阅读理解。

     Young men are always ready to give flowers to young ladies when they are in love. This tradition may

have come from Turkey.

     In the 1700s in Turkey, it was quite popular for people in love to send each other baskets full of strange things. The baskets were delivered(递送) secretly by the person who sold flowers or fruit on the street to

the person's door.

     These baskets included a variety of "gifts":flowers, stones, feathers, wax(蜡), and even charcoal(炭).

Each thing in the basket had a special meaning, By figuring out the secret message contained in  each item (项目 ),  the person who received the basket began to understand the true feelings of the person who sent it.

     This idea of sending gifts of love with secret meanings quickly spread to Germany, France and England. However, as time passed, only sending flowers, remained popular.

    Many flower dictionaries were made to help young people in love understand the meaning of the flowers they received . Not all of the dictionaries agreed,  however, on the meaning of each flower,  so a person

had to be careful about the flowers they chose to send.

     By the 1880s, using flowers to send messages had fallen out of fashion,  and the more direct way of

sending love letters began. Today, flowers are still considered a lovely gift, but the meaning for each kind

of flower has been lost.

1. The first three paragraphs describe the tradition of           .

A. sending gift baskets

B. selling flowers

C. selling love letters

D. sending dictionaries

2. What did the items in a basket explain to the receiver?

A.The lady's looks.

B. The sender's emotions (感情).

C. The person's door.

D. The person's country.

3. To where did the idea of sending gifts of love spread?

A. To Asia.

B. To Europe.

C. To Australia.

D. To North America.

4. How did people know the meaning of each kind of flower?

A. A dictionary told them.

B. Their parents told them.

C. A person in love told them.

D. Their friends told them.

5. When did the tradition of sending love messages through flowers slow down?

A. In the 17th century.

B. In the 19th century.

C. In the 18th century.

D. Never.