The Norwegian Government is doing its best to keepthe oil industry under control. A new law limitsexploration to an area south of the southern end ofthe long coastline; production limits have been laiddown (though these have already been raised); andoil companies have not been allowed to employmore than a limited number of foreign workers. Butthe oil industry has a way of getting over suchproblems, and few people believe that theGovernment will be able to hold things back for long. As on Norwegian politician said last week: “We willsoon be changed beyond all recognition.”
Ever since the war, the Government has been carrying out a programme of development inthe area north of the Arctic Circle. During the past few years this programme has had a greatdeal of success: Tromso has been built up into a local capital with a university, a large hospitaland a healthy industry. But the oil industry has already started to draw people south, andwithin a few years the whole northern policy could be in ruins.
The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north, however. With nearly 100 percent employment, everyone can see a situation developing in which the service industriesand the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry. Some smallerindustries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.
The real argument over oil is its threat to the Norwegian way of life. Farmers andfishermen do not make up most of the population, but they are an important part of it, because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride asessentially Norwegian. And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most critical of the oilindustry because of the damage that it might cause to the countryside and to the sea.
1. The Norwegian Government would prefer the oil industry to
[A] provide more jobs for foreign workers.
[B] slow down the rate of its development.
[C] sell the oil it is producing abroad.
[D] develop more quickly than at present.
2. The Norwegian Government has tried to
[A] encourage the oil companies to discover new oil sources.
[B] prevent oil companies employing people from northern Norway.
[C] help the oil companies solve many of their problems.
[D] keep the oil industry to something near its present size.
3. According to the passage, the oil industry might lead northern Norway to
[A] the development of industry.
[B] a growth in population.
[C] the failure of the development programme.
[D] the development of new towns.
4. In the south, one effect to the development of the oil industry might be
[A] a large reduction on unemployment.
[B] a growth in the tourist industry.
[C] a reduction in the number of existing industries.
[D] the development of a number of service industries.
5. Norwegian farmers and fishermen have an important influence because
[A] they form such a large part of Norwegian ideal.
[B] their lives and values represent the Norwegian ideal.
[C] their work is so useful to the rest of Norwegian society.
[D] they regard oil as a threat to the Norwegian way of life.
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