I was in 7th grade when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was very sudden and unexpected for our family and obviously I was beaten. I tried my best to balance my first year of middle school and my home life, even if I knew this was impossible. I hated coming home from school every day for fear of what I would see when I got home. I hated seeing my mom sick all the time; she was not herself and all I wanted was for her to stop treatment and get better. Luckily, I had lots of support from my family, friends, and teachers during this hard time to help get me through it.
At the beginning of the year, I was determined to stay on track with my homework and studying and get through my first year at middle school successfully. Slowly, I started to become more distracted while at home with taking care of my mom, cleaning the house and helping my grandma cook our meals. While I was at school, I could escape and put my mom’s sickness in the back of my mind while I hung out with my friends and enjoyed playing. I noticed that my quiz and test grades were increasingly getting worse, but I never brought this to the attention of my mom because I did not want to worry her. Eventually, all of my grades were lower than C’s.
I knew that I was not doing well at school, and I needed to get my grades back up. I knew that a lot of my teachers were cutting me some unimportant work because they knew what was happening at home. Ms. Zazoski, my English teacher was the most supportive teacher that I have ever had and I am so glad that I was in her class that year.
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 my teacher had me stay after school to have a talk with her.
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That was the motivation that I needed to improve my grades.
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When Mia was four years old, the doctors diagnosed(诊断) her with alopecia areata, which caused all her hair to fall out. Going bald(秃头的) at such a young age wasn’t easy for her. Her mother Meredith Bailey thought gifting a bald doll (玩偶) to her daughter would help her feel confident. Bailey knew her daughter wanted a doll, so she went to an American Girl store on Mia’s birthday in 2015. Inside the store, Bailey looked for a bald doll that Mia could relate to,but she couldn’t find any.
Curious, she asked the staff about bald dolls and learned buyers could place an order for them.The store did not display(展示) the bald dolls back then.
Bailey thought her daughter would love playing with a bald American Girl doll, so she placed an order and gifted it to Mia on her birthday.
While gifting the doll to her daughter,Bailey had no idea that Mia would soon ask her questions that would leave her speechless. She wasn’t expecting Mia to come up with such interesting questions.
“I knew she wanted the doll, but I didn’t realize the happiness it would bring. She had a doll that was just like her -it was a piece of her," Bailey said.
The doll was Mia’s best gift,but looking at it made her wonder if other children also bought bald dolls so she asked her mother about it.
Bailey told Mia that other kids also liked such dolls by explaining that the doll might be similar to one of their friends or they buy it thinking it is pretty.Little did she know that Mia would come up with another thought-provoking(发人深省的) question.
Mia asked her mother why the bald dolls weren’t sold at the store if they were so popular. The question left Bailey speechless and made her wonder why buyers had to place an order to buy a bald doll.
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。
On Mia’s 8th birthday, Bailey took her to the American Girl store and a bald doll on display caught the pairs’ attention.
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Since Bailey thought sharing her fee lings with the manager wasn’t enough, she penned a heartfelt note and posted it on American Girl’s Facebook page.
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1. 人物简介；2. 对你的影响；3. 表达感谢。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Good afternoon, everyone,
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Thank you.
Why Gratitude Is Good for You?
Gratitude is more than just saying ‘thank you’ to someone who has helped us or given us a gift. Gratitude is a deeper appreciation for someone or something that makes us feel a positive emotion. And this positive emotion can be good for our health -- our emotional and physical health, as well as the health of our relationships.
Let’s start by looking at the emotional or mental health benefits of expressing gratitude. There have been many studies, as described in a 2018 paper from the Greater Good Science Center titled ‘The Science of Gratitude’, showing that writing a gratitude letter to another person or writing in a gratitude journal, if done regularly, improves mental health. It is because gratitude stops us from thinking about toxic, negative emotions, and writing a ‘thank you’ letter, for example, shifts our attention so that we focus on positive emotions. But even if we don’t share our writing with anyone, like in a journal, the act of completing the exercise alone makes us happier and more satisfied with life. And this gets better with time. So, the more we express gratitude, the more positive we feel.
Gratitude can also make us feel good in our bodies. There are studies linking a gratitude practice to better sleep quality, better eating habits, and reduced inflammation in people who have had heart problems. So gratitude is clearly good for us, but is it also good for the people in our lives?
The simple answer is ‘yes’. When shared — spoken or written — gratitude is about feeling valued and helping others feel valued too. Feeling valued can help build stronger relationships — be it with family, partners, friends or even colleagues. And that’s on top of all the other ways gratitude is clearly good for us. Maybe we should all stop counting sheep or counting calories and start counting our blessings instead.
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Saving the Galaxy
I pressed my face to the school-bus window as we passed the big movie screen. Galaxy Drive-In (银河汽车影院) one sign said. CLOSED said another.
I got off the bus at my stop and waved to Mom. I asked her about that drive-in down the street as we walked into the house. Mom told me that it had closed a couple years before.
But that night, I heard music coming through my window. When I looked out, I could see lights flashing on the drive-in’s screen. The thought of fear crossed my mind.
The next day, after breakfast Mom and I walked over to check things out. The place was like a big parking lot with weeds coming out through cracks. We were looking at an old movie poster when an old man got out of a car.
He introduced himself as Nick. “When my dad opened this place in 1957, we’d get 300 cars on a good night, but now I have to close it because I can’t afford a digital projector (放映机), which is very expensive.” Nick explained that all movie companies just provide digital movies instead of film (胶片) movies. Then Nick allowed us to look around and invited us to come by before dusk.
That night, Nick made an old movie come to life. As I sat next to Mom, I kept thinking about the excitement of seeing that big screen light up. Nick had looked so happy talking about the old days. If only he could get that projector.
注意：1. 续写词数应为100左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
It was then that a big idea came to me.
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With the collected money, Nick bought a digital projector.
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Most people think that procrastination (拖延症) is a negative habit. But people like me who routinely put off doing assignments, are likely to defend our “slower” approach to getting tasks done.
I'm the only procrastination in my family. My parents and sister were all born with the “do it right now” gift. They are always in a rush, as if closely rushed by an invisible deadline. Personally, I prefer a more relaxed pace. When my parents voiced their concern about my tendencies, saying “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” “No way!” I responded, confidently presenting my research as a defense. It said people procrastinated when they need to solve a problem or commit to a topic or project. In these cases, delaying a decision can be beneficial. This was because our minds continue to reflect on problems even when we were not actively thinking about them, which could lead to more creative solutions. My findings filled me with satisfaction and pride. My method of getting things done was just as good as my sister’s…or so I thought.
At school we’d been talking about architecture and design. As part of the final assessment my teacher Mr. Smith announced an exciting project that each student would have a month to complete. We were expected to choose our materials, construct a small building and make use of things we had learned in class. Not only would the winners receive extra credit, but the winning constructions would be proudly displayed in the cafeteria. “I have no clue how I could get it done,” my friend Nate sighed in despair. I didn’t say anything. Not because I shared his anxiety-but because I was not nervous at all. I loved hands-on projects! Picturing my brilliant work exhibited in the cafeteria, I was fully convinced that I would definitely produce something that could impress everyone. So relaxed was I that I didn’t give it a second thought for weeks.
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。
Before I knew it, I had only one day left for the project.
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_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Since I had always taken pride in my sharp tongue and brilliant response whether in class debates or casual arguments, I was extremely confident of myself when I was selected to represent our school in a national debate last year.
Of course, all the members in my team were good at debating and we had a very experienced teacher who trained us well. But I was undoubtedly the most outstanding speaker. In each of the rounds that I took part in, all the judges selected me as the best one. The more I won, the more confident I became. And my confidence reached the highest level when we were entering the final. I had every reason to believe that I would be voted the best speaker for the debate series.
But overconfidence brought me the unexpected downfall. During the week before the final, I began to feel so self-important that I started behaving very badly with my teammates. I would laugh at Eton’s poor debating style. I would complain of Vivian’s slow response. I saw myself as the best debater who was disappointed by their bad performances. In short, I became more and more dissatisfied with my team as the final round drew near and began missing the training. My teacher was increasingly worried. My teammates were very unhappy. However, they had no choice but to rely on me to win the final. Even if they would love to kick me out of the team, they could not because there was no replacement good enough.
The day of the final eventually came. The lecture hall was crowded with audience, who were eager to watch a wonderful debate because they had learned from the news that I was the one that was most likely to be the best speaker for the debate series. I was very excited that I was able to show off my debating skills in front of a larger audience, too.
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。
However, they would be totally disappointed, soon.
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As soon as the debate finished, I ran to the washroom, crying.
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