7、Los Angeles：Love for Mom is a given，but buying flowers on her big day may not be. a slump in flower sales since late last year was likely to continue through Mother’s Day，another example of Americans cutting back on spending due to recession fears，which is a period of reduced trade and business activity，and increasing food and gasoline prices.

       “If you look at what has happened on Valentine’s Day and Christmas, the market for flowers has cooled,” said Eric Bender an analyst at Bream Murray. “Growth has slowed in the past two quarters. Mother's Day will probably be a slow quarter，too.’’

       US floral sales for Mother’s Day, celebrated yesterday, will fall thirteen percent this year to$2 billion，with consumers spending an average of $17.65.according to the National Retail Federation estimates.

       Mother’s Day，which accounts for a one—quarter of annual holiday purchases，according to the Society of American Florists，is traditionally the day when floral bouquets are delivered to the doorsteps of many mothers.

       But this year，the shop-owners are concerned.

       Gabriel Soto，who owns a flower shop beneath an office high-rise in the Los Angeles financial district, is expecting lower sales--and has ordered 30 percent fewer flowers than normal this Mother’s Day.

       Last month, Solo, who also operates website downtown-flowers, net, closed another store in a nearby building that was headquarters to a mortgage company. After workers lost their jobs due to the housing crisis, orders decreased.

1．The underlined word “slump” in Para. 2 probably means                .

       A．sharp increase in price                          B．great fear for losing jobs

       C．global worry of floral stores                  D．sudden fall by a large amount

2．According to the author, Mother's Day should be an occasion of       .

       A．a(chǎn) large family get-together

       B．a(chǎn) big annual holiday purchase

       C．a(chǎn) great love showed to mothers

       D．a(chǎn) celebration among Americans

3．This passage implies that Americans have       .

       A．met financial problems recently

       B．no longer bought flowers for mothers

       C．delivered flowers to every house for mothers

       D．cut back on spending because of having lost jobs

4．Which would be the best title for this passage?

       A．Hard time coming nearer

       B．Mother’s Day and crisis

       C．Sorry mom, love you but no flowers

       D．Holiday purchases have a hard time