When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community. When Dr. Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life's goal was to make it a forest. The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out  the weaker trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured. So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention. Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some twenty-five years ago. They're extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years. It seems that adversity  and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought. Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think that it's time to change my prayer  because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship. Which of the following may be the author's best prayer for his two sons now? A) I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky. B) I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future. C) I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often. D) I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.
C

Chicago is considering firm measures to prevent the Asian carp,a giant fish native to the Far East,from coming into North America's Great Lakes in large numbers.Such a move could cost up to$18bn,a heavy economic burden to the city. This species,more than a metre in length,was originally introduced to southern US states three decades ago to control weeds in sewage treatment plants.But they escaped into the Mississippi River and increased in number quickly,making their way north towards the Great Lakes and threatening the native fish species along the way. "Dozens of them will often leap out of the water as boats approach.''Michael Beecham,a local environmental expert,described how frightening the scene was."I've gone down the river and seen these fish jump up and hit me in the face.It is a big problem for our native species," he said. A meeting has been organized to find a technological solution to the carp problem,one of which involves blocking parts of Chicago's canal system.Listening at the meeting was John Goss,who was worried about the effect that having barriers in the canal system would have on industry."It would certainly increase the cost of transportation,"he told."It is currently very cheap and efficient to bring materials and finished goods down the Chicago ship canal.'' Another cheaper option is to eat the fish out of existence.Dirk Fucik is selling carp burger at his fish shop not far from downtown Chicago.He thinks the carps are a great resource."To catch it and throw it away is a waste,"he says."Eating them helps solve the problem and also provides jobs."But the idea has not yet caught on.So far,he is the only person in Chicago selling carp burgers. From the passage we can see the Asian carp A) is very adaptable to the new environment B) has made the Great Lake their home C) is becoming a new food in restaurants D) becomes even more fierce than before
A

Grant Wood's American Gothic caused a stir in 1930 when it was exhibited for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago and awarded a prize of 300 dollars. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and the painting of a farmer and a younger woman posed before a white house brought the artist instant fame. In 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter with European training, noticed a small white house built in the small southern Iowa town of Eldon. Wood was so fascinated by it that he decided to paint the house along with the kind of people he thought should live in that house. In the painting, the farmer is modeled on his dentist. Dr. Byron McKeeby. His younger sister Nan served as a model for the woman (imagined to be the farmer's wife or daughter). Wood wanted to give a description of the traditional roles of men and women as the man is holding a pitchfork symbolizing hard labor. Each element was painted separately; the models sat separately and never stood in front of the house. The Gothic style of the house inspired the painting's title. American Gothic remains one of the most famous paintings in the history of American art. The painting has become part of American popular culture. Some believe that Wood used it to satirize  the narrow-mindedness that has been said to characterize Midwestern culture. The painting may also be read as a praise of the moral virtue or rural America or even as a mixture of praise and satire. American Gothic is one of the few images to reach the status of cultural symbol, along with Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. From the passage we can infer Iowa is in   _  . A) the southern town of Eldon B) the Midwest of the United States C) a European country D) the city of Chicago

B