My old professor’s death sentence came in the summer of 1994. Doctors guessed he had two years left. Morrie knew it was less. But my old professor had made a great decision, one he began to construct the day when he came out of the doctor’s office with a knife hanging over his head. “Do I give up, or do I make the best of my time left? ” He had asked himself. He would not be ashamed of dying. Instead, he would make death his final project, the center point of days.
The last class of my old professor’s life had only one student. I was the student. The last class took place once a week in his house, by a window in the study, The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The subject was The Meaning of Life. It was taught from experience. No grades were given, but there were oral exams each week. You were expected to respond to questions, and you were expected to ask questions of your own. You were also required to perform physical tasks now and then, such as lifting the professor’ s head to a comfortable spot on the pillow or placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Kissing him good-bye earned you extra credit. No books were required, yet many topics were covered, including love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and, finally, death.
I look back sometimes at the person I was before I rediscovered my old professor. I want to talk to that person. I want to tell him what to look out for, what mistakes to avoid. I want to tell him to be more open, to ignore the tricks of advertised values, to pay attention when your loved ones are speaking, as if it were the last time you might hear them. Mostly I want to tell that person to get on an airplane and visit a gentle old man in West Newton, Massachusetts sooner rather than later, before that old man gets sick and loses his ability to dance. I know I cannot do this. None of us can undo what we’ve done, or relive a life already recorded. But if Professor Morris Schwartz taught me anything at all, it was this: there is no such thing as“ too late”in life. He was changing until the day he said good-bye.
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When we are in the face of hardships, different attitudes toward life lead to different lives.
Austin lost his arms in an accident that claimed the life of his father — who was the main source of support for the family. Since then, he has had to depend on the arms of his younger brother. For the sake of taking care of him, his younger brother became his shadow, never leaving him alone for years. Except for writing with his toes, he was completely unable to do anything in his life.
One late night, he suffered from diarrhea (腹泻)and had to wake up his younger brother. His younger brother accompanied him into the toilet and then went back to the dorm to wait. But being so tired, his younger brother fell asleep, leaving him in the toilet for two hours till the teacher on duty discovered him. Although the two brothers grew up together, they had their own share of problems, which made them often quarrel with each other. Then one day, his younger brother became so angry that he wanted to separate from Austin, living his own life, as many normal people did. So Austin was heartbroken, and he was at a loss what to do in the future of his life.
It was really a coincidence that a similar misfortune befell a girl, Ella, too. One night her mother, who suffered from chronic mental illness, left home. So her father went out to look for her mother, leaving her alone at home. She tried to prepare meals for her parents, accidentally starting a fire in the kitchen, which took her arms away.
Though her elder sister, who was studying in another city, showed her strong willingness to take care of her, she was determined to be completely self-reliant. At school, she always studied hard. Most important of all, she learned to be independent. Once she wrote the following in her composition: "I am lucky. Though I lost my arms, I still have legs. I am lucky. Though my wings are broken, my heart can still fly."
注意:
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2.至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语;
3.续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;
4.续写完成后,请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
One day, the boy and the girl were both invited to appear on a television interview program.
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Paragraph 2:
They had both been through the same painful experience, but their different attitudes determined the nature of their lives.
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When Mike was a seven-year-old kid, his parents usually didn’t give him money because he liked to buy junk food. They knew such food would be harmful to kids’ body.
But one day Mike strongly wished to buy such food. He knew he couldn’t persuade his parents to give him money to buy it, so he was upset. At noon that day, his mom was having a nap in the bedroom while his dad was working out of the home. Mike suddenly found his mom’s wallet on the sofa in the living room. Usually, his mom would put the wallet close to her — not this time.
Mike found a good chance to get money. He thought he could secretly take some from his mom’s wallet without letting her discover it. Then, he slowly walked towards the wallet and opened it. There was lots of money. Mike took a few coins and walked out of the house, going directly to a store in his community.
He bought a bag of food that was very peppery and a bottle of iced Coca-cola. Instead of returning home, he hung around outside to enjoy the food and the drink in case his mom discovered it. When he opened the food bag, a strong, hot and sweet smell rushed into his nose. He tasted some: it was delicious. But it was too hot and his mouth seemed to be on fire. However, he didn’t take notice of it. Minutes later, he ate up the bag of junk food and finished the drink. Then he returned home. His mother was still sleeping.
In the afternoon that day, Mike began to feel uncomfortable and wanted to vomit. He felt pain in his stomach. At first, he could stand it. However, finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore and told his mom that he felt sick. But Mike didn’t tell his mom the truth that he had some hot junk food. Not knowing what was wrong with Mike, his mom was worried.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
She hurried to drive him to the hospital.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mike realized he should admit what he had done.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My father is a hard-working and friendly man. He taught me to drive, play baseball and fish when I was young. However, one other thing my dad's good at was holding a grudge（怨恨）. For most of my teen years, he didn't speak to his younger brother, although they were at many family events together.
I was never sure why my dad was so angry with my uncle in the first place. They spent many festivals seated at opposite ends of the table. It was simply something that we all accepted at the time.
When I was nineteen, I got a call in my college dorm that my dad was having serious medical problems. My mom picked me up in the middle of the night so we could be there in time. However, my dad was arranged to transfer to a better hospital the next day. I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned.
That morning, as my mom and I walked down the hallway of the hospital, we could see straight into my dad's room. A tall man wearing a stylish suit stood over my father's bed with his back to us. Casually, my mom remarked how nice it was for the doctor to come by to see my dad so early in the morning.
But through my misty eyes, something about the scene surprised me. The man with his back to us was standing very quietly. He was holding both of my dad's hands. It was definitely not a typical doctor's behavior. I stopped at the door of the room.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I whispered softly to my mom, “That's not a doctor. ”
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The other miracle was my father's new relationship with his younger brother.
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假设你是学校英语报记者, 计划根据下图写一篇文章, 你的文章必须包括：
1、简单描写图片内容；
2、结合你个人经历谈谈你的感想。
（注：文章中不得出现真实人名和校名。冰山一角：the tip of an iceberg）
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As a language arts teacher, I think it my duty to teach my kids how to use our tools of words well. Use your tool right—this is what I always tell them. But I never expected to learn that lesson from them.
I clearly remembered it was my 40th birthday. On that day, my sixth-grade students were seated in a large circle, each holding a different tool in their hand—a hammer, a flashlight, a screwdriver, etc. The students discussed how words are like tools—they have the ability to build or to destroy, and they discovered how the right tool used at the right time for the right job can bring about great results. They freely shared personal stories of how they had experienced someone’s words used as a tool, to wound or to heal.
I watched and listened with a sense of satisfaction—the students were engaged, attentive, and enjoying the lesson. They got it! It was one of those times when I sat back and enjoyed the magic of being a teacher—to have the opportunity to watch young people discover a greater truth about life about each other, and about themselves. There was no better gift than that.
As we neared the end of that school day, one of my students, Laura, had an unexpected outburst of defiance(违抗) in class. Busy scribbling (涂画) in her exercise book, she refused to work with her group. I was aware from reading Laura's file that she had struggled with defiant behavior in previous years, but we had developed a good relationship and she was always a respectful, thoughtful, and positive contributor to our class. Her behavior caught me off guard. “I'm disappointed in you!" With a sharp tone, I asked her to excuse herself and told her I would visit with her in our next-door meeting room after school. She refused to leave and sat silently, staring at me angrily from the back of the room.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“This was NOT optional," I firmly told her, sounding unpleasantly bitter.
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But the meeting room rang with her response “You're using your tool against me!”
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In spite of the countless differences between people's characters and careers, or their likes and dislikes, it seems that they are all connected in this wonderful life by one thing, namely, seeking happiness.
Happiness means, naturally, different things to different people. For myself, happiness means horse riding, Cadbury's Creme Eggs and spending time with my friends. Some people are at their happiest at home, while others find their happiness through travelling far-off foreign lands. Happiness can be as simple as a surprise bunch of fresh flowers or a really strong coffee, just when you need it most. Sometimes, happiness comes from spending time with loved ones; for others, it's having a well-earned quiet night at home, with nothing but a comfortable bed for company.
Since happiness comes in so many shapes and sizes, it's sometimes easy to take it for granted. It is especially true if it's been "one of those days". Maybe you overslept, missed the bus and had to walk to school in the rain, only to be told that you were late. Or perhaps, because of work, you had to cancel plans with friends, despite looking forward to seeing them for ages. Forgotten keys, delayed flights, an argument with your parents, illness and injury are all very frustrating, and understandably guaranteed to make you unhappy.
Luckily, there are a few simple, scientifically proven ways to make the glass seem half-full again. To start with, things like trying out cycling or walking instead of driving to work and listening to music are great mood boosters. Volunteering and getting involved in a charity are two ways in which you can become happier through helping others. Last, but certainly not least, try hugging your way to happiness; it's been suggested that humans need a minimum of five hugs a day. If you've been having a bad day, there's nothing better than a good old bear hug.
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