The western world has always been divided into two types of people —— the cool and the uncool. It is a division that 1 in school. The cool kids are good at 2 . They are 3 with the opposite sex. They are good-looking and people want to 4 their style. They can do their homework but they don’t make a big effort. That would 5 be cool.

 The uncool kids are in the other corner of the playground. They are very bright, but they don’t have great 6 skills and they are 7 at sports. When they are not programming computers or doing calculus（微积分）in their heads, they are reading comic books and watching shows like the “X Files”. They are 8 as the geeks.

 Here’s the news. The geeks are 9 . Make friends with them now or they will put virus in your computer and 10 your maths homework to ruin. Geeks might not be popular at school, yet they do pass their examinations, and they might not be too popular at university, but 11 good degrees.

 The most important 12 of the 21st century, computers and IT, has been at least partly created by geeks. Geek heroes like Bill Gates 13 others to follow their example. Being a geek is a way of earning good money. And the creation of the Internet gave them a 14 of their own to work and play in, making them a global 15 . Besides, the effect of the geeks 16 popular culture has started a new trend（趋势）. It is now cool to be 17 . Geek culture is becoming an important part of general popular culture, in which what you know is more important than 18 you look like.