I’m retired and not responsible for much these days. I don’t have school-age children who require help with their homework. I sleep in when I choose, do a little writing and repair a few things around the house. My wife’s work, on the other hand, is never-ending. Diana takes care of her parents in their mid-nineties, tends to home and garden, volunteers for various community organizations, and is a gold-star grandmother. She is also a dedicated cat lover, and cats have always been her pet of choice.
All that changed when two small black-and-brown dogs scampered into our yard and melted Diana’s heart. It happened not long ago. The dogs appeared unannounced and had been seen by hikers on numerous occasions, roaming the woods like tiny lost souls. They were homeless dogs, as wild as the wind. No one could get within 100 yards of them. In their struggle for survival, the two had figured out a way to avoid people and find food and shelter in the wilderness.
They were undeniably cute and appealing. Many of our neighbors tried to lure them in with treats, but the tiny dogs remained unapproachable. My wife began leaving tasty food out, slowly moving the food bowl closer with each feeding. As days passed, they ventured closer and closer. Diana made a conscious effort not to frighten them. She called them to dinner with a comforting voice, letting them know they were safe. It was important that they trusted her. Why? She was looking for something to mother. For Diana, love is the medicine to everything, and nothing tugged at her heartstrings more than a hungry and homeless animal.
Diana named them “Emma” and “Daisy” and she called the dogs her “little wolves.” Initially, they would not let her touch them. As days turned into weeks, their bond slowly grew. Soon, Diana was petting them. Next, they were eating from her hand. Before long, she had them sitting in her lap and following her around the yard. And poof! My wife was instantly transformed from cat lady to dog lady.
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。
Paragraph 1:
It wasn’t long before the dogs were sleeping in the house and assuming their role as “watchdogs”.
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Paragraph 2:
Time in the yard feels like a second childhood with Daisy and Emma playing about our feet.
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Teddy was a bear of habit. Every morning he woke up at the same time, stretched, scratched, and yawned（打哈欠）. Every morning the bees in his yard delivered three jars of honey so that Teddy ate the same breakfast he’d eaten since he was a hairy baby: toast a honey and tea with extra honey.
Next came his daily routine: practicing the rolling skill and running errands（做杂事）. At night he’d read, and then have one last cup of honey tea before bed.
Life was sweet. Until one morning ...
One morning something abnormal had happened. There was no honey. The bees had gone on strike!
Teddy’s breakfast wasn’t the same without honey. Without his honey tea, he couldn’t practice rolling, or run errands, or read at night. Teddy became deeply discouraged.
Just then he heard someone say, “Hey, you! In the fur coat! ” It was a very small bee with a very loud voice. “We need to talk! ” said the bee.
“Talk? Hmmph! ” complained Teddy. “I let you all live in my yard. All I ask for is a few jars of honey. You should be grateful rather than strike! ”
“A few jars? ” said the bee. “Buddy, we deliver three jars of honey to you every day, every month, every year! Do the maths, Einstein. ”
“The hive（蜂巢）is in ruins! ” the bee continued. “It’s all we can do to keep the walls from falling in! The roof leaks! Wind blows through the holes! ”
The bee showed Teddy the garden. “Look! ”the bee said. “Weeds everywhere. We have to fly miles away to find enough flowers to make our honey. So we voted to strike. ”
“You are taking us for granted. ” the bee declared. “You want honey? We won’t come back unless things have changed. It’s up to you, bear. ” And with that, the very small bee flew off.
The thought of losing his honey upset Teddy greatly. He sat down to think about the situation. “Maybe I’ve been too selfish. ” Teddy said to himself. “I’ve never thought about what the bees need. How can I make this right? ”
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。
Soon Teddy had an idea of what to do.
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Spring came and Teddy was expecting the bees.
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The Theobroma Cacao tree, to use its scientific name, provides us with one of the world's most delicious foods—chocolate! Theobroma is a Greek word meaning 4food of the gods. The tree originally comes from the Amazon region of South America. Hand-sized pods that grow on the tree contain cacao seeds—often called ‘cocoa beans’. These seeds，or beans，are used to make chocolate.
The earliest use and consumption of cacao beans dates back to around 1000 B.C. Later, the Mayan and Aztec civilizations consumed cacao as a drink. They often flavored it with ingredients such as chili peppers, and other spices. It is believed that drinking cups of chocolate was important in Mayan rituals such as wedding ceremonies. Consuming cacao was also believed to have positive effects on health. In Peru, eating or drinking a mixture of chocolate and chili was said to be good for the stomach. The Aztecs thought it could even cure sicknesses!
Christopher Columbus, along with Spanish explorers, made his fourth voyage across the Atlantic in the early 1500s, and arrived on the coast of Honduras. It was at this time that he first discovered the value of cocoa beans，which were used as currency in many parts of Central America.
In the sixteenth century, chocolate was taken back to Spain by Hernando Cortez, another explorer. The Spanish people added ingredients such as sugar and vanilla to make it sweet. It later spread to France in the seventeenth century. The popularity of chocolate continued to spread further across Europe and the Americas. The only Asian country to adopt it at that time, though, was the Philippines, which the Spanish invaded in the sixteenth century.
As chocolate became more popular, the demand for people to work on the cocoa plantations increased. Slaves were brought to the Americas from Africa to farm the cocoa. Eventually, the cacao tree was taken to
Africa and cultivation(m) began there. Today, the African plantations provide almost seventy percent of the world's cacao, compared with one and a half percent from Mexico.
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【推荐3】阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
Our family has two dogs, Cady and Casey. We took in both the mixed breed dogs after they were abandoned in the country. We live in an area between city and country. This area is rich with farmland, woods and various animals. Both of our dogs constantly want to run and will do so at any given opportunity. I have to keep them chained, even though my yard is fenced, so that I do not have to pay any fines for recovering them from the city pound (流浪狗收留所).
This morning I made the silly mistake of waiting until the last possible minute to put the dogs out. As I was walking the first one out, the second ran past me in a surprisingly fast move and she was gone. I called for her to return, but she chose to ignore my commands and headed off for a day of joy. Having a disobedient dog really upset me. I said goodbye to the dog and went about my business. Anyway, when I picked my daughter up from school, I just happened to mention that Cady might be missing. “I’ll tell you this! If she has been caught by the K9 cops (警察), I will not be paying her fines this time,” I said.
I noticed that my daughter had her head turned away from me and was silent for over 5 minutes. I asked, “Are you mad at me?” “Yes, I am,” she replied, now looking at me calmly. “Why does this upset you so much?” I wondered out loud. “Cady obviously does not care for her living arrangements here, or she would not runoff every time she has a chance, would she?” I cleverly remarked.
I have never noticed my daughter spending much time with this dog, so I could not imagine that the thought of losing her would be so painful. In my mind I have given Cady a nice home. If she is silly enough to leave all that behind to chase some neighbor’s cows, then “goodbye” is my attitude.
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。
I saw tear swelling up in my daughter’s eyes.
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After along and stressful night, we finally got a call from the city pound.
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It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The streams were long gone back into the earth. If we didn’t see any rain soon we would lose everything. It was on that day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the only miracle I have seen in my life.
I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. I could only see his back. He wasn’t walking in his usual way. He was obviously walking with a great effort, trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. I went back to making sandwiches, thinking that whatever he had been doing was completed. Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that unusual way toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey.
He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he carried. I followed him secretly as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns(刺) slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He might have a much greater purpose, I thought. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing sight. Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them, at the sight of which I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck(雄鹿) was dangerously close. But the buck didn’t threaten him nor even move as Billy knelt down. And then I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from thirst and heat, lift its head with great effort to lap (舔)up the water cupped in my beautiful boy’s hands.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在相应的位置作答。
When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run back to the house.
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Instead of scolding him like his father, I decided to help him.
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Russ Fee was asleep inside his tent last summer when a series of screams jolted him awake. Throwing on his shoes, he ran out to investigate. Fee and his wife were traveling through Canada’s Banff National Park to enjoy its stunning beauty and awesome wildlife. It was the latter he now encountered. Although it was dark, Fee could detect a neighboring tent in a mess. Backing out was a wolf, dragging something in his teeth. That thing was a man.
Moments earlier, Elisa and Matt Rispoli, from New Jersey, were asleep with their two young children when the wolf tore into their tent. It was like something out of a horror movie. For three minutes Matt threw his body in front of Elisa and the boys who would stand little chance of running faster than a wolf and fought the wolf with bare hands. Atone point, Matt got the upper hand, pinning the wolf to the ground. But the wolf clamped its jaw onto Matt’s arm, set its powerful legs, and began tugging Matt outside while Elisa was pulling on his legs trying to get him back.
It was then that Russ Fee entered the picture. He ran at the beast, kicking it like he was kicking in a door. The wolf dropped Matt and merged from the tent. Wolves are large, Fee felt like he had punched someone that was way out of his weight class. He could feel its heavy breath facing and he could smell the terrible pungent (刺激性) ordor it emitted fishy, oily and bloody.
The wolf turned its anger on Fee, exposing his sharp teeth and snarling at him. Terrified, Fee withdrew a bit. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his minivan was not far away. Meanwhile, panicked as they were, the two boys concealed themselves at a safe distance from the battle. The elder boy used the satellite phone to call for help.
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。
Matt, his arms bloodied, flew out of the tent to resume the battle.
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Just at that moment, a police car came, along with an ambulance.
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The sun began to rise in the sky, bathing the farm in golden light.
The farmer went to the doghouse as usual, but today, it’s different, the puppies in the doghouse have grown up old enough for sell. He sighed, a small farm can not afford all of the cute little things, though they are cute enough to melt people’s hearts.
He painted a sign advertising the puppies and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his fence. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he decided to rest for a little while, just then he felt a slight pat on his waist. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. “Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.” “Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat of the back of his neck “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money, I don’t think you can make such big decision by yourself.”
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer “I’ve got 89 cents. Is that enough at least to take a look?” “Sure,” smiled the farmer. A warm stream suddenly rushed through his heart. “You can have more than one look and play with them for a while for free before they find their owners. At your service any time.” And with that, he let out a whistle “Here Dolly!” he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp (斜坡) ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.
The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little fur ball appeared, this puppy noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then the little puppy began awkwardly wobbling (晃动、摇晃) toward the others, doing its best to catch up.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
“I want that one,” the little boy said quickly pointing to it.
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Suddenly, the boy began rolling up one leg of his trousers. It was empty!
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The economic downturn caught us. We sold our ranch and moved to town, Mother had decided to open a day nursery. She had had no training, but that didn’t stand in her way. She sent away for correspondence courses in child care, did the lessons and in six months formally qualified herself for the task. It wasn’t long before she had a full enrollment and a waiting list. I accepted all this as a perfectly normal instance of Mother’s ability. But neither the nursery nor the motel my parents bought later had provided enough income to send my sister and me to college. In two years I would be ready for college. Time was running out, and Mother was anxious for ways to save money. It was clear that Dad could do no more than he was doing already — farming 80 acres in addition to holding a full-time job. A few months after we’d sold the motel, Mother arrived home with a used green typewriter.
“That’s all we can afford,” Mother said. “It’s good enough to learn on.” And from that day on, as soon as the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Mother would disappear into her sewing room to practice. The slow tap, tap, tap went on some nights until midnight. Soon I heard Mother got a job at the radio station. I was not the least bit surprised, or impressed. But she was wild with joy.
Monday, after her first day at work, I could see that the excitement was gone.
Tuesday, Dad made dinner and cleaned the kitchen. Mother stayed in her sewing room, practicing. “Is Mother all right?” I asked Dad. “She’s having a little trouble with her typing,” he said. “She needs to practice. I think she’d appreciate it if we all helped out a bit more. You might just remember that she is working primarily so you can go to college.”
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。
Wednesday, I arrived home earlier and was surprised by what I saw — Mother was crying in the corner of the couch.
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Mother took another job earning half, but the evening practice sessions on the old green typewriter continued.
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Ellie was only eight years old when a tsunami(海啸)hit her old neighborhood. She had been out of town on a school trip when disaster struck, but her parents, Jude and Rachel, were lost during the tragedy.
With her house left in complete ruin, all Ellie had left was the bag she had packed for her school trip. As the young girl had nowhere else to go, her grandmother Louisa welcomed Ellie into her home. Louisa lived in a different state to Ellie’s hometown, which meant that Ellie needed to transfer to a new school. She felt alone and isolated, away from her old friends and in a new environment.
Ellie’s grandmother was already retired and barely had enough money to cover their needs. To make matters worse, Jude and Rachel’s belongings were destroyed in the tsunami. Louisa couldn’t afford to buy Ellie new clothes. Therefore, when Ellie’s clothes were visibly small as she grew taller, she felt very embarrassed. She didn’t want to attend class and would often hide in the bathrooms. After school, she would run home before her classmates could see her.
Ellie kept a notebook full of designs. Actually, Ellie’s mother was a seamstress (女裁缝)and taught Ellie how to sew when she was very young. Ellie often dreamed of how she would dress if she were rich.
Meanwhile, Ellie’s teacher, Mrs. Roberts, began to notice her abnormality from class. One day, she decided to get to the bottom of the situation and called Louisa. That’s when the older woman tearfully explained to Mrs. Roberts that Ellie had lost everything and felt self-conscious(难为情的). “I’ve found some of her drawings about the clothes design. I think she’s ashamed that I can’t afford to buy her new clothes for school,” Louisa explained. Mrs. Roberts had a lot of sympathy for the girl, who had already suffered due to the tsunami.
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。
Mrs. Roberts then appealed to her students to donate clothes to Ellie.
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The next morning, Ellie went to school wearing the clothes she redesigned.
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Don Montero was the owner of one of the grandest hotels in Spain. He was a workaholic and ignored everything else in the pursuit of earning more money. He did not have any family or children. He even failed his health for his business. With the passage of time, he got old, and his health worsened. He started to become very ill. At a visit to the doctor, he came to know that he had cancer and that it was also in its last stage. His doctor told him that his disease was incurable, and he didn’t have much time left. He became very disappointed and anxious.
One day he thought, “I am a rich person, and still, I feel so helpless. How could those poor people survive in this harsh world?” He thought of checking how his staff treated the poor in his hotels as he always told his staff members to treat rich and poor equally. He dressed up as a beggar and went to his most expensive central hotel. When he reached the door, the security did not even let him in and insulted (辱骂) him badly. Seeing the attitude of his staff with the poor, he was left heartbroken.
Then he went to his other hotels and was left surprised by seeing the ill attitude of his staff with him. All of them insulted him and treated him without any sympathy. Finally, he decided to visit his hotel that was in a town out of the city. This hotel was surrounded by greenery and remained packed (挤满人的) almost all the time. He approached this hotel, and for the first time, the security guard did not wave him away with disrespect. Instead, he called the manager, and the manager told Don to wait for a little as the hotel was currently packed.
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。
Don went outside and waited for almost two hours, but nobody invited him back in.
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The manager smiled and answered, “Because I was helped by the owner of this hotel, Don Montero.”
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