that she has gone to the United States?

The Royal Horticultural Society(RHS) finds that women gardeners’ voices speed up the growth of tomato plants much more than men’s.

In an experiment, the researchers found that tomato plants grew up to two inches taller if they were sung to by a female rather than a male.

The most effective voice came from Sarah Darwin, whose great-great grandfather was the botanist(植物学家) Charles Darwin, one of the founding fathers of the RHS.

She read a passage from the On the Origin of Species and beat nine other ‘voices’. Her plant grew nearly two inches taller than the best performing male and half an inch higher than her nearest competitor.

Colin Crosbie, Garden Manager at the RHS, said, “We predicted that the male voice would be more effective but it turned out that the ladies’ voice was far better than the gentlemen’s. We just don’t know why. It could be because they have a greater range of pitch(高音) and tone(音色) that affects the sound waves that hit the plant.The sound wave is on environmental effect just like rain or light.”

In the experiment, every plant was played a different voice through earphones connected to the plant pot, and the environmental conditions for all the plants remained the same throughout the experiment. To ensure that the results of the experiment were convincing, two plants were also left to grow in silence.

The results showed that women on average saw their plants grow an inch taller than their male counterparts(对手) and much more than the plants left in complete silence.

Miss Darwin said, “I’m not sure if it’s my sweet tones or the text that I read from On the Origin of Species that made the plant sit up and listen, but either way, I think it is an honor to have such a voice, and it is especially fitting for me, because for years I have been studying wild tomatoes at the Natural History Museum(NHM) in London.”

　60. How many tomato plants were chosen for this experiment?

　　  A. 9.　　　　   B. 10.            C. 11.　　  D.12.

　61. What can we learn about Sarah Darwin?

　　  A.She is very proud of her sweet voice..       

B. She is one of the founding fathers of the RHS.

　　  C. She has discovered why her voice benefits plants.

　　  D. She will work at the NHM in London after the experiment.

　62. Why were two plants left to grow in silence in the experiment?

　　  A. To make the results of the experiment trustworthy.

　　  B. To convince people that sound waves are better than rain and light.

　　  C. To help find out how many inches plants can grow with the help of voices.

　    D. To prove that the environmental conditions for the plants remained the same.

　63. What can be inferred from the passage?

　　  A. The text from On the Origin of Species can help plants grow..　　　　

　　  B. Sarah’s nearest competitor was also a woman..

　　  C.Men’s voices have a greater range of pitch and tone than women’s..

　　  D.Colin Crosbie predicted that women’s voices were better for the plant than men’s.

. 　　　　　 　that she has gone to the United States?

A.Was it true　　　       B.Is it true      C.It is true　　　　 D.It was true

　　　　　　that she has gone to the United States?

　　During my ninth-grade year, I suffered from “anorexia nervosa”. It was not enough to be thin. I had to be the thinnest. Now, however, fully recovered, I can reflect back and realize that my wishes were more complex than fitting into size five pants. Many of my hidden emotions were related to my relationship with my father. As I was growing up, his work always came first. Sometimes I would not see him for up to two weeks. Not only did he devote his whole self to his work, but he expected me to do the same (“You cannot get anywhere unless you go to the best universities!”). Though, consciously, I never felt pressure to please him, I began dieting after the first time he told me I looked fat.　　

　　At the time, all I knew was that I had to be thin―thinner than anyone else. Every month my father went to Europe for a week or so and on the days he left, sorrow and emptiness swallowed me: Daddy was leaving. Then, I turned to focus on a mysterious weakness―a helpless childlike emotion that came from starving. I liked to know that I needed to be taken care of; maybe Daddy would take care of me.

Now, two years later and thirty-eight pounds heavier, I have come to realize that I cannot change my father’s inability to express his feelings. Instead, I must accept myself. I know that I am a valuable person who struggles to achieve and accomplish. But I cannot struggle solely for others. By starving, I attempted to gain pride in myself by obtaining my father’s approval or acknowledgment of my value as a person. But the primary approval must come from me, and I feel secure now that I can live with that knowledge safely locked in my mind.

54. What is “anorexia nervosa” as mentioned in the first line of the passage?

　　A. It is a situation of feeling self-doubting.

　　B. It is an inability to express one’s feelings.

　　C. It is someone who is emotionally unstable.

　　D. It is an illness that makes one want to stop eating.

55. Why did the writer suffer from anorexia nervosa?

　　A. She was told by her father to take care of herself.

　　B. She wanted to go to the best university.

　　C. She wanted her father’s attention.

　　D. She grew up in a poor family.

56. Which of the following statements is true about the writer?

　　A. She has problems controlling her tempers.

　　B. She is proud of herself for working hard to succeed.

　　C. She has had great confidence in herself since childhood.

　　D. She has changed her father’s way of expressing himself.

57. What’s the writer’s purpose of writing this passage?

　　A. To blame her father.

　　B. To report a case of child abuse.

　　C. To reflect on a stage of growing up.

　　D. To teach people how to lose weight.