Sarah grew up in West Virginia as a normal American girl. Jim, a professor at WVU, and Judy, a teacher, showered their youngest daughter with love and encouragement. Sarah picked roses in her garden, rode her bike around the neighborhood, and enjoyed vacations with her parents and two sisters. Sil, she could never quite shake off the sense that she didn’t belong in her fair-haired family or the community with few minorities. Worse, she felt the anxiety shared by many adopted children: if one set of parents abandoned you, why wouldn't another? She tried very hard to be a good kid so that her present parents would never want to give her up. This feeling kept haunting her all through her childhood and teen years.
Sarah studied drama and in 2001 got some minor roles in films after graduation. She moved to California to pursue her career. It was then that she felt the urge to find her birth parents. She hired a private detective, who, after some investigation, found that her biological mother was long dead, and her father was then an exchange student from the Mende tribe in Sierra Leone, an African country on the Atlantic coast. In fact, her father, Kposowa, belonged to the ruling family, which made Sarah a princess in her father’s tribe.
But she leaned through the news that a brutal civil war had been raging in Sierra Leone, and her native county was let in ruins. Sarah also noticed that the local news in Sierra Lcone made no mention of her father as the head of Mende tribe, and she couldn’t help wondering if her inquiry was too late. But she sent a letter anyway, with her contact information, hoping it would somehow reach her biological father half way across the globe. To drown her doubts and regrets, she threw herself into her acting and was on the fast track to success, the letter to her father half forgotten amid actress’s life.
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。
Then one day, her cell phone suddenly rang out, showing an African number.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sarah talked it over with her American parents who encouraged her to go and find her roots.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
相似题推荐
Kelsey was grateful for everything her mother had done for her. In spite of being raised by her mother alone, Kelsey received a good education, and now held a leading position in a large company.
Recently the company was making corporate brochures in which achievers would share their success and thank their parents as well. For this, the achievers would have to take photos of themselves with their parents.
Kelsey didn’t really want that because her mother had put on a lot of weight due to a sedentary (久坐的) lifestyle. Kelsey managed to contact one of the best photographers and made a reservation in advance. When she and her mother came to the photographer’s studio, Kelsey took the man aside and said, “Please make sure my mom looks thinner in the photo.” But the photographer said what her mother really needed was a diet or exercise, not a photographer.
Kelsey insisted that he shouldn’t make her mother look like a slim dancer. She just expected him to do his best to make her mother look a bit thinner. The photographer finally agreed and took measures to hide some details, setting the right light and choosing better angles for shots. But it was not easy to fool the camera.
Kelsey’s mother noticed how the photographer was having a hard time and how her daughter was shaking her head. She smiled and said that she just wanted photos with Kelsey no matter whether she looked heavy or not.
The next day, Kelsey came to pick up the photos with her mother. The photographer printed out several photos, copied the rest on a flash drive (闪存盘) and handed them to Kelsey. Kelsey was disappointed and complained. How she wished her mother could look much thinner! The photographer shrugged (耸肩) helplessly and said nothing. Kelsey’s mother, however, said that the photographer did a good job and she was who she was. Then she told Kelsey to accept the fact that her mother was not “the tiny girl Thumbelina in the fairy tale.”
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。
Finishing her words, Kelsey’s mother turned and went out of the studio.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kelsey felt so ashamed that she came near to tears.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mama and I spend mornings cleaning up the dirt that blows into our house. Mama says all the dust is due to the drought（干旱）. The dirt is everywhere. It covers our clothes. We have to wash the dishes before each meal. We rarely drive the truck because Papa fears the dust from the road will ruin the motor. We rarely drive the truck because Papa fears the dust from the road will ruin the motor. So it became our amusement park, where we flashed the lights and sounded the horn（喇叭）, pretending to be real drivers.
When my sister, Faye, and I walk to school, we wear scarfs over our mouths so we don't breathe in the dirt. On days when the air is so bad that they close the school, we stay home and help Mama put wet sheets over the windows. But the dirt always finds a way in.
Last Sunday, there was no dirt in the air, only bright spring sunshine and a clear blue sky. After church, Papa headed out to the field to check on the cattle while Mama started dinner. Faye and I played in the yard. The temperature suddenly dropped-it felt good. The heat had been building since dawn.
Then Mama shouted from the house. "Iris, you and Faye get inside, real quick now!" I looked to the west and saw a huge black cloud of dust, like thick smoke from a railway engine's stack（排气管）. All the birds flew away. "Faye, go with Mama!" I shouted. "I'll warn Papa."
Faye ran toward the house. The storm hit so fast I barely saw her climb the steps. Fine sand beat against my face and in an instant the day turned into night. I tripped over our bicycles left carelessly in the yard. I screamed for Papa, hoping my voice would lead him back.
The dirt and sand stung my skin like a thousand bees. I needed to get to shelter. Covering my face with one hand, I felt my way towards the truck and opened the door. Dirt flew in with me as I pulled the door closed.
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。
Papa was still out there and I needed to help him find the way to the truck.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Suddenly, Papa s face appeared at the window.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From childhood, I was never a fan of football or any sports. My disinterest in “The Beautiful Game” was my attitude, avoiding discussions of football during school lunch breaks in school or dismissing the sports section of the newspaper.
As I grew older, my lack of interest became more obvious. I would go shopping during big games, posting photos on social media to show I had more free time than the people absorbed in their yearly sports. I considered my disengagement from the world of sports an intellectual advantage, a space in my brain reserved for non-sports activities.
However, this attitude of mine became a pressure to me. Casual conversations with friends’ fathers or fellow cab passengers became a challenge. The well-intentioned openers like, “Hey, terrible season we’re having, eh?” or “Who do you support?” made me feel my heart sink, not knowing what to reply. Though I still found football boring, I was starting to regret my outsider status.
The turning point came when I became a father myself. Fearing that my boy Harvey would lack the social involvement of football, I decided to change. So, I brought a football to the playground and I bought him a mini football table at home. I even took the brave step of buying tickets to watch our local team, Boreham Wood.
The friendly atmosphere of the Meadow Park Stadium, the home ground of Boreham Wood, immediately surprised me: low-key, free parking on the street, and £2.50 for a bag of chips. Families surrounded us, all with a real connection to the players on the field.
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。
Slowly but surely, I found myself engaged in the game.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With each visit to the stadium, our connection to football deepened.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 2019, Veronica, a park owner, planned to set free a bear named Archie into the wild, but Veronica worried about his well-being. So she came up with a brilliant plan. If she could prove that Archie was her pet, she could legally adopt him. To do that, she would need to prove beyond every doubt that she was in complete control of the animal.
So Veronica and Archie would go fishing to show the two of them having fun together. Seeing that the bear seemed happy and had a good life with her, the authorities had no choice but to declare that Archie was a pet. This made them very happy and they went fishing every week until something very strange happened one day.
Veronica noticed Archie suddenly started acting strangely. He started rocking the boat back and forth. Veronica looked at him, trying to understand what was happening. She saw in his look something she had never seen before. The bear was amazed at something. But what was it? Veronica put down her fishing rod(钓鱼竿) and gave Archie a hug. “What’s the matter, buddy ?” Then Archie did something she couldn’t have expected. He began to roar (吼叫) , and it got louder and louder. Then Veronica understood that he was calling her attention to see something. What’s he trying to tell me?” thought the confused woman.
Suddenly, Archie lifted his paw and pointed toward the bank. When Veronica looked carefully that way, she found something very surprising. On the shore of the lake was another bear! The animal appeared to be communicating with Archie. She felt there was no negative tension between them. Archie was looking at the other bear with a very warm and tender look.
Veronica then began to row the boat towards the shore. As they approached, Archie jumped out of the boat at high speed and ran toward the animal.
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。
To her surprise, the two animals started hugging each other tightly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Saying goodbye to her great companion was one of the hardest things Veronica had ever done in her life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Peter, a 5-year-old boy, showed such great interest in sea shells that he would rush to pick them up with his 3-year-old sister, Shirley. They screamed out their joy as Peter collected his treasure into his pockets. For Peter, sea shells lay shining on the peaceful beach, waiting for him, just like stars twinkling (闪烁) in the sky. As waves touched them, they seemed to be flowers blooming (绽放) in gentle wind.
One day, Peter was wandering through market with Shirley, win some shells in his pocket. Suddenly Peter found his younger sister was lagging (落后) behind. He stopped and looked back, finding Shirley was standing in front of a toy shop and was staring at something with great interest. The boy went back to her and asked, “What do you want?” Shirley pointed at the doll, wearing a smile on her innocent face. Peter held his younger sister’s tiny hand, walking into the shop. He tiptoed (踮起脚尖) to reach for the doll, and like a responsible elder brother, gave the precious doll to Shirley. Holding tightly the doll, the sister was very very happy.
The shopkeeper was watching everything and getting amused to see the matured (成熟的) behavior of the boy. Now the boy came to the counter and asked the shopkeeper, “How much does this doll cost, Sir?” The shopkeeper was a cool man, who had suffered from something in his life. So he asked the boy with love and affection, “Well, what can you pay?” Peter reached into his clothes for money that was intended for these two little guys’ breakfast. Having counted the money, Peter put it carefully on the counter, asking again, “Sir, is it enough for my little sister’s doll?” The amusing scene just in front of the shopkeeper eventually brought a smile on his face. Shaking his head slightly, he replied, “My boy, I am afraid it seems not to be enough.”
With his eyes fixed on Peter’s pocket, he wondered what Peter would do.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Magic Necklace
Josie went to her grandmother’s house for summer holidays. One day, when grandma was making lunch, Josie felt bored and wanted to do something interesting. She saw an old and dusty box in her room. She was digging through her grandmother’s things in the box when she found a necklace with a big purple stone in it. The stone, shining with inner light, was so beautiful that she loved it so much. She sat down on the floor, stared at the stone and became lost in the necklace, trying to see what was within the stone.
However, she did not notice the world around her became foggy and began to fade. The lines between worlds began to be unclear, and when she finally shook her head and tried to wake up, she found that she was in another world! She was surprised and excited, because things had become so different in this world.
The sky looked strange, because it was purple. The grass was blue, and the trees around her were tall. Bugs of bright colors and different shapes flew around her, and the light came from a pair of suns in the sky. Nearby, pink water flowed at a black sand beach. Everything was so different and interesting.
She walked around for a time, amazed by what she saw. She walked along the beach, feeling the black sand between her toes. She drank some pink water, which was sweet, like sugar water, and then she ran through the forest, where trees smiled at her when she passed. It was all so strange and beautiful.
After several hours traveling in this magic land, Josie began to feel hungry and tired. Suddenly she realized that she didn't know how to get home. She was frightened and worried about what to do. After thinking for a few moments, she realized that the necklace must be the key to the world she belonged.
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。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
