“If you talk to the plants, they will grow faster and the effect is even better if you’re a woman.” Researchers at Royal Horticultural Society carried out an experiment to find that the voice of a woman gardener makes plants grow faster.

   The experiment lasted a month and by the end of the study scientists managed to discover that tomato plants grew up two inches taller when women gardeners talked to them instead of male.

   Sarah Darwin was the one making the plants registered the best growth. Her voice was the most “inspiring” for plants than those of nine other gardeners when reading a passage from The Origin of Species. The great-great-granddaughter of the famous botanist(植物学家) Charles Darwin found that her plant grew about two inches taller than the plant of the best male gardener.

   Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said that the finding cannot yet be explained. He assumes that women have a greater range of pitch（音高） and tone（音调） which might have a certain effect on the sound waves that reach the plant. “Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light ,”said Mr Grosbie.

The study began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Survey. Scientists started with open auditions(听力) for the people who were asked to record passages from John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer's Night Dream and Darwin's The Origin of Species.

Afterwards researchers selected a number of different voices and played them to 10 tomato plants during a period of a month. Each plant had headphones（耳机） connected to it. Through the headphones the sound waves could hit the plants. It was discovered that plants that “listened” to female voices on average grew taller by an inch in comparison to plants that heard male voices.

Miss Darwin said, “I think it is an honor to have a voice that can make tomatoes grow, and especially fitting because for a number of years I have been studying wild tomatoes from the Galapagos Island at the Natural History Museum in London.”

1.What does the passage talk about?

A. Plants enjoy men’s voices than women’s.

B. A botanical experiment in a museum.

C. Voice’s influence on plant growing.

D. Strange phenomenon（现象） at Royal Horticultural Society.

2.What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?

A. Plants need sound as well as rain and light.

B. Sound is basic for the plant to grow.

C. Sound has a good effect as rain or light does.

D. Plants can’t live without sound, rain or light.

3.Sarah Darwin is most likely a (an)_____.

A. botanist              B. gardener   C. astronomer         D. environmentalist

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A. The experiment ended in May.

B. Scientist can explain the findings clearly.

C. Plants enjoy listening to the passages from masterpieces.

D. The findings are of great importance to human beings.

I noticed the woman when I entered the newsroom. My secretary told me she wanted to put an ad to   36   a baby. So I suggested several    37  lines for these ads to her:   38  , Baby to love; or Dear Birth Mother, Let Us Help You. The ad would contain   39   about her and her husband: they were   40  , could afford to raise a child. But then something   41   me: the major newspapers carried ads like this and their  42   were larger than ours. “Have you tried the major ones?” I asked. “Yes, but all failed and one more wouldn’t   43  .” She handed me a check and left with a   44   smile.

   A week later the woman called in a    45   of delight: “Please don’t run the ad again. We ’ve connected with   46  . The baby is due in a month.” Good news. I asked her if she   47   keep in touch if the adoption   48   to have a happy ending. She agreed but added when the adoption was final she was   49    to give me the story.

   One day my phone rang. I   50   her voice immediately. “The adoption is final. Would you like to come and meet him?” Happily, I made a (an )  51  with her for the next day. “His name is Ben,” she said, as I started to take                   52  . “He slept through the night from the start. Now he’s smiling and starting to turn over. Of course I’m not   53   him. If he is a little slow.” She paused. “ Oh, I should tell you Ben has Down’s Syndrome.(唐氏综合症)” I stopped writing . I wasn’t sure how to   54  . But she smiled “Ben was meant for us, don’t you see? He needs me more than a   55   developing child would.” She sat on the sofa, holding her son. Both of them smiled. “You wanted a story with a happy ending,” said the woman “ You got it.”

1.A. afford         B. affect           C. adopt            D. adapt

2.A. ordinary       B. standard         C. effective        D. ridiculous

3.A. Wanted         B. To Want      C. Wanting      D. Want

4.A. address        B. data             C. picture          D. information

5.A. rich           B. stable           C. considerate      D. lonely

6.A. occurred to    B. turned to        C. referred to      D. wrote to

7.A. titles             B. circulations     C. names            D. columns

8.A. kill           B. work             C. hurt             D. do

9.A. warm       B. weird            C. weak             D. wild

10.A. spirit        B. tone             C. way              D. sound

11.A. a birth mother B. a lovely baby   C. an ad company    D. an orphanage

12.A. might         B. should           C. would            D. dared

13.A. turned over   B. turned up        C. turned out       D. turned down

14.A. safe          B. comfortable      C. brave            D. honest

15.A. classified    B. identified       C. picked           D. recognized

16.A. look          B. appointment C. appearance  D. call

17.A. pains         B. pictures             C. clues            D. notes

18.A. rushing       B. speeding         C. pressing         D. running

19.A. reply         B. react            C. restore          D. release

20.A. steadily      B. gradually        C. normally         D. regularly

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I was in the fifth grade in a small town in Utah. At the start of the school year, my friends and I saw a(n)      face. It was clear from the start that the newcomer, Ruth, would not be _____ in our social circle.

Her father lived in a neighborhood that was far from fashionable. Every day, she wore the _____ dress and too-big blue sneakers.

There were lots of ____ in our school on Christmas Eve every year. Most people in town ____ the school’s Christmas programmes. While other classes sang songs and performed skits, the ____ was reserved for fifth--graders. The starring roles were Mary and Joseph. One day before Christmas, my friends and I listened ____ as our teacher, Mr. Russon, read from his list. Finally, he said, “Joseph will be ____ by Timothy.”

I was ____ ,but at once tense again. Which of the popular girls would perform with me? “And the ____ of Mary goes to …Ruth.” Ruth? As far as we knew, she hadn’t ____ tried out. If Ruth was going to be Mary, we decided, we’d make this the ____ Christmas play ever.

_____, Ruth had always practiced her song while the rest of us were doing ____ . Her voice cracked as she tried to get a(n) ___ . We laughed harder than ever. Our music teacher     the pianist. We were the worst group of fifth-graders ever, the teacher told us. This year there would be      play!

Christmas Eve arrived. Students and people crowded the hall. Finally the time ____ for the fifth-grade performance. To our ____ , Mr. Russon said, “One of the fifth-graders will sing a solo.” The curtain opened, and there stood Ruth. She wore a white dress. Her face ___ as she began to sing. A beautiful voice rang through the hall.

1.A. unchanging         B. friendly                   C. serious           D. unfamiliar

2.A. protected           B. included                 C. surrounded      D. blamed

3.A. formal                  B. same                 C. modern                 D. beautiful

4.A. courses               B. songs                 C. programmes              D. speeches

5.A. attended             B. discussed         C. compared                  D. disliked

6.A. song                     B. dance                 C. story                         D. play

7.A. anxiously   B. curiously                 C. proudly                   D. patiently

8.A. replaced             B. rescued                  C. played                D. punished

9.A. surprised            B. disappointed          C. interested              D. delighted

10.A. part          B. name                       C. honor                 D. money

11.A. already              B. still                           C. never                      D. even

12.A. worst                 B. best                         C. longest           D. easiest

13.A. Besides             B. However                 C. Therefore               D. Still

14.A. everything        B. nothing          C. something         D. anything

15.A. break                 B. apology                   C. breath                D. chance

16.A. encouraged     B. showed                   C. lost                     D. stopped

17.A. no         B. more         C. another        D. such

18.A. passed               B. came                  C. saved                   D. wasted

19.A. surprise            B. enjoyment        C. regret                       D. disappointment    

20.A. woke up            B. lit up                   C. rose  up                  D. cheered up

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming lake behind his house.
In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind his shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swan toward the middle of the lake, an alligator(鳄鱼) was swimming toward the shore.
His mother in the house was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer. In extreme fear, she ran toward the water, yelling(大叫) to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.
From the dock(码头)，the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched(夺取) his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-water(拔河). The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate(有感情的). A farmer happened to drive by, took aim and shot the alligator.
After weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. The newspaper reporter asked if he would show him his scars(伤疤). The boy lifted his legs, then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “but look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mum wouldn’t let go. ”
Some scars have caused us deep regret, but some scars are because of love.
【小题1】From the second paragraph we can infer that_____.

A lot of management training each year for Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our course is the retention（保护力） of quality employees-a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale（标准）in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants（参加者）, “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?” Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, “It was a ＄19 baseball glove.”

Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim（临时的） position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check. When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.

Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,” she said, “and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can’t pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us.”

The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.

Among many of the problems in the service industry, talked about in this passage, is         .

       A．how to ensure his employees’ high pay

       B．how to attract more customers

       C．how to look carefully after the employees

       D．how to keep the good employees from leaving

Although a new manager, Cynthia would do her job well in keeping quality employees because she         .

       A．had mastered all the courses for the manager

       B．had already formed good relationship with the employees

       C．know the way how to deal with her employees

       D．had her own personal experience

This passage shows us that to run a business well it is necessary for managers to let their employees know         .

       A．how much they can get for their job.

       B．what good positions they can get later

       C．they are very necessary to the business  

       D．they are nice as well as useful

The story told in this passage tells us that employees care about         .

       A．only how large a pay they can get

       B．love from the managing people rather than only money

       C．if their children could be properly taken care of

       D．what position they can be offered