“JAMIE EVANS.”
Oh no. Please tell me that Coach Cafferty did NOT just say my name. Not for the one-hundred-meter breaststroke (蛙泳). Except all eyes were turned to me when she announced it, and her eyes met mine over the clipboard (剪贴板) that held the list of events and swimmers for the Plain Township Aquatic Center meet. The PTAC meet was the first of the season, and I was not ready.
“Remember, the meet is on Wednesday night. Be here at four-thirty for and the race kicks off at six. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.” Coach Cafferty added. The crowd cleared quickly and I headed back home, feeling desperate.
“Did you find out your events for Wednesday?” Mom asked as she slid the pizza box across the table to me.
“Yeah. One-hundred breaststroke,” I finally said, not meeting her eyes. “I don’t know why Coach didn’t give me backstroke (仰泳). She knows it’s my best. I can’t swim breaststroke!”
“Maybe she sees something you don’t.” Mom said.
“Or maybe I should just quit the swim team.”
Mom frowned. “Is that what you want?”
I sighed. “No.” I took a bite of my pizza. “I’m terrible at breaststroke. What happens when I show up on Wednesday and race, and I sink to the bottom of the pool? Or even worse，come in last?”
“Someone has to be last.” Mom pointed out.
“But I don’t even know if I can swim breaststroke for one-hundred meters!” I set my pizza down. “She had submitted the names, but there’s no way I can do this.”
“You could. But how will you know unless you try?” Mom persuaded.
“Yeah, but if I try, I could fail. In front of everyone.” I pictured the entire crowd watching as I finished last, pointing and laughing. My belly squeezed.
Mom set her pizza down and gave me her I’m-saying-something-important-so-listen face. “Don’t worry about other people. Just race against yourself. Forget about anything else except doing your best and swimming your own race. Prove to yourself that you can do it.”
Somehow, there seemed a mysterious power in her words comforting my unsettling heart and I decided to have a try. The next day, I was at practice as required.
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:
The first practice was a disaster.
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Paragraph 2:
Then everything crashed in the last 5 meters of the race.
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In order to add variety to our lives, a tug- of-war (拔河) competition was held by our school recently. Before the game, we were quite unsure of ourselves, as we had no significant advantage over our competitors. We even joked, “we’ll be satisfied just as long as we don’t get last place.”
Though we had no great ambitions, everyone looked forward to the game and took it pretty seriously. Right before the games started, our participants gathered together to discuss the right strategy, while the rest of us formed a cheer leading team.
Finally, the first match began. Fortunately, neither of the two competing classes were particularly strong rivals. Despite being tired, our first victory came smoother than expected. After that first success, we all gained some confidence. A day later in the semi-finals, we were determined to make it into the top two—and we did it!
The final game was the toughest. We faced off with the champions from the last game: Class 5. By the time we arrived at the playground, we were excited to discover, unlike the other classes, almost all of our teachers were there to cheer us on!
However, that excitement didn’t last very long. As we went up to compete with the class that had won with a score of 2:0, we were once more full of doubt - how could we possibly beat them?
The cheers of the crowd were deafening. The instant we heard the whistle, we fell back with all of our might and held onto the rope as tightly as we could. At first, it was unclear who had the advantage. It seemed like centuries, and we were suddenly amazed to find that the marker was slowly moving towards our side.
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。
Paragraph 1
Encouraged, we pulled harder and harder.
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Paragraph 2
As the competition was over, the result was announced.
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要点：1. 选定运动项目
2. 选这个项目的理由
3. 锻炼方法及益处
注意：
1. 写作字数应为80左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;
3. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Let’s ________ to relax right now!
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