The moment my son Joe knew I was going to have another baby, he tried his best to stay out of our lives. By the time our daughter Molly was due to be born, I had grown accustomed to his embarrassment and animosity (敌意). I had grown accustomed to a lot of things, not the least of which was having an unexpected child at the age of thirty-nine. My husband, to his eternal credit, was delighted. Throughout it all, Joe rarely spoke to me, except to say, “You don’t have to come to my school,” and — after a marathon baby naming conference—“Call her Molly, the name of my friend’s dog.”
When Molly finally arrived, tiny, quiet and perfect, four family arms were there to draw her close. But Joe’s remained tightly crossed over his chest, on the far side of the hospital room I signed to him to come closer but he shook his head slightly. I could see him standing there, arms still folded, staring straight ahead.
Joe stayed away at a friend’s cottage when Molly and I came home from the hospital. He was still gone ten days later when I took our daughter for her first check-up. He arrived home just as I was coming back, tears streaming down my face. “The doctor thinks she might have a hearing problem,” I sobbed. “She’s too quiet she’s not responding like she should. We have to have her tested.”
As my husband comforted me, downplaying my worry, I noticed that Joe had stopped beside the baby, sound asleep in her car seat. He reached out to her, shifting her slightly away from a bump (隆起) in the carpet. “She’s okay,” he said, looking down at her. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s just little.”
Three months later as I walked the floor at 4:00 A. M. with a crying and inconsolable (难以安抚的) (and otherwise perfectly healthy) baby in my arms, I dragged myself into Joe’s room and woke him up “Joe, could you take her? Just for a few minutes? I can’t settle her down, Dad’s on business, and I just really need a break.”
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。
Saying nothing, Joe took his little sister from me.
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Seeing Molly sleeping peacefully in Joe’s bed, I walked out, followed by Joe.
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I used to enjoy going to my aunt’s flower farm. But not recently, because my newly born sister, Rosa, was settled in my old bedroom. For many years, I stored my books and toys in that small room. But now it was changed into her baby room. Both my space and my old life were gone.
One sunny morning, my aunt took me to her farm again. When we arrived there, my aunt said I could pick some flowers for my parents. I used to love this, but today I was so overcome with tired nest and envy that I did not move.
“Why bother to bother them flowers when they are enjoying Rosa at home without me?” I thought while silently helping mg aunt arrange flowers.
“Your mother told me that there hadn’t been much sleep recently for any of you,” my aunt said.
“The alarm clock in Rosa’s room kept going off,” I complained with a huge yawn(哈欠).
I remember that I had to walk around the house like a worn-out mouse when your mother was a baby. I spent the first months hating her so much, “my aunt laughed.” But you and my mother seem so close,” I said, guiltily hiding away my envy of Rosa.” “Now, we are. But it took me years to get used to the role of being a big sister,” she said and pulled me into her arms. “It really takes time, you know.”
A few seconds later, my aunt took me for a walk along the road which was dotted with beautiful flowers. I began to pick the little flowers as we talked. It was like collecting my childhood memories. I remembered how I’d made flower chains with my father, while giving each other the silliest names such as Princess of Snacks and King of Junk Food. Little by little, my face lit up and the flowers reminded me of the bright colors in my baby sister’s room. “Is she awake?” I wondered.
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。
Suddenly, I saw my parents walking towards me along the road.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the picnic, we went to pick some flowers.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was 400 meters from the finish line when my legs stopped working during the State cross-country race. In a moment faster than I could imagine, I watched my dreams crash helplessly to the ground. Lifting my face from the dirt, I looked up and saw my dad’s face.
I was the fastest runner on my team, and I was supposed to make it into the top fifteen. We had been working towards this race for three years. It was everything to me, and it was everything to my dad. He was a runner and was proud of my success in running.
He made it to every race, even flying home early from business trips to see me run. He pushed me. He cheered for me. He believed in me. We pounded miles and miles into our running shoes, marking with every step the path to greatness. It was a dream passed on from one generation to the next.
I’ll never forget that day. It was hotter than normal — too hot, I waited for the gun to fire. This was the day we had waited so long for. I glanced at the crowd; dozens of familiar faces from school came into my view. They had come for me. I saw my dad set his watch, worry and excitement appeared on his face. Adrenaline (肾上腺素) flowed through my body, and the race began.
For the first 2.5 miles, I felt great. I’d never been so ready for something. Determination focused my mind and guided my steps. As in all of my races, I didn’t star out in the front. I loved the feeling of passing people as my endurance (耐力) overtook their premature speed.
Without warning, my strength began to disappear. My lungs fought to take in enough air, and my feet became stuck. I still don’t know what happened in those last few moments. Neck and neck with my greatest competitors, I could see the finish line, but nothing I could do would make my legs hold my weight. They were as weak as cotton.
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 watched in pain as runners rushed by me.
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My dad looked at me and said, “You could never disappoint me.”
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Sam was a 16-year-old boy. Neither of his parents had attended university. Their biggest dream was that Sam could become a lawyer. Sam hoped to live up to their expectation. That way, his parents would be very happy. However, he wasn’t sure whether he would also feel happy.
Since he was a child, Sam had been interested in computer programming. He taught himself how to use a computer, and by the age of 12 he had known three different programming languages. He was quite introverted (内向的), so he preferred staying in with his computer, rather than hanging out with friends. He did all of this in his spare time. His parents were fine with this, as long as he continued to focus on his studies.
One day, when Sam read an article online about a young CEO called Thomas O’Connor, everything changed for him. In the article, the CEO said that his company was trying to develop a new way of paying for goods online. However, they were having a problem with the security system. Thomas said if they could solve this problem, they could create the biggest and best online payment system in the world. Sam realized he might know how to solve this problem. Without hesitation, he emailed the CEO, introducing himself and explaining his idea.
Sam forgot all about it, but a month later, the most amazing thing happened. He received an email directly from the CEO. Thomas loved his idea and decided to meet Sam in person. He said he knew Sam still needed to finish school, but that when he graduated, he would be happy to offer Sam a job in the company.
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。
Sam was overjoyed, but soon began to worry.
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To Sam’s surprise, his parents’ reaction was far beyond what he had expected.
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One day, my brother and I were in our apartment. My parents had both gone for a party and had left me in charge of everything. I was doing my homework while my younger brother was watching TV. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Dingdong! Dingdong! My younger brother had rushed to the door before I decided to answer the door. We both thought that our parents had come home. As a result, he unlocked the door and opened it.
Outside of the house stood a man who wore a black raincoat and black rubber boots. He looked no different from other people and said that he was a salesman and asked politely if our mother or father was at home so he could talk with them.
Without thinking, my brother said，“No.” He asked if we would like to buy some comic books (漫画书), which he was selling. I quickly explained to him that we were not supposed to buy anything without our parents’ permission. However, it seemed that he was not willing to follow my advice and he had an intention to enter our house.
Then, I realized something terrible would happen. As I was about to close the door, he forced his way into our house. He forced me to tie up my brother’s hands with the rope which he took out from his pocket. I tied up his hands but tied it in a special way so my brother could untie (解开) it himself as we often did. The man then tied my hands up and locked both of us in the kitchen.
Soon, he went upstairs to search the bedroom for something valuable. I managed to teach my brother to untie the rope on his hands. He then untied it for me. I rushed to the telephone to call the police, but the line was dead.
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：forget to do sth. lock window manage to do sth. (设法做某事) go out of (出去) police station (警察局) as soon as possible (尽快地) be caught (被抓) robber (盗贼) tell pretend to do sth (假装做某事) praise (赞扬) bravery (勇敢) back home (回家) thankful (感恩) get hurt (受伤) learn a lesson (吸取教训) safety and responsibility
The doors were all locked from the outside and what’s more, I did not have the keys.
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Just at the same time our parents come back home.
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I was turning ten in the summer of 1959. On a warm evening while at the dinner table, my mother announced we were taking a trip to Niagara Falls when summer vacation started so that we could celebrate my birthday there.
It all sounded incredibly good until Mom said we would be driving to Canada. As usual, my father would do all the driving while my mother managed the directions.
I looked over at my sister,Marlene,who was three years younger than me and rolled my eyes. She giggled and did the same. It wasn’t that I didn’t like car rides - but my Dad usually took a wrong turn along the way and Mom would complain. “You were supposed to turn right according to the map like I told you, but you made a left.” My Dad would get annoyed and growl. My mother would end the conversation with “I can’t believe we’re arguing over this.” Later, they’d apologize and make up until the next wrong turn.
Driving in the car also meant I’d share the back seat with my sister, which was not part of what I considered a pleasant journey.
“Hey, can we take a plane there instead?” I asked between mouthfuls of hamburger and Frenchfries. Sometimes, when Dad had a day off from work, we would drive out to Idlewild Airport to watch the planes take off and land. I always hoped one day Pd get to sit in my own seat on one of those planes. It would be cool to get high up and then stick my head out a window. Windows on planes do open, don’t they?
“Sorry honey, maybe next time,” my mother replied as she and my father exchanged glances. I turned to my sister, hoping she’d say she wanted to get on a plane, but she stuck her tongue out at me and giggled.
Didn’t they get it? I was in desperate need of a plane ride, and I needed something cool to talk about with my friends when we got home. “Sitting in the back seat of the car sucks,” I blurted out.
“Jay!” My mother shouted. “Watch your mouth!”
“Ok, sorry, but I really wanted to go by plane.”
“This conversation’s over.” My father growled. “If you’re finished eating, go to your 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。
We left two days later on Saturday morning in our car.
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l was told to wait until we checked in our bags at the airport.
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It is said that the best time of playing the piano is when he or she is a kid. But when Max came to his first piano lesson in his mother’s car, he was already 11 years old. I preferred students begin at an earlier age, but due to his insistence (坚持), I took him as a student. As much as Max tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm. At the end of each lesson, he’d say, “My mom’s going to hear me play someday.” But it seemed hopeless. I only knew his mother from a distance as she waited in her aged car, but never stepped in.
After 2 months, one day Max didn’t come to our lessons any more. I thought about calling him but assumed, because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to quit. I also was glad that he stopped coming — he was a bad advertisement for my teaching!
Later, in order to celebrate the New Year, I mailed to the students’ homes a letter on the upcoming concert. Surprisingly, Jackie received and asked me if he could be in the concert. I told him that the concert was not for dropouts (辍学者), but for current pupils. He said that his mom had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing. I didn’t know what led me to agree eventually.
At the concert night, the hall was packed with parents and friends. I put up Max last in the program. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and the negative effect would reduce to the least.
Surprisingly, the concert went off successfully. Then Max came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked messy. “Why didn’t his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?” I thought.
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。
Unexpectedly, Max chose Beethoven’s works.
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Immediately, I rushed to the stage, and held Max firmly with delight, asking “How did you do it?
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