Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches along the highway I travel daily to work.

There are some particular blue flowers that have always caught my eye. I’ve noticed that they bloom only in the morning hours and the afternoon sun is too warm for them. Every day for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.

This spring, I started a wildflower garden in our yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I’ve often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the ditch would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers. Every day I drove past the flowers thinking, “I’ll stop on my way home and dig them.” “Gee, I don’t want to get my good clothes dirty…” Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a folding shovel（铲子）one year in my car to be used for that expressed purpose.

One day on my way home from work, I was shocked to see that the highway department had destroyed the ditches and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, “Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring.” A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister has a terminal brain tumor（肿瘤）. She is 20 years older than me and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven’t been as close as we all would have liked. I couldn’t help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us. 

And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, you can bet I’ll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.

1.Why did those flowers the writer saw only bloom in the morning?

A．Because it was hot in the afternoon.

B．Because someone picked them away.

C．Because someone took them into houses.

D．Because the writer passed them in the morning.

2.Which of the following statements is right according to the passage?

A．The writer’s sister died of lung tumor.

B．The writer was regretful when she heard her sister’s death.

C．The writer planned to dig the flowers to give them to her husband.

D．The writer’s husband planned to plant some flowers in the garden.

3.The writer wrote the passage to tell us ________.

A．to enjoy what we have now

B．to value now and not to lose chances

C．to protect the beautiful flowers we see

D．to love those who are your close relatives

For years I wanted a garden．I’d spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together．
But then we had Matthew, and Marvin, and the twins Alisa and Alan, and then Helen．I was too busy raising them to grow a garden．
Money was not enough．Neither was time．Often when my children were little,
one of them would want something that cost too much, and I’d have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees, you know．”
Finally, all the children got through high school and college and were off on their own．I started thinking again about a garden．
Then, one spring morning, on Mother’s Day, I was working in my kitchen．Suddenly, I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard．There were things blowing around on it．       Then I put my glasses on—and I couldn’t believe what I saw．
There was a money tree in my yard!
I went outside to look．It was true! There were dollar bills(帐单), one hundred of them, hanging all over that tree．There was also a note among them, “Thank you for your time, Mom．We love you!”
Later, my children bought me tools, ornaments, a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books．A new page started in my life．
That was three years ago．My garden’s now very pretty, just like I wanted．When I go out and take care of my flowers, I don’t seem to miss my children as much as I once did．It feels like they’re right there with me．Now every year when winter comes, I look out of my window and think of the flowers I’ll see next spring in my little garden．I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes—every time．
I’m still not sure that money grows on trees．But I know love does!
【小题1】How many children did the writer have?

Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503. He was working on an important painting for a church at the time, but the church painting was not going well. An Italian businessman asked da Vinci to paint a picture of the businessman’s second wife. This is the woman who can be seen in the Mona Lisa.
All in all, the Mona Lisa is a very good example of da Vinci’s work. Da Vinci uses darkness and light in a clever way in the painting.
Da Vinci loved science and math. Right away a person can see that there is a lot of geometry (几何) in the Mona Lisa. The face of Mona Lisa is made of many circles and round shapes like balls. Even her smile can be seen as a small part of a large circle.
The woman in the painting is sitting on a balcony, and mountains can be seen behind her. Da Vinci loved to study rocks and mountains, so these can be seen over and over again in his other paintings.
The woman is sitting with her knees to the side. Her head is turned to look out of the painting. Her hands are held together in front of her. This way of sitting is now used by many artists when they are painting a picture of a man or woman today.
【小题1】Who painted the Mona Lisa?

The teacher told us ____the window in class