“Guys, remember. This competition is extremely difficult. There will only be a few selections to make it to the final round with the judges,” the music teacher, Mr. Brooks, explained. “But I hope all of you put your best foot forward and make our academy stand out!” The teacher was talking about a state-wide competition held by the best musicians in the area.
Shahnaz, the new student who had only come to the class two weeks before, took the teacher’s words to heart and put her heart and soul into a composition. She had learned how to play the piano for a long time and really did well in it. She wanted to prove herself.
All the students were supposed to improve their compositions with the help of their teacher, Mr. Brooks. However, he spent most of his time guiding the few outstanding students in his class.
He never had much to say to Shahnaz unless it was a comment about her mistakes, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to impress him. He was a good piano player and could teach her a lot. She hoped that her composition would be improved under the guidance of Mr. Brooks.
“OK,” Mr. Brooks said during one of his lessons, “it’s time for Shahnaz to play.” Shahnaz sat in front of the piano and began moving her fingers softly. She practiced and practiced once her composition was done and could almost play it by heart.
Finally, the piece was finished. Shahnaz looked at Mr. Brooks nervously and hoped to receive his recognition. But he just sighed “Frankly, you made many mistakes. You shouldn’t take part in the competition.”
注意：
1.续写词数应为150个左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
Shahnaz left Mr Brooks’ class that day with a heavy heart, but she refused to let his words break her spirit.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The night of the competition finally arrived.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9-year-old Igor lived in a huge forest in the north of Russia. His father was a woodcutter and his mother a tailor. The boy liked playing with animals in the forest, and knew the names of different birds and their songs. One freezing winter Igor was seriously ill and the doctor from big cities told his parents that only surprise could save him. Lying all day in bed, Igor only wanted his father to catch a bird and played with it. But in winter there were no birds in the forest. “You could make him a bird out of wood,” suggested the anxious mother.
The first finished birds were fat and too heavy to fly. He threw them into the fire, head in hands.
It was snowing heavily, and he really didn’t know where to find a bird. Then an idea occurred to him, “The bird needs two pieces of wood.” Eventually, he made it and showed it to his wife. “Beautiful!” she said, taking a needle and some thread (细线) and sewing the two ends together, like a real bird. She tied a long thread to the bird’s back. And it could be hung above Igor’s bed. Quietly, the woodcutter hung the bird above the boy’s bed.
At daybreak, his son was watching the bird carefully. There was a light in his eyes for the first time in many weeks. “Beautiful!” said Igor. “I’ve never seen it before in the forest. What’s its name?” “That’s a good question. I’ll find out and tell you.” The next morning, when the father entered Igor’s room, he found the boy sitting up in bed, trying to touch the bird. The last time Igor sat up in bed was many weeks before. “What’s it called?” the boy asked. “Oh, dear, I’m still not sure.”
Late on that night, Igor’s father went into his son’s room quietly and made the thread a little shorter. Then the bird was hanging a little higher above Igor’s head. Three days later, he found Igor kneeling on the bed, trying to touch the bird. His hand was very near it. “Have you decided on the name?” “Not yet. My son.” his father replied.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1:
Again, at night the father went into his son’s room.
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Paragraph 2:
Several days later, Igor’s father was cutting wood when he heard a scream from the house.
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Standing in the craft (工艺) store, I looked at the painting supplies in awe (敬畏). There were so many items that I had no idea where to start. I saw various tools for painting and several things I had no idea what to do with.
I held gift cards and coupons (优惠券) in my hand. My friends and family had asked what I wanted, and I was very clear this year. I had thought over the idea for months, but I would need supplies. Instead of replying modestly with“I’ll be happy with whatever you choose”, I said pointedly, “Gift cards for the craft store.”
“Are you sure this is what you want for your birthday?” my husband asked hesitantly.
“I’m very sure. I really want to give it a go,” I replied. I was smiling with anticipation (期盼). “I’ve never painted before, and I think it’s time to expand myself.”
He looked at me doubtfully and shook his head.
Truth must be told—this was a secret I’d kept for a while. Every day, he packed up for work and left. I would take care of my son and get him off to school, clean the house, go to the grocery shop and prepare dinner before they both walked in the door at the same time.
It had been a decade since I took any time to follow my own pursuits. I used to love to read; now my books collected dust from lack of time. I used to love to hike; now my boots sat neglected in the back of my closet. I used to love to sew, but my machine was in a state of disrepair for longer than I owned it.
I missed doing all those things, but somehow I never found my way back to them. I had become a drudge (苦工). I wanted excitement and creative expression, but mostly I wanted color.
I selected the most interesting supplies. “Are you really sure about this? I have a feeling you’re going to store all these in the back of a closet and never touch it again.” I almost listened to him. For a split moment, I doubted my commitment.
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。
Squaring up my shoulders, I marched myself to the checkout.
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My hand rested on the handle of the vacuum (吸尘器), but I’d been staring at my painting tools far longer than I realized.
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It pays to have friends in “high” places!
Last year, Brody Ridder of Westminster, Colorado changed schools because hed was being bullied(霸凌). Sadly, the problem didn’t go away at his new school, The Academy of Charter Schools. When the school yearbook came out at the end of his sixth grade year, no one in his class wanted to sign his book.
Brody says he approached several classmates to ask them to sign, but they refused. The few who did sign only wrote down their names carelessly with no personal notes for Brody. Except for a couple of teachers’ notes, his pages were completely blank.
Greatly disappointed, Brody sat down and wrote in the book himself. ”Hope you make some more friends.—Brody Ridder,“ he wrote.
Mom Cassandra Ridder was sad indeed when she read the note and heard how cruelly he’d been treated. She took a picture of the note and shared it online for parents of students at Brody’s school. She had no idea it would lead to discussions all over town!
Parents were so sad to read Brody’s note to himself that they encouraged their children to reach out to the boy the next day. Rising senior Simone Lightfoot was one of the teenagers who heard the sixth grader’s story, and she understood his embarrassment. She and other high school students spent hours talking about Brody, coming up with a plan to help lift his spirits and make him feel less alone.
”We all just started planning that the next day we were going to go and sign this kid’s yearbook,“ said Logan South, another rising senior.
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 next day, they did just that.
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Not surprisingly, Brody’s classmates also reached out to him.
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Babe Didrikson Zaharias was one of the most extraordinary athletes of all time. She achieved particular success in basketball, track and field, and golf. She also competed in baseball, boxing, diving and many other sports. In 1950, the Associated Press declared Babe Zaharias to be the “Woman Athlete of the Half-Century”.
From a young age, her goal was to be “the greatest athlete to ever live”. As a teenager, she acquired the nickname “Babe” in reference to Babe Ruth, a professional baseball player. She never passed up a chance to play ball. One day, when she was a little girl, her mother sent her to the grocery store to buy some beef for dinner. On the way home, Babe spotted some boys playing baseball. She dropped her purchases and joined the game. An hour later, her angry mother showed up, looking for the groceries. Babe pointed to where she’d left it. A dog was happily enjoying the last piece.
Zaharias gained fame at the 1932 Olympic Games. She won gold medals in the javelin (标枪) throw and the 80-metre hurdles (跨栏), but she was deprived of a third gold medal in the high jump because she had used the unorthodox (不正规的) Western roll to achieve the highest jump. Her Olympic success brought her national attention.
In 1932, Zaharias began playing golf and was soon winning important championships in the sport. In 1950, Zaharias helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and she became the LPGA’s star competitor. Not only did she attract interest in the women’s game, she revolutionized the sport and was known for her powerful drives.
Zaharias died of cancer in 1956, at the age of 45.
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1. What is your favorite food?
2. Your experiences of tasting it, especially for the first time.
3. Describe the characteristics of the food.
注意：写作词数不少于80。
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DJ: Hello. A lot of you have probably just got your A-levels and you’re looking forward to going to university. But more and more young people are deciding to take a gap year before they start their degrees. Today I’m talking to a group of young people who’ve all decided to take a year out before they go to university. What are they going to do? Rosie? What are your plans?
Rosie: I’m going to work in a department store.
DJ: Why do you want to do that?
Rosie: Two reasons really. I’m going to study Management at university and this will give me the chance to find out what it’s like to work in a big organization. And I’ll also be able to earn some money.
DJ: What about you, Christopher?
Christopher: I’m going to do community work with a conservation group. I think it’ll be good to do something really useful. And I’ll meet a lot of interesting people, I’m sure.
DJ: Will you get paid for it?
Christopher: Well, we won’t get rich doing it, but we’ll be all right. We’ll get about £20 a week plus food and accommodation.
DJ: Helen, what are you going to do?
Helen: I’m going to travel around Europe.
DJ: Are you going to work there?
Helen: I hope so, or I’ll have to come home again. I might try and get a job—you know—in a hotel or something like that.
DJ: Why do you want to do it?
Helen: Well, mainly because it’ll be a change. After all, I’ve been at school for 13 years. I just want to do something different. It’ll give me new experiences and I’ll need to be more independent.
Note: A-levels英国普通中等教育证书考试高级水平课程, 也是英国学生的大学入学考试。
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One day my friend Lily and I were talking about some parties that we had attended. Then suddenly I remembered that our best friend Emma’s birthday was next Saturday and we had not planned anything for her birthday!
At once we started discussing what we could do for Emma’s birthday. It suddenly came to my mind that we could throw a surprise party for her. I suggested that we could do it at my house as my parents and my brother were going to a farm and I was going to stay home. We also realized that nobody’s parents would allow their children to throw a party at their own houses as they would get dirty.
After that, we started deciding what things we could do at the party and what we could give her as a present. Finally, we agreed to give her a bunny (兔子) house as Emma has a baby bunny but she did not have a house for it.
The next day after my parents and my brother left, I invited Lily to my house. While Lily was coming, she ran into Emma, which made Lily nervous.
She thought that Emma would get suspicious (怀疑的) but thankfully Emma did not suspect a thing. Until the time Lily arrived, I gathered all the decorative (装饰的) items (物品) I had. I saw the cake which Lily had baked and it looked amazing.
I started decorating, while Lily began sending the invitations to our friends, and then she also joined me to decorate the room. When we finished decorating, we got very tired. So we decided to do the rest of the things the next day.
Finally, the day came. Everybody started coming and they were very excited about the party. Then I called up Emma and told her that a cat was stuck in (被困在) a tree in my back yard so that she would definitely (一定) come to my house to help me rescue (拯救) it. Later, we all hid (藏) in different places at my house.
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。
Finally, when Emma entered my house, we jumped up and shouted, “Surprise!”
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After everybody left, I turned around and noticed the whole house was a big mess.
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1.乌龟和兔子赛跑，兔子由于自满和大意输给了乌龟；
2.表明你的观点并列举生活中的例子；
3.总结这个故事说明的道理。
注意：1.词数80左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头已给出，不计入总词数。
One day a hare and a tortoise had a race
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