Read the following passage and summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage with no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their readers with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African republic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused to publish it. The article began: 'Hundreds of steps lead to the high wall which surrounds the president's palace.' The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him to find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took a long time to send them. Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press. He sent the journalist two urgent telegrams, but received no reply. He sent yet another telegram informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired. When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally been written. A week later, the editor at last received a telegram from the journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a cable in which he informed the editor that he had been arrested while counting the 1084 steps leading to the 15-foot wall which surrounded the president's palace.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
相似题推荐
A dozen children ran around laughing and playing in my friend’s yard, while we parents sat chatting and sipping cool-summer drinks. The barbecue had been cleared away when our host announced a surprise. A huge truck backed up the long, narrow driveway, capturing everyone’s attention. Adults and children watched with curiosity as the driver got out, and slowly raised a huge, portable rock wall.
It was about twelve feet wide, made of gray plastic with indented (凹陷的) footholds that stretched straight up for what looked like at least a hundred feet. The enthusiastic kids swiftly lined up to give it a try, and scrambled to the top and rang the bell that hung at the highest point. There wasn’t really anything to be afraid of since they were belted into place. Three people could climb side by side and talk to each other, so gradually the adults tried it, too.
“Come on; let’s go get in line,” my husband Neil urged. “No, you go ahead without me.” I have a unique talent for seeing unthinkable danger in almost every situation. I watched everyone else having fun, though, and finally convinced myself to try it.
With all the nerve I could muster, I started the climb Concentrating on each foothold, I slowly made my way up. I avoided looking down to prevent any sudden panic, and within a few minutes I made it to the top and proudly rang the bell.
I enjoyed my success and the fabulous view of fields and farmland until I realized there was a line below me waiting for a turn. It was time to go down.
It was one thing to look out at the world in the distance, but it was a whole other thing to look straight down. I was paralyzed with fear. Taking another deep breath, I spotted a foothold about three feet away and slid my foot into it. Unfortunately, now I was spread out like a starfish across the wall. The children below recognized my fear and called up all sorts of recommendations.
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。
All well-intentioned advice, but the fact remained that I couldn’t move.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
By the time we got to the bottom, I felt great.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Be yourself and always follow your heart. Never let anyone change who you are. This is the lesson I have learned from my childhood experience when I figured out I wasn’t invited to the party, Bridget’s party.
One morning, I got off the bus and saw my friends except me hugging under the tree where we used to stand. The circle seemed tighter as I approached；the white invitation cards being hastily stuffed into backpacks gave it away. I knew as well as the entire universe that Bridget’s party was this weekend. Bridget was the most popular girl in our class. She was thin and beautiful, always wearing fabulous clothes and fine makeup.
Why hadn’t she invited me? My feet were too big? No. Maybe. My face was broken out? Why did she invite every person in my group except me? I tried to think of any interactions I’d had with Bridget recently. A few days earlier, we’d been partners during a sixth period project. I was determined to get the project done and she was absorbed in looking at fashion magazines. She barely spoke to me except to say, “You’re so serious. You know, you should smile more."
Soon, I had overheard all the details about the party. They were going swimming. It was a sleepover. They were renting scary movies and were going to stay up all night. Each time someone mentioned the party, I smiled weakly and nodded, with my stomach in knots.
When having my favorite English class, I found myself just unable to concentrate on the short stories we were supposed to be reading in class. Maybe she didn’t invite me because of my coat. It is pretty ugly compared to some of the other girls’ coats. I should have bought another color. Maybe I should smile more but I just can’t get into smiling at people unless I know them really well. But I just couldn’t pretend to be the person I wasn’t. I felt sick.
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。
At lunch, my friend Kate who had been invited came over to me, trying to show off.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was about to let it go when Bridget invited me as a substitute for a girl who couldn’t come.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Madison was doing her homework in the study when the door burst open. It was her mother, Leigh Williams, with a shocking and incredible story: “A little boy fell into a septic tank (化粪池), and no one can reach him.” Then she made this request of her 13-year-old daughter: “Can you help?”
Madison and Leigh ran to a neighbor’s yard, where they found the boy’s anxious mother and other panic-stricken adults surrounding a septic tank opening that stuck out a few inches above the lawn. It was 11 inches across—slightly wider than a basketball—with a hatch (盖子) that had been moved unnoticed. The boy, aged only two, had slipped in and was drowning in four feet of sewage (污水) inside the eight-feet-deep tank.
The men and women—who minutes earlier had been enjoying a party in a nearby home when they heard the boy’s mother scream—were dropping a rope into the tank, hoping the child would grab hold so they could pull him out.
Madison quickly surveyed the situation. She was the only one who could fit through the small hole. Without hesitation, she got on her stomach next to the opening, placed her arms out in front of her, and told the adults, “Lower me in.”
Inside the tank, it was dark and smelly. Madison stuck her arms into the sewage. In the process, she jammed her left wrist against a hidden pole, injuring the muscles in her wrist and arm so severely that the hand was made useless.
Rather than tend to her injury, Madison skimmed the surface of the sewage, hoping to feel the boy. Minutes ticked by before she saw the vague outline of the boy’s foot. Madison shot her good hand out and grasped the foot tightly. “Pull me up!” she shouted to the others above.
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，每段开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
As they were pulled to the surface, the boy’s left foot got stuck.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
But the boy was not out of trouble.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
