56. What is the purpose of this passage?

　　　　 A. To prove that women are better gardeners than men.

　　　　 B. To explain which kind of voice is better for plant growth.

　　　　 　C. To report the results of an experiment on tomato plants..

D. To explain the reason for the experiment results.

47. A sound　　　　 B. voice　　　　 C. noise　　　 　D. echo

SECTION C

Directions: complete the following passage by filling in each blank with ONE word that best fits the context.

　　 A clergyman (牧师)was walking down the street when he came upon a group of about a dozen boys ,all of them between 10 and 12 years of age.

　 The group crowded around a dog .Being afraid lest the boys were hurting 48___dog, he went over and asked，“What are you doing 49___that dog?”

　 One of the boys replied, “the dog is just an old neighborhood stray(走失的家禽).We 50__want it, but only one of 51___can take it home. So we’ve decided that whichever of us can 52___ the biggest lie will get to keep the dog.”

　 Of course, the clergyman was shocked. “You boys 53___be having a contest telling lies!” he exclaimed. He then began a ten minutes sermon(说教)against lying,54___with,“don’t you boys know it’s a sin(罪过)to lie?” and ending with, “why? You see, I’ve never told a lie in my life.”

　 There was a dead silence 55___about a minute. Just as the clergyman was beginning to think he’d got through to the boys, the smallest boy gave a deep sigh and said, “All right, give him the dog.”

PART THERE READING COMPREHENSION

　 Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.

A

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

　 In an experiment, the research 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 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 taller than her nearest competitor.

　 Colin Crosbie, Garden Manager at the RHS, said, “We just don’t know why. It could be because they have a greater range of pitch(音高)and tone(音色)that affects the sound waves that hit the plant. Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light.”

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

　 The results showed that women’s plant rose by an inch more than men’s 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 listen, but either way, I think it is an honor to have such a voice, and especially fitting for me, because for years I have been studying wild tomatoes at the Natural History museum (NHM) in London.”

46. A. but　　　　　 B. or　　　　　　 C. while　　　　 D. besides

45. A. astonished　　 B .annoyed　　　 C. disappointed　 D. excited

44. A. tasting　　　　 B. hunting　　　 C. searching　　 D. eating

43. A. changed　　　 B. sunk　　　　　 C. reduce　　　　 D. fallen

42. A. damaging　　 B. destroying　　 C. wounding　　 D. supporting

41. A. released　　　 B abandoned　　 C. predicted　　　 D. relieved

40. A. stop　　　　　 B. decrease　　　 C. increase　　　 D. improve

39. A. sympathy　　 B enthusiasm　　 C. excitement　　 D. concern