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(設(shè)計(jì)) 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(標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化過程) for getting their work done.

The Reuters News Agency provides a good example. The company moved its financial(財(cái)經(jīng)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 21st Century World Flat.　　　　　　 D. Globalization and Bill Gates’ choices.

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科目：初中英語 來源： 題型：


Over 30,000 years ago, people from northern Asia went to America. Today we can tell these people Indians.
The Indians went to America because the weather began to change. Northern Asia became very cold. Everything froze. They had to move or they would die. How did the first Indians go to America? They walked!
Later Columbus found the New World in 1492. At first, only a few Europeans followed. They traveled to America in boats. For the next 300 years, about 500,000 people went there. Then the number grew very quickly. From 1815 to 1915, over 32,000,000 Europeans left their countries for the United States. The biggest groups went from Germany and Italy. These Europeans spoke many different languages. Most of them took almost no money. They went to America so they could find a better life.
【小題1】________ went to America first.
A．People from northern Asia
B．People from Italy
C．People from Germany
D．Columbus
【小題2】Why did the Indians go to America? Because ____________ .
A． northern Asia became very hot
B． northern Asia became very cold
C．they were interested in America
D．they liked traveling
【小題3】The “New World” was _________.
A．ItalyB．northern AsiaC．GermanyD．America
【小題4】These Europeans ___________.
A．didn’t speak the same language
B．spoke English
C．spoke German only
D．spoke both English and German
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【小題1】
A．manyB．moreC．much D．a(chǎn) lot
【小題2】
A．BothB．SomeC．All D．No
【小題3】
A．callingB．callC．to call D．called
【小題4】
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【小題5】
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【小題6】
A．oneB．a(chǎn)C．a(chǎn)n D．the
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A．tellsB．speaksC．says D．talks
【小題8】
A．whatB．whereC．how D．why
【小題9】
A．canB．can’tC．will D．won’t
【小題10】
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閱讀理解

Over 30 000 years ago,people from northern Asia went to America.Today we can tell these people Indians.

The Indians went to America because the weather began to change.Northern Asia became very cold.Everything froze.They had to move or they would die.How did the first Indians go to America? They walked!

Later Columbus found the New World in 1492.At first,only a few Europeans followed.They traveled to America in boats.For the next 300 years,about 500 000 people went there.Then the number grew very quickly.From 1815 to 1915,over 32 000 000 Europeans left their countries for the United States.The biggest groups went from Germany and Italy.These Europeans spoke many different languages.Most of them took almost no money.They went to America to find a better life.

1.________ went to America first.

A．People from northern Asia

B．People from Italy

C．People from Germany

D．Columbus

2.Why did the Indians go to America? Because ________.

A．northern Asia became very hot

B．northern Asia became very cold

C．they were interested in America

D．they liked traveling

3.The New world was ________.

A．Italy

B．northern Asia

C．Germany

D．America

4.The first Europeans went to America ________.

A．on foot

B．by bike

C．by boat

D．by train

5.These Europeans ________.

A．didn’t speak the same language

B．spoke English

C．spoke German only

D．spoke both English and German

6.The Europeans went to America in order to ________.

A．find the New world

B．find a better life

C．build more boats

D．learn English

 

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An Englishman was showing a foreign visitor around London. "What's that strange building?" asked the visitor. "That's the Tower of London." "I see. How long did it take to build it?” “About 500 years." "In my country we can build it in five months." said the visitor. A short time after that, they come to St. Paul's Cathedral (大教堂)."Very interesting, "said the visitor, "How long did it take to build it?  Nearly forty years." said the Englishman. "In my country we can finish it in forty days." said the visitor. This went on all day. They visited most of the best known buildings in the city. Every time they saw a new one, the visitor asked what it was and how long it took to build it. Then he said that they could do the same things much faster in his country. At last the Englishman got angry with the visitor though he tried not to show it. A few days later they came to the House of Parliament(議會(huì)大廈) and the visitor asked his usual question. "What's that?” The Englishman answered, "I've no idea. It wasn't there last night."

1.The Englishman showed the foreign visitor around____________.

A．the Tower of London

B．St. Paul's Cathedral

C．some famous buildings in London

D．the whole city of London

2.The visitor said that in his country it would take them ____________to build St. Paul's Cathedral.

A．less than half a year

B．more than a month

C．five hundred years

D．forty years

3.The Englishman was very angry by the end of the day, but he______________

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B．tried not to show the visitor around the city

C．had no time to tell the visitor

D．didn't want to say anything

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D．didn't know how to tell the visitor the name of the building

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B．Around London

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