As my wife worked a late shift, my three small children looked at me expectantly. “What’s for dinner?” one of them said.
The last time I had made dinner was when I made ramen (拉面) in college. Now, I had three mouths to feed-aged two, six and nine-but I was crucially short on ideas. Like a deer in headlights, I searched for a possible answer.
“Where’s the Twister game?”
“Not Twister, ” Abby, my oldest, scolded. “Dinner. ”
I walked to the closet, pulled out the game, and tested the spinner (转盘). Then I slid a couple of sheets of paper between the plastic arrow and the cardboard base and sketched out four quadrants (90度圆弧). I looked at the kids. “Who wants chocolate?”
Alex, my youngest, screamed in delight.
Abby crossed her arms. “Dad, Mom wouldn’t let that happen. ”
“Mom’s not here. ”
I wrote in the upper right quadrant: chocolate.
Aiden, my middle child, asked, “Dad, what are you doing?”
“You’ll see in a second. ” I pointed at the second area. “How about ice cream?”
Alex started dancing around in a circle.
“When we get four options written on the spinner, we’ll spin to see what we do for dinner tonight. ”
My youngest said, “Dress up like superheroes. ”
“ Absolutely!” I wrote superheroes, with no idea how that would turn into a dinner idea. They debated the final section for a few seconds and then collectively decided on pizza. If they had suggested “Run around at the mall, ” I would have written it down.
I smoothed out the paper, tested the spinner, and then set it in the middle of the table.
We gathered around the spinner, and I held up my hands. “We are going to spin it once, and whatever we land on, that’s what we’ll do tonight. ”
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。
Abby shook her head. “I don’t think this is a good idea. ”
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Everyone screamed, “Hurray! Pizza. ”
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It wasn’t fair.
Aminah always studied hard, so there was nothing unusual about her receiving top marks at the end of the year. But Farhan was often playing with the village boys when he should have been studying. To help motivate him this year, their father had promised to buy him a bicycle if his grades improved.
Aminah was sure that even this generous offer wouldn’t change her brother’s habits. But when Farhan started staying home and studying, everyone was surprised.
At the end of the school year, Aminah received top marks as she always did. And, as usual, her parents gave her 100 rupees (卢比) as a reward.
For the first time, Farhan got top marks too. True to his word, their father came home with a bicycle. It was well used, and much of the paint had been chipped (脱落) off. But to Farhan, it was the most beautiful bicycle in their country. Farhan’s friends cheered when they saw it. It was understood that something as precious as a bicycle would be shared with everyone.
Well, almost everyone.
After a few days of watching Farhan and the village boys learning to ride, Aminah and her friends grew bitter. They spent afternoons on the hill just north of the village, sitting in the shade of a mango tree and watching the lazy stream flow at the foot of the hill. They could hear the boys cheering and laughing on the other side of the hill.
“Why doesn’t he let us ride, Aminah?” asked Fatima. Aminah shrugged (耸肩), trying to act as if she didn’t care.
“He and the other boys just want the bicycle all for themselves!” replied Shehnaz. Sarah shook her head. “But Aminah is his sister! He should share with her.” An older sister commanded respect.
As they talked, the boys’ screams grew closer. Aminah looked up and saw her brother on his bicycle at the top of the hill. “Look! I can do it!” Farhan yelled at the top of his lungs. He had finally gotten the hang of it. The boys cheered as he began to speed up.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, Farhan lost control of the bicycle, heading in the direction of the girls, toward the stream.
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Farhan looked at Aminah, then at his bicycle, then back at his sister.
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It was two weeks before a holiday, and I still hadn’t sent out our holiday cards. Each year, my family gets dozens of holiday cards from friends and family. I wanted to send some out as well that year — perfect ones.
I decided to make them with a family picture taken by a professional photographer. After dropping off my two boys at school, I called a local photographer. The photographer told me since there wasn’t much time before the holiday, he would come on early Sunday morning and told me to have the whole family in white shirts.
Now, not only did I have my usual five million things to do, but I also had to find matching white shirts for my entire family. My husband was trying to help, but I thought I could juggle (尽量兼顾) everything and fix everything perfectly. He also suggested wearing our old shirts, but I insisted on getting new ones to ensure the picture was perfect.
After visiting a bunch of stores, I got perfect white polo shirts. I was able to continue doing all my other errands (差事) with a smile, knowing that my family was going to look great for the holiday photograph session.
I’m not sure where the rest of the hours went, but when I went to get my younger son to sleep on Saturday night, I noticed his hair was a complete mess. He needed a haircut! With all my running around, I hadn’t noticed how badly he needed one. It was 8:00 at night — too late to find a barber. The photographer was coming the next morning.
I took out the scissors I barely used and told my younger son to come into the bathroom where I started to cut his hair. My son was very cooperative. When I was done, we both knew that the haircut was a disaster! I started to panic — our holiday cards might be delayed.
My husband offered to help again. I hesitated for seconds and agreed. He asked me to go downstairs and have a cup of tea while he took care of the situation. My older son also came to help.
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。
With no mood for tea, I was walking around downstairs restlessly. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When I saw the three of them were happy with the same buzz cut (寸头) made by my husband, my tears were replaced with smiles and I made a decision. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
New Beginnings
My sister and I weren’t exactly what you would call close. I was three years younger, and I thought she walked on water. Everything she did was perfect, and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. If she wore her hair in twin braids with a pink clip one day, the next day I wore mine exactly the same way. I used to follow her and her friends around, begging to be included, but there isn’t much room in a thirteen-year-old’s life for a annoying ten-year-old sister. As a result, over time, my worship of her became indifference. We were strangers living in the same house, eating together but never communicating.
So when she sat me down last year and told me she’d be going to Israel to study abroad for ten months, I wasn’t too concerned. I figured I would get to wear the clothes she left behind and use her CD player. That was the only way I thought her leaving would affect me.
That first night after she left, I sat in my room and tried to do homework. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, something was missing. The house was too quiet. No Tova’s CD player and no Tova’s voice giggling on the phone with her friends. Sitting there, I realized just how different it was without her in the house. Even though we didn’t always speak, I had felt safe just knowing she was near.
I cried that night. I cried over all the years we had wasted trying to live our own lives and ignoring each other’s. I cried that I couldn’t even give her a hug before she boarded her plane. But as the night wore on, my tears changed to tears of calm, tears of new beginnings.
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 picked up the phone and called her halfway across the world.
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Finally she spoke.
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I was a proud mother of three children, my last little one being delivered in the middle of this pandemic. She was born in August and her name is Aida.
Shortly after having Aida, my mother-in-law showed me something she learned from her friend’s mother in an art class she attended weekly. She had shown me how to knit a scarf. She showed me stitches and gave me her half done project.
I spent a lot of time breastfeeding my sweet little girl, so I had some extra time to do something with my hands throughout the day. I enjoyed making the scarf so I purchased tons of yarn (纱线) since it was winter. I wanted to make scarves for my three children as Christmas gifts.
There was a new family that moved in down the street. The only daughter of the family was Jane, a shy girl, aged 14, the same age of my oldest son David. It seemed that she came from a financially disadvantaged family, for she always wore old clothes. Worse still, in such cold days, she had no more clothes to wear and trembled with cold.
Due to the pandemic, society was thrown into crisis mode. Schools were closed, food supplies and deliveries were suspended and children were stuck at home. In such discouraging times, however, they became good companions, talking and playing at home or around the houses.
It was dreadfully cold this winter. Every time David came back from outside, with red face, he always cried, “Mum, it’s freezing outside!” then he came over to see whether I finished the scarf. I could tell how impatient he was to wear my scarf sooner! I had to speed the project to satisfy his expectation. But David comforted me saying he could wait a few days. What a kind and considerate boy he was! Then my great project finally was accomplished on the morning ahead of Christmas.
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
I wrapped the scarf around David’s neck.
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Paragraph 2
Later that day David came back saying Jane also deserved a scarf.
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On his way home, Tommy saw a gray, long-haired cat sitting on the sidewalk. As he stopped to pet her, he noticed that she was not wearing a collar(项圈). She rubbed her head against his hand. She reminded Tommy of Smoky, the cat he had when he was younger. Smoky’s fur had been long and gray too. Tommy petted the cat for a while. Then he said, “I have to go,” and continued to go home. To his surprise, the cat followed him on the way.
When Tommy was home, he walked up the porch(门廊)steps and went into the kitchen. The cat followed him up the steps and sat quietly outside the door, watching him closely. Tommy made a sandwich. The cat continued to stare at him. Tommy sighed. “I know it’s not a good idea to feed a stray cat(流浪猫),” he said, “but you look so hungry! I can’t sit here and eat without feeding you!”
Tommy put some turkey on a plate for the cat. As Tommy watched, she ate every piece of the turkey and then began to clean her face. “Wow!” Tommy said, “You must have been starving. I wonder how long it has been since someone fed you.”
Tommy finished his sandwich and looked at the cat. Her long fur was matted(缠结), Tommy remembered that Smoky’s brush and toys were in the storeroom. “I’m going to clean you up a little,” Tommy said to the cat. He found Smoky’s brush and got to work. As the dirt came out, the cat’s fur began to get lighter. “Hey!” Tommy said, realizing the truth. “You’re not gray—you’re white!”
After the brush, the cat climbed onto Tommy’s lap. “You’re so friendly. You probably belong to someone,” Tommy said. “I bet you’re just lost.” When Tommy’s father came home, Tommy showed him the lovely cat. “Why don’t you make some notices to put up in the neighborhood?” his father suggested.
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。
Tommy nodded his head and said, “That is a fantastic idea!”
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Staring at the lovely cat, Tommy thought he was sure to have the chance.
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The coming of warm weather here in Maine calls for a seasonal ritual that, for me, puts an end to winter—fetching the wooden screen door.
Note that I wrote “wooden”. The aluminum models just won’t do it — they close too neatly and keep their perfect form for decades. In the 1960s, a time of imperfection, there was no perfect house, no perfect car, no perfect kids or parents. Why should a screen door be an exception?
I grew up with my siblings in a working-class neighborhood in New Jersey. When the warm weather arrived, my dad would pull out the wooden screen door and install it over the back door, which could then be left wide open, admitting a refreshing breeze (we had no air conditioning).
My father was a Mr. Fix-it, so keeping the screen door serviceable was one of his hobbies. Every few years he gave it a fresh coat of paint and fixed it a bit. I clearly remember him putting the last screw in the last hinge, and swinging the door shut with a “crack”!
A good, wooden screen door, although it was not beautiful, had an invaluable function in the age of the stay-at-home mom: It reminded her of the coming and going of the kids. My siblings, and my friends ran in and out of the house, tearing the screen door open and letting it shut with a bang behind us. A hundred times a day. It was all good, and my mom never complained about the noise, because that was the purpose of a wooden screen door — to slam shut and thus announce that her children were within earshot.
Several years ago, in a fit of nostalgia, I went shopping for a wooden screen door. I was disappointed in the choices available. They looked a bit too solid, too well made. But I found one online, and within a week it was delivered to my doorstep.
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。
The firm had sent me one with the wrong dimensions, so I asked my carpenter to make the necessary adjustments.
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He went about his work again and a short while later the task was done.
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