When American soldiers return home from war with disabilities, they often suffer twice -- first from their combat injuries, next from the humiliation of government dependency. Wounded veterans learn they have two basic choices: They can receive almost $3,000 a month in disability benefits along with medical care and access to other various welfare programs, or they can try to find a job. Especially in this economy, it's no wonder that many find that first option hard to turn down. Mark Duggan, an economics professor at Stanford University, reports that enrollment in U.S.veterans' disability programs rose from 2.3 million in 2001 to 3.9 million in 2014. The percentage of veterans receiving benefits doubled, from 8.9% in 2001 to 18% in 2014. Disability services for veterans now consume $59 billion. In the 1980s and 1990s, male veterans were more likely to be in the labor force than nonveterans. But since 2000, that has changed dramatically. Now there is a 4% gap between veteran and nonveteran labor participation, with veteran participation lower. Navy SEAL Eric Greitens, founder of The Mission Continues, explains how soldiers who served their country are transformed into welfare receivers who live off their country. "When veterans come home from war they are going through a tremendous change in identity,"he says."Then the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and others, encourage them to view themselves as disabled."By the time they come to Greitens' non-profit organization,"We meet a number of veterans who see themselves as charity cases and are not sure anymore what they have to contribute." There are also more practical factors driving the disability boom. One is the expansion of qualification criteria. In 2000, for instance, type 2 diabetes was added as a disability because of evidence linking exposure to Agent Orange with the onset of the disease. Heart disease has also been added to the list. Another possible factor is that younger veterans seem less against welfare than their parents'... What is the author's attitude toward current placement programs? A) Reasonable. B) Positive. C) Neutral. D) Critical.
D
Mother's Day is coming. It is a time to let Mom know she's special to you. Finding the right for Mom on that day is not always easy. We often want something personal and thoughtful. But how can we make it? These following ideas may help you. Gift of Time Moms just want to spend time with their children so make it a Mother-Daughter/Son day. Spend the whole day with her. Do the things she likes doing with her. Home Video Take your family videos and make them a short home video. She can enjoy it whenever she misses you. Although it may take a lot of time, the process can be great fun and the result is often priceless . Mom Mix Make a CD for her. It's a collection of all the songs that _ her of you and your growing up. Write a Letter Write a letter instead of a simple card. Write about all the good memories you have with her and all the things she has done for you. Flowers People send carnations on Mother's Day. You can easily spend a lot of money on them. If you have flowers in your garden, or can handpick them, it can be a great gift. Dinner Make a dinner and invite her over. You can also take it over to her house and surprise her. Just don't' forget to wash the dishes after the dinner. Making a home video may be _ . A) fun B) boring C) easy D) nothing
A
Q: Every year Chris Brogan posts his three words for a new year. Many others and I have followed his lead for the past three or four years. They helped me a lot. My words for last year were"passion", "focus"and"delegate"and I stayed true to them. This year, 2013, my goals are more personal and less professional. FOCUS Focus is making a repeat appearance on my list this year because I'm too much of a _ . The problem is that I have trouble finishing one thing with so many things calling me. When I was working as a writer, all my projects were handled via a schedule, I'm putting a fitness and housekeeping routine into my schedule. HEALTH I get so busy taking care of everyone else, and I forget to take care of myself and this has to change. My health suffers and my weight suffers. I have to get my health in check, not only for me but because I promised my 9-year-old son. I'll make good food and lifestyle choices. I miss being thin, and it's time to get it back. CELEBRATE What good is having it if I'm not taking time to enjoy it? I have a wonderful job, a happy family, and so much to be thankful for. So how come I spend all my time working? Last summer my family took our first vacation in four years, the best thing I've done for myself and my family in a long time. This year, I'm making sure to take time to enjoy life and celebrate its many blessings. Do you have any words for 2013? What can we learn from the passage? A) The word"CELEBRATE"can remind the writer to enjoy life. B) The writer has a vacation with his family every four years. C) The word"FOCUS"can help the writer focus on his family. D) The writer used to be overweight for lack of exercise.
A: A
*Question*
E-mail is one of the biggest threats to your home computer. By understanding how E-mail works, and by taking some steps in how you deal with reading and writing messages, you can keep this threat out of your computer. When you exchange E-mail with someone else, the messages sent between you and that person pass through several computer before they reach their places. Imagine this conversation as it is taking place in an Internet "room", a very, very big room. Anyone, or more exactly, any program can probably understand what is being said, because most Internet conversations are not hidden in any way. As a result, others may be listening in, _ what you send, and using it for their own good. E-mail-borne viruses often arrive in attractive, fantastic appearances, much like the beautiful ads we receive by way of traditional mail that is made to sell us something. By beautiful appearances, an infected E-mail message seems to be something we want to read from someone we know, not a mean virus ready to destroy or damage our computers. There are some steps that you can take to help you decide what to do with every E-mail message with an attachment that you receive. You should only read a message that passes all of these tests: 1) The Know Test: Is the E-mail from someone that you know? 2) The Received Test: Have you received E-mail from this sender before? 3) The Expect Test: Were you waiting for E-mail with an attachment from this sender? 4) The Meaning Test: Do the topic line of the E-mail message and the name of the attachment both have meanings? 5) The Virus Test: Is the E-mail infected? As the Internet is open to anyone, we should _ . A) not read and write messages in our home computers B) not allowed nice advertisements to reach our computers C) stop our conversations while someone is listening in it D) be careful with the attractive E-mail sent by strangers
**Answer**
D