“Don’t forget to study for the European history test on Friday,” Mrs. Beville announced to her students before the class was over.
Julie shut her book and sighed to herself: “Why couldn’t the test be on poetry?” Julie loved poetry and its rhythmic expression of feelings and ideas. Yes, poetry she could understand. But history? “What if I fail? I’ve never been good at memorizing anything for a test,” she thought.
That night, Julie sorted out her notes. She flipped open her textbook to the end of the first chapter, where she found a list of practice questions for the test. “Need some help?” asked her older brother, Joey, who poked his head into her bedroom to see what she was doing. Julie handed him her textbook and said: “Quiz me.” Joey took the book and read the first question. “In what year did England defeat the Spanish Armada?” Julie frowned and pursed her lips. Her left eye ticced (抽筋).“Dates are the worst! Ask another one.”
Joey’s eyes traveled to the bottom of the page. “Who took the throne following the death of Queen Mary I?” “Oh! It’s on the tip of my tongue. It’s —it’s—I don’t know!” Julie shook her head. “Looks like you didn’t study,” Joey said. Julie grabbed her book back and glared at Joey. What did he know about her study habits? She could read a chapter a thousand times, but no matter what, getting her brain to hold on to information was like getting a rock to absorb sand.
The following day, she decided to use library time to study. She found a table in a quiet corner. With her textbook open in front of her, she tried to make sense of all the facts and dates. But it was useless. She dropped her head to the book and buried her face in the pages. “Impossible!”
“Psst, Julie!” Julie heard someone calling her and looked up. Maria from her class was seated at a nearby table.
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。
“Want to study together?” Maria asked, nodding to an empty chair.
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On the day of the test, Julie and Maria both felt nervous.
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In middle school, my family moved to New York, where my parents established a small grocery store beneath our new home. As a reserved girl adjusting to the complex city life, I faced the challenge of fitting in. One day, my school announced a talent show for the local food bank, sparking excitement and anticipation. Despite my self-doubt, a popular classmate, Lily, approached me with an unexpected proposal.
Lily, known for her charming personality, suggested we collaborate(合作) on a singing performance for the talent show. Surprised and thrilled, I couldn’t believe someone with her status acknowledged my modest singing talent. With Lily’s beautiful voice, it felt like a bit of good fortune. Encouraged by Lily’s enthusiasm, we decided to embark on this musical journey together.
As we started preparing for the talent show, we faced numerous challenges, from selecting the right song to coordinating(协调) our harmonies. The process became a bonding experience and I began to embrace the idea of sharing my talent with the public. Lily’s infectious energy and encouragement helped me overcome my shyness.
Days turned into weeks, and our rehearsal sessions became a regular after-school routine. Lily and I poured our hearts into perfecting our act, drawing inspiration from various musical genres(音乐流派). However, fate took an unexpected turn the day before the performance. Lily fell ill with a sudden fever, leaving me in a state of panic.
Worried about Lily’s sudden illness, I felt a mix of fear and determination. With the talent show only a day away, we had to come up with a plan quickly. In the midst of my concern, Lily, despite her weakened state, reassured me and insisted that the show must go on. Drawing strength from Lily’s determination, I took on the responsibility of carrying our performance. The night before the talent show, I practiced tirelessly, determined to do justice to our hard work.
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 following day, I stepped onto the stage alone.
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After the performance, I saw Lily backstage.
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Living in the shadow of my two elder sisters at college who already had their lives planned out since they were little, I was always undecided about everything. As a teenager, I was fickle (反复无常的). I would like one thing for a week and then hate it the next. But I was constantly searching for the beginning of the rainbow. Changing my dream from a vet to an astronaut, I thought there were various options available to me. However, my parents would shake their heads and repeatedly asked me such questions as, “Why can’t you be more like your sisters? What are you going to do with your life? Aren’t you interested in anything at all?” After a couple of shrugs (耸肩), my parents usually stopped talking. I was not sure if they gave up or anticipated my dull reactions. I often responded, “I couldn’t answer all of your questions now.”
Actually, my parents just had high expectations that never seemed to be fulfilled. Plus, like other parents, they just wanted to give the best to me and expected me to achieve success. The arguments with my parents seemed childish. One day, my mother made her thoughts clear, “Your grades aren’t high enough. No schools are going to want you, dear. We didn’t pay so much money for nothing.” Hesitating for a while, I said, “No matter what you say, I believe I will enter a good college.” Still, I let my emotions control myself.
Certainly, I had never planned not to go to college. After another debate with my mom, I decided to make a change. No longer would I sit back and let my parents mistake me for a bad boy. It was time to take action.
I knew it was a crucial year at high school. Releasing my feelings, I began to collect all the knowledge I had learned and review it with all my heart. I didn’t argue with my parents any more, but instead turned to my sisters for help and tried my best to study. Finally, I took the national college entrance examination with ease and confidence.
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 few days later, I received a call from my school, saying my college acceptance letter had arrived.
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My parents excitedly said behind me, “Well, open the envelop!”
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I watched my dad scowl (绷着脸) as he listened to the voice coming through the telephone receiver. I heard him say, “Yes, Miss Beisner,” and “I understand what you’re saying, Miss Beisner. I appreciate you sharing this information. We’ll see what we can do about the situation. Thank you for calling. Goodbye.”
Miss Beisner was my first-grade teacher, and I loved her. I thought she felt the same about me, but now I was beginning to wonder. The tone of Dad’s voice, the redness in his cheeks, and his repeated clenching. And unclenching of fists made it pretty clear. This was not a warm and fuzzy good news-from-the-teacher call.
As I was deciding whether I should lock myself in my bedroom for the rest of my life or run away from home, Dad hung up the phone. “Jacquie, come here and sit down. We need to talk.”
Uh-oh. When Dad said, “We need to talk,” it meant he needed to talk, and I needed to listen.
I shuffled (拖着脚走) over to the well-worn brown chair in the corner of the living room, plopped down, and waited to hear the nature of my crime.
Dad told me that Miss Beisner thought I was bright but not working up to my ability. She said I had strong verbal skills but weak study habits. Translation: I never closed my mouth, and I seldom opened a book. Apparently, my failure to memorize the addition facts, or even attempt to, was more than she was willing to put up with. Hence, the telephone call.
Dad ended our one-way conversation with a verbal outline for his plan of attack. Bubbles, our Toy Manchester Terrier, was going to teach me math. Silently, I thought, No way is any dumb dog going to teach me how to add, not even our beloved Bubbles. Out loud, I said, “How?”
Dad summoned Bubbles from her bed near the stove and commanded her to sit. “Bubbles,” Dad said, “how much is five plus three?” Bubbles let out eight loud, crisp barks.
I was incredulous (满腹狐疑的). I couldn’t understand how a dog could add, and I was more than a little embarrassed by the fact that the family dog was smarter than 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。
Paragraph 1: After that, I threw myself into math with newfound determination.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: One day, I asked Dad whether Bubbles really knew how to add.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I had all the usual child fears. I couldn’t go to sleep unless the light in my bedroom was on. I dreaded that someday when my mother was distracted, Crazy Betty (our local small-town oddball) would grab me in the grocery store. On the hottest summer nights, my feet had to be wrapped tightly in my bed sheets; if one of them hung bare over the side of the bed, who knew what might grab it in its cold, slimy claw.
But all other frights paled in comparison with the Great Fear, the Titanic of my childhood terrors. That fear — and I admit, I feel a tightening in stomach typing the words even today — was that something would happen to Monk-Monk, my beloved toy monkey. That was the deepest fear of my childhood and I learned from it the lesson of cherishing what’s important in my life.
Looking at Monk-Monk today, you wouldn’t see what I see. You’d see a torn, discolored sock monkey, very much past his prime, stuffing leaking from his stumpy tail, holes on his sock-body inexpertly stitched up with thread that doesn’t match. I see my dearest childhood friend, my companion of a thousand nights. When I was only two and very ill, an aunt made him for me and delivered him to the hospital. I bonded with him fiercely and rarely let him out of my sight. When no one else was around, Monk-Monk played endless games with me, soaked up my tears, and listened to my secrets.
And then Uncle Ken came to visit. He lived in Ohio and occasionally he would come and stay with us for a couple of days. I didn’t know Uncle Ken well, and I didn’t like him very much. I had the feeling that he didn’t really like me, either. He clearly thought it was pretty silly that a big first-grader was dragging a sock monkey around, and he teased me by saying he thought he’d take Monk-Monk home to Ohio with him. His words almost scared me to death. I clutched Monk-Monk more tightly.
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 at school a few days later when Uncle Ken left.
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Finally Monk-Monk was found jammed behind the sofa.
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Several days ago, local News Channel reported a story between a mother and her son. The mother was a single woman who had been feeling a great deal of anger and bitterness due to her financial and psychological problem, causing her emotions to be unpredictable. Occasionally, she may not pay enough attention to her son or couldn’t respond to his requirements timely. Sometimes, she would even pour her negative emotions onto her child, which made him feel helpless. In fact, this child is a very outstanding and caring boy.
That day, the mother directed her anger towards her child again because of some small matter. Although the child did not resist, the mother still drove the child out of the house, slammed the door shut and left the child outside to reflect (反省).
It was when the mother became calm and a little regretful that she opened her door and found her child missing. Anxious and scared, she searched everywhere, but the child was nowhere to be found. Her anxiety was gradually increasing.
The worried mother thought of seeking help from the police. Quickly, she went to the police station and explained the situation to the officer on duty. The police officer explained that, as a general rule, they couldn’t file a case for a missing child within the first 24 hours. However, they could provide assistance in other ways, such as posting the child’s photo on social media platforms to expand the search area.
After expressing gratitude for the police officer’s kindness, the mother continued searching for her child. Despite trying various methods, the mother still couldn’t find the child. Unexpectedly, the child was wandering in the streets, he felt lost and alone, not knowing where to go or what to do. He felt the tears forming in his eyes but refused to let them down. He didn’t want to show weakness in front of anyone, and it made him feel even more alone.
注意：
1. 写作词数应为150词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Exhausted and hungry, the child kept walking aimlessly until he finally came across a bench along the street.
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Soon after, the mother arrived hurriedly.
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It was an early Saturday morning, about 5:30 am. My mom called to me, “Austin, get up! Time to go and serve the homeless!” I dragged myself out of bed.
I started serving the homeless when I was eight years old. I didn’t know these people would make such a big difference in my life.
Two Saturdays a month I go to the church and help get things ready for breakfast. When the gate is opened, people come rushing in to get coffee, juice or milk. They take their seats while breakfast is prepared, and then we begin to serve. We each grab two plates and carry them down the line as the plates are filled. Each person receives two pancakes, a scoop of eggs, hashbrowns, and two sausages. I walk to the tables where the people are sitting and set the plates before them. I always make sure that I smile. After I’ve served them, I ask if they need anything else and bring them whatever they ask for. Some say thank you, some don’t, but I don’t care. I’m there to serve them.
When I first started serving, I was a little scared. Some of the people were wearing clothes with patches on them and shoes with holes in them. They were not that clean and their teeth were yellow or missing. At first I stayed close to my mom most of the time, but after I got to know these strangers I realized that they were nice, friendly people. And the inside of them was often nicer than the outside. I started talking to my new friends and realized that there was no reason to be scared. After serving for a few months, I started to look forward to seeing the same people each week.
Take Cowboy. He always puts me in a good mood. When I see him, he always says, “Austin! How are you?” I’ve often heard him say that I am a really hard worker. This makes me feel really good inside because I know I’m making a difference in someone’s life.
注意：
1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Then there’s Curtis. He’s a really big guy.
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All of these people make my day much better.
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8 . 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。
Catherine’s nine-year-old son, Chirag, won his first silver prize at a swim meet. It seemed like he could swim before he could walk. His dad is a competitive swimmer and a former champion, so many people think it is surely in his genes.
That’s wrong! Until a few years ago, Chirag was afraid of water. It wasn’t his fault. His dislike came from Catherine’s childhood phobia (恐惧症).
One summer when Catherine was a child, she and her brother went to a pool to learn basic swimming skills. All that went well and soon it was time for class. A coach was hired and he agreed to do a trial round. He took children to the deep end and asked then to swim across the breadth of the pool. While Catherine’s brother stayed calm and made it, she, however, immediately disliked the task. It was Catherine’s first time in such deep water, and the bottom of the pool seemed so far away that she felt really frightened. She felt she was going to drown (淹死) for lack of air. At that moment, she thought that swimming wasn’t for her. After being rescued from the water, she didn’t swim again.
Fast forward to her thirties, she was a mother of a child and living in an area with a lot of rivers and beaches. Then her son, Chirag, started school, and swimming was a compulsory course. Every Wednesday, the day for the weekly swimming lesson was Chirag’s bad dream. From the previous evening, he would be anxious and teary-eyed about going to school. It turned out that Catherine had passed on her anxiety about swimming to her little boy.
She was always worried about keeping her child safe around water and was starting to realize that the best way to do that was making him learn how to swim. Words of comfort were of no use to Chirag. He still sat outside the pool during his classes. It was obvious that he needed professional lessons to help build his confidence. She needed to challenge herself to encourage her son.
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。
So Catherine signed up for swimming classes with her son.
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To Catherine’s amazement, she didn’t drown!
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I live in a small but lovely neighborhood. Our house is neither large nor luxurious, but it has a fairly big garden. My father loves his garden. He planted some seeds in it and took good care of the plants, watering them, applying fertilizer, weeding and getting rid of bugs. He was never tired of doing all that stuff. But at that time, I didn’t understand why working in the dirt excited him so much.
Unfortunately, in the summer vacation before senior high school, my father was seriously injured in an accident. He had to stay in bed for a while. My mother had several business trips, so she couldn’t take care of the garden. I didn’t want my father to worry. I said that I would take care of his garden until he recovered. I assumed that the little plants would continue to grow as long as they had water, and luckily it rained fairly often, so I didn’t think much about the garden.
One Saturday morning, my father said to me, “Christine, the vegetables should be about ready to be picked. Let’s have a salad today!” I went out to the garden and was upset to see that many of the lettuce (生菜) leaves and carrots had been half eaten by bugs. There were hundreds of bugs all over them!
I panicked for a moment but then I quietly went to the nearest supermarket to buy some vegetables. When I was making the salad, my mother came home and saw the bag from the supermarket in the kitchen. I was embarrassed and admitted, “Dad would like a salad, but the garden is a disaster. I don’t want to disappoint him, so I went to the store and bought some vegetables.” My mother smiled, saying, “Honey, you know what is the right thing to do.”
Paragraph 1My father seemed very pleased when I took the salad to him.
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Feeling guilty, I decided to do the right thing.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jared was a boy who was raised by his single father, Steve, and his grandfather Michael. Although he didn’t have much in life, Jared was grateful for what he had. He enjoyed living a simple life with his dad and grandfather.
After school, Jared would often go into his grandfather’s garage and they would repair his car together. Jared was a skilled mechanic and it was all thanks to his grandfather’s patient teaching. And Jared wished one day he would open a car repair shop using his grandfather’s garage. Michael supported it.
Unfortunately, Michael died when Jared was 14. Jared continued to look after his grandfather’s car. One day, his dad entered his room and handed him the key to his grandfather’s car. “Your grandpa wanted me to give this to you on your eighteenth birthday. He said you could decide what to do with the car—either sell it or keep it,” his dad said.
Jared smiled. He was thankful that he now had a car. And he was happy it was a special car that he and his grandfather maintained together. “I’ll keep it! I don’t have to take the bus to school anymore. I can just drive!” Jared replied excitedly.
Then Steve returned to his own room. He hoped Jared would not sell the car. And he hoped someday Jared would find the envelope Michael had secretly left for him. The envelope was put under the driver’s seat of the car. In the envelope, Michael left Jared $15,000. And he had left a note. It read, “I knew you wouldn’t sell my car. Thank you, Jared! I hope the money can help you. Be a good man!”
The following day, when Jared arrived at school, many students saw his car. They didn’t think highly of it because it was old and noisy. But Jared valued it. Later that day, after school, he couldn’t start the car. There appeared to be a problem with it.
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:
Jared decided to repair the car himself.
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Paragraph 2:
Confused, Jared quickly opened the envelope.
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