2016年12月英语四级听力原文（卷二）

　　短篇新闻

　　Section A - 2

　　Rescue efforts were underway Thursday morning for 17 miners who were stuck in an elevator below ground at a Cargill rock salt mine near Lansing, New York, according to Marcia Lynch.

　　Public information officer with Tompkins County’s emergency response department, emergency workers have made contact with the miners via a radio. And they all appear to be uninjured, said Jessica Verfuss, the emergency department’s assistant director.

　　Crews have managed to provide heat packs and blankets to the miners so that they can keep warm during the rescue operation, Verfuss said. Details about what led to the workers’ being trapped in the elevator went immediately available. The mine, along New York’s Cayuga Lake, processes salt used for road treatment. It produces about 2 million tons of salt that is shipped to more than 1,500 places in the northeastern United States, the rock salt mine is one of three operated by Cargill with the other two in Louisiana and Ohio.

　　Q3. What does the news report say about the salt miners?

　　Q4.What did the rescue team do?

　　Section A - 3

　　The U.S. Postal Service announced today that it is considering closing about 3,700 post offices over the next year because of falling revenues.

　　Facing an $8.3 billion budget deficit this year, closing post officers is one of several proposals the Postal Service has put forth recently to cut costs. Last week, for example, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe announced plans to stop mail delivery on Saturdays, a move he says could save $3 billion annually.

　　“We are losing revenue as we speak,” Donahoe said. “We do not want taxpayer money. We want to be self-sufficient. So like any other business you have to make choices.”

　　Dean Granholm the vice president for delivery and post office operations said the first waves of closings would begin this fall. He estimated that about 3,000 postmasters, 500 station managers and between 500 and 1,000 postal clerks could lose their jobs.

　　Q5.What is the U.S. Postal Service planning to do?

　　Q6.What measure has been planned to save costs?

　　Q7.What will happen when the proposed measure come into effect?