Oil
Oil
There are three main groups of oils: animal, vegetable and mineral.
Great quantities of animal oil come from whales, those enormous
creatures of the sea which are the largest remaining animals in the
world. To protect the whale from the cold of the Arctic seas, nature
has provided it with a thick covering of fat called blubber. When the
whale is killed, the blubber is stripped off and boiled down, either
on board ship or on shore. It produces a great quantity of oil which
can be made into food for human consumption. A few other
creatures yield oil, but none so much as the whale. The livers of the
cod and the halibut, two kinds of fish, yield nourishing oil. Both cod
liver oil and halibut liver oil are given to sick children and other
invalids who need certain vitamins. These oils may be bought at
any chemist's.
Vegetable oil has been known from antiquity. No household can get
on without it, for it is used in cooking. Perfumes may be made from
the oils of certain flowers. Soaps are made from vegetable and
animal oils.
To the ordinary man, one kind of oil may be as important as
another. But when the politician or the engineer refers to oil, he
almost always means mineral oil, the oil that drives tanks,
aeroplanes and warships, motor-cars and diesel locomotives; the oil
that is used to lubricate all kinds of machinery. This is the oil that
has changed the life of the common man. When it is refined into
petrol it is used to drive the internal combustion engine. To it we
owe the existence of the motorcar, which has replaced the private
carriage drawn by the horse. To it we owe the possibility of flying. I t
has changed the methods of warfare on land and sea. This kind of
oil comes out of the earth. Because it burns well, it is used as fuel
and in some ways it is superior to coal in this respect. Many big
ships now burn oil instead of coal. Because it burns brightly, it is
used for illumination; countless homes are still illuminated with oilburning lamps. Because it is very slippery, it is used for lubrication.
Two metal surfaces rubbing together cause friction and heat ; but if
they are separated by a thin film of oil, the friction and heat are
reduced. No machine would work for long if it were not properly
lubricated. The oil used for this purpose must be of the correct
thickness; if it is too thin it will not give sufficient lubrication, and if
it is too thick it will not reach all parts that must be lubricated.
The existence of oil wells has been known for a long time. Some of
the Indians of North America used to collect and sell the oil from the
wells of Pennsylvania. No one, however, seems to have realised the
importance of this oil until it was found that paraffin-oil could be
made from it ; this led to the development of the wells and to the
making of enormous profits. When the internal combustion engine
was invented, oil became of worldwide importance.
What was the origin of the oil which now drives our motor-cars and
air-craft? Scientists are confident about the formation of coal, but
they do not seem so sure when asked about oil. They think that the
oil under the surface of the earth originated in the distant past, and
was formed from living things in the sea. Countless billions of
minute sea creatures and plants lived and sank to the sea bed.
They were covered with huge deposits of mud; and by processes of
may become the scene of oil activity. Yet the difficulties will be
great, and the costs may be so high that no company will undertake
the work. If progress in using atomic power to drive machines is fast
enough, it is possible that oil-driven engines may give place to the
new kind of engine. In that case the demand for oil will fall, the
oilfields will gradually disappear, and the deposits at the North Pole
may rest where they are for ever.
From Power and Progress by G. C. Thornley (Longman)
Oil
Read the text on the right and choose the correct answer for each
question.
1 Whales are
the largest animals that have ever lived in the world.
2 Vegetable oil
was unknown in ancient times.
3 The term ' mineral oil ' is used by the author to refer to
petrol only.
4 Oil-burning lamps
are used in more and more homes nowadays.
to reduce friction.
lubricating oils were made from it.
the drill goes very near the oil without striking it.
the fourth area has not been developed yet and may
never be developed.