阅读理解
Dear Reader,
Today I am going to ask you to support Wikipedia with a donation.
Wikipedia is built differently from almost every other top 50 website.We have a small number of paid
staff,just twentythree.Wikipedia content is free to use by anyone for any purpose.Our annual expenses are less than six million dollars.Wikipedia is run by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation,which I founded in
2003.
Wikipedia is driven by a global community of more than 150,000 volunteers-all devoted to sharing
knowledge freely.Over almost eight years,these volunteers have contributed more than 11 million
articles in 265 languages.More than 275 million people come to our website every month to access
information,free of charge and free of advertising.
But Wikipedia is more than a website.We share a common cause:Imagine a world in which every
single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.That's our commitment.
Your donation helps us in several ways.Most importantly,you will help us cover the increasing cost of
managing global traffic to one of the most popular websites on the Internet.Funds also help us improve
the software that runs Wikipedia-making it easier to search,easier to read,and easier to write for.We are
committed to increasing the free knowledge movement worldwide,by taking on new volunteers,and
building strategic partnerships with institutions of culture and learning.
Wikipedia is different.It's the largest encyclopedia (百科全书) in history,written by volunteers.Like a
national park or a school,we don't believe advertising should have a place in Wikipedia.We want to keep
it free and strong,but we need the support of thousands of people like you.
Thank you,
Jimmy Wales
1. What do the second and third paragraphs mainly talk about?
A. Why you should donate to Wikipedia.
B. How much the workers are paid.
C. How Wikipedia is run.
D. How many people contribute to Wikipedia.
2. All the following are the reasons for the need of your donation EXCEPT________.
A. to keep Wikipedia free for people all over the world
B. to update the software that runs Wikipedia
C. to raise the salaries of the staff
D. to pay the cost of running the website
3. What does the underlined word "That" in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. Free access to all human knowledge.
B. Human knowledge.
C. Every single person.
D. A common cause.
4. Which of the following is TRUE about Wikipedia?
A. It only has 23 workers at present.
B. It will run a national park or a school.
C. It has got much help from other people.
D. It may put some advertisements to earn money.
5. What's the author's purpose of writing this text?
A. To introduce the differences between Wikipedia and other websites.
B. To improve the software that runs Wikipedia.
C. To make Wikipedia more popular.
D. To call on people to donate to Wikipedia.
