Have you felt annoyed when a mobile phone during the class? Something must be done to stop this. Now in New York City, USA, a rule is carried out in schools. Students can’t even bring mobile phones to schoo1. Is it a good thing or not?

Anxious parents say that mobile phone s are an important tool（工具）in holding New York city’s families together.

“I worry about it,” said Elizabeth Lorris Ritter, a mother of a middle school kid, “It’s necessary in our everyday life. We have a washing machine. We have running water, and we have mobile phones.”

Many American parents think mobile phones connect them to their children on buses, getting out from subways, walking through unknown places.

 “I have her call me when she gets out of school,” said Lindsay Walt, a schoolgirl’s mother. “No one in New York is going to let their child go to school without a mobile phone.”  

What about the mobile phone owners, the students? Most of the students said mobile phones were essential and the mobile phone was like all extra（额外的）hand or foot for them.

“I feel so empty,” said May Chom, 14. There is also no way to listen to music on the way to school without my phone. It will be a really, really boring trip.” 

1. You will get        when you hear a mobile phone ring in class. 

A．sad            B．upset        C．excited      D．happy

2. You can use a mobile phone          . 

A．to listen to music                             B．to work as running water

C．to work as a washing machine            D．as a tool to make clothes

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?           

A．Many American parents don’t think mobile phones are necessary for students.

B．Mobile phones only bring troubles to the school life.

C．Mobile phones connect children with their families when they are outside.

D．Teachers are happy when the mobile phones ring during the class. 

4. What does the underlined word “essential” mean in Chinese?           

A．时髦的        B．必要的      C．昂贵的      D．可悲的 

5. This article is about the        caused by the rule that students are not allowed to take mobile phones to school. 

A．happiness       B．interest     C．problems     D．possibility

About 500 years ago, the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus proved the Earth was round. Now American author Thomas Friedman tells us the Earth is flat in his bestseller: The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.

If he is not joking, then why is the world flat? Friedman said it comes from technological forces. Because of the Internet and the World Wide Web, he believes geographical difficulties are disappearing. People and companies around the world can work together or against each other on the same level.

Bill Gates explains the meaning of this change best. Thirty years ago, he tells Friedman, if you had to choose between being born a gifted person in Shanghai and a common person in Poughkeepsie (A city in southeast New York), you would have chosen Poughkeepsie because your chances of living a successful life were much greater there. "Now," Gates says, "I would rather be a gifted person born in China than a common one born in Poughkeepsie." This shows that success today depends more on ability than on address.

Globalization(全球化), as he calls it, is driven by those persons: free writers and totally new businesses all over the world, especially in India and China. They can fight not just for low-wage producing but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design(设计) work as well.

Big companies have played another important role in this globalization process. They move their factories from one country to another to cut costs. It's usual now for an engineer in China to be working for an American company. The Internet keeps them in close touch with their American workmates. People everywhere, from the US to China, have standardized procedures(标准化过程) for getting their work done.

The Reuters News Agency provides a good example. The company moved its financial(财经的) operations from London and New York to India. The Indian workers have the necessary technical skills. But the pays and office costs are less than one-fifth of what they would be in New York or London.

53. What do you know about Friedman according to the passage?

A. He is a fool by saying the world is flat.

B. He looks at the world with a technological eye.

C. He is as wise as Bill Gates, and works well with Gates.

D. He thinks Christopher Columbus’s idea about the earth is no longer correct.

54. Which of the following is an example of “globalization”?

A. The Reuters News Agency moved its financial operations to India.

B. People and companies can work together or not on different levels.

C. Totally new businesses are able to fight just for low-cost producing.

D. People would rather choose to be a common person in Poughkeepsie.

55. What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Bill Gates and Friedman.　　　　　　　　　 B. Friedman and His Bestseller.　　

C. Why the 21^st Century World Flat.　　　　　　 D. Globalization and Bill Gates’ choices.

Goog morning, Ladies and gentleman. My topic is “________”.
Now in the 21^st century, advertising is more and more important for people. Why? I think it is because through advertising, people, especially the businessmen, can introduce their products to the people all over the world. Because of this, many companies spend a lot of money on advertising. As we all know, there are many advertisements which are very interesting and popular. For example, Michael Jordan made an interesting advertisement for Nike. From this you can see how the companies make their products known to the world.
People can make a lot of money through advertising. It is known that many famous singers and movie stars make money in this way. However, I don’t think this is a good way for them to make money, because they are not the professional advertisers, especially those who advertise in medicine advertisements.
Nowadays, advertising not only means making the products known, but also means make ourselves known to people around us. Living today, we have to make people believe in us if we want to do important jobs. But how can this be done? We should first let other people know our good side: the good habits and abilities we have. In short, we should always remember to advertise ourselves to others. As I said before, advertising is not only important for companies but also for everyone, for all human beings. This is the most interesting thing about advertising.
【小题1】The best topic to fill in the line in the first paragraph is “___________”.