One of Britain’s favourite pastimes, gardening is to be celebrated during the Olympics. Last week, the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell announced a public competition to design a typically British garden within London’s new Olympic park.
Jowell said the idea behind the competition was to show off to the world one of the nation’s favourite hobbies. It’s likely the government also hopes that the competition will inspire more Brits to take an interest in the Olympics. It’s a good plan, as the British love gardens almost as much as they love tea.
Gardening is an iconic activity in Britain. In many ways it defines Brits, perhaps because they are some of the world’s keenest gardeners. The garden is seen as a private retreat(清静的场所)in the UK. Most Brits would far rather sit in their garden for instance than visit a park. They see their garden as an extension of their house outdoors, which is why so many Brits are as garden-proud as they are house-proud. There also seems to be something about the nourishing(滋养的)act of gardening that appeals to the nation’s gentle temperament(气质).
Interestingly, gardening has never been as widely enjoyed as it is today in Britain. Its growing popularity is no doubt due to people’s increased awareness of the environment and the success of several popular gardening programs.
Historically, Brits are also skillful gardeners. As Jowell noted when she made her announcement, if gardening were an Olympic sport then green-fingered Brits “would win gold, silver and bronze”.
Of course, the irony of Brits’ passion for gardening is that their climate is so wet that there are very few months in the year they can sit outside and enjoy their gardens. In fact, it may be the very preciousness of these few warm months that make gardens so prized and valued by Brits.
What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Brits’ favourite tea.

B．Brits’ favourite pastime in the garden.

C．A public competition.

D．A typically British garden.

The purpose of the competition is _____.

A．to support the 2012 London Olympics

B．to require participants to design a typically British garden in their backyard

C．to attract foreign visitors

D．to show off one of the nation’s favourite hobbies

The underlined word “iconic” in the third paragraph means _____.

A．有代表性的

B．活跃的

C．积极的

D．受欢迎的

Which of the following sentences does NOT contribute to people’s love for gardens in Britain?

A．Brits think of their garden as an extension of their house outdoors.

B．Brits value the short warm months when they get to enjoy their garden.

C．Brits do not have many public parks to relax themselves in.

D．Brits’ gentle temperament makes them enjoy something like gardening.

What can we conclude from the passage?

A．Brits love their gardens than they love their houses.

B．Brits enjoy sitting in their gardens as much as sitting in a park.

C．Brits don’t adore gardening as much as before.

D．Brits are known to love gardening as much as they love tea.