What do you see from a handful of seeds? Some see green plants, some see blooming flowers, or just seeds. But one group of Shanghai students saw an opportunity to make money.
Eight students from No 2 Secondary School Attached to East China Normal University started a virtual（虚拟的）company selling different seeds and seed products. They successfully sold 28 pictures pasted with different seeds at a campus auction（拍卖）a week ago. The company, which has recruited around 20 student staff members, has earned over 2000 yuan in the past three months.
“We donated part of the money to a poor school in the countryside of Anhui Province. It's great to realize our ideal of ‘spreading love and culture with seeds’ after many tests and lots of hard work，” said Senior 2 Shi Chen, CEO of the company.
Just like any other company, Shi's didn't develop smoothly. Shi and her young colleagues（同事）used to sell fresh flowers and old books, and later found seeds might be something that their company could engage in. They bought seeds of various plants and flowers at low prices from a local farm and sold them in schools or on streets. The creative students also made accessories and pictures with different seeds.
With little business knowledge, the students had to learn new skills as the leaders of different departments, such as public relations （PR）, sales and marketing. They persuaded a joint Sino-French company near their school to give them training in business management.
“They helped us overcome our shyness. We also learned quite a lot of business theory. I found communication skills and teamwork are very important for my job” said Senior 1 Qian Yifei.
The 16-year-old was elected as PR manager thanks to her talent for speaking. She is also in charge of after sales service, dealing with complaints and providing suggestions.
As the head of the company, CEO Shi has a lot more to think about. First of all, she has to learn how to make her colleagues work efficiently（高效地） as the company only opens at weekends due to all their studies.
“It makes the company more formal，” she said.
【小题1】The purpose of opening the company is to         .

The rise of multinational corporations （跨国公司）, global marketing, new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR．
　　Surprisingly, since modern PR was largely an American invention, America’s relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries. Ten years ago, for example, the world’s top five public relations agencies were American-owned． In 1991, only one was． The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative． A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate （公司的） planning activities, compared to about one-third of U.S. companies．It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR．
　　Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race? Firstly, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs． Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country． Secondly, Americans lag behind their European and Asian counterparts （相对应的人） in knowing a second language． Less than 5 percent of Burson—Marshall’s U．S．employees know two languages． Ogilvy and Mather have about the same percentage． Conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language． Finally, people involved in PR abroad tend to keep a closer eye on international affairs． In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal． Overseas, their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Times of London and The Economist, publications not often read in this country．
Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN （Cable News Network）． Turner recently announced that the word “foreign” would no longer be used on CNN news
broadcasts. According to Turner, global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such thing as foreign．
【小题1】Compared with the American PR personnel, what is/are an advantage (s) of the non-Americans involved in PR?
A． They tend to be more internationally minded
B． They speak more and better foreign languages．
C． They usually pay more attention to global financial situation．
D． Both A and B．
【小题2】What is the immediate cause of the downfall of America’s public relations?

What do you see from a handful of seeds? Some see green plants, some see blooming flowers, or just seeds. But one group of Shanghai students saw an opportunity to make money.

Eight students from No 2 Secondary School Attached to East China Normal University started a virtual（虚拟的）company selling different seeds and seed products. They successfully sold 28 pictures pasted with different seeds at a campus auction（拍卖）a week ago. The company, which has recruited around 20 student staff members, has earned over 2000 yuan in the past three months.

“We donated part of the money to a poor school in the countryside of Anhui Province. It's great to realize our ideal of ‘spreading love and culture with seeds’ after many tests and lots of hard work，” said Senior 2 Shi Chen, CEO of the company.

Just like any other company, Shi's didn't develop smoothly. Shi and her young colleagues（同事）used to sell fresh flowers and old books, and later found seeds might be something that their company could engage in. They bought seeds of various plants and flowers at low prices from a local farm and sold them in schools or on streets. The creative students also made accessories and pictures with different seeds.

With little business knowledge, the students had to learn new skills as the leaders of different departments, such as public relations （PR）, sales and marketing. They persuaded a joint Sino-French company near their school to give them training in business management.

“They helped us overcome our shyness. We also learned quite a lot of business theory. I found communication skills and teamwork are very important for my job” said Senior 1 Qian Yifei.

The 16-year-old was elected as PR manager thanks to her talent for speaking. She is also in charge of after sales service, dealing with complaints and providing suggestions.

As the head of the company, CEO Shi has a lot more to think about. First of all, she has to learn how to make her colleagues work efficiently（高效地） as the company only opens at weekends due to all their studies.

“It makes the company more formal，” she said.

1.The purpose of opening the company is to         .

2.According to Qian Yifei, what matters most in dealing with public relations?

3.What does the word "it" (in the last paragraph)  refer to?

4.We can learn from the passage that____.

The rise of multinational corporations （跨国公司）, global marketing, new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR．
　　Surprisingly, since modern PR was largely an American invention, America’s relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries． Ten years ago, for example, the world’s top five public relations agencies were American-owned． In 1991, only one was． The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative． A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate （公司的） planning activities, compared to about one-third of U．S． companies． It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR．
　　Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race? First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs． Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country． Secondly, Americans lag behind their European and Asian counterparts （相对应的人） in knowing a second language． Less than 5 percent of Burson—Marshall’s U．S．employees know two languages． Ogilvy and Mather have about the same percentage． Conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language． Finally, people involved in PR abroad tend to keep a closer eye on international affairs． In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal． Overseas, their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Times of London and The Economist, publications not often read in this country．
Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN （Cable News Network）． Turner recently announced that the word “foreign” would no longer be used on CNN news broadcasts． According to Turner, global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such thing as foreign．
【小题1】Compared with the American PR personnel, what is/are an advantage（s） of the non-Americans involved in PR?
A． They tend to be more internationally minded
B． They speak more and better foreign languages．
C． They usually pay more attention to global financial situation．
D． Both A and B．
【小题2】What is the immediate cause of the downfall of America’s public relations?

What do you see from a handful of seeds? Some see green plants, some see blooming flowers, or just seeds. But one group of Shanghai students saw an opportunity to make money.

Eight students from No 2 Secondary School Attached to East China Normal University started a virtual（虚拟的）company selling different seeds and seed products. They successfully sold 28 pictures pasted with different seeds at a campus auction（拍卖）a week ago. The company, which has recruited around 20 student staff members, has earned over 2000 yuan in the past three months.

“We donated part of the money to a poor school in the countryside of Anhui Province. It's great to realize our ideal of ‘spreading love and culture with seeds’ after many tests and lots of hard work，” said Senior 2 Shi Chen, CEO of the company.

Just like any other company, Shi's didn't develop smoothly. Shi and her young colleagues（同事）used to sell fresh flowers and old books, and later found seeds might be something that their company could engage in. They bought seeds of various plants and flowers at low prices from a local farm and sold them in schools or on streets. The creative students also made accessories and pictures with different seeds.

With little business knowledge, the students had to learn new skills as the leaders of different departments, such as public relations （PR）, sales and marketing. They persuaded a joint Sino-French company near their school to give them training in business management.

“They helped us overcome our shyness. We also learned quite a lot of business theory. I found communication skills and teamwork are very important for my job” said Senior 1 Qian Yifei.

The 16-year-old was elected as PR manager thanks to her talent for speaking. She is also in charge of after sales service, dealing with complaints and providing suggestions.

As the head of the company, CEO Shi has a lot more to think about. First of all, she has to learn how to make her colleagues work efficiently（高效地） as the company only opens at weekends due to all their studies.

“It makes the company more formal，” she said.

The purpose of opening the company is to          .

       A．earn money for their education fees.

       B．spread love and culture with seeds.

       C．see whether they can open a company.

       D．collect money to open a Hope School.

According to Qian Yifei, what matters most in dealing with public relations?

     A．Communication skills and teamwork 。

     B．Creative and critical thinking.

       C．Educational back ground.

     D．Business theories.

What does the word "it" (in the last paragraph)  refer to?

     A．Selling seeds.

      B．CEO.

     C．Every colleague's knowledge.

     D．To make her colleagues work efficiently.

We can learn from the passage that____.

    A．the company is owned by 20 students.

    B．the company is over-night successful.

    C．the company sells fresh flowers and old books

D．the company gets much help from other company selling seeds.