1 . It was our last class before summer break. I was finishing up the first year of an MFA program in poetry. I was tired and puzzled. "Was I good enough to be in the program?" When a professor asked about our summer plans, I panicked. I didn't want to appear idle(闲散的). "Gardening," I responded immediately. Actually I knew nothing about plants! My professor nodded, saying, "What a good idea, Mari! Emily Dickinson loved gardening." Emily Dickinson had lived in the countryside, studying plants as a child. I was in my late twenties, living in the city without gardening experience.

A few days later, I bought a jalapeño seedling(青辣椒秧苗). At least I could say I'd tried gardening. I watered and changed the dirt for my little plant. I even talked to it. And over the summer, it grew bigger and bigger. I was proud. Maybe I didn't have a black thumb after all.

I started the second year of my MFA, and then it was almost December and my jalapeño was suffering. It was brown in some places; many of its leaves had fallen off. Would my little guy make it? I prayed, "Please be okay." As if its survival were closely linked to mine.

I worked hard in school. Spring came. My jalapeño plant came back to life. It grew bigger, with new leaves. And then it flowered. I handed in my graduate paper--a book of poems--in May. "Your poems are strong," my professor said.

A huge weight lifted. I'd done it! At that time, I found the flowers on my jalapeño plant were gone. I watched closer. Where a flower had been, a tiny green fruit pushed through. I smiled. I had succeeded in my MFA program, and my jalapeño plant had grown right beside me, and I successfully did things I hadn't thought possible.

1. Why did the author begin gardening?

A．Just by accident.

B．For the love for gardening.

C．To express fancy for Emily Dickinson.

D．Because of the reminding of a professor.

2. When did the author begin her first gardening?

A．In her childhood.	B．In one of her summer breaks.
C．In her teens.	D．In her first year of MFA program.

3. What does the underlined phrase "a black thumb" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．A talent to grow plants.	B．A dirty finger to touch plants.
C．A good fortune to do everything.	D．An inability to do gardening.

4. Which proverb can best describe the story above?

A．Nothing is impossible to a willing mind.

B．Easier said than done.

C．It's never too old to learn.

D．Do not teach fish to swim.