A couple of years ago, just as I did every winter, I bagged up all the items in my closet that I no longer wore, along with the clothes my sons had outgrown. I made a call to action to all of my family and friends, asking them to do the same. It is always my hope to repurpose those things that do nothing more than take up space in our homes, things others might make better use of.
I found an old, ugly pair of hand-woven socks in one of the bags donated (捐赠) by a friend. They were an unpleasant mixture of colored yarn: orange, purple, yellow and blue. I had to decide— garbage or donation? It wasn't like they were unusable. I imagined they were a homemade gift gone bad.
I put the ugly socks in the garbage, but ten minutes later, I took them back and put them in the donation pile. Later that afternoon, my mother and I drove down to Madison Avenue in downtown Phoenix. Every winter we load up my Jeep with our own cast-offs and the donations from friends, and we take them downtown, along with food and water, to distribute (分发) them to the men and women living on the street. Sometimes I even got my boys involved.
On this particular afternoon, as Mom and I distributed warm clothes and hot food to a small crowd of people outside a local homeless shelter, I reached into the bag and pulled out the last of the donations, the ugly socks. Just as I was about to drop the socks back into the empty bag, laughing at myself for even bringing them along for the ride, a teenage boy came to me. “Can I please have those socks?” he asked, his blue eyes sparkling in the sun.
My eyebrows lifted. I was ashamed to say it but I was still a little embarrassed by the donation and disappointed that we hadn’t anything left to give him except for those socks.
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。
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“Of course, ” I replied, handing the boy the thick, ugly, hand-woven socks.
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“Thank you so much, Ma’am!” he smiled.
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Last December, Alvin Bamburg, 66, was deep in the woods in Grand Cane, Louisiana, when something caught his eye. As Alvin approached, he saw that the object was a broken balloon. Attached was a piece of paper decorated with sparkly star stickers. It was a child’s Christmas wish list.
“Dear Santa,” the handwritten note read. “My name is Luna. I am four years old. I live in Liberal, Kansas. This year I have been nice. I would like candy, Spider-Man ball, Frozen doll, puppy, My Little Pony. With love, Luna.”
Alvin’s heart hammered in his chest. Ever since he was a child, he had dreamed of this very scene. He believed this was his childhood wish coming true. And he knew he was going to make Luna’s wish come true too. He just wasn’t sure how.
Liberal is more than 650 miles from Grand Cane. But Alvin’s wife was not held back by the distance. As a passionate Facebook user, she had seen people find all sorts of connections through the site and thought it might help her husband find Luna.
Alvin posted a photo of the balloon and the Christmas list on his Facebook page, asking for help locating the sender. At first, he wasn’t confident it would work. But as he saw the number of people sharing his post creep into the hundreds, his hope grew into expectation.
Meanwhile, Leticia Flores, the mother of four-year old Luna had no idea that such an effort was underway. It had been a hard year for Leticia and her girl. As Covid-19 spread, the family felt lonely, scared and isolated. On a particularly tough day last December, Leticia came up with the idea of having the girl send a letter to Santa by balloon.
One day in early January, Leticia noticed that a friend had been calling her all morning. When Leticia finally called her back, the friend blurted, “Someone found Luna’s balloon.”
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。
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At her friend’s urging, she logged on to Facebook and saw Alvin’s post.
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Still, there was one wish on the list that couldn’t go in the box: A puppy.
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The only life that Jeffrey had ever known was on the streets. He has been homeless since his parents fell ill and passed away.
As much as he tried, Jeffrey couldn’t find a permanent job when he grew up. He only had a few clothes, blankets and shoes. With no family or friends, he relied on his local shelter and soup kitchen. He would often ask the workers at a local burger (汉堡包) place for their leftovers to survive.
Jeffrey knew many people in the area and would help new tenants (房客) move into their apartments for a bit of money. He desperately wanted to find a job, but he knew he didn’t look the part (穿着与工作相宜). One day, as Jeffrey was looking through the garbage can outside the burger shop for food, he noticed a black object near the surface.
He picked it up and realized it was a wallet. Maybe one of the cooks dropped it, he thought. However, when he looked inside, he could recognize the I. D. picture. The wallet belonged to Alan, an old man who stayed a few blocks away.
Alan’s cards and cash were still inside the wallet, meaning he’d lost it by mistake. There was also a check for $3,000 inside the wallet. “This is life-changing money. I could get some fresh clothes, maybe rent a small studio apartment and finally get a job,” Jeffrey said to himself.
Jeffrey sat down with the wallet in his hands and decided to think about it first. He remembered asking Alan for money a few weeks before. Alan didn’t give him money because he would have an operation soon. Jeffrey knew he couldn’t live with the guilt of knowing a man would suffer if he took the money for himself. Even though he initially felt that the check may have been a gift, he quickly realized that it was more of a test.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Jeffrey walked a few blocks to Alan’s office.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A few weeks later, Jeffrey was outside the burger joint eating some leftover fries.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On a particularly tough day last December, Flores came up with the idea of having her twins send letters to Santa by balloon. She told them that Santa would grab the balloons while he flew through the air on his sled.
The twins were excited. Flores helped them compose their letters, writing down all the things they dreamed Santa might bring them, and then put the notes into festive red balloons.
On a chilly, windy morning, she dressed the girls in identical pink sweatshirts, put beautiful bows in their hair, and then took them outside to release their wishes to the universe.
Several days later, when Alvin Bamburg, 66, was deep in the woods in Grand Cane, Louisiana, something caught his eyes. Hanging in a fallen tree, it looked like litter. But Bamburg felt he must pick it up.
“God just told me,” he says.
As Bamburg approached, he saw that the object was a broken balloon. Attached was a piece of paper decorated with shiny star stickers. It was a child’s Christmas wish list.
“Dear Santa,” the handwritten note read. “ My name is Luna. I am four years old, and I live in Liberal, Kansas. This year I have been nice. I would like candy, Spider-Man ball, and Frozen doll. With love, Luna.”
Bamburg’s heart hammered in his chest. Ever since he was a child, he had dreamed of this. “Years ago,” he says, “classes at school released balloons with notes. I’ve always wanted to find one.”
He believed this was his childhood wish coming true. And he knew he was going to make Luna’s wish come true too.
He just wasn’t sure how.
It is over 650 miles from Grand Cane, Louisiana to Liberal Kansas. But Bamburg’s wife, Lee Ann Bamburg, was not frightened by the distance. An enthusiastic Facebook user, she had seen other people find all sorts of connections through the site and thought it might help her husband find Luna.
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。
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So Alvin posted a photo of the balloon and the Christmas list on his Facebook page.
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Having received so much generosity, Flores and her girls were deeply moved.
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From the time when I was a child, my mother made it clear that she did not like nursing homes（敬老院）. I remember her saying that nursing homes were terrible places. Whenever my mother mentioned the topic. she would shake her finger at me and add a warning:"If you put me in one of those places, I'll not forgive you! "I knew my mother's wishes and wanted to obey.
Fortunately, my mother lived near me, and for many years it was easy to check on her and help with her care. But with each passing year, my mother experienced a decline in her physical and mental abilities. After ninety, when she was diagnosed with dementia(老年痴呆症) , she needed more assistance with the normal activities of daily living and required close observation just for her own safety.
During the passage of time, I, too, was getting older, I had my own mobility（移动性） issues and health concerns, As the days passed, it became clearer that some changes were needed. If I had to go out for groceries（食品杂货）, I couldn't leave her alone. When I slept, my mother was un-watched, and she could get out of bed and wander off.
Fortunately, while I was figuring out what to do, a brand-new nursing home was built in our town, I toured the nursing home and discovered that they could provide a private room for my mother. They also had staff members that were very professional and well-trained, I tried to convince myself that the new nursing home was the best and safest place for my mother, but I seemed to hear my mother's words and see her finger shake in front of my eyes.
注意:
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Eventually，I decided and shared my plan with Mom.
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The big day came finally.
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It was an ordinary school day. I was in the fifth grade. Children like me who didn’t live close enough to go home for lunch brought their paper wrapped meals and gathered under the shade of a tree.
Such lunches usually consisted of a sandwich, hard-boiled egg, cookie and a piece of fruit. If a schoolmate’s sandwich or cookie appeared to be more appetizing than your own, you tried to negotiate a trade. I always tried to trade something I didn’t want anyway--a mashed-bean sandwich or an overripe banana. It never occurred to me to trade a slice of Mama’s Old Kentucky walnut cake for my schoolmate’s offering of a boring-looking sweet cookie, even though I could see longing in the exchanger’s eyes.
Sometimes Mama put two pieces of fruit in my lunch package, one to be eaten at morning recess if I was hungry. Quite often, though, I saved that piece of fruit as my bargaining piece for a sugary doughnut or fried apple pie.
Unashamedly, I always examined the looks and quality of my fruit to see which piece was better and then offered my classmate the poorer, less attractive piece. I felt no guilty of selfishness. It was just a good trading sense.
That autumn day after the lunch-bringers had eaten their food, got rid of the wrappings and walked to various parts of the playground, I wandered under the shade of a maple, watching butterflies flying lazily southward. I was still hungry and Mama had put no fruit in my lunch that day.
I saw my classmate Stella coming up a path.
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Without hesitation, Stella handed me the apple.
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When the tragedy struck me during the Depression (大萧条), my father did the only thing he could.
The tragedy happened in the year 1933. I was only 6 years old when I was rushed to the hospital with two crushed feet. My parents were told I might never walk again.
The accident happened when I was sitting in front of our house in Lowell, Massachusetts. I was playing in a puddle (水坑) after a rainstorm when I felt a huge weight on my feet. When I looked up, there was a car tire on my feet. I cried out, but the motor was running and no one could hear me over the engine.
The driver had run across the street for a newspaper. When he got back to his car, he drove away — never knowing he had parked on my feet.
Just about then, our neighbor’s son came home and saw me bent over my feet in pain. He immediately carried me home, and I remember thinking how tall and strong he was.
An ambulance came, and I remained in the hospital for 3 weeks while my feet were “repaired”. When I returned home, I could hardly walk.
I sat in our bay window and watched the children play on the street and longed to join them...but I couldn’t. I felt so left out despite my parents’ company.
My parents were told that if I was ever to walk again, I’d need treatment, which in those days meant riding a tricycle (三轮车) to strengthen the muscle and eventually get my feet back into condition for walking.
Our family couldn’t afford such an expensive thing. Times were tough during the Depression, and there were five mouths to feed, besides buying coal and wood for the stove.
Dad couldn’t afford the bus fare and on cold winter days he walked 7 miles every day in his only winter coat to get to work. No, there was no money for a tricycle. I would be a disabled person all my life.
Paragraph 1:Then one day, while sitting at my usual place in the window, I saw my father walking up the street carrying a tricycle on his shoulder.
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It was many years later before I learned where and how Dad had got the tricycle.
