Google boss tells N. Korea to use Internet

The chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, has asked North Korea to open up its Internet to join the rest of the world. North Korea is one of the most closed and secretive countries in the world. Only a few of its citizens have Internet access, but that is strictly controlled by the government. Almost no one can access the World Wide Web. Mr Schmidt said it was very important for the country to end its isolation so North Koreans can become richer. He said: "As the world is becoming increasingly connected, their decision to be [almost totally] isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth, and so forth….It will make it hard for them to catch up economically."

The U.S. government was not happy about Mr Schmidt's trip. Officials criticised it and said it was "unhelpful". The White House is doing its best to get the North Koreans to end its nuclear weapons programme. One expert believes Mr Schmidt's visit gave North Korea the feeling it was an important world country. Greg Scarlatoiu of the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea told the Voice Of America website: "Visits from senior officials and extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs are going to help to raise the profile of the North Korea regime. Probably, from the North Korean viewpoint, they may think this is also an opportunity to make some money for the regime."

COMPREHENSION 

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a. Eric Schmidt is not the chairman of the company Google. T
b. Not many people in North Korea have access to the Internet.
c. Schmidt wants N. Korea to end its isolation so N.Koreans can be richer.
d. Schmidt said N. Korea could be a strong economy without the Internet.

e. The U.S. government sent Schmidt to N. Korea to give advice.
f. An expert said N. Korea feels more important after Schmidt's trip.
g. The article quotes a reporter from the Voice of Korea news agency.
h. N. Korea's leaders think they have the chance to make some money.

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	asked	a.	firmly
2	secretive	b.	specialist
3.	strictly	c.	visit
4.	isolation	d.	tight-lipped
5.	growth	e.	government
6.	trip	f.	requested
7.	end	g.	progress
8.	expert	h.	business executives
9.	entrepreneurs	i.	lack of contact
10.	regime	j.	finish