The Bicycle
When I was nine I needed to earn some money, so I asked Mr. Miceli, the newspaper publisher in my Chicago neighbourhood, about an after-school paper route. He agreed only if I had a bicycle.
My dad bought me a used bike, but right after that he fell ill and couldn’t teach me to ride. Mr. Miceli, however, merely asked to see the bike. So I walked to his garage, showed it to him and got the job.
At first, I filled my delivery bag with rolled papers over the handlebars and walked my bike down the sidewalks. But pushing a bike with a load of papers was awkward; after a few days I borrowed Mom’s two-wheeled shopping cart.
It took me longer to make my deliveries by cart, but I didn’t mind. I sent each paper to its proper destination. In rain or snow, I put Dad’s old raincoat over the cart to keep the papers dry. I got to meet everyone in the neighborhood — working-class people of Italian, German or Polish origins who were invariably kind to me.
When Dad returned from the hospital, he was too weak to resume his original job. Now we needed every penny we could raise to pay bills, so we sold the bike. Mr. Miceli must have known I wasn’t using a bike, but he said nothing about it to me.
On the Thursday evening before Christmas, 1951, I rang my first customer’s doorbell. Even though the lights were on, nobody answered, so I went on to the next house. No answer, nor did anyone respond at the next family on my route, or the one after.
I was very worried; I had to pay for my papers every Friday. And while it was almost Christmas, I never thought that everyone would be out shopping. So I was very happy when, going up the walkway to Mr. Gordon’s house, I heard music and voices. I rang the bell.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The door flew open, and Mr. Gordon dragged me inside.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After walking the bicycle home, I opened those envelopes.
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I was a vet in Yorkshire. One day I received a call from Mrs Tompkin asking me to cut the beak (喙) of her budgie (虎皮鹦鹉). I armed myself with a pair of clippers and stepped onto the narrow strip of pavement which separated the door from the road. A pleasant-looking red-haired woman answered my knock.
“I’m Mrs Dodds from next door,” she said. “I keep an eye on the old lady. She’s over eighty and lives alone.”
She led me into the cramped little room. “Here’s Mr Herriot coming to see Peter for you,” she said to the old woman who sat in a corner. Mrs Tompkin nodded and smiled, “Oh that’s good. Poor little fella can hardly eat with its long beak and I’m worried about him. He’s my only companion, you know.”
“Yes, I understand, Mrs Tompkin.” I looked at the cage by the window with the green budgie perched (栖息) inside. “These little birds can be wonderful company when they start chattering.”
She laughed, “Yes, but it’s a funny thing. Peter never has said that much. I think he’s lazy! But I just like having him with me.”
“Of course you do,” I said, “but he certainly needs attention now.”
The beak was greatly overgrown, curving away down till it touched the feathers of the breast. I would be able to revolutionize his life with one quick snip from my clippers. The way I was feeling this job was right up my street.
I opened the cage door and slowly inserted my hand.
“Come on, Peter,” I wheedled (哄骗). As I lifted him out, I felt in my pocket with the other hand for the clippers. Then I stopped.
The tiny head was no longer poking cheekily from my fingers but had fallen loosely to one side. The eyes were closed. He was dead.
Mrs Dodds and I looked at each other in horror. When I turned my head towards Mrs Tompkin, I was surprised to see that she was still nodding and smiling.
I drew her neighbor to one side. “Mrs Dodds, how much does she see?”
“Oh, she’s very short-sighted but she’s right vain despite her age. Never would she wear glasses. She’s hard of hearing, too.”
“Well, look,” I said. My heart was still pounding. “I just don’t know what to do. If I tell her about this, the shock will be terrible. Anything could happen.”
Mrs Dodds nodded, stricken-faced. “Yes, you’re right. She’s that attached to the little thing.”
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 decided to do something for her instead of telling her the truth.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a long time before I went to see how Mrs Tompkin got along with the bird I bought for her.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On a cold windy day, a poor boy tried to pay his way through school by selling goods door to door. Wandering on the street, he was not a successful seller. What’s worse, he found that he only had one dime left. His empty stomach reminded him constantly that for days he hadn’t eaten anything. He had no choice but to beg for a meal at the next house. Hesitantly he knocked at a door, thinking about what to say when it was opened. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. “What can I do for you?” asked the young woman. The boy paused for a while, “Would you please give me some...a drink of water?” the boy dared not to look directly into her eyes. She looked at the bony boy and thought he might need something to give him energy so she brought him a glass of milk. His head rising and small hands taking the cup, he drank it up slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied with a warm smile on her face. “My mother has taught me never to accept pay for a kindness.”Deeply moved, he said sincerely, “Then I shall thank you from the bottom of my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but it also increased his faith in the whole human race. As a matter of fact, he was about to give up and quit before that point.
Years later the young woman became critically ill. However, the local doctors were unable to give an effective medical treatment. Finally they sent her to a hospital in the big city, where specialists can be called in to cure her rare disease. Among those famous specialists, Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately, he rose and went down through the hospital hall into her room.
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。
Dressed in his doctor’s gown, he went in to see her.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The bill was sent to her room.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Whenever Abigail opened the door to her aunt’s place for an after-school visit, she was greeted with the sight of her 3-year-old niece, sitting on the floor drawing with crayons. “She’s obsessed (着迷的),” said her aunt.“Gosh, I’m envious of a 3-year-old then,” Abigail thought to herself.
Every day, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Abigail would go over to look at herself in the mirror, thinking the same thing: I am just so…ordinary. It all started once she entered middle school, where her grades in all subjects were OK but not great, and she couldn’t sing or dance that well, or play sports. She wasn’t even good at making jokes as she was so shy. As she continued to go down the same mind spiral (漩涡) of “you’re not good enough, what kind of job could you get in the future being someone so ordinary?”, she checked the clock and rushed out the door to get to school on time.
Along the way, she saw Peter and Sally walking ahead of her. Two of the class’s top students, they were just so smart and dedicated. Peter always stayed behind after math class to continue working on the equations (方程式). He was, like her niece was with drawing, obsessed and talented.
A few mornings later in class, something seemed a bit off with Abigail’s teacher, Mr Fry. He was normally quite active, moving quickly from the whiteboard to the podium (讲台) to explain some new knowledge points. But that morning, Abigail noticed that he seemed slower, not very with it. Then, as he asked the students to copy down a math equation, Mr Fry began shaking and then started to fall. Immediately, Abigail rushed from her sea t in the fourth row, managing to catch him just in time. He had fainted. “Someone go get the head teacher now!” yelled Abigail in a loud, clear voice. Fifteen minutes later, Abigail and her classmates watched out the classroom window at Mr Fry being wheeled across the parking lot on a stretcher (担架) to be put into an ambulance.
After two weeks off, Mr Fry was back, entering the classroom again to a round of applause from the students. His presence brought a sense of relief and normalcy to the room, easing their worry about his sudden illness.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As soon as the lunch bell rang, Mr Fry pulled Abigail aside.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Extraordinary”, the word echoed in Abigail’s mind as walked home from school that day.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When one of our regular customers named Violet entered the store where I worked, I immediately greeted her with a big smile. She wore her usual sweater and her white hair was combed in its natural wave. The only thing missing was her bright smile.
“You may remember my husband passed away two months ago,” she said. “Our grandson feels really sad without him.” Violet told me her husband had played and shared many interesting stories with their eleven-year-old grandson and they had built a very close relationship. So she was looking for something to make her grandson happy again.
We searched the store shelves for a right gift to help reduce her grandson’s pain. “What about this?” I suggested, pointing to a painting of a boy walking through the darkened forest. Violet and I stood side-by-side and stared at this painting for a long time.
“That would be perfect,” Violet said. “If only I had that much money.” I hesitated (犹豫). Though we had no discount, I told Violet that there was a special twenty-percent discount for her. “That’s kind of you, but it’s still more than I can afford,” she said with her head down. “I only have twenty dollars to spend.” We were silent for a while. Then，a thirty-something man entered the store. I greeted him and said, “I’ll be right with you.”
“No hurry,” said the man. He slowly stood behind us. “Nice painting,” he said to Violet. “Are you going to buy it?” “Well,” Violet answered and then went on to tell him her hesitation.
After listening to her story, the man said, “I’ll pay the balance.” Violet raised a gentle protest (反对). “I couldn’t let you do that.” The man said, “I simply enjoy helping people. Besides, this painting is perfect for your grandson.”
Paragraph 1：The man reached up to remove the painting from the wall and asked me to wrap it up.
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I turned to the man and asked if I could help him.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Four-legged Guardian Angel
Snow had just melted off the ground that April day at our house in Regina Beach. I had just cleaned up the pool in preparation for selling the house. The year before, I had lost my job, and now our financial situation was depressing. Finally, I had put the home on the market. Even worse, I would have to give up my beloved Great Dane (大丹犬), Brigitte, because I could no longer afford the cost of feeding it. The thought of losing the dog and our beautiful home was almost more than I could bear.
Deep in discouragement, I sat typing up my application letters. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my thirteen-month-old son, Forrest, as he lay on the carpet, playing near our big, gentle Brigitte. It seemed as if Brigitte was always meant to be in this family and she turned out to be a perfect companion.
Brigitte came to our house on Christmas eve when the doorbell rang and I was sure some of my Christmas packages had arrived. I ran to the door but no one was there. I sensed something and looked down, only to find a beautiful Great Dane sitting there, looking up at me with big, intelligent eyes. Perhaps, someone had found the puppy somewhere and left her there, and then rang the doorbell and ran away. They accurately guessed I would welcome an additional family member and take care of her.
Thinking of these, I couldn’t help sighing and went straight back to work. However, I hadn’t typed more than two sentences when Brigitte began barking and running back and forth to the sliding glass door overlooking our pool.
I raced to see what was happening and noticed that the sliding door was slightly open. Suddenly, I realized Forrest was nowhere to be seen. In panic, I opened the door and ran outside.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
There I was surprised to see Brigitte, who was terrified of water, dive into the pool.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, the doctor said Forrest was all right and could be released from hospital.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was looking forward to our morning trip with my son Scott to the Collingswood Flea Market (跳蚤市场). It was a typical November day, freezing in the shade and warm in the sun. A perfect day for outdoor shopping.
Scott and I walked up and down looking at the many tables covered with Christmas decorations along with the usual clothes and jewelry, but we simply bought a few small items. After an hour of walking with the cold wind blowing, we decided to go home for lunch. On our way, we made a quick stop at Wawa for those delicious soft, salted pretzels (椒盐卷). Scott ran into the store while I waited in the car. Sitting alone, I was rubbing my cold hands together when I noticed that my engagement ring (订婚戒指) was missing. I knew I’d been wearing it when we’d visited a jewelry stand earlier, and I hadn’t taken it off. My heart was racing now.
When I informed Scott of the missing ring he couldn’t believe it either. “Mom, if you had worn gloves, it wouldn’t have fallen off your finger. Look in your pockets and handbag!” We searched the car and searched my clothes, too. No ring! It must have fallen off my finger in the cold.
We headed back to the flea market and parked in the same spot as before. We checked that area, and then began walking up and down the maze (迷宫) of tables while looking at the ground. Leaves blew in the wind and people were everywhere. Hundreds of feet passed by and I began getting lightheaded as I attentively looked at the ground. It was an expensive engagement ring my husband had given me years earlier. I had never lost or misplaced it in all that time... until now.
I was annoyed with myself for having lost the ring. We drove home as I tried to hold back my tears.
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。
After lunch we decided to return to the flea market.
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I took the left side of the main road and Scott the right.
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