When I was four, my seven-year-old brother received a baseball mitt (手套) for his birth-day, which was also what I desperately wanted. But, back then, girls didn’t play sports; they played with dolls.
26 years later, I happened to see a notice in my local paper: “Women’s Slow-Pitch Soft-ball League opens soon. Anyone interested, sign up at the recreation center.” I cut it out and set it on the kitchen counter. Was it even possible to play baseball, a game I’d never actually played but had dreamed of playing in my entire life?
Looking at that notice on my counter, I thought of a thousand reasons I couldn’t play. But the idea of playing baseball stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away. Finally, I screwed up my courage and signed up. Days later, word came that I could begin practice in James Park on Monday night.
On Monday, heart pounding, I walked through the park filled with women of all high-school girls practicing at different diamonds. I waited a couple of minutes before approaching the coach, who seemed unhappy to see me. He had just put together top athletes for his team, and didn’t want some old lady messing things up. He looked me over, who had no mitt but wore an old T-shirt and gym shoes. However, I didn’t care.
That very first day was quite bitter. He had me run bases all night and never gave me a chance to bat or play the field, with the attempt to make me shrink from difficulty. But he had no idea how determined I was. I still showed up to play in the following Mondays, which clearly surprised him.
Finally, he gave in. During the last inning of the last game of the season, the coach told me to go to center field. I had to borrow a mitt from a member of our team and used it to catch an impossibly high ball, winning the game for us. Again, the coach looked surprised. It never hit him that I might be able to play.
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 the game, I received an unexpected invitation from another coach.
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It turned out I didn’t let my coach down.
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When I was four, my seven-year-old brother received a baseball mitt (手套) for his birthday. Every night, as we went to sleep, I’d listen to him throwing a ball into the mitt over and over to soften the leather. I wanted a mitt so much that I almost cried. But, back then, girls didn’t play sports; they played with dolls.
Fast-forward twenty-six years. Now a thirty-year-old mother of three happened to see a notice in my local paper: “Women’s Slow-Pitch Softball League opens soon. Anyone interested, sign up at the recreation center.” I cut it out and set it on the kitchen counter. Could I ? After all these years? Was it even possible to think about playing baseball, a game I’d never actually played but had dreamed of playing my entire life? And I’d certainly watched enough Chicago Cubs games to know how the game was played.
I looked at that notice on my counter every day. I thought of a thousand reasons why I couldn’t play. But the idea of playing baseball stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away. Finally, I got up my courage and signed up at the recreation center. On the way home, I bought myself a mitt.
On Monday, heart pounding, I walked through the park filled with women of all ages practicing. It took me a while to find my team. They were all high-school girls, seventeen and eighteen years old!
The coach was not at all happy to see me. He had put together top athletes for his team, and he didn’t want some old lady messing things up.
That first day, he had me run bases. What that meant was I’d stand near home plate(本垒板)while one of the girls batted, and then I’d run as hard as I could to first base, trying to get there before they threw me out. I did this over and over and over. I never got a chance to bat or play the field. I just ran bases all night. The next morning, I could barely stand.
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 was still feeling pain when I showed up to play the next week.
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Having seen my determination, the coach changed his attitude toward me.
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1. 课外体育锻炼情况描述；
2. 简单评论；
3. 你的建议。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Physical Exercise After Class
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Rivaldo was playing football from the age of 4. When he was 7, he joined a local football club. He attended the training regularly but never got a chance to play in matches. But the coach had faith in him. He told Rivaldo that he should focus on his training, and one day he would get the chance. Rivaldo had no other option but to continue training in the club. He was training very hard and focused on improving himself.
Even after two years in the club, he never played in a match. He was not even allowed to travel along with the team. One day their club had a charity match, where a famous footballer was a chief guest. While the team was planning to travel, one of the support staff who used to take care of kits got ill. So, they needed someone for this.
The coach thought this should be an opportunity for Rivaldo. So, he told him to travel with the team and take care of the kits. Other support staff objected to it, but he convinced them.
The team reached the stadium. There were a lot of crowds to witness the celebrity footballer. For Rivaldo, this is his first-time experience in the stadium. He was helping the other players with the kits for the pre-match training. The coach came for a chat with Rivaldo. He told Rivaldo, “You are playing today.”
Rivaldo, for a moment, got frozen and asked him why. He said, “One of the players from the team got injured while training. So, we are short of players. We need someone to be in the field to make it 11. But I know you are more than that. So, go and prove yourself”. There was resistance from the support staff. Luckily for Rivaldo, the coach, through the organizing committee, convinced Rivaldo’s team management to allow him to play.
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。
When the match started, Rivaldo was running like a deer.
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After the match, the celebrity footballer walked to Rivaldo.
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