down, the wholesale⁴ will come down, the hotels, everything will come down, because everything is linked together," Hellu explained.
Since April, the price of a barrel of crude has dropped around $30. Economists⁵ say the price drop is linked to fears that a slower economy will lower demand for fuel.
Paul Isbell, an energy and climate expert at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, blames uncertainty⁶ in Washington and the recent downgrading of the U.S. credit rating.
"The main cause of this is the sudden kind of sense of incredulity at what's been happening in the United States," he notes.
But that's only the latest factor that has caused extreme price volatility, he says. In 2008, the price plummetted during the global financial crisis after peaking at nearly $150 a barrel. The tsunami⁷ in Japan and uprisings in the Middle East also have affected⁸ the oil price.
Isbell says price shocks hurt the poor the most and argues that European-style gasoline taxes can function as a tool that cushions the shocks while slowing climate change. He says governments can raise or lower the tax to compensate⁹ for price fluctuations¹⁰.
"We have to stop thinking: High oil prices - bad; low oil prices - good," he said.
He says oil prices that are too low can have the effect of a tax break for consumers, but leave them vulnerable to a price shock down the road.

1 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

4 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

7 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

10 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。