My father is a practical man. He can’t explain calculus (微积分) , but he can tell you how much pressure boiler needs. He put himself through night school to become an engineer, but that was only after he worked as an electrician and a mechanic.
One day we walked by a toy store window. Sitting in the corner was the most unusual dollhouse (玩具屋) I’d ever seen. It was shaped like an upturned log.
“Oh, Daddy,” I said, “isn’t it beautiful? Do you think Santa Claus will bring it to me?”
Dad looked at the $100 price tag—an exorbitant (过高的) figure in those days. “I think even Santa couldn’t afford this house,” he joked, hiking up his belt as he often does when he’s nervous. “Maybe one day, sweetheart.”
On Christmas morning, I awoke early and raced downstairs. In the dim (昏暗的) light, I made out some wrapped boxes under the tree—but none large enough to contain my dollhouse. Dad could see my disappointment. He pulled me onto his lap and gently told me how, as a boy, he had wanted a red wagon, but his father couldn’t afford one. He said he made his own from wood and old wheels he found. “I’ll make one for you,” Dad promised me.
And right after Christmas, despite all the unfinished projects at home, he started it. I had thought it was an easy toy to make, but every step of the long process was more complex (复杂的) than I had expected. Night after night, Dad would come home from his job dead tired, yet he’d always find time to work on the log house. In the dim light, dad was always busy creating my dollhouse.
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。
I hesitated (犹豫) , wondering if I should help mу father.
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In all, it took one month of hard work by us.
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The official Christmas vacation finally came. Getting off the school bus, running all the way home and opening the door, expectedly I was welcomed by a wave of warm air and smells of pine and oranges. I smiled, removing my coat and bag -- Christmas was just about here! Just then, I heard an excited voice. “You’re home! Come play with me!” Rosely, my baby sister, sat on the living room floor, surrounded by an army of Barbies. She looked at me eagerly, waiting for my response.
I was in high school just then so I felt too old for Barbies and other childish things. I hesitated, trying to think of an excuse that wouldn’t make her cry, when a sudden idea came to my mind. “I’ll play with you,” I said, “if you let me play with the red car.” The red car was what Rosely loved most.
Rosely quickly grabbed the car. “No!” she screamed. She never let anyone else play with the car. “Well,” I said, pleased with my cleverness, “I guess I can’t play with you today.” As I started walking to my room, Rosely called out to me, “Have you got my Christmas present yet?”
“Not yet, but I will,” I said. “I’ve got what I’m giving you,” said Rosely. She smiled and added, “It’s going to be the best present ever!” “I’m sure it will,” I said flatly. I still remembered the handful of candies she had wrapped and handed me the year before.
The days leading up to Christmas went by quickly. The whole family spent Christmas morning exchanging gifts. I had bought Melissa a cheap toy cat at the local Dollar Store. It was not a surprise to her, but I was pleased that she liked it. When the process of exchanging gifts was over, Dad joked, “We need a dump truck for all of this wrapping paper.” He held the broom, preparing to sweep the floor.
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。
“Wait, Daddy!” said my sister. “There’s one more gift.”
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“What is it?” asked Dad. I pulled back the rest of the paper to show the gift to the family.
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It bothered Ben every time he went through the kitchen. It was that little metal container on the shelf above Martha’s cook stove. He probably would not have noticed it so much if Martha had not repeatedly told him never to touch it. The reason was that it contained a “secret herb” from her mother, and since she had no way of ever refilling the container, she was concerned that if Ben or anyone else ever picked it up and looked inside, they might accidentally drop it and spill its valuable contents.
The container was so old that much of its original red and gold floral(花纹的) colors had faded. Not only Martha’s fingers had gripped it there, but her mother’s and her grandmother’s had, too. Martha didn’t know for sure, but she felt that perhaps even her great-grand-mother had used this same container and its “secret herb”. All Ben knew for sure was that shortly after he’d married Martha, her mother had brought the container to Martha and told her to make the same loving use of its contents as she had.
Whatever was in that container, it sure worked, for Ben felt Martha was the best cook in the world. Anyone who ever ate in their house greatly praised Martha’s cooking.
But why wouldn’t she let Ben touch that little container? It was so fine whenever Martha sprinkled (撒) it over the food she was preparing. She obviously had to use very little of it because there was no way of refilling the container.
Ben became increasingly eager to look into that container just once, but never brought himself to do so.
Then one day Martha became ill. Ben took her to the hospital, where they kept her overnight. When he returned home, he felt extremely lonely. Martha had never been gone overnight before. When it neared supper time, he wandered into the kitchen to see what might be in the refrigerator. Then the container on the shelf immediately came into view. He quickly looked away, but his curiosity drew him back.
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。
Ben looked away again and lifted the cover of a large cake pan on the kitchen counter.
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Ben reached down for the paper, his big rugged hand struggling to get inside.
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I hadn’t decided whether to fly home for Thanksgiving yet. I didn’t have the money for the ticket, plus I wasn’t sure I could get enough time off from my job.
All that wondering changed when my mom called. She got right to the point: “Your grandmother isn’t well. Your dad and I decided I should fly out there for Thanksgiving.” Mom was an only child, so that made sense to me. But I was not ready for what I heard next. “We decided you should come along, so I cover your ticket.”
As always, Mom’s plan went off all right. I met her at the airport. Mom was anxious to see her parents, especially her mother, who was really fragile(虚弱). When we finally got to their house, we said hello and then Grandpa helped Grandma lie down again and took us to the living room, telling us we would eat Thanksgiving dinner at noon. He went into the kitchen.
Mom paced(踱步) the floor. I asked her what the matter was. “He can’t cook,” she shook her head. “How’s he supposed to fix a Thanksgiving meal for us?”
I tried to reason with her. “Can’t you smell dinner? Grandma is upstairs resting. Grandpa is the only one who could be cooking.” But we couldn’t see through the kitchen door.
Mom had an idea. “Let’s sneak out(溜出去) the front door and see what’s going on. Then we will know who is really cooking.” Grandpa had trouble hearing, so he didn’t hear us leave. It was a crazy plan. I followed her around the house to the kitchen windows. There we watched Grandpa fill water glasses and make coffee. “When did he learn to make coffee?” Mom asked. Quietly, we ran back around the side of the house and into the living room.
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。
Finally, the kitchen door opened at noon.
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“Wow, I can’t believe it! This smells so good,” I said.
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I really like my job—teaching, in which I can watch children grow up and understand slowly, especially when I can play a part in it. However, it can be a challenging job. There are times when students can seem uninterested in learning and troublesome in class. Tyler is just one of them.
Tyler was enrolled in my senior American government class for a term. He had impulse-control and anger-management issues. He had been suspended (停课) many times before. When he entered my class in his senior year, I expected the worst.
Every time I talked at the front of the class. I would ask questions of students, calling them by name. Doing this helped me to get to know them and learn their names. Unfortunately, every time I called on Tyler, he would respond with a glib (未经思考的) answer. If he got an answer wrong, he would become angry.
About a month into the year, I was still trying to connect with Tyler. I could usually get students to join in class discussions or at least encourage them to sit quietly; by contrast, Tyler was just loud.
One day, Tyler was talking while I was teaching. In the middle of the lesson, I said, “Tyler, why don’t you join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?” With that, he got up from his chair, pushed it over and yelled something, some dirty word even included.
Due to his terrible performance in my class, he was sent to the office with a discipline referral (纪律处罚表), and he received a week-long out-of-school suspension.
To this point this was one of my worst teaching experiences. I feared that class every day. Tyler’s anger was almost too much for me, like a bomb, ready to explode anytime. The week Tyler was out of school was a wonderful time, and we got a lot achieved as a class.
On the day of Tyler’s return, I stood at the door waiting for him, ready to have a talk with him.
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As part of my efforts to build connections with him, I managed to meet him regularly after class to learn about his study problems and his advice on how to manage class better.
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A young man had bought an old house that was in bad shape, but he and his wife believed they could restore it. They immediately went to work. Their goal was to have the old building look best for New Year’s Eve get-together.
Just two days before New Year, however, a storm swept through the area, leaving a hole in the wall of the house. There was obviously no time to repair the damage before New Year. Then, the sad couple attended a local auction(拍卖)that afternoon. One of the items put up for bids was an old gold-and-ivory-colored tablecloth. Seized by an inspiration, the young man was the highest bidder at $ 6.50. His idea was to hang the cloth to cover the ragged hole.
On the day before New Year, it was snowy. As the young man unlocked the house door, he noticed an old woman standing at the bus stop. He knew the bus wouldn’t be there within at least half an hour, so he invited her inside to keep warm.
When the woman walked in and saw the tablecloth, she rushed at it and said excitedly, “It’s mine. It is my tablecloth.” She told the surprised man its history and even showed him her name in one comer of the tablecloth. She and her husband had once lived in Vienna, Austria, and their village was hit by a deadly disease. So they decided to flee to Switzerland, but her husband told her to leave first, saying he had something urgent to deal with. A few days later, it was reported that the bus her husband took fell off the cliff(悬崖)and he was never to be found. Her husband was believed to have died. Touched by her story, the young couple asked about her address, planning to send the tablecloth to her after New Year. As the bus came, she left.
In the candlelight of New Year’s Eve, the tablecloth looked even more beautiful. As the man’s friends left the house, they thanked the man for his arrangement and mentioned how beautiful the house looked.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150词左右；
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。
Paragraph 1：
Otte old gentleman stayed, admiring the tablecloth.
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Paragraph 2：
The young man drove the old man to that old woman’s home.
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Sitting on the edge of my bed, I sort through old photos, thin smiles sliding across my face. I hold each memory briefly in my hands before dropping them onto the pile in my lap and searching for the next happy moment to remember. Each picture brings up feelings deep within me.
As I relive the memories, I can’t help but notice one photo in particular hidden deep in the box. The picture at first glance (一瞥) is lovely. The sun was shining and I was sitting with my arm around a happy-looking girl, her arm rested casually on my shoulders. As I focus on the happy girl, the smile that covers my face becomes a frown (皱眉). It is Amy Soule, my now ex-best friend. A terrible pang ( 一阵剧痛) of regret comes into my mind, and I feel tightness in my throat.
The change in our relationship began with different interests. She wanted to go to the mall and shop, while I preferred to watch old movies in my spare time. Soon the only time I saw her was when we exchanged a hurried hello in the busy school halls between the classes. No more notes were passed behind the teacher’s back. She found a new group of friends, and so did I. Before I had a chance to repair the friendship, she moved away, causing an uncross able gap.
I made excuses for it. But deep down I knew that was not the truth. I was just too nervous to pick up the phone and call. Eventually the gap grew too large to bridge.
I stand up and pull myself back into the now. Glancing up at my calendar, I remember Amy’s birthday is around the comer. In fact, we were born in the same room, two days apart. We started so close and ended up so far. This bittersweet memory causes me to smile despite my feelings of regret.
注意：1. 续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Suddenly I have an idea.
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I stick the note under the edge of the photo frame (相框) and search for Amy’s address.
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