In Victorian times, certain flowers expressed meanings because the flower selection was limited. Therefore, flower as a gift was an effective tool in social communication. With so many choices today, we have no rules in flower choosing. However, people tend to give a certain flower their own personal meaning--- maybe it can remind them of some particular friends or s. Here I would introduce the traditional meanings of some gift flowers as a reference for your flower choosing. Carnation（康乃馨） is a good gift for your female teacher or mother, but not all kinds of carnations mean respect and love. Different colours have different meanings. Generally, carnation means “fascination and woman love”. Specifically, pink carnation means “I’ll never forget you” and red carnation says “I admire you”. But some carnations have very negative meanings. If you want to say goodbye to your girlfriend, you can send her a bunch of striped carnations or yellow ones, because it means “Sorry I can’t be with you. You disappointed me.” Rose is no doubt the best gift for girls in love. Basically, it relates to the love between men and women, but roses with different colours stand for different stages of love. Red rose is man’s best friend when he wants to show his love to a girl. In the peak of his love, pink rose is more suitable because it means “perfect happiness and please believe me”. While the love gets into trouble, yellow rose seems to be the best symbol. It means “the decrease of love and jealousy”. Though you are free to choose any kind of flower as long as it is beautiful, I think this brief introduction can help you avoid mistakes. Besides, the receivers must be happier if he or she gets to know the good will you convey in flowers. 1. Why do we choose certain flowers as gifts? A. Because they are the best gifts for you. B. Because flowers all look beautiful C. Because different flowers smell good. D. Because they can express specific meanings. 2. In different stages of love, ________. A. roses of different colours show love to a girl. B. you can choose red rose at any occasion C. yellow rose is the best symbol for your love D. pink rose implies that your love comes to maturity(成熟). 3. What does the passage mainly talk about? A. Carnation is better than rose B. Like the carnation, like the rose C. Different flowers have different meanings D. Flowers of different colours