A simple piece of clothesline hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors.

　　On one side stand those who see clothes dryers(干衣机) as a waste of energy and a major polluter of the environment. As a result, they are turning to clotheslines as part of the “what-I-can-do environmentalism(环境保护主义).”

　　On the other side are people who are against drying clothes outside, arguing that clotheslines are unpleasant to look at. They have persuaded Homeowners Associations (HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, because clothesline drying also tends to lower home value in the neighborhood. This had led to a Right-to-Dry Movement that is calling for laws to be passed to protect people’s right to use clotheslines.　　

　　So far, only three states have laws to protect clothesline. Right-to-Dry supporters argue that there should be more.　　

　　Matt Reck, 37, is the kind of eco-conscious(有生态意识的) person who feeds his trees with bathwater and reuses water drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But on July 9, 2007, the HOA in Wake Forest, North Carolina, told him that a dissatisfied neighbor had telephoned them about his clothesline. The Recks paid no attention to the warning and still dried their clothes on a line in the yard. “Many people say they are environmentally friendly but they don’t take matters in their own hands,” says Reck. The local HOA has decided not to take any action, unless more neighbors come to them.　　

　　North Carolina lawmakers are saying that banning clotheslines is not the right thing to do. But HOAs and housing businesses believe that clothesline drying reminds people of poor neighborhoods. They worry that if buyers think their future neighbors can’t even afford dryers, housing prices will fall.

　　Environmentalists say such worries are not necessary, and in view of global warming, that idea needs to change. As they say, “The clothesline is beautiful”. Hanging clothes outside should be encouraged. We all have to do at least something to slow down the process of global warming.”

One of the reasons why supporters of clothes dryers are trying to ban clothesline drying is that ________.

A. clothes dryers are more efficient   

B. clothesline drying reduces home value

C. clothes dryers are energy-saving    

D. clothesline drying is not allowed in most U.S. states

Which of the following best describes Matt Reck?

　　A. He is a kind-hearted man.         B. He is an impolite man.　　

　　C. He is an experienced gardener.    D. He is a man of social responsibility.　　

Who are in favor of clothesline drying?　　

　　A. housing businesses.           B. Environmentalists.　　

　　C. Homeowners Associations.     D. Reck’s dissatisfied neighbors.　　

What is mainly discussed in the text?　　

　　A. Clothesline drying: a way to save energy and money.　　

　　B. Clothesline drying: a lost art rediscovered.　　

　　C. Opposite opinions on clothesline drying.　　

　　D. Different varieties of clotheslines.　　

　　When he thought of the past, my grandfather would sometimes show us photographs of himself at school. They were brown and faded, and it was hard to believe that the blurred figure of the little boy in the short trousers and socks could ever have been grandfather. Besides, he wore a cap—all the boys in the photographs wore caps pulled so far forward that half of their faces was obscured. When grandfather asked us to pick him out from the group, we would surely point to the wrong boy.

　　On one such occasion my younger sister, aged six, burst into tears when grandfather proudly guided her finger to the right boy. “How could that boy be you?” she cried, “He should have a beard.” We were, of course, all convinced that grandfathers should have beards, preferably white and bushy, like our own grandfather’s. In fact, we would have been quite ready to argue the point if challenged.

　　“I was a good scholar,” grandfather would say, wagging his beard over the photographs. “I should have been top of the class if I hadn’t had to get up at six every morning to milk the cows and chop the wood, and again when I came home from school.”

　　“But Saturdays? What did you do on Saturdays?”

　　“Saturdays, if it was fine, I’d be out all day in the fields with the men,” replied grandfather. “And if it was wet, I’d be helping my mother with odd jobs round the house. There wasn’t much time for studying. ”

　　We all tried hard to imagine what it would have been like to have been grandfather getting up at crack of dawn and never, obviously, having a moment for himself. It seemed we had learnt something from what grandfather had said about his childhood.

　　1．In the first paragraph of this passage, what the author really tells us is that ________.

　　A．his grandfather used to wear short trousers, socks and a cap as well

　　B．it was difficult to tell which of the boys in the photographs was grandfather

　　C．he didn’t believe grandfather wore a cap pulled forward when he was at school

　　D．it was fun to watch boys in the photographs wearing caps pulled forward

　　2．The author’s sister burst into tears because ________.

　　A．she did not get a chance to pick out grandfather in the photographs

　　B．she was told which was the right boy before she herself could pick him out

　　C．other children did not agree with her that grandfather should have had a beard

　　D．she found grandfather in the photograph did not have a beard

　　3．When grandfather said “I should have been top of the class ...” he meant ________.

　　A．if he had had more time for studying, he would have been the best in his class

　　B．he should have spent more time studying rather than playing ball games

　　C．his school days should not have been so hard and miserable

　　D．he could have never been the best student even if he had studied still harder

　　4．In the last paragraph the author said” We all tried hard to imagine ...”because ________.

　　A．the figures of the boys in the photographs were small and blurred

　　B．the children had never experienced life like that of grandfather

　　C．the photographs grandfather showed them were brown and faded

　　D．grandfather failed to tell them about his childhood in detail