Mom's birthday present? It may be a difficult thing for some people, but for me, it is an easy thing. Mom loved flowers, so every year I sent her flowers. Actually she had a bed of irises   in the backyard of her small, Indiana farm. They were beautiful. "Take some," she said, "Dig some up and plant them on the side of your own house." But in my yard they became lacking in energy. A year passed, then two, but not one flower appeared. I cut back all their green leaves. I was tired of seeing them so lonely. Finally, I dug the irises up and threw them away. About that time Mom died unexpectedly. My sister and I sold the farm. I never went back to see the irises. I just couldn't bear seeing another family living in our home--Mom's home. Autumn came, then winter. The following spring, as Mom's birthday approached, I struggled with the question of how to remember her. I stared out the window and saw a few stubborn irises in my side yard sprouting  , --tall, thin but flowerless. Because of seeing them, I decided to order flowers as I always did on Mom's birthday, and send them to my sister. I wished so badly I could still send flowers to Mom. But that was impossible. In the morning of Mom's birthday, I was in my car ready to work. Something in the yard caught my eye. The irises! One had bloomed with flowers, big, showy and purple, as lovely as they ever had been on Mom's farm. I smiled and turned my eyes upward. I could no longer send flowers to Mom. But somehow, she'd been able to send them to me. At first, the irises in the author's yard   _  . A) all died quickly B) didn't bloom at all C) grew as well as on Mom's farm D) grew better than those on Mom's farm
B

College is not just about studying, writing essays and burning the midnight oil in the library. Making friends and enjoying yourself is also necessary for the courses. Parties are social events for students to gather and chat with each other. Drinking and music College parties in the US are always lacking in creativity and full of wine and music. The basic form rarely changes -- drink until you cannot anymore and play loud music at an earthshaking volume. There is plenty of beer involved, and some mixed cocktails. Creativity in dress The creativity comes in how parties are dressed up. Parties often have a specific theme, like a 90s party or a sports party. At a 90s party, guests might show up dressed like oncefamous celebrities. At a sports party, guests might wear their favorite team's uniforms. Held in apartments The party is usually held in the apartment of a particular outgoing friend. Everyone will be invited, which means strangers will wander in and out of the apartment where you can get to know and make some new friends. Ugly sweater party On holidays, parties frequently take on a proper theme. A popular theme around Christmas is the ugly sweater party. The goal is to wear the ugliest sweater you can find, creating an atmosphere of fun. Whatever the occasion is, there will be no shortage of _ . If you are smart enough, you won't have so much as to lose your consciousness. Parties are always better when you can remember them the next day. This passage introduces   _  . A) what to wear at the US college parties B) how much to drink at the US college parties C) how to make friends at the US colleges D) parties of the US colleges
D

Last August, Joe and Mary Mahoney began looking at colleges for their 17-year-old daughter, Maureen. With a checklist of criteria  in hand, the Dallas family looked around the country visiting half a dozen schools. They sought a university that offered the teenager's intended major, one located near a large city, and a campus where their daughter would be safe. "The safety issue is a big one," says Joe Mahoney, who quickly discovered he wasn't alone in his worries. On campus tours other parents voiced similar concerns, and the same question was always asked: what about crime? But when college officials always gave the same answer -----"That's not a problem here,"-----Mahoney began to feel uneasy. "No crime whatever?" comments Mahoney today. "I just don't _ it." Nor should he: in 1999 the U.S. Department of education had reports of nearly 400,000 serious crimes on or around our campuses. "Parents need to understand that times have changed since they went to college," says David Nichols, author ofCreating a Safe Campus. "Campus crime mirrors the rest of the nation." But getting accurate information isn't easy. Colleges must report crime statistics  by law, but some hold back for fear of bad publicity , leaving the honest ones looking dangerous. "The truth may not always be serious," warns S. Daniel Carter of Security on Campus, Inc., the nation's leading campus safety watchdog group. To help concerned parents, Carter promised to visit campuses and talk to experts around the country to find out major crime issues and effective solutions. What is the text mainly about? A) Exact campus crime statistics. B) Crimes on or around campuses. C) Effective solutions to campus crime. D) Concerns about kids' campus safety.
D

I am an e-mail user.When I first started to use the e-mail system. I used to read all my e-mail.I didn't have much mail.1 was very excited about receiving any e-mail.I gave my friends my e-mail address.Soon I had more mail than 1 wanted.Some of the mail was junk mail.1 was worried.I didn't want my mail to control me. I've tried some methods to help me get control of my mail.First,I check my mail at the same time every day.Also I try to allow myself only 15-20 minutes every day to process my e-mail.This doesn't always work,but I try.Sometimes I save the messages.Sometimes I just read them,maybe answer a few,and then delete them.Sometimes I'm not at all interested in a message,so I don't even open it.I delete it right away.This is very much the way I go through the mail that the postal service delivers to my home. These methods are very simple.I have some friends who are very clever with computers.From time to time, _ teach me new tricks for managing my e-mail.I've also learned to transfer some messages to a disk so they don't fill up my mail files .Then I can read them later and maybe use them in my work.I'm still amazed at what e-mail can do for me! I'm still worried,however,about having too much to read. Which of the following does NOT belong to the ways of the writer's dealing with his mail? A) Saving the message B) Just reading more C) Deleting some D) Passing some into friends

D