听力文本

The sharp drop in world oil prices has led oil companies in the United States to dismiss thousands of workers. Some companies have also suspended new oil drilling and exploration projects. The drop in oil prices has also affected small service companies and even stores that do business with oil companies in big producer states like Texas. But the drop in oil prices has not been bad for everyone.

Oil platform workers are often called roughnecks. In Texas, many roughnecks have lost their jobs because of the drop in oil prices. The effect of falling prices has been worse in states like Alaska and North Dakota. That is because production costs are higher there than they are in the Eagle Ford area of south-central Texas.

Some oil drilling projects are working to keep their costs low. If the price of oil stays above $40 a barrel, they can still make a profit.

Adam Perdue is an economist at the University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting. He has been studying the effect of falling oil prices in Texas.

Mr. Perdue says oil company exploration and production budgets are being cut between 10 and 50 percent, with most of them being cut by a third. He says the city of Houston experienced five percent growth rates in recent years. He thinks the lower spending will affect the local economy.

"We're predicting that there's gonna be 20,000 fewer jobs than there would have been otherwise. So, we're still predicting growth in the Houston area; it's just gonna slow down to a more reasonable rate of about, or just under two percent."

The economic slowdown will affect companies that manufacture pipes and other equipment for oil exploration and production. It will also have an effect on trucking companies that supply sand and chemicals, and other small businesses that serve the energy industry.

But low oil prices are good for chemical companies. They use hydrocarbons found in oil to make fertilizer, plastic and other products. Adam Perdue says a new chemical plant project near Houston will provide jobs for many skilled workers.

"A lot of these roughnecks that are gonna lose their jobs out there in the field are gonna be able to come home and, and, and get a welding job or a construction job."

He says oil industry experts believe prices will rise again in about six months when the oversupply of oil is reduced. Experts say the oversupply resulted from expanded production. But he says if those predictions are wrong and oil prices continue to fall, the economy of Houston and Texas will be hurt much more.

I'm Christopher Cruise.

词汇解释

1.drilling n. 钻孔；训练，教练；演练 v. 钻孔；训练（drill的ing形式）

There have been proposals to drill for more oil.
有人提出了钻探更多石油的建议m)6ggK0|axjs*q0izYb1。

2.hydrocarbon n.<化>碳氢化合物，烃

The hydrocarbon must be an alkene.
这个碳氢化合物必定是烯烃8yTF!IH+xB-W)-。

内容解析

1.it's just gonna slow down to a more reasonable rate of about, or just under two percent.

slow down 减速，放慢速度；使……慢下来

The bus slowed down for the next stop.
那辆公共汽车慢下来准备停靠下一站l=ppz3,uu#1;LhV3b。

There is no cure for the disease, although drugs can slow down its rate of development.
这种病没法治，尽管药物可以延缓病情的发展vf^Y9~+0Q#z%JfSRHQR。

参考译文

世界油价急剧下跌使得美国的石油公司解雇了数千名工人，一些公司还暂停了新的石油开采和钻探项目%EP.8k%sGT^e0。油价下跌还影响了小型服务公司，甚至影响到与德州等石油生产大州做生意的商店3LG(,Wa1C)R@cR9f。但油价下跌并非对每个人都不利Ukq4(TtEril#v。

石油钻井平台工人通常叫做钻工，在德州，油价下跌导致很多钻工失业DDw@8L+-YEm。油价下跌的影响在阿拉斯加和北达科达州更严重，这是因为那里的生产成本比德州中南部的鹰滩地区要高=SA!;~)!Zf+EvPwwuJ。

一些石油开采项目也在努力维持低成本，如果油价保持在40美元每桶，那么仍能盈利Amjo^|w3E|&l。

亚当·珀杜是休斯顿大学地区预测研究所的经济学家，他一直在研究德州油价下跌的影响xl5W~YBX|%gTe)%。

珀杜说石油公司勘探和生产预算已经削减了10%到50%，多数已经削减了三分之一)Y=sc1yAnj^OzE0。他说休斯敦市最近几年的经济增长达到5%，他认为开支减少会影响当地经济de6Bb%0uu#oZ。

“我们预测这样会导致比以往减少两万个就业岗位，所以我们预测休斯顿地区的增长会放缓到更合理的水平，只有不到2%J)&_dzP6a|te7S。”

经济放缓会影响为石油勘探和生产制造管道等设备的公司，还将影响运输沙子和化学品的卡车公司，以及为能源行业提供服务的小企业U0blG@J.CeG]ZhnR。

但低油价对化学公司有利，它们使用石油中的碳氢化合物制造化肥、塑料等产品P]Z]@3A!P9g,4x|。珀杜说休斯顿附近的一家新化工厂将为很多熟练工人提供就业岗位1T^3RdT[Tx。

“很多即将在这个行业失业的钻工都将获得焊工或建筑工的工作9j^ZLZjxKYOu%e。”

他说石油行业专家认为在未来6个月内，当石油供大于求的局面得到缓解时，价格还会继续上涨EvxB)N094IA。专家称生产扩大导致了供过于求，但他说如果这些预测是错误的，油价还会继续下跌，那么休斯顿和德州的经济将会受到更大影响oo#H@Xk5@X。

我是克里斯多夫·克鲁斯n]_nPxC9kToP。

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