.
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 company selling different seeds and seed products. They successfully sold 28 pictures pasted with different seeds at a campus auction 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 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 also asked some local businessmen to act as their consultants.
"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 as the company only opens at weekends due to all their studies. So she established a system to evaluate every one's performance, in terms of punctuality, efficiency, profits knowledge and so on.
"It makes the company more formal," she said.
59. What is the purpose of opening the company?
A. To earn money for their education fees.
B. To spread love and culture with seeds.
C. To see whether they can open a company.
D. To collect money to open a Hope School.
60. At a campus auction a week ago, they ________ .
A. sold 28 green plants with different flowers
B. sold 28 seeds pasted with different pictures
C. sold 28 pictures pasted with different seeds
D. sold 28 flowers pasted with different pictures
61. According to Qian Yifei, what matters most in dealing with public relations?
A. Communication skills and teamwork.
B. Creative and critical thinking.
C. Educational background.
D. Business theories.
62. What does the word "it" (in the last paragraph) refer to?
A. Selling seeds.
B. To have a person as CEO.
C. Every colleague’s performance.
D. To make her colleagues work efficiently.
63. What can we learn from the passage?
A. The company is owned by 8 students.
B. The company is over-night successful.
C. The company gets a lot of help from others.
D. The company sells old books and fresh flowers.
