Most British people prefer to live in a house rather than a flat and one of the reasons is that houses usually have gardens. The garden is a place where people can be outside and yet private.
If a house has a front and back garden, the front is likely to be formal(正规的) and decorative(装饰性的), with a lawn (an area of grass) or fancy flower borders. The back garden usually also has a lawn and flower beds, and sometimes a vegetable plot(菜地) fruit trees. There’s often a bird table, on which food is put for birds, and a small simple house in which garden tools are kept.
Many British people spend quite a lot of money on their gardens and even the smallest may contain different kinds of flowers and plants. For them gardening is a hobby and they take pride in their gardens. Some towns and villages have competitions for the best-kept small garden. People with a small garden, or no garden at all, can rent a piece of land, on which most grow vegetables.
There are garden centers near most towns, selling everything a gardener might need, from flower pots to fish ponds as well as many types of plants.
The British interest in gardening affects the appearance of whole towns. Public parks and some roads often have bright displays of flowers in summer and public buildings have windows boxes(窗口花坛) and hanging baskets. Towns and villages enter for the Britain in Bloom competition every year.
小题1: According to paragraph 2, a back garden _________.
A．is also formal
B．has flower beds
C．doesn’t have a lawn
D．has beautiful flower borders小题2:What do we know about garden centers?
A．They are in the centre of the town.
B．Each town has a garden center.
C．Gardeners can buy tools there.
D．They have gardens for rent.小题3:From the last paragraph we know that _________.
A．gardening improves the appearance of British towns
B．British parks are full of flowers all year round
C．the British interest in gardening is decreasing
D．Britain in Bloom is a worldwide competition
