After the sudden loss of her five-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, Natalia Spencer felt she needed to do something to honor the little girl. That strong wish inspired Spencer to start what she calls a “Walk of Love”, a 6,000-mile trek(长途旅行) along the British coastline.
“Elizabeth particularly loved the beach and the sea and we visited the seaside a lot. After she passed away, I went to the seaside and it was the first time that I had felt some comfort,” Spencer said. “I knew this was what I had to do. It was something I could do and it would make life more bearable.”
On Valentine’s Day, Spencer began walking Durdle Door in Dorset, England, the last beach she took Elizabeth to before she became ill. So far, Spencer has journeyed about 1,500 miles, walking through Dorset , Cornwall, Devon and the entire coast of Wales. Every day, except Saturday, Spencer walks 20 miles. Often locals join her; many times they share stories about losing their own children.
Everything changed for Spencer on Nov. 22, 2015. Spencer noticed Elizabeth was ill with what she thought was a chest infection. But the girl’s health worsened rapidly. Doctors diagnosed her with a life-threatening immune condition where the immune cells damage the tissues and organs. This caused Elizabeth’s organs to shut down and stopped the blood supply to her arms and legs. She was moved to Bristol Children’s Hospital where she spent 18 days on life support before passing away on Dec. 10.
After Elizabeth died, Spencer struggled. In January, a friend encouraged Spencer to go for a walk and the two ended up at the Gower Peninsula in Wales. While walking provides Spencer with time to grieve(悲伤), she’s also using the trip to raise ￡100,000 for the Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Spencer expects to complete her walk next spring. She’d love to finish on Valentine’s Day, but doesn’t know if that is realistic.
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Reading the world in 195 boobs
In 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country of all 195 UN- recognized states in a year. With no idea how to find publications, I decided to ask the planet’s readers for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.
The response was amazing. Before I knew it, people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help. Some posted me books. Others did hours of research on my behalf. In addition, several writers, like Turkmenistan’s Ak Welsapar and Panama’s Juan David Morgan, sent me unpublished translations of their novels. Even with such an extraordinary team behind me, however, sourcing books was no easy task.
But the effort was worth it. As I made my way through the planet’s literary landscapes, extraordinary things started to happen. Far from simply armchair travelling, I found I was inhabiting the mental space of the storytellers. I discovered, book packing offered something that a physical traveller could hope to experience only rarely: it took me inside the thoughts of individuals living far away and showed me the world through their eyes. More powerful than a thousand news reports, these stories not only opened my mind to basic information of life in other places, but opened my heart to the way people there might feel. And that in turn changed my thinking. Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe, I realized I was not an isolated person, but part of a network that stretched all over the planet.
One by one, the country names on the list that had begun as an intellectual exercise transformed into places filled with laughter, love, anger, hope and fear. Lands that had once seemed foreign and remote became close and familiar to me — places I could identify with. At its best, I learned, fiction makes the world real.
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It was a cold, snowy evening. Tommy was running as fast as he could, focused on nothing but his destination —the shop on the street corner. Two weeks ago he saw figurines (小塑像) of Marvel superheroes on the shelves and felt he had to have one. He has been walking the neighbor’s dog ever since then to earn money to fulfil his little dream. He was so excited and barely noticing the world around him. Maybe that’s why he tripped over the legs of a homeless woman, who was sitting on the pavement, her back against the wall. He said “sorry” and moved on to his destination.
Once he entered the shop, he went straight to the shelves with figurines. Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, and many more — all of his admired heroes. With his heart pounding like crazy he reached for Spiderman.
“You like these, true believer?”
Tommy turned around. An old man was standing behind him with a wide smile on his face.
“Y-yes,… Yes, they’re awesome! ”answered Tommy. “They’re strong and fast and help other people a lot ...” the boy looked at figurines in admiration. “I wish I could be a superhero too.”
“Then become one!” said the old man.
“How?” Tommy asked in surprise “I don’t have any superpowers.”
“And why would you need them?” the old man smiled. Seeing the confusion on the boy’s face, he put his hands on Tommy’s arms. “Did you know that shopkeeper lady over there has a disabled husband? She has been working hard and taking care of him for years. I have never heard a word of complaint from her. And this person...”he pointed at a redhead man, who just entered the shop. “He’s a firefighter; he’s saved countless lives. He never gives up, no matter how dangerous the situation seems to be.”
The old man looked Tommy in the eyes and smiled. “You don’t need a superpower to be a hero for someone else. The path of a superhero starts not in the mind, not in the muscles, but in the heart.”
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。
Tommy listened intently, his eyes wide with wonder and realization.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tommy stepped back out into the snowy evening and approached the homeless woman.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Surviving Mount Rainier
Bad luck and poor timing left Kart and three climbers stuck on Mount Rainier for several long days. They faced mountain climbing’s toughest tests. One man suffered altitude sickness; ice and rockfall rained down at night; cold nights in a tent that got torn left them hypothermic(体温过低的). Calm confidence, skill and the courage to continue up the route, despite illness and injury, likely saved their lives.
The climbers set out on a Friday, camping low on the route the first night because they were concerned about rockfall after a climber had recently died in an accident at the route’s typical high camp. On Saturday, at about 10,500 feet, one of the climbers became sick from the altitude, which began to slow them down. They needed to keep moving, so they put him in the lead so he could move at a pace he was comfortable with.
By Sunday evening, the ill climber was exhausted, and they had to make an unplanned camp on steep snow. They were in a bad place—on a platform about the size of a table under an ice cliff. The wind got stronger during the night, ripping the tent and snapping the poles. They tried to secure it by placing their packs and rocks around the edges. Finally, they just stuck their feet between the rocks and held the tent with their bodies. It was a cold night.
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，每段的开头语已为你写好;
Paragraph 1:
On Monday, they managed to call 911 but forgot to ask how to communicate with the rangers (护林员) before losing signal.
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Paragraph 2
On Wednesday, they gathered everything and decided to carry on with their climb.
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Everyone’s first job is special, because you gain useful experience that you can use in other positions in future. It also teaches you about the value of money.
When I was about sixteen years old, I wanted to buy albums of my favourite band, but I did not have any money. This was because the money my parents gave me was just enough to get by. I had to find a part-time job in order to purchase the music I wanted.
Luckily, I found that there were many old people who needed help in my neighbourhood. And I chose the oldest person I knew, Mrs. Hudson, who was over eighty years old, and could not tend her garden anymore. She had flowers, a grass lawn, and some tomato plants. I knocked on her door, trying to build up enough courage to ask her for work. She answered that indeed she needed help in her garden.
My first job was to pull out weeds. I got down on my knees and began to pull them out one by one in her front yard and backyard. Finishing this tiring and boring task, I mowed her lawn front and back. That was the first day of my job, and it took me about two hours. After that, I was paid ten dollars for my work. It was less than I thought, but at least I had earned my first money.
After getting that ten dollars, I intended to go to the supermarket to buy my favourite album. I chose a nice morning to do it because I knew it would be a memorable moment when I was able to buy what I liked through my efforts. But on the way to supermarket, I happened to see my mom “working” on the opposite side of the road. Actually, I had never seen how she worked before, I just knew she was a saleswoman.
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。
Under the burning sun, my mom was distributing leaflets (分发传单) to passers-by, sweating all over.
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Then I continued making my way to the supermarket, and suddenly a good idea occurred to me.
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Ken Scott kicked of the covers and leapt out of bed at his home in the Rocky Mountain town of Mullan,Idaho.It was 6 a.m.on January 7, 2020, and he was on a mission: He’d just heard on the radio that the nearby Silver Mountain Resort had been blessed with nearly a foot and a half of new snow. As a ski addict who’d worked in the industry for the past 30 years as a ski patroller (滑雪巡逻员)and equipment salesperson, he didn’t want to miss this perfect skiing chance. These conditions are what skiers live for-even experienced and skilled as Scott, who, at 55, still skied 100 days a year.
When Scott reached Silver Mountain’s locker room, he ran into his friend Warren, 58, a former ski instructor who had also been a regular on these slopes for more than two decades.
“Can you believe it?” he said as they changed into their boots. “Sixteen inches! Are you ready?”
For the next hour, the pair skied on various runs under a lightly gloomy sky, making fresh tracks. They were both in a playful mood. Finally, they reached 16-to-1, an expert-level trail, which was now open. It had been closed all season over concerns that skiers might cause an avalanche (雪崩). But that morning, patrollers had cleared loose snow on the peak, reducing the chance of a snowslide.
“What do you think?” asked Warren.
“Let’s go for it!” Scott replied.
When they reached the top of 16-to-1, Warren excitedly looked back at Scott. The huge, toothy grin on his bearded face was what he needed. He pointed his skis downhill and took off. So thrilled were they that they isolated everything around them. Flying on the trail, despite the biting wind, their hearts burnt with passion for this great skiing. Whoomph! A sudden roar from behind nearly deafened them.
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。
In a second, they realized what was happening.
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“Bring help! Ken was missing,” Warren said anxiously on the phone.
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December is certainly the time of Christmas spirit and with that comes a wave of kind acts — people are often much nicer and willing to be giving than any time of the year. While it seems like an expected sight, thankfully it still keeps surprising us. That’s just what I experienced while volunteering with Santa’s Secret Shop at a local school.
I volunteered to help with Santa’s Secret Shop at the school. Each child there paired up with a helper, mostly high school seniors. There was one guy with disabilities this afternoon and when he was helping a kid next to me, he found the kid was a little short of cash for Christmas gifts, so this senior opened up his wallet. I supposed they were brothers, and didn’t think much of it. However, I noticed he was always holding out his helping hand and allowing other children to choose gifts that were out of their budgets. I felt curious and reported my experience on Facebook and praised the mysterious young man called Timmy Sweeney.
What did people on the Internet think about his actions? Many people praised him, just as a post said, “This kid has a heart of gold. I so wish there were more kids like him! His parents definitely did an amazing job raising him.” Others expressed their gratitude.” This story brought tears to my eyes. Thank Timmy for being what this world needs: a kind person who is thoughtful and just happens to be watching out for others. The world is really becoming a better place because of such nice persons as Timmy.”
Deeply touched, I came up to Timmy to keep me informed of his motivation to do so, for I was really curious about his behavior. He responded. “I’m a senior at Susquehanna Community High School. I used to be very athletic until I was in an accident and I can’t play any more, which destroyed my faith in the future. That’s the reason why I need to do something meaningful to make a difference in the world.”
注意：1. 续写词语应为150个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
He continued his story, describing his acts of kindness.
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Paragraph 2:
Eventually, his acts of kindness influenced others.
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