Javon was the shortest kid in the class. Since the third grade, he had been smaller than every boy and all of the girls. He’d had to ask Ms. Haygood to get his gym locker changed so that he didn’t have to stretch so much to reach it. For most kids, being short would be a problem, but Javon just never let it bother him. Whether he would grow or not, there was nothing he could do. Javon held a similar attitude to most things.
The one exception was school work. Right before the first day of middle school, his dad had a serious talk with him about college. More precisely, his dad told him that college was expensive. College cost more money than a year’s rent on their apartment and the yearly income of either his dad or his mom. Given that, Javon didn’t understand why anyone would want to go to college. His dad explained some people who worked really hard and got good grades paid less or nothing at all for college. It was called a scholarship. Javon nodded, promising his dad that he would work hard and get a scholarship.
And Javon had worked hard. By middle of seventh grade, Javon was one of the top kids in the class. He was still the shortest, but now he also got called one of the smartest. So, he hadn’t been too concerned when Mr. T announced they were starting a new unit in math. The class started normally enough. But then Mr. T threw a letter into his math problem. He smiled at the class like using letters in math was perfectly normal.
For Javon, math used to be easy. But he could not wrap his mind around using these letters. He couldn’t remember the rules Mr. T had given and he didn’t even understood the ones he did remember. Whenever Mr. T tried to explain, Javon seemed to focus so hard on wanting to understand that he didn’t actually hear what Mr. T said. Before he knew it, he was hopelessly lost in math class. Soon the chapter test came.
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。
The test was cruelly challenging for Javon.
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Following his parents’ advice, Javon knocked on the door of Mr. T’s office.
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I flipped through an online bidding (拍卖) site one evening: fun containers for houseplants, old maps original artwork, Santas... “Oh my gosh, Cody! Look!”
My husband looked over my shoulder, “That’s a lot of Santas!” he was surprised,
I found a huge fortune and it was only March! But these Santas came in three plastic bins. “I don’t know where we could store them all,” I said. “You’d have to go with me to pick them up—those bins look heavy.” I tried to talk myself out of bidding, but it wasn’t working. “I really want them,” I admitted.
“You should do what makes you happy,” Cody said.
For years I’d bought at least one Santa figure every year for Christmas. Cody knew that Santa was a special character for me. When I was growing up, my father played the community Santa. He was a fireman, and the department sponsored Santa visits at school. My father would get down from the flashing fire truck with a big “Ho! Ho! Ho!” He’d sit each child on his lap. “What your Christmas wish?” he’d ask, as joyous a she could be. He handed out bags of peanuts, candy and oranges. Nobody knew the man behind the beard was my father. It was magical!
After the school party, mom would carefully wash dad’s costume. The red and white coat, hat, white beard and black belt went back into the box. Santa was gone when Christmas night fell.
My father died when I was 19. Since then, I’d bought Santa figures to feel the joy Santa represented. Maybe that why I kept searching for more of them. By the time our three daughters were born, we had enough Santas to decorate a whole tree.
I typed in my bid on the site as memories of those Santa visits at school rushed in. I then imagined how my daughters would react to those bins of Santas.
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 computer flashed with a message.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Santas? In March?” my daughters appeared confused.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One night, I stayed up late partying with my friends Jacob, James and Benjamin, even though we were conscious internally that we had an important test the next day. On the way back, when James was driving absent-mindedly, Benjamin was very anxious about the exam; I felt uneasy and worried about being scolded by Mr. Smith when Jacob came up with a plan to get out of having to take our test. “Can we escape punishment? Can it really work?” Benjamin questioned with doubt. However, we didn’t get a better solution and couldn’t bear being a failure. So we followed suit as we had no alternative.
We four rolled around in dirt and then went to Mr. Smith office with anxiety. We told him that we had gotten a flat tire the night before, and unfortunately we spent the entire night pushing our car back to campus. As a consequence, we were exhausted and couldn’t attend the exam. We asked for Mr. Smith’s forgiveness and ensured to make up for it.
With the blank expression, Mr. Smith listened quietly and patted our shoulders. Benjamin gazed at me in discomfort while I secretly looked at the other two. Three seconds appeared to be a lifelong time. To our delight, he offered a retest three days later. We were okay with that because we had been given a chance to catch up.
I relieved and worked day and night to prepare for the exam with a sense of guilt welling up in my chest. So did my three friends in the hope of getting away with punishment.
On the day of the test, we went to Mr. Smith’s office. Unexpectedly, he put all four of us in separate rooms to take the test. I unfolded my paper and stared at the questions which I was requested to accomplish. Completely puzzled, I froze. There were only two questions:
(1)Your Name ______(1 Points)
(2)Which tire was flat? ______(99 Points)
Front Right Front Left Back Right Back Left
Palm wetting, hands trembling and almost out of breath, I was overwhelmed with a mix of fear, terror and guilt.
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 was completely lost at these questions, struggling with how to face Mr. Smith.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When receiving the report card, we four flushed with shame.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________She was six years old when I met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sandcastle and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea. “Hello,” she said. I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child. I was depressed: my life seemed completely out of balance.
“What’s your name?” She wouldn't give up. “Ruth,” I answered. “Mine’s Wendy....I’m six.” She giggled, “Nice to meet you, Miss Ruth. Do you want to play? Maybe we can build something together. You’ll be happy!” She looked at me eagerly, waiting for my answer.
I just couldn’t refuse this lovely creature. I asked her: “Why don’t you go to school?” “I don’t go to school. Mommy says we’re on vacation.” She chattered little girl talk as we built the sandcastle. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day. Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed. She pointed toward a row of summer cottages and told me she lives there.
Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy when Wendy caught up with me, “I’d rather be alone today.” She seems unusually pale and out of breath. “Why?” she asked. I turned to her and shouted, “Because my mother died!” “Oh,” she said quietly, “then this is a bad day.” “Yes, go away!” “Did it hurt when she died?” “Of course!” I shouted. She didn’t say anything more, tears rolling down her face.
A month or so after that, when I went to the beach, she wasn’t there. Feeling guilty, ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage and knocked at the door.
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。
A drawn-looking(憔悴的) young woman with red and swollen eyes opened the door.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“She left something for you,” her mum’s voice trembled and handed me an envelop.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A few years ago, I got a phone call from a company representative on my way home. “Thank you so much for taking the time to apply for the position. Your application has not been successful. We wish you every success in securing a suitable position in the future.” I felt very upset. But the conversation wasn’t over. “Would you like to hear feedback from us?” the voice said.
The representative went on to tell me I hadn’t clearly demonstrated my motivation for applying for the position and why I wanted to work for the company. The feedback was tough to hear. But I quickly realized they were right. After completing my Ph. D. in Germany, my top priority had been to find a position in Poland, where I grew up. As a result, I wasn’t very selective about what I applied for. I pursued any job opportunity that broadly fit my skills and interests. The job at the consulting company was something I was technically capable of doing, but I didn’t feel passionate about it — and that clearly showed in the interview process.
From then on, I decided to carefully evaluate each job opening and only pursue ones that truly resonated (引起共鸣) with what I was passionate about. In my applications, I also began stating more clearly and emphatically why I wanted that particular job. Soon the approach started to pay off, as I got an offer for a postdoc position in Poland that I was truly excited about.
A few years later, I found myself on the other side of the interview table. As a freshly hired group leader, I was interviewing candidates for the first Ph. D. position in my lab. I was particularly looking forward to talking with one candidate. On paper, his application looked great — nice CV, good recommendations, strong cover letter. But the interview went badly. He didn’t seem to have done any reading in advance about the research I was doing, which made me wonder whether he was truly interested in working with me.
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 called to tell him I couldn’t offer him the position.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A month later, I received a letter.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . 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。
My dad was always building and repairing things. When he was six, he sawed (锯) the legs of the dining-room table in half so he could sit at it more comfortably. By the time he was ten, he’d formed a bicycle from useless parts. He did the same in his 20s with a used car. Building taught him the value of solving a problem with his own hands.
I was almost seven when one day Dad and I walked by a toy store window. There in the corner was the most unusual doll house I’d ever seen. Little egg-shaped windows were cut into it, with tiny balconies.
“Oh, Daddy,” I said, “isn’t it beautiful? Can you buy it for me as a birthday gift?”
My father looked at the price — $100 — too much in those days. “I think we can’t afford this house,” he joked. I was quite disappointed at the reply and angry. “But I will build one for you,” Dad then added.
Though I had known about Dad’s building skills, I cast a doubtful eye on him and fell into complete silence.
Days later, after the doll house was almost forgotten, Dad, despite all the unfinished projects at home, started making one for me. Night after night, Dad would come home from work very tired, yet he’d always find time to work on the doll house. He cut, sawed, painted, and did all that was necessary. In those days, the small yard was occupied by various instruments that Dad needed and things that Dad produced for later use. Our ears had got used to all the noise. Every morning, I was greeted by something new that Dad had made the previous night. I was so excited. Dad even added a tiny path to the front door.
The doll house was the greatest gift a child could ask for and it kept me company for over ten years.
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。
One day, when getting ready for college in another city, I accidentally dropped it on the ground.
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On Christmas day, entering my room, I was truly amazed by what I saw.
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It was July 2019 and my mum Rebecca was taking me on a 120km walking holiday from Portugal to Spain as a special treat for my 10th birthday. One day, while walking along the coastal path staring out at the Atlantic ocean, I chatted away to Mum. “When Lexi turns.10, are you going to take her on a trip like this?” I asked, referring to my seven-year-old sister. Mum said Lexi had already asked to go to Svalbard in the north of Norway because she was crazy about polar bears.
Although I was still on my first special trip, I'd been learning about ancient civilizations at school and knew I'd love to see some relics in the flesh. So I continued saying, “Why don’t I go to Egypt while you're in Svalbard with Lexi?”, adding that my dad, Olaf, could take me there. “Great, but I'm not paying for it.” Muim replied, chuckling. “That’s fine. I'll pay,” I said, “I’ll save up my pocket money and get a job."
So that’s exactly what I did. Though I was too young to do any other paid work, I had my own solution. I started saving my $10-a-week pocket money. Also, I washed my parents’car or mowed the lawn for extra cash.
In 2020, we moved to Perth. One day, I saw a pamphlet（小册子） in the letter box advertising a job delivering catalogues. When I told Mum I wanted to do it, she tried to put me off the idea, reminding me that the work was tiring and time-consuming. But when seeing the determination in my eyes, she agreed to call them. Thankfully, my young age didn’t bother them-I got the job. On a Monday, a mountain of catalogues were dropped off at our house, which shocked me a lot. I told myself to calm down and dedicated to work. It took me nine hours to sort through them. At first, I used my bike and carried the catalogues in my backpack to deliver them to 430 houses in my area.
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。
After several deliveries, I found it wasn't very efficient.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Three and a half years later, I saved a massive $6,500, and Dad and I flew to Cairo, Egypt.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
How to Be a Civilized Tourist
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As The Jungle Book song Bear Necessities goes, “forget about your worries and your conflict” can be a little bit difficult when you find yourself face to face with a real bear.
Bears are common in the Northern Hemisphere. As human habitats stretch toward the wilderness, more and more animals cross their paths with those of humans. This can lead to dangerous encounters especially when precautions are not in place. In these situations, keeping your distance is still the best advice.
According to the National Park Service, one should also remain calm as bears, more often than not, are not really willing to attack you. Once in a standoff (对峙), avoid making sudden moves or loud noises as these can trigger aggression. 7-year-old Huxley did exactly what he was told when he encountered a massive bear.
It was a Sunny morning. Huxley was wandering on his way home when a big hulking (笨重的) figure emerges from behind him. A hurried glance backward, he knew it was a black bear. The bear approached cautiously at first, probably sizing up the figure in front of him. A second later, perhaps judging that Huxley was no match for it, the bear burst into a full sprint (冲刺) and ran its way toward the boy.
At first, Huxley was really frightened. However, he knew it was impossible to run or fight with the big beast. In the moment of crisis, he remembered his mother reminds him regularly about these possible encounters. She tells him that if Huxley finds himself face to face with a bear and there are no adults around, he should remain calm.
Huxley calmed down at thinking of this. He stared at the bear down without any movement. This might have been the reason why the young bear stopped dead in its tracks. They faced each other motionless, and there was only a foot distance between them.
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。
From around the corner, a neighbor hurriedly walked to the scene.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The neighbor continued to pressure the bear while the animal tried its best to find an escape route.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The end of the year had finally arrived. The first year of my teaching career would be over in a matter of days, but I hated Awards Day. Although I had a class of outstanding students, I feared one student wouldn’t have an award.
Brent just didn’t have the high averages as some of his classmates. As I sat down and began looking over my grade book, I filled in the blanks on the award sheet for the highest grade in each subject. Then, I proceeded to “A Honor Roll” and on through the list. When I began checking averages for the “AB Honor Roll”, I knew Brent hadn’t made it yet now. But while the first honor roll was determined by the average of all grades of the first three months, the yearly honor roll was the average of the final grade in each class for the whole year. Maybe there was a chance.
Brent’s grades may have been considered average, but he was far from it. He was no quitter. That boy was very persistent. If he failed a spelling test midweek, by Friday, he would pass. If his math grade slipped a bit, he’d work to get it higher. Unlike the other students who would often attempt to “one up” one another, Brent’s only competitor was himself, and his goal for the entire year was the AB Honor Roll.
With each report card, his face had fallen when he had missed that elusive (难以达到的) B average, and although he had never made any honor roll, he had never stopped trying to reach that goal. Now, he had one last opportunity. I entered his final grades into the computer and averaged. It was a B! I checked again. Yes, it was a B. His grades had gone up and down. When he focused harder on one subject, another slipped a bit. Overall, he had a B average.
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。
Awards Day came!
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While everyone who got an award made me proud, I knew what it took Brent to achieve it.
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