Word Detective

Can you remember (or find by a quick scanning of the article) the following words or phrases, using the clues given?

1. Two synonymous verbs for the Ukrainian verb jiiKyBaTH (Parag­
raph 3)

2. A verbal phrase meaning " to live" (Paragraph 5)

3. A verb meaning " to decrease, to fall, to decline" (Paragraph 5)

4. A verb meaning " to swallow hurriedly" which in the given context
means " to use at an increasing rate" (Paragraph 6)

Finding Synonymous Vocabulary

Find the words from the selection that are close in meaning to the italicized words. The words are given in order of their appearance.

1. These men dug wells near the great salt deposits and pumped up the
very strong salt solution.

2.... people had been getting along with the weak glow from candles.

3. When a need exists something usually appears to fill it.

4.... they began to search for a better way...

5.... he liked the idea of facing a new problem and solving it successful-

Ly.

6.... drilled a very small hole by driving into the ground...

7. Drake sat upset, looking down sadly...

8.... it reached the pool of oil imprisoned between layers of hard rock.

The History of Oil 23

Talking It Over

Why do you think the people in Titusville called the first derrick Drake's Folly?

Was oil used by the mankind only in the last two centuries? If not, give some examples.

Have you ever heard of whale-oil production? What do you know about whales? Do they still exist in nature?

How was the greatest problem for oilmen in the 19-th century — the caving-in of wells — solved?

Chapter One

SELECTION