I was packing lunch for my two children and myself when I suddenly began to doubt whether this was necessary. It was so early in the day it was still dark outside, and I was making sandwiches. I thought about just sending lunch money and getting an extra half hour of sleep. Being a single mom, I needed all the shut-eye I could get.
So why was I adding this stress to my life? It’s all because of genetics (遗传).
I remember my grandmother telling me how, many years ago, she packed leftovers (剩饭) for my grandfather’s lunch. He loved them but always seemed to come home hungry. Finally after much questioning, he admitted he had been giving away half his lunch to a co-worker who had none of his own. From that day forward, my grandmother always sent extra—just in case.
With five kids in school at the same time, my mom didn’t have time to pack lunches. We ate cafeteria food, which was fine with us. In the world of our primary school, it was not cool to bring your lunch from home. There was an exception to the no-pack rule, however. As a punishment, we were forced to bring our own lunch for however many days my mom chose to keep us. My time of suffering came in third grade. I had broken the rules. For four days, my noontime dinner consisted of a cheese and mustard sandwich, a bag of chips and one lonely cookie. By Friday my mom changed her mind. And although I still brought my lunch from home, she packed it for me.
That afternoon I opened my lunchbox to find my favorite egg salad sandwich, a choice apple and a whole giant cake with a note taped on top: “Just in case you want to share.” To my 10-year-old eyes, that cake looked big enough to feed the world. I was in heaven as I offered piece after piece to my friends. It was the best lunch of my life.
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。
As I continued packing lunch for my kids, I thought about my grandmother and mother.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I emptied my own packed lunch on the table and divided it between the children, then made two more sandwiches.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
相似题推荐
Edward is a middleaged man. Although he was not born in a rich family, he was raised well by his father and mother. His father owned a clothes shop, and used to work for more than 12 hours a day, so that his family could lead a comfortable life.
However, Edward’s father could not earn sufficient money to provide a decent life for his family. Edward was an average student at school, and used to score around 70 percent marks. Edward’s dream was to become a lawyer. Since his marks weren’t very high, he could not get the desired course that he wanted to study. Instead, he joined a bachelor’s degree course, completed the course successfully, and got a job in a company.
While his life was going on with no dramatic change, his father continued to work in his clothes shop, so that he did not have to depend on Edward. After getting a permanent job, Edward’s parents wanted him to marry. He got married to a girl from his native town, and at the same time was also promoted in his job. After a few years, his wife gave birth to beautiful twin boys.
Later Edward began to earn a handsome salary, and started to live luxuriously. He bought a new house and a new car. Some of the luxuries were really unnecessary. Although his company provided him with a car, Edward went and purchased a new car.
After a luxurious lifestyle that spanned for almost 6 to 7 years, Edward was suffering from financial crisis and was not able to pay for the children’s education and other basic necessities.
His father fell sick, and as a result, could not continue his work in the clothes shop. He requested Edward to provide some money for his treatment and other household expenses.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式作答。
Edward shook his head.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Just at this moment, his sons walked to Edward.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My mom only had one eye. I hated her! She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family. There was one day during elementary school when my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out.
The next day at school one of my classmates said, “Your mom only has one eye!” I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, “If you’re only going to make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?” My mom did not respond. I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger, totally unaware of her feelings.
I wanted to get out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, and finally got a chance to go abroad for further study. Then, I got married with a local man. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts.
Years passed, and I didn’t hear from my mom ever since I had left home. Sometimes I would think of her but every time thinking of the embarrassment brought by her embarrassingly one-eyed look, I still hoped that life would stay the same way and she would never appear in my life again.
Then one day, my mom came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren. When she stood by the door, my children was scared to cry and ran to me. I calmed them down and asked my husband to lead them into the house.
I turned to her, looking at her weary face with more wrinkles and her gray hair. Obviously she was older and life surely didn’t treat her well. However, the uninvited visit still made me angry.
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。
I asked her why she showed up at our front door uninvited.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was saddened by the news she just shared, but what truly astonished me was what she told me next about her eye.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1985 my parents made the big move from Illinois, to southern Califormia, along with three very tiny children and all their household possessions. My mother had carefully wrapped and packed four boxes of her mother’s hand-painted dinner china. Grandmother had painted this lovely set herself, choosing a forget-me-not pattern (勿忘我图案).
Unfortunately, something happened during the move. One box of the china didn’t make it. It never arrived at our new house. So my mother had only three-quarters of the set — she had plates of different sizes and some serving pieces, but missing were the cups and saucers (茶碟) and the bowls. Often at family gatherings or when we would all sit down for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, my mother would say something about the missing china and how she wished it had survived the trip.
When my mother died I inherited Grandmother’s china. I, too, used the set on many special occasions, and I, too, wondered what had happened to the missing box.
I love to visit flea markets (跳蚤市场), hunting for treasures. It’s great fun to walk up and down the streets early in the morning, watching as the vendors (摊主) spread their wares on the ground.
I hadn’t been to a flea market in over a year when, one Sunday in 2013, I got the itch to go. So I crawled out of bed at 5 a.m., and drove an hour to the Giant Rose Bowl Flea Market in another town. I was looking around and after a couple of hours I was thinking about leaving. I rounded the last corner and took a few steps down the street when I noticed some china spread on the floor. I saw that it was hand-painted china...With forget-me-nots! I raced over to look at it more closely, and picked up a cup and saucer...Forget-me-nots! Exactly like Grandmother’s china, with the same delicate strokes (笔画) and the same thin gold bands around the edges. I looked at the rest of the items-there were the cups! The saucers! The bowls! It was Grandmother’s china!
注意:1. 所续写短文的词数应为150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:
The vendor had noticed my excitement.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
I left the Flea Market with my amazing treasure.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Five years ago, I had a nine-to-five job, and I usually commuted (通勤) to work by bus. Those long tiring hours of travelling were always annoying. But one day, it was healing.
It was a warm March evening, and I’d just taken a seat on the bus that would take me home. I sat in the third row, by the window, on the driver’s side. It was nearly 6:00 p.m., but the bus was not yet full and the driver gave no signs that he intended to get the bus on the road anytime soon.
A middle-aged woman took a seat opposite me. She was crying. Not speaking to anyone in particular, she tearfully told her story.
She had come to the city to visit her daughter. On the way to the last stop, a thief had stolen one of her bags. It had contained half of the money she’d brought with her. The other half was rolled in a handkerchief and hidden under her blouse, so she fortunately still had some money left.
The bus conductor, driver, and other passengers listened to her story. After a few minutes, she stopped crying, took out some cheese bread from her bag, and began to eat, looking still worried.
An old man in tattered (破旧的) clothes got on the bus. He sat in the seat directly in front of the woman.
After a few minutes, all seats were taken. The driver got behind the wheel and started the engine. The bus conductor collected tickets and began asking us where we were getting off. When he came to the old man’s seat, he became doubtful and asked the old man whether he had any money. The old man admitted that he did not. He explained that he had spent all his money this morning when he’d accidentally got on the wrong bus and now he was trying to go home.
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;
3.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Upon hearing this, the bus conductor ordered the old man to get off the bus.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The woman seated behind the old man was also listening and observing the whole thing.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was Mr. Morgan’s first day as a new history teacher. He was giving the students a lecture on the Great Depression and World War II, when the door suddenly opened. A boy walked in with his eyes fixed on the floor and took his seat without speaking a word or looking up at the teacher. “Good morning, young man,” said Mr. Morgan, his voice was strict. “It’s 9:15, and you’re 20 minutes late for class. Do you have a good reason?” But the boy just sat without responding. “Could you please stand up and introduce yourself?” Mr. Morgan added. “I’m Archie,” replied the boy as he rose and looked up, rubbing his tired eyes. Archie looked very untidy and dizzy (头晕目眩的), as though he hadn’t slept at all the previous nights. “Nice to meet you, Archie. I’m your new history teacher. You’re late for class. Do you mind telling me why? You just walked in without excusing yourself, and I won’t entertain such behavior.” Archie hesitated for a while. “I’m sorry, sir. I overslept. I didn’t mean to come in late. I was just tired, sir,” he finished, unable to control his yawn, and the whole class laughed. “Silence!” Mr. Morgan demanded. “Archie, you cannot be late for class like this. Can I see your homework? I heard your previous history teacher gave you assignments every weekend. Show it to me, will you?” Archie handed over his notebook, and Mr. Morgan’s expression turned uneasy. “Umm, looks like you didn’t do your homework at all.” “I didn’t do it, sir,” the boy said sheepishly as the teacher looked through the rest of the pages. “Archie, what is this? You haven’t done any of your homework this whole term,” Mr. Morgan scolded. “I want to meet your parents tomorrow, alright? Or I’m taking you straightto the principal’s office. Is that clear?” “Yes, sir,” Archie murmured and sat on his seat.
But the boy didn’t show up the following day. The principal told him, “We’ve given Archie chances, but there’s no improvement. His presence is affecting our academic statistics.” Mr. Morgan started to worry.
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。
Mr. Morgan paid a visit to Archie’s home, only to discover the boy’s life was far more difficult than he thought.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Fifteen years later, successful Archie returned to his old school to thank Mr. Morgan.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________【推荐3】阅读下面材料,根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段,使之构成一篇完整的短文。
It was a Saturday in May. It was my third Mother’s Day. The air was warm, the sun was bright, and I spent the morning leisurely drinking coffee and getting ready with my daughter. My husband returned home from his shopping trip, giving me a Mother’s Day gift.
Afterward, I needed to head out and go to the grocery store. But I decided to take my daughter to play at the park first. She ran and played until she grew sticky with sweat and exhaustion (筋疲力尽). At that moment, I realized I had forgotten to pack any snacks. So I promised her I would buy her snacks at the store.
Thirty minutes later, we parked and headed in. I kept thinking about the gift my husband had given me, a dress for my cousin’s wedding the following month. My daughter was going to be the flower girl, and we still didn’t have a dress picked out for her. So I decided to check out the children’s clothes next door before buying groceries. In my excitement, I’d forgotten about the promised snacks. However, my daughter hadn’t.
We just spent two minutes looking at the girl’s section before my daughter began to scream. It felt as if her lungs could break glass and puncture (刺穿) the eardrums of everyone inside. I tried to help her calm down and allow us to look a little longer, but her scream deepened in volume.
We quickly made our way out of the store, with eyes following us as my daughter proved her vocal strength. We stopped just outside of the doors because my daughter began to lie on the floor and scream her heart out as the rest of the world looked on. Really, it was embarrassing and frustrating (令人沮丧的).
Just then, a grandma approached us. She wanted to pick up my sad daughter and comfort her. I had done that before, but at this point, my daughter was too far gone. She didn’t want anyone when she was angry. The grandma offered to hug her, but she refused and cried harder.
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。
That’s when another young mother approached.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My daughter finally got tired of crying after a while.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________