Look! Helen is wearing her ________dress today.

1. A.
   pretty new silk
2. B.
   pretty silk new
3. C.
   silk pretty new
4. D.
   new silk pretty

Look! Helen is wearing her ________dress today.

[　　]

Look! Helen is wearing her ________dress today.

[　　]

For years I wanted a flower garden. I’d spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together.

But then we had Matthew. And Marvin. And the twins, Alisa and Alan. And then Helen. Five children. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

Money was tight, as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I'd have to say, "Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know."

Finally, all five got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden.

I wasn't sure, though. I mean, gardens do cost money, and after all these years I was used to living on a pretty lean, no-frills budget.

Then, one spring morning, on Mother's Day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by. I looked out the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches. Then I put my glasses on - and I couldn't believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard!

I went outside to look. It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, taped all over that tree. Think of all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars! There was also a note attached: "IOU eight hours of digging time. Love, Marvin."

Marvin kept his promise, too. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed for me. And my other children bought me tools, ornaments, a trellis (棚架), a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books.

That was three years ago. My garden's now very pretty, just like I wanted. When I go out and weed or tend my flowers, I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they're right there with me.

I live up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short. But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out my window and think of the flowers I'll see next spring in my little garden. I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes - every time.

I'm still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

1.By saying “Do you see a money tree outside .….,” the mother actually means “    ”

2.The best title for the passage would probably be          .

3.The underlined word “no - frills” in the fifth paragraphs is similar in meaning to        .

4.From the last but the third paragraph we can infer that the mother is         .

They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配饰)．Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies．A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favouring the same high street looks worn by those half their age．

Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert, said, “Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s．In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter．It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years — now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to．Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly．”

Professor Twigg analysed family expenditure(支出) data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same — at 5 or 6 percent of spending — the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply．

The professor said, “Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East．In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere．Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them．”

Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs her own fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected celebrity(名流) style than in previous years．

She said, “When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them．Older women are much more aware of celebrities ．There’s also the boom in TV programmes showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties．When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women．My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago．”

1.Professor Twigg found that, compared with the 1960s, _________．

A．the price of clothes has generally fallen by 70%

B．the spending on clothes has increased by 5% or 6%

C．people spend 30% less than they did on clothes

D．the amount of clothes bought has risen by 5% or 6%

2.What can we learn about old women in terms of fashion？

A．They are often ignored by fashion designers．

B．They are now more easily influenced by stars．

C．They are regarded as pioneers in the latest fashion．

D．They are more interested in clothes because of their old age．

3.It can be concluded that old women tend to wear the latest fashions today mainly because _________．

A．they get tired of things more quickly     B．TV shows teach them how to change their look

C．they are in much better shape now       D．clothes are much cheaper than before

4.Which is the best possible title of the passage?

A．Age Is No Barrier for Fashion Fans      B．The More Fashionable, the Less Expensive

C．Unexpected Changes in Fashion         D．Boom of the British Fashion Industry