The car___much money.

 (A)       not cost   (B) not have cost    (C)  isn't cost  (D) didn't cost

Competition. It’s a simple word, yet a very complex word that covers many angles when it comes to how gasoline prices are determined. It seems so easy to explain, but don’t let that trick you—it’s incredibly difficult to explain and adequately understand.

Say you’re on a Sunday afternoon drive, and notice a gas station near you charging $3.50. Down the road a few miles, that price could easily be 10 or more cents higher or lower. The question is “how” or “why” is that? Think of it this way. Are you more likely to get a better deal on a car if there are two similar car dealers next to each other? Perhaps, because the dealers are too close. Say there is a third similar car dealer miles away. Is he going to be at the same level of competition and sell his cars for the same price as the two dealers next to each other? Likely not. He may charge more or less. Maybe people don't know there are two other dealers down the road. Maybe the dealer is almost outside of the city and the land value isn't as high, so his taxes aren't as high.

These situations do take place at gas stations. And more factors can impact what a station will charge. Timing can greatly impact what price a station charges as well! Many motorists fail to realize that the price a station pays for gasoline changes daily. If one station gets lucky and buys gas on Monday and the cost goes up Tuesday, the station that bought on Monday doesn’t necessarily have to raise prices like the station that bought on Tuesday. Maybe the station that got caught buying for a higher price on Tuesday will pass that higher cost on by raising its gas price.

Perhaps the difference is what brand the station is---branded stations usually pay a slightly higher cost for their gasoline. In return for paying a higher cost, those stations are guaranteed first supply in case of emergency situations. Independent stations don’t pay as much, but aren’t guaranteed supply.

While competition sounds easy to understand, there are always a large number of factors that could influence what one station charges. Keep in mind how many variables (變數(shù)) there are next time you fill up.

63.What could be the best title for the passage?

A. How Competition Impacts Gas Prices

  B. Gas Prices Go Up or Down

  C. Competition---a Very Complex Word

  D. We Can’t Stress Enough the Need for Competition 

64. The example of car dealers is used to show _________.

  A. car prices are determined by car dealers

  B. location is an important factor in pricing

  C. the quality of service matters most

  D. dealing strategy should be flexible

65. The gas prices of a station always change partly because _________.

  A. a gas station always wants to charge more

  B. the gasoline is in great demand

  C. the cost of the gas the station buys varies daily

  D. gas is in greater need on Monday

66. According to the passage, branded stations _________.

  A. spend less money on their gasoline

  B. have more staff than independent stations

  C. charge less for high quality oil

  D. offer a steady oil supply

Competition. It’s a simple word, yet a very complex word that covers many angles when it comes to how gasoline prices are determined. It seems so easy to explain, but don’t let that trick you—it’s incredibly difficult to explain and adequately understand.

Say you’re on a Sunday afternoon drive, and notice a gas station near you charging $3.50. Down the road a few miles, that price could easily be 10 or more cents higher or lower. The question is “how” or “why” is that? Think of it this way. Are you more likely to get a better deal on a car if there are two similar car dealers next to each other? Perhaps, because the dealers are too close. Say there is a third similar car dealer miles away. Is he going to be at the same level of competition and sell his cars for the same price as the two dealers next to each other? Likely not. He may charge more or less. Maybe people don't know there are two other dealers down the road. Maybe the dealer is almost outside of the city and the land value isn't as high, so his taxes aren't as high.

These situations do take place at gas stations. And more factors can impact what a station will charge. Timing can greatly impact what price a station charges as well! Many motorists fail to realize that the price a station pays for gasoline changes daily. If one station gets lucky and buys gas on Monday and the cost goes up Tuesday, the station that bought on Monday doesn’t necessarily have to raise prices like the station that bought on Tuesday. Maybe the station that got caught buying for a higher price on Tuesday will pass that higher cost on by raising its gas price.

Perhaps the difference is what brand the station is---branded stations usually pay a slightly higher cost for their gasoline. In return for paying a higher cost, those stations are guaranteed first supply in case of emergency situations. Independent stations don’t pay as much, but aren’t guaranteed supply.

While competition sounds easy to understand, there are always a large number of factors that could influence what one station charges. Keep in mind how many variables (變數(shù)) there are next time you fill up.

63.What could be the best title for the passage?

A. How Competition Impacts Gas Prices

B. Gas Prices Go Up or Down

C. Competition---a Very Complex Word

D. We Can’t Stress Enough the Need for Competition

64. The example of car dealers is used to show ______________.

A. car prices are determined by car dealers

B. location is an important factor in pricing

C. the quality of service matters most

D. dealing strategy should be flexible

65. The gas prices of a station always change partly because ______________.

A. a gas station always wants to charge more

B. the gasoline is in great demand

C. the cost of the gas the station buys varies daily

D. gas is in greater need on Monday

66. According to the passage, branded stations ______________.

A. spend less money on their gasoline

B. have more staff than independent stations

C. charge less for high quality oil

D. offer a steady oil supply

If I see one more article about how wonderful alternative energy is compared to oil, I will flip(翻頁(yè)). Alternative energy sources can be good---- very good in fact. And it’s pretty obvious that we’re going to need them, and that our dependence on oil is a Bad Thing. But accepting that does not mean accepting that any kind of alternative energy is a good thing.
To be a good thing, it has to have three properties: 1) It has to help reduce our dependence on oil, 2) It has to be no worse for the environment, and 3) It has to be economically practical.
Many of the things praised meet one or even two of those properties. Solar panels, for example. They can reduce our need for oil, at least in certain regions, and they’re certainly not bad for the environment. But they’re expensive. If you spend the money to make your home solar-powered, you probably won’t get back your costs for at least 15 years, which approaches the lifespan of the panels.
Certainly we need to clean up our act big time and find workable sources of alternative energy. But we also have to keep in mind that every one of these alternative-energy sources comes at a cost, which is something people seem to forget. They hear the phrase “alternative energy” and automatically assume it’s got to be good. But green isn’t always good, and oil isn’t always bad.
One seemingly “green” technology that pops up again and again is electric cars. It is praised by well-meaning people as good for the environment and a way to reduce our oil dependence, especially as oil prices continue to rise.
Electric cars are dirty. In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “ zero-emissions vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators. Generators are fueled by something---- usually coal, oil, but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal（地?zé)岬模?plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words, those “zero-emissions” cars are likely coal-burning cars. It’s just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean. It is not. It’s as if the California Greens are covering their eyes ---- “ If I can’t see it, it’s not happening. “ Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it. But when you take that gas ( or another fue) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat ---- at the generator, through the transmission（傳送） lines, etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won’t get you nearly as far ---- so electric cars burn more fuel than gas- powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes; or geothermal, or hydro, or solar, or wind, then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical, and economic reasons, we don’t use much of those energy sources.
In addition, electric cars’ batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill. And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it’s a power plant, though, all the junk is in one lace. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
【小題1】Which of the following statements will the writer support?

A．Any kind of alternative energy is a good thing.

B．Alternative energy is bound to take the place of oil.

C．People should have an objective view towards alternative energy.

D．Solar panel is a good example of alternative energy that meets three properties.

【小題2】What does “ clueless” mean in Paragraph 7?

A．People see the California Greens everywhere.

B．People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.

C．People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.

D．People there have no idea that so far electrically mainly comes from burning coal, oil, etc.

【小題3】What is the main idea for the text?

A．Green technology is not always green.

B．Alternative energy is economically practical.

C．Electric cars are not clean at all.

D．Gasoline is an efficient way to power a vehicle.

【小題4】According to the text, electric cars ___________.

A．a(chǎn)re more environmentally friendly

B．burn more fuel than gas-powered ones

C．a(chǎn)re very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated

D．a(chǎn)re poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill

【小題5】It can be inferred from the text that _________.

A．being green is good and should be encouraged in communication

B．electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning something

C．zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment

D．electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered cousins