“Will you do me a favor, Achenyo?” Mama called as she looked up from her weaving. Beside her was a pile of wild-grass stalks (秆). Mama took a stalk, laid it along the length of the half-finished bag, and began to weave (编织). In the corner were pots of dyes (染料) she’d use to paint the finished bags. “Will you get me some water for the dyes?” “Of course, Mama!” Achenyo picked up a pot as she ran outside. She didn’t like weaving, although it was a tradition for a mother to pass on the trade to her daughter. Outside, Achenyo called to her neighbor Ajuma. Both girls, with pots balanced on their heads, made their way to the river.
Achenyo and Ajuma soon arrived at the water’s edge, and they found a huge surprise. The river was gone! In its place was a blanket of dark green leaves and lavender-colored (淡紫色的) flowers. “Oh no!” Achenyo cried. “Mama won’t have water to mix the dyes for her bags.” When the adults arrived at the riverbank, they shook their heads, saying “They’ve struck again!”
Last year, the rainy season had brought an invasion (入侵) of water hyacinths. The plants had covered the river and left no room to dip a pot to get water. And now they were back. The adults walked into the water. They began pulling up water hyacinths and throwing them onto the riverbank. When they’d cleared enough plants, the girls filled their pots with water. A pile of water hyacinths lay on the riverbank. What a shame to waste such pretty flowers, Achenyo thought. She picked some for Mama, and then the girls headed home. Each day, they found the river covered by water hyacinths as if no one had cleared the waterfront (水边地) the day before. To fill their pots, they again had to pull up and throw water hyacinths onto the riverbank. The pile on the sand grew taller.
One day, as Achenyo moved an armful of dried water hyacinths out of her way, she had an idea. Carrying the plants under her arm, she ran home.
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。
3. 参考词汇：weave vt. & vi. (wove, woven) 编织
“Mama, will you teach me to weave?” asked Achenyo eagerly.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One afternoon, Achenyo held up her finished work made from water hyacinths.
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We had some rainstorms recently in Southern California. It was not common and when it did happen I couldn’t help thinking about those who had no home to go and had to stay all night and day out in the bad weather.
I was out with my kids and they requested cakes from a local shop that we usually go to. There are hungry people outside sometimes asking for coffee or a dollar.
On my way in, I noticed four people sitting outside who appeared to have had a hard night. Temperatures were down, the rain was heavy and icy winds were blowing throughout the night.
As I walked to my ear, I decided I would spare $20 and give each person I saw $5 to get something to eat. When I looked into my wallet, I found I had three $5 bills and five $1 bills. I walked over to the people in front of the shop, and realized a man on a bike had blocked my view of a lady sitting next to a man on the ground. I apologized for not seeing her and told her I hoped the man could share with her.
When I got to the last person, I gave him the five $1 bills. Everyone had a huge smile on their face. Then I saw the gentleman I had handed the five $1 bills to walk over to the lady and hand her $3. She was so happy and thanked him, saying he didn’t have to do that. He said that’s what he should do. That brought a huge smile on my face!
As I walked into my car, where my children sat eating their cakes, my eldest asked me what that was all about. I explained to him the situation I saw and he too had a huge smile on his face.
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。
Back home, my son told me he would do part-time jobs to earn money.
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Months later, my son asked me to buy food with his money for the homeless.
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I was lacking in everything needed to start a new friendship.
My parents moved to the town when they decided to look for new jobs but they didn’t realize I was really hurt when I said goodbye to my old friends. It felt awful to be a new student in the school and when my classmates were chatting, what I could do was to be caught up in my thoughts watching the clouds outside the window. I was not good at math or history; nor was I good at drawing or dancing. I was shy and timid (胆小的). I had a few friends back at my hometown and it seemed that they were the only ones who I could be friends with for my whole life. I felt I had achieved a point of saturation (饱和) with regard to having friends and I could make no further addition to my friends list. I was ashamed of myself, so I believed I deserved (应受) no notice from others until Emily came to my world.
Emily was fearless, outspoken and easy to go. She was everything I was not and I was too shy to come out of my shell. I met Emily in school almost every day and ye I never talked to her. We were in the same class but we were like poles apart. How I wished I could be like her or at least be a friend of hers!
It was another ordinary day. I was on the school bus back home, when I got up to get down the bus, my schoolbag was stuck in the armrest (扶手). I didn’t notice it and stood up with all my strength. Unfortunately, my schoolbag was torn apart and all the contents fell on the ground. I knelt down to pick them up. Suddenly, I saw a hand passing me some of the books.
注意：1.续写词数应为100左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
I looked up and found it was Emily who was helping me.
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续写的词数应为150左右。
The Christmas Spirit Strikes Again
I always dreamed of making a big surprise of a lifetime. Thanks to a little determination, some luck, and a generous helping of Christmas Spirit, my dream became a reality.
My family is Canadian, although my sister moved down to Australia a few years ago to study. She was graduating just before Christmas, but due to my own scholarly schedule back home, I would be unable to make it down in time for her graduation. She was understandably disappointed, and I felt guilty that I wasn’t able to be there for her on this special occasions.
While I was talking to my professor the week before my sister’s graduation, she commented, “Well, if you want to go, just go ahead!" I couldn’t believe my luck! I nearly jumped for joy. “Just make sure you get permission from administrator (行政主管)，” she added. My heart sank. The administration at my school was infamous for denying any sort of time-off requests. I almost didn’t bother asking, because I knew it would be a waste of time. But something in me decided to try, just in case. Maybe it was the hope that the Christmas Spirit would somehow affects the administrator at this time of year. When I returned home to check the reply in my inbox, I steeled myself for disappointment. I held my breath, opened the e-mail, and started to read. And re-read, just to make sure I’d understood. Approval? I couldn’t believe my luck!
Immediately, I called the airline. Unexpectedly, even during the busy Christmas season, I was able to change my ticket to arrive the day before my sister’s graduation. With news this fantastic, I was bursting to tell my sister. But, fingers on the dial((拨号盘), I paused. Wouldn’t it be much more fantastic if I could surprise her? What a state of shock she would be in! Slowly a great idea came to my mind. I decided a much more dramatic arrival than just a ring of the doorbell. What if I couldn’t arrive in a box?
I started to plot.
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I, hidden in the big box, heard the mailmen ringing my sister’s doorbell.
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