【单选题】

An important new industry, oil refining, grew after theCivil War.Crude oil, or petroleum a dark, thick ooze from the earth had been known for hundreds of years, but little use had ever been made of it. In the 1850’ s Samuel M. Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, began collecting the oil from local scapages and refining it into kerosene. Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a raw material.

Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becoming harder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began to search for new supplies of petroleum.
The first oil well was drilled byE、L.Drake, are tired railroad conductor, in 1859 he began drilling in Titusville, Pennsylvani
A、The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers, called it "Drake’ s Folly".But when he had drilled down about 70 feet (21 meters),Drake struck oil. His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day.
News ofDrake’s success brought oil prospectors to the scene.By the early 1860’ s these wildcatters were drilling for "black gold" all over western Pennsylvani
A、The boom rivaled theCalifornia gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and Wild West atmosphere.And it brought far more wealth to the prospectors than any gold rush.
Chide oil could be refined into many products. For some years kerosene continued to be the principal one. It was sold in grocery stores and door -to -door, In the 1880’ s and 1890’ s refiners learned how to make other petroleum products such as waxes and lubricating oils. Petroleum was not then used to make gasoline or heatingoil.
Why does the author mention theCalifornia gold rush
A、To explain the need for an increased supply of gold
B．To indicate the extent of United States mineral wealth
C．To describe the mood when oil was first discovered
D．To argue that gold was more valuable than oil