It was Christmastime 1974. I was ten years old, but I was not looking forward to Christmas. The previous spring my mother had moved our family from rural Alabama to sunny Southern California. My little brother Todd, and I were leaving behind all of our extended family. This would be my first Christmas away from Alabama.
I was a fat, awkward child with a high-pitched voice and a heavy southern accent. My first day at my new school, I went to the front of my fourth grade class to introduce myself. All I said was my name and where I was from. The class burst into laughter with jeers of “He talks funny”. It took the teacher two minutes to restore order.
I was so disappointed that I went to a gas station afterschool and used the phone booth (亭子) there to place a call to my grandmother. I was going to ask her whether I could return to Alabama and live with her and whether she would send me the money for a bus ticket home. But the line was busy, and despite several attempts, I didn’t get through.
My Granny was everything good about Christmas. Her language of love was food. She would spend weeks cooking for Christmas Eve when all of her children and grandchildren would gather at her house. Every favorite dish dessert and cakes was made. Her table and sideboard groaned (发吱嘎声) under the weight of the food. My cousins, my brother and I would burst through her backdoor, our arrival announced by the rhyme of five silver bells, which hung on the door. Her house was tiny but to us children, it was glorious.
She sewed new night dresses for all of her grandchildren. She searched catalogs, newspaper advertisements, and stores all over town to get us exactly the toys we had requested. She was my comfort. She was magical. I missed her desperately.
Fortunately, there was only one week left before the Christmas break. I was longing for my familiar southern Christmas.
注意：1.续写的词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The next morning, a large enough package from Granny was delivered to our new house.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Just then the phone rang.
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Having already obtained many medals since starting to play golf at the age of ten, Larry, at sixteen, had developed into one of the best young golf prospects in the country. And he was elected the most valuable player of his high school team. Following his junior year, Larry matched himself against seventy-four of the nation’s best junior golfers in national competitions, and he performed better than the majority of them.
Larry’s performance drew the interest of coaches from some of the best college golf teams in the country. Wanting to stay close to home, he accepted a scholarship to the University of Houston. “Just think, everything will be taken care of, and I’ll be close to home. And it won’t cost us anything,” Larry told his mother, Missy. “And I’ll be playing for one of the best college teams in the country.”
Fighting back tears, Missy hugged her son, knowing he had worked so hard to win a scholarship to make things easier for her. That summer, Larry worked even harder than ever on his golf game, hitting hundreds of balls daily and taking a part-time job in a golf club at night to prepare for college.
Late that summer, unfortunately, Larry had a terrible car accident. “I’m sorry, but we have to cut off your son’s arm below the elbow (肘),”one doctor told Larry’s parents. “Is he going to be all right?” Missy asked. “We don’t know,” the doctor answered.
Upset, Larry’s father wondered about his son’s reaction to the loss of his left arm. “How will Larry ever get along without golf?” he thought. He also realized there was a far more pressing matter than an unclear golf career. “They’ve got to save Larry’s life,” he said to himself. “That’s all that matters now.”
After almost ninety days, Larry’s condition finally improved and he was no longer in danger. One night Larry awakened, found his left hand missing, and cried helplessly. His father raced to the hospital. “Dad, how am I ever going to play golf?” he asked.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
“Honey, you still have one arm left,” his father replied.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Larry’s father reached out to various companies and asked if they could design an artificial hand for Larry.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________For 19-year-old Stuart’s father, Peter, his family was his strength and pride.“Together we achieve but divided, we fall,” he often told his four sons, and Stuart was the youngest. Besides family, there was something else that Peter, 56, cherished and believed kept his family united and strong. It was his treasured farm that was passed on from generation to generation.
One day, however, his 19-year-old son, Stuart, approached his dad and told him he wanted his share of the fortune so that he could move to the city and start living his life alone. It was a terrible blow to Peter, who never wished to see his family break.
“But, you don’t know much about city life. I am afraid you’d wander like a lost lamb. This is your family, and we will always support you,” Peter disappointedly said as soon as Stuart told him his intention to leave the house.
“Dad, I’m nineteen, and I have heard plenty about the city from my friends. I don’t want to waste my time and energy farming with you. I have a purpose in life, and I don’t want to become a farmer like you.”
Peter tried changing his mind. “Son, I can give you your share of the fortune. But dear, this is too early to decide.” However, Stuart insisted on going out, so Peter had to give him his share.
Three years went by. Neither Peter nor his family heard anything about Stuart. One day, when the family least expected it, they saw a young man walk toward them. As he neared, they saw his old and dirty clothes and a face that had lost its charm. It was Stuart! Peter was shocked. “Daddy, I need your help ... I’m hungry,” Stuart cried.
“Oh, my dear ... Please sit down first,” Peter said and brought some tea and bread for him. Then Peter asked why he was in such a poor situation.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Stuart said he took the money and went to the city.
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Overwhelmed by (被震撼)their love, Stuart was moved to tears.
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I couldn't believe that my father shouted at me and called me a fool! In all my 18 years, I'd never heard him say anything like that to anyone. But then, I had never shouted the words "I hate you!" in his face, either. I guess we were both pretty angry. I had been saving money from my part-time job for three years and now I wanted to use it to buy a car. He wanted me to save it for college expenses.
I knew that we both needed time to cool off. I left him sitting at the kitchen table, ran down the stairs to the driveway, and jumped on my bike. I headed for the road that runs along the river. It's usually pretty quiet there and I've found that it's a good place to go to when l need to think something out. Riding along, I kept thinking over and over, "But it's my money! I earned it!" Little by little, I calmed down. Circling back toward town later, I stopped in the park. I had a drink of water and decided to avoid Dad for the rest of the day.
He must have had the same idea—about avoiding me, that is. He didn't come up to my room to say goodnight, and I didn't go downstairs. I couldn't get to sleep that night. I kept going over our argument in my mind. He felt I didn't really need a car. After all, I could use his anytime I wanted to. In addition, he paid for my driver's insurance and bought all the gas. It's just that all my friends were buying their own cars and I wanted one of my own. I really wanted that car. I finally fell asleep and when I woke up I didn't really change my mind. But I felt a little better.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
I guess Dad was feeling a little better, too.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After a moment, I was able to speak.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I heard her sing when I opened the door. And I saw my crippled(跛腿的) grandmother was dancing. I was absolutely shocked. Her legs were crippled as long as I could remember. She once was the pet of the dancing world. And then she had her accident and it was all over. I read that in an old newspaper. She turned around and saw me. Grandmother sighed and turned towards the kitchen. I followed her and saw she was walking fine. So, out of curiosity, I asked her “what’s going on?”
Oh Dear, let me share a little story of mine. “When your grandfather went to war, I was so afraid of losing him, the only way I could stay sane was to dance. And I became very good. Critics praised me, the public loved me, but all I could feel was the ache in my heart, not knowing whether the love of my life would ever return. Then I went home and reread his letters until I fell asleep. He always ended his letters with‘You are my joy. I love you with my life’ and after that he wrote his name. And then one day a letter came. There were only three sentences: ‘I have lost my leg. I give you back your freedom. It is best you forget about me.’”
“I made my decision there and then. I bought myself a cane and start pretending to be crippled. I told a reporter I had a car accident, and couldn’t dance again. Then I went to see your grandfather.” I told him “you’re not the only one who lost a leg; I am not going to let you feel sorry for yourself. There is a whole life waiting for us out there! I don’t intend to be sorry for myself, so youd better snap out of it too.” Grandmother giggled and continued. “I limped toward him and showed him two engagement rings. ‘Now show me you are still a man,’ I said, ‘I won’t ask again.’ He bent to take his cane from the ground and struggled out of that wheelchair. And so he managed it on his own and walked to me and never sat in a wheelchair again in his life.”
I looked at the drawing on the kitchen wall, sketched by my grandfather. “You are my Joy. I love you with my life.” I murmured quietly.
注意：所续写短文的词数应为150左右。
Grandmother looked me in the eyes and asked me to make a promise.
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A few years went by. Six months after grandmother’s funeral .
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Sarah couldn’t really remember when she and Laura became best friends. But they had been really close. They had lunch together in the school cafeteria, they went to the same book club, and they even had parties in each other’s house several times. As a matter of fact, the two girls had quite different personalities. Sarah was always confident and straightforward. In comparison, Laura was a bit quiet, but she was definitely the sweetest person Sarah had known.
On the first day of the new semester, Sarah couldn’t wait to meet Laura and tell her everything about her summer vacation. However, the moment she saw Laura enter the classroom, she was surprised. What could have happened to Laura? Why did she gain so much weight? Sarah knew it would be inappropriate if she raised the questions but she couldn’t resist the curiosity. “Since we are best friends, she knows I don’t mean any harm,” she thought. Thus, she asked, “Why did you get so fat?”
The instant Sarah said it, she realized she had made a mistake. People standing by began to laugh and point. Poor Laura, apparently shocked and offended by the question, stood still, tears welling up in her eyes. When she came to herself, she ran out of the classroom.
The next few days was very hard for Sarah. Whenever she reached out to Laura, Laura would walk away on purpose or pretended that she hadn’t seen Sarah. At first, Sarah was truly sorry for hurting Laura’s feelings. But as she tried several times in vain to make up with Laura, Sarah became angry. “Enough is enough,” she thought. However, Sarah couldn’t help feeling regretful because deep down she knew it was her fault.
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。
One day after school, Sarah stopped Laura.
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Touched by Sarah’s sincere words, Laura was hesitant.
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I was eight years old and lived in Toowoomba, Australia in 1950. My mother was in great pain from polio (小儿麻痹症). She wished to visit specialists in London.
The day before we boarded the ship, my father said goodbye to his five-year-old Australian cattle dog, Spider, who was loved by us all. My father’s friend Sandy was to be his guardian while we were overseas.
Six weeks later, Sandy told my father that Spider had run away. I would always remember my father’s sad face when he read the news. Sandy had advertised in the newspaper again and again, but Spider was never found. It seemed Spider just kept running and searching for us. My mother thought Spider would be killed. But our family thought that Dad held a secret hope that Spider was still alive.
We sailed back to Australia two years later and re-established our home in Toowoomba. My father immediately began his own search for Spider. However, many false calls and information meant that a huge atmosphere of disappointment hung over our home.
One cold Saturday morning eight months after our return, my father had a call from Gin Gin, 375 kilometers from Toowoomba. An elderly lady told my father she was just catching sight of a dog looking like Spider in her old farm.
That was enough for my father to stop my homework. My mother said to him, “Ian, this has to stop. You will be driving miles in the bush!”But we set off in the end.
Five and a half hours later, we arrived. The elderly lady invited us into an old bush kitchen for tea. My father was anxious to see the yellow dog. So we followed her to the old farm.
Sadly, she then told my father that the dog hadn’t been around. My father had a strange look in his eyes.
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。
My father put two fingers in his mouth and did his special whistle for Spider.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the evening, we arrived home with Spider.
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