第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中(A、B、c和D)00，选出最佳选项，并在答卡上将该项涂黑。

Ryan andLowryhadbeenfriends sincehighschool， butitwasn’tuntilaftercollege

thattheyhitontheideaofahome—care-productscompany．“Wewereshockedtolearnhow toxic cleaning products were，” says Ryan． Why couldn’tthey create greenproductsthatwouldbejustasenvironmentallypureasAveda’sskin—and—hair—carelines?

WhenRyan’smomheardabouttheplan，shestaredathimblankly:“I’veneverevenseen you cleanyourroom!”Notdiscouraged，Lowryexperimentedwith nontoxicwaystoclean． while Ryan focusedonmarketing． In February2001，they mixedtheirfirstfour cleaning sprays and convincedthe managers of 20 grocerstotrythem· Once theyhadtheir approval，theytapped friends and family andpooledtheir savingsto come up with$90，000inseedmoney．

Fromthestart，“Gobigorgohome’’wastheirmantra(口头禅)．Theirfirstfinancing—that$lmillion—wasduetobesignedonSeptember112001.Bythetimetheygotittwomonthslater，saysRyan"wehad$16inthebankandpersonallyowed$300，000·”

Seekinganationalretailer(零售商)provedjustastroublesome．ThefriendssettheirsightsonTarget，knownforitstrendy，affordablegoods．“ButTargetdidn’tliketheproductorthebrand，”recalledRyan．“Wethoughtthedealwasdead，butthenanewbuyersawthateventhoughweweren’tsellingbigvolumeswewere profitablejustonasmallerscale．”TheywonoverTarget．

Consumers were hooked onthe naturalthings and wonderful fragrance.Today，thepartnerssell130productsinmorethan8000stores，andtaxesareover$100million.Such rapid growthhas attimes stressedthe men’s friendship．“Eric and I agreeon‘what’ but never on‘how，’” saysLowry． “Although we are willingto challenge each other，wecomeupwithinterestingandsmartersolutions．There’slittlefireandicebetweenus·

56．Theunderlinedword“toxic”inParagraph1mostprobablymeans——·

A．poisonous B．dirty C．expensive D．troublesome

57．WhenRyantoldhismomhisplan___________.

A．heknewhismomwassuretosupporthim

B．hismomaske