Whatever life threw at us each year, come Christmas our family had one constant tradition: our dog Pepper opened our presents for us. Watching our sweet dog unwrap gifts always warmed the holiday, which was often a little bittersweet because college, studying abroad, or work commitments often kept my two sisters and me away.
One year, everyone made it home for a Christmas together. I visited from college, Kaci flew in from Arizona, and Kara was back from Ireland. Mom’s jubilance kept her busy baking cookies for us all. Our Christmas season should have been perfect.
It couldn’t feel perfect, though, because Pepper’s health was deteriorating. Her life had already been longer than we expected —she was fourteen —and yet her mind was still sharp. Her enthusiasm for life made us feel better. But her body could not keep up with her spirit. She’d already shown the usual signs of deafness and stiffness. That year, her hips and back legs started giving out on her. We knew we would soon have to make a difficult decision.
It was likely Pepper’s last Christmas, so we decided to make sure she enjoyed it. On Christmas Eve, we gathered around the tree to open an early present. We each took a turn and then called Pepper to open one more. But her tangled legs could not navigate the boxes and shredded wrapping paper on the floor. She stumbled over the obstacles, and soon she disappeared into the next room. She crumpled back to the floor, as out of the way as she could get.
We were heartbroken. Could Pepper even participate in her last Christmas? Pepper stayed on the periphery of all our holiday activities. Throughout the day, we gave gifts but did not feel very giving. We shared stories over cinnamon rolls that tasted bland. We played games by the tree whose twinkles had dimmed.
That evening, Kaci said what we’d all been thinking: “I wish Pepper could have helped open presents this year.” We all put down our mugs of spiced tea. “Maybe she still could,” Kara said. “But there’s none left,” Mom reminded her. Kara jumped up and left the room. We heard her opening drawers and cabinets in the kitchen.
注意：(1)字数150左右，
(2)请按如下格式在答题纸上作答。
Kara returned with a box of dog biscuits, scissors, a pile of color paper, and a roll of tape.
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Soon, Pepper selected her first Christmas gift.
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Jesse and Vern used to be totally strangers living in two towns hundreds of miles apart. Their friendship started with an orange shirt in a bottle 22 years ago, when computers and Internet were not available.
8-year-old Jesse lived a simple and happy life in a small town with his parents. School was starting next week. The family would get Jesse a new set of clothing. Jesse was not so passionate for new clothes. After his father’s persuasion, Jesse finally agreed to the shopping. Jesse tried on a pair of new pants, new shoes, and an orange shirt. He didn’t like the pants and shoes much. But he did like the orange shirt.
School started, and Jesse put on his new orange shirt. All the other kids had new clothes too, but his orange shirt, in Jesse’s mind, was the most handsome of all. He wore it almost every day. Even when it was dirty, he would insist that it be washed and ready, so he could wear it the next day.
Time passed quickly and Jesse had grown over two inches. But his orange shirt was not growing with him. One day, his mother asked him to go to the grocery store to pick up some things for supper and reminded him not to wear that small orange shirt any more, which looked funny on Jesse.
Jesse ignored what his mother told him. In the store two little girls laughed at his tight orange shirt. Feeling embarrassed, Jesse picked up his groceries and hurried home. Getting home, he told his mother that he wouldn’t wear that shirt any more. His mother said, “Jesse, since the lovely shirt is too small on you, maybe someone else needs it.” “I really hope it goes to a lovely boy. But who can it be?” said Jesse. The next morning, Jesse’s father told Jesse that he had a good idea, saying he would take Jesse to the river.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
When they got to the riverbank, Jesse’s father took out a large plastic bottle together with the orange shirt.
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Little Vern was fishing with his father in a small boat down the river.
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The river was dry. Clara could not remember the last time water had flowed along it. It had not rained for a long time and the tanks were almost dry. She would have to order water in again and that would cost money-- something she did not have a lot of. Ever since her brother Scott, decided he wanted nothing more to do with the farm and left, she had been struggling. Her parents were too old for farm work and it was difficult to hire help. People were leaving the countryside as jobs in the city paid more. Clara had no solution.
The following week, Clara drove to a town. On the way back, she saw a sign advertising a bed and breakfast. She knew that was the answer. She had read many stories about people living in the city wanting a countryside experience. Her family could offer accommodation(住宿) and meals at their farm at a reasonable price.“Maybe I can also charge an additional fee if guests are keen to experience farming activities,” she wondered. Now all she had to do was convince her parents.
“No,” Dad said. “This is a working farm, not a farm stay for people who can’t tell a horse from a cow.”
“I really don’t think we have a choice, Dad. Half the sheep are dead and the ones left aren’t that far behind. If we get paying guests, we can buy more feed and get more water brought in,” Clara said.
“If we don’t do this, John, we may not be able to keep this place running for much longer,” Anna, Clara’s mum said.
John nodded finally. “Just one condition—if the guests mess up my farm, this will have to stop immediately. “They prepared the house for guests. Clara placed the first advertisement. The day the advertisement appeared, they received three reservations. Then, Clara began worrying about their decision. What if the guests were unreasonable and demanding and the food was not good enough? Clara had prepared as much as she could. She just hoped the first guests would be nice.
注意：1.续写词数应150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Soon, the first group of guests from the city arrived.
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By the end of the third month, the bank balance(余额) was starting to look much better.
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It was a warm and sunny morning at the Central Park Zoo. Mary and her classmates were chatting noisily with excitement as their school bus entered the zoo parking lot. Today, Mary's class was going on a field trip to the zoo to learn more about the animals and their natural habitats.
“Before you leave the bus, please make sure you have your partner!” Mrs Brown announced. To make sure no one got lost in the zoo, each student had a companion. Mary's companion was named John. John loves animals and was also excited to go to the zoo. But sometimes, John does not follow the rules and gets into trouble. Mary hoped that today, John would follow the rules so they would not get into trouble.
While the rest of the students got off the bus, Mary and John quickly ran off to explore. They found the exhibits for many different kinds of animals and learned a lot about their natural habitats. They saw the elephants playing and they saw giraffes eating. They saw the polar bears sleeping and the monkeys leaping. Mary asked John:
“John, what is your favourite animal?”
“I think I like chimpanzees best. They have a lot of energy, just like me! What animal do you like, Mary?”
“I love polar bears! I think their lifestyle in the Arctic is very interesting.”
A few hours later, Mary and John started to feel hungry. They made their way back to the zoo entrance to eat lunch at the Rainforest Café. The Rainforest Café is both Mary and John's favourite restaurant because there is an aquarium inside. The restaurant is also famous for its chocolate cake, which Mary ordered for dessert after they had finished their lunch.
As Mary was finishing her cake, John excused himself to go to the restroom. About ten minutes later, an alarm suddenly began to go off and a voice came over the loudspeaker:
“Attention! Someone has opened the chimpanzee exhibit! Some chimpanzees have escaped!”
People were screaming and starting to run. Mary looked for John, but he was nowhere to be found.
Paragraph 1:
As more and more people ran out of the zoo, Mary began to think
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Paragraph 2:
As Mary raced up the path to the animal exhibits, she stopped
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