The website FarmersOnly.com calls itself an online dating and friendship finder. The idea started in the mind of a man, Jerry Miller in Ohio. He wondered how farmers could meet new people who understand the life of a farmer. Jerry Miller is not a farmer but he represents a lot of farmers.
As he tells it, the idea for the site was planted when a farmer told him one day that she was recently divorced and would like to date. But someone would invite her to meet for coffee at nine o’clock at night, when she had to start her day at five the next morning.
So, in 2005, Jerry Miller launched his website. “You don’t have to be a farmer to be on FarmersOnly.com, but you do have to have the good old-fashioned traditional values of America’s Heartland.” 
You also have to live in the United States or Canada to be a member of the site. Some services are free, but a full membership costs fifty dollars for a year. As of last week the site listed more than 58,000 members. Many of them are farmers in the United States. Others are students or workers involved in some way with agriculture. Jerry Miller tells us about thirty marriages in the last year have resulted from his website.
Some farmers have also found love through a group, Singles in Agriculture, which was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1986. It organizes gatherings that usually end with a dance, but is not a dating service. The purpose is to support educational and social activities that offer people a chance for friendship. Its website, singlesinag.org, says there are more than 1,000 members across the nation and as far away as France.
【小题1】Jerry Miller started singlesinag.org in order to     .

A.help farmersB.support traditions
C.understand farmersD.represent farmers
【小题2】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 indicate?
A.She dislikes city lifestyle.
B.She prefers late night coffee.
C.Country life isn’t well understood.
D.It’s tiring to get up early.
【小题3】Which of the following is true of singlesinag.org?
A.Its services are free.
B.It provides dating services.
C.Only farmers can become its members.
D.Farmers in France can’t benefit from it.
【小题4】The author of the text intends to     .
A.advertise for the two websites
B.introduce two websites
C.encourage social activities
D.urge readers to help farmers
【小题5】It can be inferred from the text that     .
A.all farmers desire marriage
B.farmers are easy to meet new people
C.more farmers get divorced in the USA
D.the Internet helps improve farmers’ social life

7 ways a government shutdown will affect your daily life

(CNN) -- Democrats and Republicans were unable to resolve (解决) their differences over Obamacare (奥巴马医改计划)and now the government is shut down. The two previous shutdowns — 1995 and early 1996 — cost the country $1.4 billion. But what will the shutdown mean for you? Here are 7 ways the government shutdown will affect you.

7. Vacation all I ever wanted: Need to get away? Well, you can’t. At least not to national parks. Or to national zoos. Or to national museums. They'll be closed. Were you thinking more along the lines of a trip to France? If you don’t already have a passport, you might not get your blue book in time. The last time the government shut down, 200,000 applications for passports went unprocessed.

6. If you drive a car, I'll tax the street: You may be thinking, “No functioning government, no need to pay taxes.” Think again. The Man would continue to collect taxes. U.S. bonds would still be issued. And other essential banking functions will go on.

5. Wait a minute, Mr. Postman: You know that whole “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night” thing? Apparently, the U.S. Postal Service works through shutdowns as well. Sorry, you won’t catch a break from the junk mail.

4. I want a new drug: Oh, the irony (讽刺的). Republicans still want to defund, delay or otherwise withdraw gradually at Obamacare in exchange for funding the government. But the health care act at the center of this storm would continue its process during a shutdown. That is because its funds aren’t dependent on the congressional budget (预算) process.

3. Pass the ammunition (军火): Not so fast. A shutdown would affect the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Translation: That gun permit you wanted processed won’t happen anytime soon if this goes on for a while.

2. Money (that's what I want): Well, if you owned a small business and needed a loan from the government, you would have to wait, depending on how long this lasts. If you were planning to buy a house and needed a federal loan, you would have to wait.

1. I'm proud to be an American: Perhaps the biggest hit would be to the collective psyche (下意识心理). America is the largest economy in the world and a beacon for how democracy ought to work. A recent CNN Research Corporation found that 51% would blame Republicans for the shutdown. The United States has operated without a budget since 2009 and has avoided a government shutdown with last-minute deals. Not only did the government run out of money on Tuesday, but the nation is set to hit its borrowing limit and potentially default on its debt in mid-October. Together, they serve as a double whammy (打击).

1.Which is the most probably meaning of the underlined word?

A. Raise some money.                           B. Take the money back.

C. Borrow some money.                       D. went on a strike.

2.When the government’s shut down, what can the Americans do?

A. Apply for a gun permit.      B. Apply for a new passport. 

C. Apply for a loan.                     D. Pay taxes.

3.How many times has the American government ever shut down so far?

A. Once.                 B. Twice.    C. Three times.               D. Not mentioned.

4. According to the essay, what led to the shutdown of the American government?

A. The government of America ran out of money.

B. The government of America is on debts.

C. America is set to hit the borrowing limit of its debts.

D. The American government ran out of money and may fail in repaying its debts.

 

From my first day, I was attending press conferences and other media events all over town. I got to attend events at places I had never thought I’d get to: the White House, the Senate and House of Representative buildings at the Capitol (国会大厦), the Department of Health and Human Services, just to name a few. And I was sent to cover these events as if I were a reporter, not just an intern (实习生) .

 In fact, I never really felt like an intern. I was given the opportunity to do the work that everyone else at the paper was doing. I covered stories on my own and wrote the articles myself. I was included in discussions for story ideas. I helped to edit the articles that went into the paper. I was able to take part in every aspect of the newspaper that I wanted to experience.

 The best part of working at the Nation’s Health was the staff. They were supportive in letting me go out and do things on my own, while I always knew that they would be more than happy to answer any questions or help me with any problems I might have. Best of all, they treated me as their equal, not just an intern whom they could get to do all the work they didn’t want to do.

After interning at the Nation’s Health for nearly seven months and having more than 30 articles published, I had to move on. My experience there gave me insight into how the media work, which helps me when I’m trying to choose stories. In addition, it showed me that work really can be fun.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. How good reporting begins with journalism interns.

B. The author’s opportunity to work at the Nation’s Health.

C. The author’s experience working as an intern

D. The author’s first day as a professional reporter.

2.What impressed the author most when working at the Nation’s Health?

A. The employees treated her as one of them equally.

B. The opportunity to work alone.

C. Covering stories and writing articles

D. Coming up with story ideas for the newspaper.

3.We can infer that the author had thought an intern would be made to ____.

A. go to as many places as possible

B. do the boring things that others didn’t want to do

C. treat people equally, no matter who they were.

D. get help from a professional reporter

4.What did the author think of her experience of working at the Notion’s Health?

A. Meaningful    B. Disappointing     C. Tiring    D.  Surprising

 

If you are planning to study in the United States, you need to consider several factors. Everyone has different opinions about where is the best place to live in. Also, the best places to live in are not always home to the best schools. Finally, many schools specialize in different areas of study. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, is a great school for computer science and technology-related fields of study. However, if you want to study oceanography(海洋学), your interests may be better served by attending school in a place that is on a coastline or near the ocean.

Now I am sure that you know which schools are considered the best in the country. So I will tell you about which states I believe are the best to live in.

California is a nice state. Northern California specifically has very good weather. Los Angeles in southern California is another story, though. Life in LA is full of excitement and fast, and sometimes dangerous. As for me, I enjoyed the time I spent in Massachusetts, Virginia and Maryland and these states have a lot of history and culture. The weather is not as perfect as Northern California, but it is still quite nice. My favorite area of America is the Mid-west. Middle America, I think, is home to the true American sense of values. In addition, there are many good universities there.

Also, you need to think about your likes and dislikes and then research the various states. You like sunshine and hate snow? Then you probably won’t like the Midwest or even the Northeast. Open space, nature and peace? Then you probably should stay away from America’s large cities. Are you interested in government? Then Washington D. C. is the only place for you. Whatever you decide, put some thought into it. The place you live in could be the difference between a great study-abroad experience and a state of great suffering on earth.

1.What, according to the author, should be considered first if you want to study in the USA?

A.The climate     B. The scenery

C. The study condition     D. The living condition

2.What is California like?

A.California is the best place to live in.

B. California is the worst place to live in.

C. California is a state with the largest city.

D. California is a state with different climates.

3. If you study in Middle America, you can probably _______.

A.find the best universities

B. feel the real character of the nation

C. meet the most famous professors there

D. face more difficulties

4. What can we conclude from the text?

A.All American famous universities lie in nice places.

B. Los Angeles is the most dangerous city in the USA.

C. Washington D.C. is the political centre of the USA.

D. It is always raining in the Midwest of the USA.

 

You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation(撤离)of an island nation—the citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.

During the 20th century , sea level rose 8—12 inches. As a result ,Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water which has polluted the country’s drinking water.

Paani Laupepa , a Tuvaluan government official ,reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years .Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.

Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions(导致温室效应的气体排放),which are a main cause of global warming . “By refusing to sign the agreement ,the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years,” Laupepa told the BBC.

Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries .

Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable (易受影响的)to rising sea levels .Maumoon Gayoon ,president of the Maldives ,told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.

1.The text is mainly about           .

A.rapid changes in earth’s temperature

B.bad effects of global warming

C.moving of a country to a new place

D.reasons for lowland flooding

2.According to scientists ,the direct cause of more and fiercer storms is           .

A.greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations

B.higher surface water temperatures of the sea

C.continuous global warming

D.rising sea levels

3.Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States because it did not        .

A.agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions

B.sign an agreement with Tuvalu

C.allow Tuvaluans to move to the US

D.believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real

4.The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is          .

A.Australia          B.New Zealand       C.the Maldives       D.the United States

 

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