题目内容：

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  and Lowry had been friends  since high school，  but it wasn’t until after college

that they hit on the idea of a home—care-products company．“We were shocked to learn how  toxic  cleaning  products  were，”  says  Ryan．  Why  couldn’t they  create  green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin—and—hair—care lines?

When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan，she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen  you  clean your room!” Not discouraged，Lowry experimented with  nontoxic ways to clean．  while  Ryan  focused on marketing．  In  February 2001，they  mixed their first four   cleaning  sprays  and  convinced the  managers  of  20  grocers to try them·  Once  they had their  approval，they tapped  friends  and  family  and pooled their  savings to  come  up  with $90，000 in seed money．

From the start，“Go big or go home’’was their mantra(口头禅)．Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months later，says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300，000·”

Seeking a national retailer(零售商)proved just as troublesome．The friends set their sights on Target，known for its trendy，affordable goods．“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand，”recalled Ryan．“We thought the deal was dead，but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were  profitable, just on a smaller scale．”They won over Target．

Consumers  were  hooked  on the  natural things  and  wonderful  fragrance. Today，the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores，and taxes are over$100 million. Such  rapid  growth has  at times  stressed the  men’s  friendship． “Eric  and  I  agree on ‘what’  but  never  on‘how，’”  says Lowry．  “Although  we  are  willing to  challenge  each  other，we come up with interesting and smarter solutions．There’s little fire and ice between us·

56．The underlined word“toxic”in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·

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

57．When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________.

A．he knew his mom was sure to support him

B．his mom asked him to clean his room

C．his mom suspected his ability

D．he was discouraged by his mom

58．We can learn：from the third paragraph that __________________．

A．Ryan and Lowry wanted to gave up and go home at first

B．their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning

C．they made profit two months later after their first financing

D．$1 million was not enough as their seed money

59．The partners’cleaning products are sold very well because——．

A．the products are made of natural material and smell nice

B．their friends and family offered to use their products

C．they cooperated with a well—known national retailer

D．they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them

60．It can be inferred from the—passage that——．

A．Aveda’s skin—and—hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s

B．Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand

C．The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful

D．The partners get on well with each other in their business