“Here you go,” Melanie said, handing Ava a pink envelope.
“Thanks.” Ava said. “But what is it?”
“An invitation to my pool party. It’s Saturday at two. There will be a lot of fun things to do. You are going to love it so much. Do come, please.” Melanie kept talking but Ava wasn’t listening.
The words “pool party” echoed (回响) through her mind. Ava had a secret she didn’t even tell her best friend Melanie — Ava couldn’t swim. Every time she tried to learn, she’d wind up with water up her nose and she’d be out of the pool as quickly as possible.
“You’re coming, right?” Melanie said
“Huh?” Ava jumped.
“Do you think you could come a little early? I could use your help inflating (使充气) the floating basketball hoops (篮筐) and the ball. And I will need you to help me set the tables.”
Ava didn’t know what to say. Melanie was one of her best friends. She couldn’t miss her party. But she didn’t want the whole school to find out she couldn’t swim. That would be too embarrassing. “I think I might be busy this Saturday,” Ava said, lowering her head. She saw the disappointment on Melanie’s face. “Maybe I could stop by for a little while, but I definitely wouldn’t have time to swim.”
Ava spent the rest of the school day trying to avoid Melanie’s questions about what she had to do on Saturday and why she couldn’t stay for the whole party. Ava felt awful. That night she asked her parents to ground her or make other plans so she couldn’t go to Melanie’s party.
“Ava, this is silly,” her mother said. “Melanie is your best friend. She won’t care that you can’t swim.” Ava wasn’t so sure.
“Just be honest with Melanie. She will understand you,” her father said.
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。
When Saturday arrived, Ava’s parents drove her to the party right on time.
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Ava decided to tell the truth.
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When I graduated from the university, I devoted myself to teaching English in a small village school. One day, a lady called me and told me she was Simon’s mother. She said she wanted to call on me at a right time. Honestly speaking, I had been worried about myself. It made me feel a little fearful of seeing her because I was a new teacher and I gave an honest account of the students’ work. In Simon’s case, the grades were very low. He had never spent much time finishing his schoolwork carefully so that he couldn’t even read his own handwriting, not to mention listening to his teachers in class. But he was a bright student. He discussed adult subjects with nearly adult comprehension. His work in no way reflected his abilities.
So when Simon’s mother entered my office and appeared in front of me with a broad smile on her face, my palms(手心)were sweating. I was completely unprepared for her kisses on both my cheeks. “I came to thank you,” she said, which surprised me beyond speech. “Simon has become a different person. He talks of how he loves me, and he has begun to make friends, and for the first time in his twelve years, he has recently spent an afternoon at a friend’s house. I want to tell you how grateful I am. You have helped my son develop his self-respect,” she continued. Then she kissed me again and left.
I sat, feeling really shocked, for about half an hour, wondering what had just happened. How did I make such a life-changing difference to that boy without even knowing it? At the very moment, I just failed to find out a reasonable explanation for what I was going through.
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, coming out from nowhere, a scene occurred to me and explained everything.
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From that day on, I noticed some changes in Simon.
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