Alvin Bamburg, 66, was deep in the woods in Grand Cane, Louisiana, last December when something caught his eye. Twisted in a fallen tree, it looked like litter. 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. With love, Luna.”
Alvin’s heart hammered in his chest. Ever since he was a child, he had dreamed of this very scenario. He believed this was his childhood wish coming true. And he decided to make Luna’s wish come true too. Given the distance of more than 650 miles from Grand Cane to Liberal, Alvin followed the advice from his wife, Lee Ann Bamburg, and posted a photo of the balloon and the Christmas list on his Facebook page, asking for help locating the sender.
Meanwhile, Leticia Flores-Gonzalez, the mother of four-year-old Luna and her twin sister, Gianella, had no idea that such an effort was underway. It had been a hard year for Leticia and her girls. As COVID-19 spread, the family felt lonely, scared, and isolated, with no relatives living nearby.
On a particularly tough day last December, Leticia had come up with the idea of having the girls 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. Leticia helped them write down all the things that they dreamed Santa might bring them, and put the notes into Christmas red balloons. Then she took them outside to release their wishes to the universe on the chilly windy morning.
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。
One day in January, a friend called Leticia and said, “Someone found Luna’s balloon.”
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In April, Alvin and his wife made a trip to meet the girls.
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On a beautiful Thursday this April, Amy and Alan Green took their daughter Abbey out for a walk in the neighborhood. On their way back, Amy picked up a kite for Abbey from the Dollar Tree, blue with rainbows—there are a lot of rainbows decorating homes around the region these days, which helps make life less dull during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the afternoon, Abbey took the kite out for its first flight. At first, the wind was perfect. It took the kite high in the sky. However, suddenly, the wind became much stronger and pulled the kite out of Abbey’s hands in a moment. It flew farther and farther and finally got stuck on the power lines next to a big tree, wrapping itself over and over again around the wires. Since the kite was too high for them to reach, the Greens could do nothing about it. Worried less about the kite than the danger it might present to the lines, Amy called National Grid (国家电网) to report the incident.
About one hour later, Mike, a worker from the power company arrived. He carefully removed the kite line from the wires. After about 10 minutes’ effort, he successfully freed it. But unfortunately, as the kite was wrapped so tightly, there was some unpreventable damage. Still, he gave it back to Alan Green. As he was leaving, he noticed Abbey taking the kite to the backyard. Out of curiosity, he stood there for a while to see how the girl would deal with it. Surprisingly, she dug a hole and buried the kite in a shoebox. Even though he could not see the girl’s face clearly, he knew exactly how sad Abbey was. He really felt bad for her. And it was at that moment that he decided to do something.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡上的相应位置作答。
The next day, Alan went out to get the mail as usual and found a box.
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Deeply moved by this act of kindness, Alan posted the whole story on the Internet.
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Braving the Waters
Joel Boyers and his wife Melody Among were heading home from the Nashville airport. Among had just earned her helicopter pilot’s licence when Boyers received a call from a stranger. The caller told him that her brother and his two daughters were trapped on their roof in Waverly, 60 miles from Nashville. They were surrounded by rising floodwaters caused by the heaviest rainfall that year.
Desperate, the caller begged, “Could you please, please rescue my loved ones?”
Boyers, 41, looked at the address the caller mentioned while glancing at the storm clouds. “Ma’am,” he said, “no one will fly in this weather ...” But even before he finished the sentence, Boyers knew they would go back up. “I’ve got a daughter myself,” Boyers says. “I’ll see what I can do.” He put the brother’s address into his phone and they drove back to the airport.
Before long they were in the air, unprepared for what they were about to see. It was nothing but raging water below them. There were two houses on fire. Cars in trees. Tons of debris (残骸). No one was going to be able to swim in that.
The flooding also took out cell phone service, meaning that Boyers couldn’t use his phone to pinpoint (精确定位) the house he was looking for. He flew on regardless.
As Boyers controlled the helicopter, Among began searching for people caught out on rooftops, bridges — anywhere they could land and get them on board. Suddenly, she saw a teenager trapped in a tree. The teen, soaking wet and exhausted, was barely out of the water. Since there was no place to land, Boyers lowered the helicopter until it approached to just above the water line. Among jumped out and swam to the tree, where she helped the teen into the helicopter. The teen was shaking and looking behind anxiously when she said, “Thank you so much, but my sister and uncle ... please help them ...”
Boyers dropped off the teen on a patch of land across the street. Then he and Among were back in the air.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150词左右；2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Seconds later, they spotted two people on the roof of a destroyed house.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Their mission ended 90 minutes after it began, when professional rescue teams showed up.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sometimes difficulties can bring people closer together. The snowstorm was supposed to hit the evening of Monday, Jan. 31. I was working from home, but I had to leave that afternoon and go to my office at First Nations University, so I could sign an emergency financial aid check for a student. I wasn’t worried. I figured I had more than enough time to make it to the office and get back home. I arrived at the office, finished the business successfully and brought the scarves I had prepared for my two daughters to the car. To be safe, I decided to take the country roads back home instead of the highway, which could fast become a skating rink.
However, the snow started earlier than expected-and it was coming down fast! The road soon switched from paved (柏油路) to gravel (碎石路), forcing me to slow down. The windows were fogging up and getting covered with snow. I didn’t have a clue where I was or even which side of the road I was on. What I knew was just that I was among several big farms. I stopped because I was afraid of driving into a farmer’s field. Luckily, I had filled up my car with gas. I kept the car running to stay warm and called 911. The dispatcher (调度员) told me to sit tight and wait things out for the night—nobody was coming to get me until morning, at the earliest.
Getting out to walk in a whiteout with zero visibility, high winds and a temperature around minus 4 degrees—when I didn’t even know where I was—wasn’t an option. It was now about 7 p. m. and dark. Misfortune never came alone. I just realized that my phone has run out of battery. I was at a loss and looked around to find a way to escape from the desperate situation. Suddenly, I saw a tall figure in a yellow raincoat shaking in the dark, carrying a flashlight and other farming tools. I invited him into the car and knew that he was Andy, a farmer living on the other side of the farm with his wife.
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。
The cold wind outside made him look pale and he was trembling.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After driving in the darkness for a long time, we finally stopped before a farmhouse with lights still on.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The best example of universally understood body language may be the smile. A smile can help us get through difficult situations and find friends in a world of strangers. A smile can open doors and tear down walls.
内容包括：
1.微笑的作用；
2.列举生活中的一个事例；
3.你的个人感悟。
注意：1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Smile
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Steve grabbed his bat and glove. “See you later, Mom. I’m going to Paul’s.” He raced out the door and slammed it behind him. Summer vacation just began. The boys planned to play baseball every day so they could make the freshman team.
Paul was waiting outside for Steve. “What are you doing? Where’s your stuff?” Steve lifted his bat onto his shoulder when catching sight of Paul.
Paul shook his head unhappily. “I have to clean Mr Thompson’s garage before I can go. With his broken arm, he can’t do it himself. My mom always volunteers me to help the Thompson’s. They’re kind of old.”
“OK” said Steve. “I’ll help you. We’ll get done quicker working together.”
The boys went down the block to the Thompson’s and got started. They found a couple of brooms and shovels(铲). Before they swept, they put boxes that were strewn(遍布) around the garage floor on shelves. As Paul put a big box on a shelf, it fell off and with it fell an envelope. He picked it up. It wasn’t sealed, so he opened it. There were lots of one-hundred-dollar bills.
“You’ve got to see this.” He pulled out a handful of bills and showed Steve with his eyes lit up. “Where did you get that?” said Steve. Paul pointed to the shelf. “It just fell down when the box fell. There’s got to be a couple of thousand box fell. There’s got to be a couple of thousand dollars here. If we take some, I bet no one will ever know.”
Steve furrowed his brow(皱眉) and shook his head. “Are you crazy? That’s stealing.” “Well, I do a lot of chores for them and don’t get paid. It’s not really stealing; it’s a kind of payment for my hard work,” Paul insisted. At that time, Steve was about to grab the money from Paul’s hand when they heard a sound.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
“Boys, I baked a chocolate cake,” Mrs Thompson walked into the garage.
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Paragraph 2:
When they were about to leave, Mrs Thompson handed Paul a brand-new bat and glove.
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Susie Smith came home from school one day, and had no sooner entered the sitting room than she burst into tears.
“What is the matter, my dear child?” said her mother, drawing her daughter to her side and smiling.
“All our class must bring in compositions tomorrow morning, and I never, never can write one. We must write twelve lines at least, and I have written only a few words after trying nearly all the afternoon. See what work I have made of it!” sobbed Susie.
Mrs. Smith took the rumpled (皱巴巴的) and tear-stained paper which Susie held in her hand, and glanced at what she had written. In a careful hand she had tried to write upon three themes: Time, Temperance, and Industry.
Time is short. We should all improve our time.
Temperance is a very useful thing.
We should all be industrious if we wish to do anything in the world.
These sentences were all she had written. Susie continued, “I can’t think of another word to say upon any of these subjects, and I know I shall have to go to school without a composition, for I won’t be so mean as to copy one from a book, or to ask you or papa to write one for me.”
“That is right, my dear,” said her mother. “You will be far happier with a poor composition, if it is all your own, than with a fine one written by somebody else. But cheer up. You have not begun right—you have been trying to write upon subjects that you know nothing about. Run into the garden and play. I will call you in half an hour.” “But my composition,” began Susie. “Don’t think about your composition while you are gone,” said Mrs. Smith, “but have as pleasant a time as you can.”
It seemed but a few minutes to Susie before she heard her mother’s voice calling her. She went into the house at once—her hands full of sweet flowers, and her cheeks rosy with exercise. “Now, Susie,” said her mother, “I want you to sit by the window with this nice sheet of paper and a pencil, and write something about what you can see.”
“But my composition, mother,” said Susie, “when shall I begin that?” “Never mind your composition, my dear. Do this to please me, and we will talk about that by and by.” replied Mrs. Smith.
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。
Susie thought her mother’s request was a strange one.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“A composition!” exclaimed Susie. “Is that a composition?”
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