Starting time the Africancontinent

Starting time the African
continent is home to some of
the poorest countries on
earth, where people struggle
to feed their families on less
than $2.00 a day.
Nevertheless, Africa is also
the world's fastest growing
market for cell phones. Cell
phones have brought twenty-
first century technology to
villages where people light
their huts with candles and
walk hours to find drinking
water. Some experts think
cell phones will improve life
for the 680 million Africans
more than any other
invention of our time. Why
are cell phones spreading so
rapidly in Africa?
One reason is simply that
other forms of
communication are difficult.
The roads are terrible in many
countries, making travel
lengthy and expensive.
Regular phones require lines
to be laid across Africa's vast -
jungles and deserts. Cell
phones, however, send their
signals from towers, which
can easily be constructed by
hand, sometimes out of
leftover pieces of metal.
Furthermore, with the difficult
economic situation in many
African countries, cell phones
can be extremely useful.
Many Africans have had to
move far from their home
villages to look for work. With
a cell phone, they can call
hregularly and keep in touch
or even send money. It is also
possible in some countries to
make purchases or bank
deposits with cell phones.
People who run small
businesses can use the
phones to send in orders or
keep in touch with
customers. Others can make
money selling phone time to
those who don't have a cell
phone of their own.
Recent studies have shown
that where cell phone use has
increased in Africa, the
economy has been
strengthened and the people
are better off. In Uganda, for
example, a charity group has
started a new program with
Uganda's largest cell phone
company. The program,
called villagePhone, helps
village women get started as
phone owners. The women
borrow small amounts of
money from banks
connected to villagePhone
and then use that loan
money to buy a phone and
some calling minutes. Then
they can sell phone time in
the village to people without
phones. In very little time,
these women are usually able
to repay the money they
have borrowed. A • 0 such
woman named Fatima had a
small shop in her Ugandan
village whe she sold
household goods and food to
support her four children. In
the p Fatima rarely had
enough money to buy things
to sell in her store and so s
made very little money from
her business. B • However,
she realized there was a need
for a telephone in her village,
since the closest phone was
6.7 miles (4 km) away. She
bought a phone with a loan
from villagePhone and ran it
off an automobile battery.
Since starting her
villagePhone business,
Fatima's income has grown.
What's more, her store is
now a center of village life.
Fatima's story is like many
throughout Uganda. C • And
for each woman with a
phone, a whole village has
access to new services new
economic possibilities. A
similar program has started
in neighboring Rwanda. Soon
women there will be using
cell phones to raise their
income level and improve
their lives. D •
What can be inferred
about the life of African
countries?
A. They are very poor.
B. They are agriculture-
based.
C. They are technology-
oriented.
D. They place a great
emphasis on technology.
Which of the following
is NOT True about the Afric
continent?
A. People there live in huts.
B. Africans walk long hours
to find water.
C. Africa offers a large
market for mobile phones.
D. African is fighting
against the popularity of
mobile phones.
What is the main
reason for the popularity of
mobile phon in Africa?
A. They are convenient for
communication.
B. They are cheap.
C. The ovide private
communication.
D. They are easy to carry
around.
For which of the
following are mobile phones
NOT often used by Africans
working far from home?
A. calling home
B. getting in touch with
family
C. sending money to
family
D. renting phones to
others
What can be inferred
about the use of mobile
phones in thee life of
Africans?
A. Cellphones cost Africans
a lot.
B. The economy is getting
worse with the increase of
cellphone use.
C. Africans become
stronger together with the
use of cellphones.
D. The increase of mobile
phone use helps Africans
have a better life.
What is villagePhone?
A. It's the name of a
charity group.
B. It's the name of a bank
sponsoring the mobile phone
company.
C. It's the name of a
programme promoting the
use of mobile phones.
D. It's the name of the
village sponsored.
What do women do
with the money they borrow
from the bank?
A. buying a phone and
using it to find a job
B. buying a phone and
selling calling time
C. opening a phone shop
D. going to the city to find
a job
What is NOT True
about Fatima?
A. She benefited from
villagePhone.
B. She lives in a village.
C. She has 4 children.
D. She bought an
automobile.
Which of the following
best summarizes the
sentence in italics in the final
paragraph?
A. Women can often pay
back the loan in a very short
time.
B. Women have a little
time to pay back the money
they borrowed.
C. The money the
borrowed must be returned
quickly.
D. The loan can be paid
little by little.
Look the gaps [•] in
the final paragraph. Where
does the following sentence
best fit? "Her villagePhone
business is one of about
2.000 such success stories,
with more women joining
every day"
A. A.
B. B.
C. C.
D. D.