Zoe Chambers was a successful PR(Public Relations) consultant and life was going well — she had a great job, beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. “The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through.” she said. “After everything I’d done for the company, they dismissed me by text! I was so angry and I just didn’t feel like looking for another job. I hate everything about the city and my life.”
Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later she is still on the farm.
"The moment I arrived at Kathy's farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay." said Zoe. "Everything about my past life suddenly seemed meaningless."
Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. "It's a hard life, physically very tiring." she says. "In London 1 was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy's wonderful dinners."
Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing — watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, "It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I could never go back to city life now."
【小题1】When working as a PR consultant in London, Zoe thought she lived a ______life.

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.

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?

Kelly Reeves was getting ready for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet phone and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new model at full price.

    A new study finds that fear of losing your phone is a common illness. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia or “no mobile phone phobia”. Interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.

    Fortunately, there’s a solution.

    The first step is to figure out if you have nomophobia. Checking your phone too often is one thing, but the true sign of a problem is that you can’t conduct business or go about your routine when the fear becomes so severe.

    Do you go to unusual lengths to make sure you have your phone? That’s another sign of a problem. If you find you check your phone plenty of times per hour, or a total of an hour per day, there may be a problem.

    Some of the treatments are similar to those for treating anxiety attacks: Leaving the phone behind and not checking e-mail or text messages, and then learning to tolerate the after anxiety. Even if this leads to a high level of worry and stress, the solution is to push through the fear and learn to deal with not having your phone.

    Of course, there are also technological alternatives. Luis Levy, a co-founder at Novy PR, says he uses an application called Cerberus that can automatically track the location of his phone. To find it, he can just go to a Web site and see the phone’s location.

    He also insures his phone through a service called Asurion. The company’s description of its product reads like a prescription for anxiety: “60 million phones are lost, stolen or damaged each year. You’ll have complete peace of mind knowing that your phone is protected and you can quickly reconnect with family, friends and work, as soon as the very next day!”

1.Why does the author mention Kelly’s experience in the first paragraph?

A. To inform us that mobile phones are useful. 

B. To introduce the topic for discussion.

C. To tell us we should get phones ready for a trip.

D.To warn us that we should be careful.

2.The underlined word “nomophobia” in Paragraph 2 means ________.

A. Fear of losing mobile phones.   

B. Habits of using mobile phones

C. Independence of mobile phones. 

D. Eagerness for new mobile phones.

3.Which of the following is a way to treat nomophobia?

A. Learning more about modern technology. 

B. Avoiding using phone for some time

C. Not using a mobile phone in one’s daily work.

D. Protecting one’s phone against any damage.

4.Why can the service called Asurion help to treat nomophobia?

A. It will give you a new phone through insurance.

B. It lets you know other people also lose their phones.

C. It gives you a prescription to treat nomophobia.

D. It enables you to reconnect with your acquaintance.

5.What is the passage mainly about?

A. New mobile phone technology. 

B. Attitude toward mobile phone.

C. Solutions to nomophobia      

D. Disadvantages of mobile phone

Zoe Chambers was a successful PR(Public Relations) consultant and life was going well — she had a great job, beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. “The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through.” she said. “After everything I’d done for the company, they dismissed me by text! I was so angry and I just didn’t feel like looking for another job. I hate everything about the city and my life.”

Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later she is still on the farm.

"The moment I arrived at Kathy's farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay." said Zoe. "Everything about my past life suddenly seemed meaningless."

Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. "It's a hard life, physically very tiring." she says. "In London 1 was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy's wonderful dinners."

Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing — watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, "It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I could never go back to city life now."

1.When working as a PR consultant in London, Zoe thought she lived a ______life.

A．satisfying          B．tough             C．meaningless        D．boring

2.The most important reason why Zoe went to visit Kathy's farm is that______.

A．Zoe lost her job as a PR consultant

B．Kathy persuaded her to do so

C．Zoe got tired of the city life

D．Zoe loved Wales more than London

3.How docs Zoe feel about the country life according to the passage?

A．Tiresome and troublesome.

B．Romantic and peaceful

C．Mentally exhausting but healthy

D．Physically tiring but rewarding.

4.Which of the following is closest to the main idea of the passage?

A．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

B．Where there is a will, there is a way.

C．A misfortune may turn out a blessing.

D．Kill two birds with one stone.