I stood in the restaurant kitchen, my eyes wide, arms hanging awkwardly, ready to work but unsure of what to do. “You will be trained first,” my manager Aaron said, “and do remember to check every detail!” With these words, he walked away.
A workmate threw me a dish brush and said, “Let’s get started.” He introduced me to the basics of washing dishes and demonstrated the process. This was the beginning of my part-time job, a new stage where I was both eager to learn and anxious about the challenges ahead.
On a Friday night, Aaron swiftly entered the kitchen. “Who has just bused (收拾) the back right table?” he shouted, his voice sharp with urgency. My hands, slippery with bubbles from the bowl I was washing, nearly let it slip through my fingers. I wanted to say I was guilty, but Aaron’s cold stare didn’t promise a happy reward for the guy who admitted. Finally, a mix of fear and my own conscience pushed the response out of my mouth.
“I did, Aaron.”
“What were you thinking? Get back out here and look at what you missed!” His words forced me forward. I grabbed a rag (抹布) and followed him out to table twenty-two. As we made our way through the restaurant, he said something about rags, but I didn’t hear clearly with other conversations going on around us.
I quickly realized the true issue was the mess beneath the table. A nearly full cup of beer had tipped over, creating a small lake on the floor. It was a significant mistake on my part. “Take care of it!” Aaron tuned and stormed off to the front of the restaurant.
I dropped down to clean up the beer. That was when another problem occurred. I had brought only one rag. One already wet rag. It did nothing but increase the size of the lake. “More rags,” I thought. Immediately, I rushed into the kitchen and hurriedly grabbed five dry rags, hoping Aaron wouldn’t notice my brief absence.
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 had just rushed out when I found Aaron standing in my way.
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After cleaning up the mess, I reflected on Aaron’s words.
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“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.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jenny always admired powerful and attractive marathon runners and dreamed that one day she could also run a marathon.
To make it, one day, she began to seriously prepare. At first, she only set the small goal of running one kilometer each morning. However, she still found it tiring and soon gave up running. As days went on, her weight gradually increased. Upset about her health, she finally decided to lose weight by doing exercise. She began running again.
As usual, in the following days, her big problem with exercising was always how to stay motivated. She tried to find guidance from running experts and books. And everything she read indicated that she’d better pair up with a running partner. She followed the advice, but human exercise companions always let her down. Her last exercise companion quit with excuses like, “It’s my turn to do the dishes” at six o’clock in the morning! She hated to admit it, but she had made similar excuses to others and disappointed them in similar ways.
Then Brucie appeared in Jenny’s life, a birthday gift from her husband, John. John couldn’t work out with Jenny because he had a bad back. So that job was left to Brucie, a yellow dog. Brucie was quite energetic, which made him destined(注定的) to be a running partner.
In the beginning, Brucie and Jenny ran only fifty paces at a time, each set mixed with one hundred paces of walking. “I don’t look foolish starting this way,” thought Jenny, “because Brucie’s bones are too young to make him run much harder.” She was right, and Brucie’s early limitations gave her time to start slowly without feeling awkward.
After about nine months, though, Brucie was old enough to run several miles a day and Jenny was fit enough to keep up. From spring to autumn, they logged the miles together every day. However, as winter approached and the weather got colder, maintaining a daily running routine required lots of dedication and determination. And Jenny started to think the dog would be like her previous human partners and that she couldn’t count on the little dog for help with motivation.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
What happened later proved that Jenny was wrong.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One spring morning, Jenny started her first marathon, accompanied by Brucie.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________An egg sandwich in hand, I quickly grabbed my bag and climbed into the honking car. I took out my physics notes and started skimming through them once more.
Today was a very important exam-of physics. For me, it is a really hard subject and I had worked really tough and intended to do my best in it.
I entered the queue outside the assigned classroom where the invigilator(监考老师)was checking our pencil cases. All the seniors and juniors were mixed and we were sitting in an English letter order. Upon looking at my name, I was surprised to see someone else sitting on my seat. She was a senior.
“Um. . . excuse me, I think you got the wrong seat… ” my squeaky(细的)voice faltered(支吾).
She stared in front in a bored way. I had the feeling she was deliberately ignoring me. I had enough trouble socializing with people, so I decided to leave the matter to the invigilator. The invigilator came soon enough.
“Katie, dear, you need to move one seat back for Aliya here, ” the invigilator explained.
The girl, Katie, shifted and I settled down. The girl in front of me turned around and rolled her eyes at me. Now, I was puzzled. What was wrong? I had annoyed two people at the same time?
These thoughts drifted away as I started focusing on the paper. Minutes passed when out of the blue,there was a tap on my shoulder.
The girl behind me, Katie, whispered, “Quick! Change places with me.”
I froze. It took me a moment to process her words. Without even waiting for a response, she grabbed my arms, pulled me up and made me sit on her seat, exchanging our papers too. Then she and the girl in front of her started to exchange some notes. I didn’t know what to do. I fought hard to collect enough courage and raised my hand, but the invigilator was busy with another candidate.
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。
Suddenly the door opened with a bang and in came a teacher.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“As for you, Aliya, ” he turned to me, “complete your paper here. ”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A few years ago, as a teenager, I experienced daily migraines (偏头痛) that made me want to hit my head against a brick wall. I was desperate to find a cure. For those of you who have experienced this pain, I can sense you silently nodding in agreement, while for those of you who have not experienced it, it is by no means an overstatement to say that the experience is suffering.
I had tried everything. Unfortunately, nothing worked as a continuous cure for my unfortunate painful condition. In my hopelessness, my father told me to try acupuncture (针灸), which he had experienced once in Hong Kong. It had helped cure his lower back when no other forms of therapy or medicine had worked.
I had no idea about acupuncture and had never experienced traditional Chinese medicine before. With no expectations due to my previous dis- appointments in my search for a treatment, I went on my journey of acupuncture, and soon found myself in a middle-aged woman’s office which was surrounded by Chinese herbal medicines.
After I sat myself down on the patient chair, she asked me why I had come in. Then, she placed three fingers on my wrist and silently felt my pulse. I was then taken to a room and told to lie down. Soon, she took out the needles which made me quite worried because such objects make me uneasy.
The initial procedure of receiving acupuncture proved to be quite surprising. To address my migraines, acupuncture was first administered to the back of my hand, which is nowhere near my head. The feeling was quite unexpected too: as the doctor carefully tapped and twisted the needle in, I did not sense the needle itself, but rather an effect that rippled (起伏) throughout my entire body. The doctor then continued to tap and twist more needles throughout my entire body: head, face, stomach, legs, arms, and toes. The entire process was over in 20 minutes. She then gave some herbal medicine to me to drink every day for five days.
注意：1. 续写词数为150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I returned to the doctor for a total of 10 times.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Acupuncture did change my life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Kevin woke to the blaring beep of his alarm clock. “Can’t wait for that camping trip,” Kevin thought, filled with excitement. As he was leaving home, his dad grabbed him by the hand and said, “Before you go, just tell me the directions on where you and your friends are going to stay.”
“But dad!” Kevin complained.
“No buts!” Kevin’s dad added.
“Fine.” Kevin told him the directions and left.
The three friends, Kevin, Jay and Nathan, had been planning this adventure for weeks, packing their stuff-tents, snacks, and a map-preparing for a 3-day outdoor exploration. Excitement ran through Kevin as they departed for their campsite. “This trip is going to be awesome, ” Nathan excitedly yelled as they set off. But little did they know that nature had a surprise in store for them.
The first day at the campsite was going great, setting up tents, collecting firewood, and sharing stories. “Man, we nailed these tents, ” Kevin said. “I know it was easy really,” Nathan replied. The friends were happy.
Yet towards night, as the dark clouds gathered overhead, the atmosphere shifted, and a sudden storm erupted with unforgiving anger. Rain poured down from the heavens like a relentless waterfall, transforming the peaceful campsite into a muddy battleground. Worse still, a huge tree was uprooted and crashed down with a deafening crack on their only means of escape - their car. Kevin’s eyes widened in horror as he spotted the damaged wreckage beneath the fallen giant. “Our car!” he screamed over the howling wind, his voice a mix of disbelief and despair. “We’re stuck here,” he declared, his words barely audible against the backdrop of thunder and raindrops. They realized that their plans had been violently spoiled by forces beyond their control. The once quiet campsite now stood as a deserted battlefield, the fallen tree serving as a painful reminder of the unpredictable nature of the world around 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。
Paragraph 1: The next day, they found themselves facing the immediate problem of finding water.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: On the third night, a distant engine sound broke the terrible stillness.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Our school’s “Help Others” event was drawing near, and our team had been assigned (分配) the task of organizing a fundraising campaign (筹款活动). We had a week to plan and carry out our strategy, and everyone wanted to play a meaningful part.
On the first day of our planning week, our team leader, Emily, brought us together to discuss our roles. She assigned different tasks to each team member based on our strengths and interests. I was assigned the role of connecting with local businesses for fundraising, a task I felt confident in completing.
As the week progressed, we worked tirelessly.
One afternoon, while we were creating promotional (宣传的) materials, Jacob, one of our teammates, came to us with a tired look on his face. He explained that he had been feeling unwell for the past few days and was worried about falling behind on his tasks.
Worried about Jacob’s well-being, we encouraged him to take some time off and rest and told him that we would support him in any way we could. Jacob finally agreed, understanding that he needed to take care of himself.
With Jacob absent, we realized that his tasks, including creating promotional materials, were left unfinished. We knew that if we didn’t step in to help, our campaign would fail. To solve this problem, we came together as a team and thought of ways to support Jacob and keep our campaign on track.
Sarah, with her artistic skills, volunteered to take over the design of the promotional materials, while Mark offered to help with the content creation. Emily, our team leader, stepped in to manage the whole team, making sure that everything stayed organized and on schedule. We tried our best to make our campaign successful.
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。
Late into the night, we came together in Sarah’s living room.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The following day, when Jacob returned to our team, he was surprised at the progress we had made in his absence
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One year ago, when we were in the fifth grade, a new classmate named Jack joined us. He was often late for class and had a strange smell on him, which made the girls not want to be “neighbours” with him, let alone sit next to him. It is said that once, a naughty boy curiously opened his backpack and many crushed soda cans and empty drink bottles that we usually throw into the trash fell out. Therefore, the boys in our class mocked (嘲笑) him as the “trash king”.
Later, during a class meeting, our teacher, Ms. Zhang, told us about his story of using garbage to make inventions. It turns out that Jack is not an ordinary elementary school student, but a “garbage-inspired inventor” who has won the city invention award. According to Ms. Zhang, most of his inventions were picked up from garbage dumps (堆). During that class meeting, Jack showed us his invention of a“domestic wastewater separation system”.
Afterwards, some of us became deeply interested in these small inventions and started to admire Jack’s way of “picking up trash”. We even joined him in picking up trash on weekends and during holidays. From then on, we no longer called him the “trash king“. Instead, we formed a group of five boys and actively searched for usable materials in various garbage dumps around the city. Under Jack’s guidance, we learned that there are many uses for seemingly useless trash. Once, we stayed at school to process the collected materials. Jack mentioned that he was facing a problem with his latest invention—a small cart for buying vegetables that needed to be lightweight. All other materials were solved except for the wheels. How could we find a suitable material for the wheels? We racked our brains (绞尽脑汁) and came up with different ideas, such as using soda cans or taking off the wheels from suitcases. However, Jack reminded us that our group should focus on making inventions from waste rather than causing damage to create them. We were all deep in thought.
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 I got home and drank a bottle of water, I suddenly had an idea.
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Jack indeed adopted my suggestion and fixed a row of bottle caps as wheels on his vegetable cart.
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“Alice, you spend too much time on your phone,” her father said. “You need to focus on your studies.”
“But Dad, I’m doing my best,” Alice replied. “I’m balancing my phone time with my studies.”
In the tense meal, Alice and her parents argued about her recent changes. They were focused on her increased attachment to her phone and its impact on her studies. Her parents were concerned that she was neglecting (忽视) her studies and worried about the impact it might have on her future. They felt that her attachment to the phone was taking her away from her studies.
Alice said, “I know you’re worried about me, but I’m trying my best. I just want to have some fun with my friends and take a break from studying sometimes.” However, her parents didn’t seem to understand or accept her explanation. They felt that she needed to focus more on her studies and less on the phone.
The argument escalated (升级) when Alice announced that she wanted to leave the science club she had been a member of for years to join a new social media club. Alice explained, “I’m not sure if leaving the science club was a right decision or not. I just feel like I need a change.” Her mother was shocked and said angrily, “You made this decision without thinking it through. You’ve done well in the science club, and you have a lot of potential to go further. You’ll regret it if you don’t keep going.”
After that argument, Alice, feeling increasingly frustrated, withdrew into herself and spent more time in her room. She started to avoid her parents as much as possible and didn’t want to talk to them about anything related to her studies or her future.
Her parents saw that the little girl who had come back laughing and talking was gone, and now they saw a face that was alternately angry and sad. She did spend less time on her phone, but she became increasingly unhappy.
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。
One night, Alice’s parents knocked on the girl’s door and said they wanted to talk to her.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At this point, Alice seemed to see some hope of joining the social media club.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Science of Chocolate
Chocolate is a complex chemical delight containing over 500 individual flavour components together with stimulants and a host of substances beneficial to health. With that many ingredients, it’s no surprise that crafting chocolate is a science in itself, requiring careful temperature control. For starters, cocoa butter has six different forms of crystals, all of which have different melting points. And the fat crystals in the final product have to be exactly the right type, size and shape for the flavour to be correct. This is achieved through tempering, a crucial stage of chocolate production that involves cooling so that crystals form before raising the temperature slightly to melt unstable crystals.
While we tend to think of chocolate as junk food, some of its components may actually be good for us, Cocoa beans are rich organic chemicals called flavonoids (类黄酮). One particular flavonoid called epicatechin (表儿茶酸) increases blood flow in the brain and prevents the grouping together of the proteins that characterise conditions such as Alzheimer’s. Research published in March 2014 also found that dark chocolate is used by bacteria in the stomach to produce anti- inflammatory (消炎的) compounds that are good for your heart. But so far, most studies suggesting health benefits for chocolate have been carried out on mice, so further research would be required to see whether there are the same benefits in humans.
At the University of Bath, scientists have been studying mouse brain cells grown in the lab. “Our research has shown that epicatechin and related flavonoids have promising protective actions in brain cells, explains Dr Robert Williams, a neuroscientist at the university. “But whether we could achieve the levels required to reproduce these effects in humans by eating chocolate is uncertain.” The jury is still out on whether we can consider chocolate a health food. But since the positive ingredients are all found in cocoa itself, there’s one rule of thumb — the darker, the better.
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