????油價又開始飆升了，洛杉磯的油價已經達到了每加侖5美元。司機們也不出所料地紛紛表示抗議，媒體也要義務性地搖旗吶喊一下，尤其是在地方電視臺的新聞節目上。讓憤怒的市民在鏡頭前憤怒聲討，這是新聞編導們最喜歡干的事。

????共和黨人也不失時機地扇風點火。奧巴馬的競選對手們把油價上漲的責任都推到奧巴馬頭上，有些人還承諾等他們入主白宮后，會讓油價降回落到每加侖2.5美元的水平。說不定他們還會帶回來15美分一個的麥當勞漢堡呢。過不了多久，就會有一些人民公仆站出來說話，敦促政府開放戰略石油儲備（the Strategic Petroleum Reserve），以免美國人民把越來越多的錢花在這種日益萎縮的稀缺資源上。

????很多司機可能連沙特王子誰是誰都搞不清楚，但他們卻都沉浸在開燒油車的快感中。不過那是在油價還算便宜的時候，現在他們正在為此付出代價。今天就為大家列出幾款最有名的燒油機器。

Fuel for the fire

????Gas prices are spiking again -- $5 a gallon for regular in Los Angeles -- and drivers are predictably up in arms. The obligatory media frenzy is stoking their passions -- particularly on local news shows. An easy-to-understand camera-friendly story profiling angry citizens? There's a no-brainer for news directors.

????Politicians are certainly doing their part to fan the flames. Obama opponents are blaming the president, and some are even promising to bring back $2.50 a gallon gas. Maybe they'll bring back 15-cent McDonald's hamburgers, too. It won't be long before some public servant speaks up and urges the government to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to spare Americans from laying out more cash for a scarce and diminishing resource.

????Meanwhile, drivers who confused themselves with Saudi princes and indulged their inner gas-guzzler when fuel was cheap are paying the price at the pump with their weighty rides. Here are some of their most notable offenders.

雪佛蘭巨無霸

????這款有“牛仔凱迪拉克”之稱的巨無霸早在1935年就已問世，因此它也是汽車界現存的最長壽的一款車型。它的實用性勿庸置疑，可以載著9名乘客去越野。它在贏利性方面也高居通用（GM）各車型之首。雖然如此之牛，但這款重達近三噸的龐然大物需要一臺V8發動機才能帶動，在城市道路上每加侖汽油只能跑15英里，高速公路上每加侖汽油也只能跑21英里。它的油箱可以裝31加侖，平均每次加油都得花掉100美元以上。

Chevrolet Suburban

????The "Cowboy Cadillac" has been in production since 1935, making it the longest-lived automotive nameplate still on the road. That's a testament to its utility -- carrying up to nine passengers off-road -- and its profitability -- right at the top of GM's income statement. All that capability, however, requires nearly three tons of automobile powered by a V-8 engine that delivers only 15 miles per gallon in the city/21 mpg on the highway. With its 31-gallon fuel-tank, each Suburban fill-up will run you $100 or more.