Vienna－In spite of Iraq’s decision to stop oil deliveries, the 11- nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries（OPEC）will not increase production to make up the shortfall, ministers decided Tuesday in Vienna.
The 11 oil ministers decided to meet again on July 3 to discuss the effects of the Iraq temporary stop. The organization’s president, Charkid Kheria of Algeria, said after the meeting that stocks were high and prices were stable, so quota increases were not necessary.
The E.U. Commission has expressed concern about Iraq’s output stop. A speaker said OPEC had to take all possible measures to keep or lower the oil price.
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Nuaimi had earlier said there would not be any shortfall of oil in the market. The organization had already taken steps to fill the gap, he said. OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez added that the period of Iraq’s output stop was not known, so other exporters were not going to lift quotas yet. If the market was destabilized (使……動搖), a suitable response could be made.
Iraq on Monday stopped shipments of crude oil to protest against the U.N. Security Council’s decision to extend the oil-for-food programme by only a month, instead of the normal six-month renewal. Just before the Vienna meeting, oil prices had gone up, with a barrel of OPEC crude oil selling for 27.05 dollars, up from 26.81 dollars last Friday. North sea oil was at 29.26 dollars Monday evening.
OPEC wants the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars and achieved that with cuts in January and March that reduced 2.5 million barrels per day off quotas(配額).
17. Iraq made the decision to stop oil deliveries because ___________.
A. oil price is too low in international market.
B. The U.N. Secretary Council has decided to shorten the time of extension of the oil-for-food programme
C. Many oil wells were destroyed during the war in the late 1980s
D. It couldn’t get enough money to develop its economy
18. The attitude the E.U. Commission took towards Iraq’s output stop is ________.
A. active B. concerned C. cold D. surprised
19. The 11 oil ministers decided to meet on July 3 so that _________.
A. they can persuade Iraq to continue oil production
B. they can have a talk with the U.N. Security Council
C. they can have a discussion about the effects of Iraq’s temporary output stop
D. they can make up their minds to increase oil production
20. The main idea of the passage is ________.
A. the oil prices in the world were stable though Iraq has stopped oil deliveries
B. OPEC has controlled the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars
C. OPEC will not increase oil production to make up the shortfall that caused by Iraq
D. Oil is connected with people’s daily life
答案與解析：
這是一篇新聞報道，文章看似難，但設題並不難做，對於這樣的'題型，我們可以先看題，再採取查讀的方式做題，然後再返回讀文章印證答案。
17. B. 由文章後數第二段第一句可知。
18. B. 由文章第三段可知。
19. C. 文章第二段第一句說明。
20. C. 文章開頭就點明瞭OPEC對伊拉克暫停供油的態度，下文又進行了分述。
