“Jordi! Wake up!” Father’s voice called from the hallway, and I sat up quickly. The day finally came! The day that I would be a casteller a tower builder. Mama had breakfast ready. “Are you prepared for your moment of fame?” Papa asked in excitement. My throat was suddenly very dry, and the bread’ got stuck as I swallowed. Taking a large mouthful of juice, I put on a smile. “I’m ready.”
Here in the eastern part of Spain, casteller groups were very popular. My city hosted the competition this year. Before that, I’d watched my parents compete. But never before had I been part of the tower. It was so high. And it sometimes fell. I was hesitant to be up there. But for the past year, I had been practicing the climb. I was twelve, and I must not be a coward. So for the first time in a competition, I would help build the tower!
In town, I saw that the center was packed with people and casteller teams from all over the country. Hands sweating, I was waiting for our turn to compete. Mom came, patted me on the shoulder and said, “Have focus. Have faith.” I nodded to show that I understood and would do my best to follow her suggestions.
Soon, too soon, it was our turn.
My father and three of the strongest men stood in a circle facing each other as they held each other’s. arms tightly Four more strong men stepped behind, each putting his arms firmly around the chest of a man and giving him a bear hug. Then fifty more men and women crowded behind and began pushing on their backs to keep them tightly together.
Our base was solid. Four smaller men climbed onto the backs of the base group and stood on their shoulders. They then grabbed each other’s arms tightly, creating a strong second tier. Another. group of men would form the chird tier Then, a group of women, including Mom, started climbing and began to form the fourth tier. Our tower was growing taller and taller.
Paragraph 1:Then suddenly it was kids’ turn to make the last tier.
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“Jordi. Easy!” My mother whispered.
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Finding happiness in life
Every year, more books on happiness are published, and every year, more people feel depressed because they do not see themselves as happy. They don't remember or know what it feels like, and instead, they feel guilty that they aren't as happy as everyone says they should be. This is really a sad state of emotional affairs.
The books, blogs, YouTube videos and advice columns will tell you that if you visualize(想象), exercise, write journals, stay busy, help others, eat healthy, read and increase your intimacy(亲密) every day, then you too can be happy.
The simple truth is that no one can be happy all the time. That doesn't mean you have to be sad, angry or depressed the rest of the time but that you can find a middle ground called contentment. This middle ground is a good place mentally and emotionally, and spending time there is a healthy choice.
Contentment is someplace between satisfied and peaceful. When you are in that place, the stuff of life can be going on around you, but you don't need to allow it to bother you. And that, my friends, is a very nice way to go through life.
I find contentment in walks and in writing, in talking with my partner and reminding each other that our life is good, despite temporary setbacks or scary moments. I can overreact to just normal life stuff, and because I know this about myself, I can soften my reactions and respond differently. Doing this takes away stress and will keep you from losing your state of contentment.
If there is even one thing that puts you in a state of contentment and you do it regularly and early enough each day it will help you through any challenges you may have to face later.
Right at this moment, things around me are still a little out of my control-such is life, but I am feeling pretty good because I am actively living my purpose. I alll now content, and that feeling will last the whole day through. You can do the same.
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It was the second day I left my lovely hometown for the city to live with my grandfather, who was taking me to the supermarket for the first time.
“I forgot. You’ve never seen a supermarket before, have you?”
I shook my head, indicating indifference to the surroundings.
“Imagine it like this,” Grandfather said, “This store’s speaking to you. It is telling you some of the new things that you’ve never learned.” I did not understand.
“A trading post in a remote town only shows you a small part of the world. This store speaks of a world that is a very big place.”
“So I should just forget my roots, is that it?” Angry and upset, I was expressing my reluctance to live here.
“Absolutely not. Carry it with you, so that you may freely navigate in both worlds, big and small.”
Ignoring words from him, my gaze fell on a woman selecting some green apples. I thought so what if it’s a big world, but I’d rather purchase whatever in a trading post for they only stocked one type of apples, at least all ripe!
Noticing the expressions on my face, Grandfather chuckled. He gracefully walked over to the table where the green apples were and selected half a dozen.
“You’ll get a stomachache if you consume green apples,” I said.
Grandfather appeared as though he was going to laugh again, but he didn’t.
There was no word any more. I followed him while Grandfather filled the cart with our necessities, encountering numerous new items. I was burning to ask him what those strange foods were, and what their flavors and origins were. However, I kept it in my mind that I was supposed to be bored and uninterested in anything, thus, keeping silent all the way.
As we exited the supermarket, Grandfather was smiling as if he understood some private jokes. About halfway back, he gestured for me to stop, bending over to find the plastic bag.
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: He picked out a green apple.
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Paragraph 2: With his words in mind I couldn’t help taking a bite, too. _
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It was Christmas Eve. And my sister and I decided to open our presents before our mom got home from work. Mom usually came home about an hour after we got home from school.
So we thought there was plenty of time for us to have a secret look at the gifts under the tree.
Since my sister was older, she was in charge. She opened the first gift while I was ordered to stand guard at the big window of our front room. I was to report the possible coming of our mother. I was so excited that I couldn’t always keep my eyes on the window. My head moved from the window to my sister and back to the window again. It seemed that I was watching a ping-pong match.
“All right!” my sister shouted. She pulled out a jewelry box and said, “You know what that means, don’t you?” I shouted, jumping up and down, “Yeah, it’s my turn!” “No,” she said. “It means that there must be some jewelry here.” I watched my sister checking the presents under the tree. She was trying to find one small enough to be a necklace. “Hey, that’s not fair! It’s my turn!” I said, feeling upset. However, she just replied, “Are you watching for Mom?”
I couldn’t do anything except standing guard as she opened present after present. Finally, my sister’s curiosity was satisfied. And when she had finished wrapping her last present back up, we traded places. My heart pounded so hard and I could feel my palms sweat and my throat tighten. My sister reminded me to be careful so I wouldn’t tear the wrapper. And she reminded me to wrap the present back up the same way that I had found it. After unwrapping few presents, I found it much faster to open one end of a present and look inside.
“ It’s cool! Mom and Dad got me headphones!” I said and smiled. And I pulled the headphones out of the box, wanting to put them on.
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
Just then, my sister shouted, “Quick! Wrap it back up! Mom’s coming home!”
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My mother came into the front room, and I jumped up and said, “Hi. Mom!”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was a kid, my dad took my brother and me to go shopping for school clothes. It was during the financial crisis (危机) and he had been out of work and was struggling to find a job. My mom managed a fast-food restaurant so we had some income, but not enough. We were living a hard life. Even though I was young, I realized that we weren’t the best off when it came to money. My parents were always struggling to find somewhere cheaper for us to stay.
Going shopping with my dad and brother seemed quite strange while we were already struggling for living and housing, but we needed new clothes for the start of the school year. We each chose two coats and one pair of shoes. My brother also wanted a pair of basketball shorts and Dad agreed. But I could see Dad looked worried and sad.
While we were checking out, I remember Dad watched the price go up and up at the checkout counter and that he seemed to be more and more worried. Once everything was included and the total was $55, Dad realized he didn’t have enough money for everything.
He asked the cashier to take off the extra shorts my brother had asked for, but he still didn’t have enough money to pay. So he apologized to the man behind us while he tried to figure out what clothes to take off from the bill. I told my dad to take off my pair of shoes and one of my coat. I could live with my old clothes so my brother could have new clothes. My dad almost cried when he told the cashier to take them off.
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。
Before Dad could pay, the man behind us stepped forward.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This man’s generous behavior is really a timely help.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Eleven-year-old Jack was selling balloons in a park one day over a long holiday weekend when he stepped upon a wallet. After picking it up, he searched the wallet to identify the owner and found some $100 notes, some loose change and a key card inside. He didn’t hesitate to do the right thing: according to the sign on the key card, he found where the owner lived.
Seventeen-year-old Chase had lost his wallet earlier that day while out fishing with his friends. He had searched and searched, but in vain. Eventually, Chase returned home and found his wallet sent back in the gate house of the community. But the one who sent the wallet had left without leaving his name or address When the family were talking about the story later that day, they decided that they wanted to do something to pay back the finder’s kindness. But what could they do? They didn’t know who the finder was, not to mention his address. Could they find him?
It was when they were at a loss that a good idea occurred to Chase’s mother, Michelle: they could check the monitor recording of the gate house. Luckily, they got a picture of the boy. She quickly made a Facebook post using the photo, describing the boy’s honest act and expressing how the family were hoping to meet him to convey their thanks in person.
In no time at all, some people in the community recognised Jack and informed Michelle. When Michelle and her family got contact with Jack, they were surprised to learn just what Jack’s family had been going through.
Jack’s father had recently recovered from a disease but was still suffering from the aftereffects. He had difficulty breathing and wasn’t allowed to return to his job at a meat packing plant. So that was the reason why the boy had to sell balloons to help support the family.
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。
Chase and his mother decided to help.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The response online was great.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was very young, I liked to listen to my mother’s stories. Lying in bed at night was my happiest moment. Every night, I always fell asleep with my mother’s wonderful stories.
When I went to school and began to know how to read. I liked to read fairy tales by myself. I was often lost in the wonderful world described in the books.
I showed more interest in books when I met Mr. Smith. who discovered my deep love for literature. He gave me many storybooks and taught me knowledge about literature. With his encouragement, I began to write my own stories.
Gradually, I developed a strong interest in writing stories, and I felt that writing was not a difficult thing, but a kind of pleasure. When I wrote a story, I would show it to my teacher. He praised me every time and encouraged me to keep writing.
That’s how I have got into the habit of writing. Even after I started working, I would send my stories to my teacher as usual.
One day my teacher recommended me to a publisher. I borrowed my mom’s old, blue car for the day. I drove 12 miles to the county newspaper office. I had on the seat beside me a short one-page story I had just written and I hoped to get it published that day. I was excited, nervous and a little scared. What if the publisher didn’t want it?
When I arrived. I parked across the road and knocked on the door. The secretary let me in and walked me to the office. He was a large man but the kind smile he shared with me soon put me at ease. He read my handwritten story-I didn’t even own a typewriter at the time. Then he said he really enjoyed it and would include it in his next week’s edition.
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 heart jumped with joy but I wanted even more.
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My teacher and the publisher would turn me into a writer.
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