When I was about four years old, I started washing my face on my own. However, I always ignored the area behind my ears on purpose though my mom would often remind me.
One summer, in July of that year, my mom drove me to my grandparents’ house for our annual summer holiday visit. When we arrived, I was told that Grandma had gone on a trip with her friends and wouldn’t be back for another two weeks. Feeling a bit down, I went to the yard to play while my mom and grandpa caught up on some things. Although I couldn’t hear their conversation clearly, I had a strong feeling they were talking about me based on their gestures and expressions. Later, my mom returned home, and she would come back to pick me up two months later.
After dinner that night, Grandpa asked me to take a bath before going to bed. Since I loved taking baths, I happily agreed. With the bathtub (浴缸) filled with water, Grandpa reminded me, “Just make sure you clean the area behind your ears really well. You wouldn’t want potatoes to start growing there, would you?”
“Potatoes?” I stopped in my tracks and turned back to look at him. “Yes, potatoes. If you don’t clean the dirt behind your ears, potatoes might actually sprout (发芽) and grow there,” he explained, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. “But I don’t have any potatoes behind my ears, Grandpa,” I said as I ran my fingers along the back of my ears. He took a quick glance and replied, “Oh, I see a couple of sprouts: starting right there!” He urged me to get into the bathtub immediately and scrub (擦洗) them away thoroughly.
I nodded, still in disbelief. This was the first time I had ever heard such a thing. Why hadn’t my parents warned me about this before? I wondered, but couldn’t find an answer. Nonetheless, I felt shocked by Grandpa’s warning.
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 hurried to jump into the bathtub, carefully scrubbing behind my ears.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“What are you looking at behind your ears?” Grandma asked me curiously.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I had run away from home after finishing high school. My parents had insisted I go to college, but I was tired of school. I hated it. I was determined not to go. And, besides, my father was too strict. I had too many chores to do around the farm. I haled the work!
There had been a quarrel between my father and me. I threw some things into a bag and left angrily, as my father shouted after me, “If you leave, don’t come back!” My mother cried openly, and I had seen those tears during a hundred sleepless nights.
Then it was time to write a letter to my father.
Dear Dad,It’s been more than a year now. I’ve traveled east to west. I’ve had dozens of jobs. None of them amounted to very much. Always the same questions: “How much education have you got?” It seems they always want college men for the good jobs.
Dad, you and Mother were right about everything. I know now that the work on the farm didn’t hurt me, and I’m convinced I need college. I’m also convinced that both of you loved me.
Dad, I’ve learned a lesson. I want to come home. I know you said if I left, I couldn’t come back, but I’m praying you’ll change your mind. I want to come home and be a part of the family again.
Give my love to Mother and the girls.
Love,Your son
As I folded the letter and put it into an envelope, I felt a refreshing relief. It was as if a heavy load had been lifted from my shoulders. And I had to be on my way home.
I started down the desolate road—the long road home. Fortunately, a car picked me up, and it was good to have someone to talk with. The driver was a salesman and very pleasant.
“Where you going, boy?” he asked good-naturedly.
There was a long silence before I said, “Home.”
“Been away from home long?”
I smiled, a little self-conscious, and said, “One year, one month and two days.”
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。
Having heard my story, he expressed his support for my final decision and told me something surprising.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, I arrived home when. it was completely dark.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was fifteen when my world took a hopeless turn for the worst. My mom was diagnosed with cancer again. She had undergone surgery and beaten the cancer. Then the cancer came back. However, there was more to worry about than the disease that my mom was battling. My dad had left us years before. Besides, because of the mounting medical bills she was paying for her previous cancer, we were on the edge of financial ruin. I was too young to get a job.
That winter was the worst. We didn’t have money to pay for electricity. Our neighbor, Sophia, allowed us to use her electricity so that we could have one lamp on in our home. The gas stove in the living room was the only heat in our house. My mom slept in her cold room, with as many blankets as we could pile on her.
Thanksgiving Day came. I searched our cupboards for food and there wasn’t much. I started slamming doors as I looked through the cabinets for a can of food we might have missed. The more I searched, the angrier I became. The noise must have woken my mom, because she came to the kitchen wrapped in a blanket. She looked worried at me and asked, “Baby, what’s wrong,” I retorted, “I’m hungry. I’m freezing to death in our own house,” I wasn’t angry at her. I was angry at our situation.
She opened her arms toward me and said, “Come here. Right now things are hard, but hope is always there. Whatever difficulties we meet, we should be strong. All you have to do is have faith. Why not believe we can be better by using our own hands?”
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 deeply ashamed of what I had done and said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Just as I wondered what to do to spend the night, Sophia knocked at our door.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was 3: 34 in the morning. I was in our apartment on the 22nd floor.
I went to bed at around 2 o’clock in the morning, but for some reason I woke up a minute or so before the quake started. I was comfortable in my bed, about to fall asleep again when suddenly the bed started moving a little. That bed used to move a lot, so I just thought it was my wife rolling over. I looked over to her and she was fast asleep. She wasn’t moving.
My first thought was: OK, it’s just another small quake. We used to get a lot of small quakes in Chile. But this one kept going and then got a bit stronger. It was enough to wake my wife up and she asked me, “Is the room shaking?” It is our way of asking: Are we experiencing a mild earthquake? The noise of the perfume bottles hitting each other in the bathroom and the hanging wine glasses clanging against each other in the dining room confirmed what was happening. I thought, OK, this is just a strong quake, no reason to get out of bed.
When an earthquake starts to get stronger, we have learnt that we have to open the front door because they sometimes become stuck when the building starts to sway (摇晃). So, I went to open the front door while my wife went to see how the kids were. They were still fast asleep. However, on the way to the front door, the shaking increased considerably. When I turned around to go back to the bedroom, the full force of the earthquake started to hit. I had never felt an earthquake that was so strong. I couldn’t move forward and I had to hold onto the wall to stay up on my feet.
The earthquake gave a final strong push of intensity (强度) and then our lights went out. This is the only time in my life when I honestly thought I was going to die.
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。
The terrible shaking eventually stopped.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Once we were ready, we woke the kids up.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was a boy, I always wore turtleneck shirts because I was so sensitive and shy. I worked hard to earn exceptional marks and always tried to behave well. I was younger than everyone else because my good marks had allowed me to skip second grade, but this added nothing to my already low self-confidence.
When I was 14, my parents divorced (离婚). I moved in with my dad in a new neighborhood, but he was always so busy and had little time for me. It seemed the only time he ever spoke to me was to be demanding or critical. I began to hate coming home from school every day. I sank further into my low self-esteem (自尊心) and was overwhelmed with feeling unappreciated and alone.
One day, my aunt called. This seemed like a miracle (奇迹) to me. Aunt Ginette usually only called once a year, on my birthday. She said she had just seen some young teenagers participate in a public speaking contest, and she thought I should try it, too. She told me she firmly believed I could perform on stage like the other kids since she had seen me do skits (幽默小品) for the family at Christmas.
I was a little surprised. Me? Onstage? In a public speaking contest? I was hesitant. But Aunt Ginette was so confident and seemed really serious. Feeling her strong belief, I went against all odds and agreed to enter the contest.
All that winter, twice a week after dinner, I took three different buses for the three-hour round-trip to practice in Ville d’Anjou, where the competition would take place. Although my dad really did love me and wanted the best for me, he disapproved of this new dream, fearing it would take away from my homework time and impact my academic performance. But I remained a top performer in school and never missed a day.
注意:1.续写词数应为 150 左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卷的相应位置作答。
Four months later, the big night arrived.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I saw my father’s face, his eyes were shining－he was so proud.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 描述调查结果;
2. 分析其原因并给出建议。
1. 写作词数应为80左右;
2. 短文的题目和首句已为你写好。
Students’ Time Spent on Physical Exercise Weekly
Nowadays, many students are aware of the significance of physical exercise, although the time they spend on it varies.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Have you ever felt the need to grab a pen and start writing your thoughts on a piece of paper? Tom had always been a lover of stories, and of words that come together to create vivid imagery (意象). He would spend hours writing down his thoughts and ideas, crafting worlds and people with his pen and paper.
But when it came to his parents, they didn’t believe how much he enjoyed writing. In fact, they discouraged him, telling him that he should focus on more practical career fields like becoming a lawyer.
The annual writing competition arrived once again, which was a time to show creative writing as well as the vivid imagination of students. Although Tom had a burning passion for writing, he had always hesitated to enter the race. He was worried that his parents would disapprove of him spending so much time writing, leading him to miss the competition in previous years. But this time, he decided to take a chance and see if he could win this race. Perhaps if his parents saw how talented he truly was, they would come to support him.
Days passed as he carefully prepared his writing, pouring his heart and soul into every word. When he finished, he read it over and felt proud of what he had written. He prepared to hand in his writing, but his parents still believed he was wasting time. He still decided to submit his entry anyway.
Weeks went by before the contest’s results were announced. Tom waited anxiously, wondering if his writing was good enough to win a prize. He checked out his mailbox every day after school.
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。
Finally, the day arrived and the winners were announced.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Just then, the door opened and Tom’s parents returned home from work.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was time for the annual Potato-Salad Contest in Russet Park. After trying for the third time, Alexis shook her head sadly. There was no way she would win the Golden Potato again because Grandpa wasn’t here this year.
Memories of how Grandpa taught her to make potato rose in her mind. She sighed and missed Grandpa so much.
Alexis cut the potatoes and mixed the boiled potatoes, some sauces and a little salt and peppers in a bowl. But it didn’t taste right. Alexis tried a bite of the salad mixture, wondering what was missing. Seeing her frown, Mom suggested, “What about something spicy? Your Grandpa loved spicy things.”
“You’re right! Maybe he put a jalapeno pepper in it,” Alexis said, cutting up a bright green jalapeno and adding it to the bowl.
It was closer, but it still didn’t taste right. Alexis was drooping her head, disappointed. “Should we look in a cookbook?”
“Grandpa was never one to follow a recipe,” Dad entered the kitchen and said.
It was true. People loved Grandpa’s potato salad because it was one of a kind. Alexis remembered posing with Grandpa for a photo while they were making the salad.
Photo! That gave her an idea. Alexis hurried to the bookcase and found an old photo album. She immediately flipped it open, expecting to find clues in the photos there. Lots of photos showed Grandpa and Grandma cooking together. Dad laughed, “He and Grandma loved to tease each other but he always called her Honey.”
“Do you think he put honey in the potato salad?” Mum asked.
“It is worth a try,” said Alexis. She stirred some honey into the bowl.
But it still wasn’t quite right. Alexis’ heart sank, on the verge of giving up. Dad kept flipping the album. At the end of the album was the picture of Grandpa and Alexis making the salad together.
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。
It looked like Grandpa was crying in the photo.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With hesitation, the family tasted the potato salad with onions in it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 表明自己的立场；
2. 至少两个论点来论证；
3. 总结：其他
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My mom was a kind woman. She had an unusual view on helping others that I didn’t really understand until one cold, winter day when we picked up my brothers at school.
“Who is that child?” Mom pointed at a skinny, angry-looking girl across the street. “She doesn’t even have a coat. It’s freezing!” “That’s Becky Ingler. She always looks mad like that,” I replied. Becky didn’t have a father, and everybody laughed at her. “I’ll visit her tomorrow,” Mom said.
The next day, we went to the Inglers’ house. A tired-looking woman appeared, and Mom smiled, “Hello, Mrs. Ingler. I’m just visiting some of our neighbors.” Once inside, I noticed there was a rusty coal stove and a big messy bed. Mom looked at each of the children carefully.
As we left, Mom told Mrs. Ingler she would visit them again soon.
Mom’s old sewing machine (缝纫机) worked for two days and nights to turn some shabby clothes into stylish winter coats. She said to me, “I need your help to send these coats to the Inglers this afternoon.”
“Wow!” I said. “They’re lucky to get these.”
“No,” said Mom as she faced me. “We’re the lucky ones to be able to help them. We must make sure these coats are given freely, without the Inglers paying a price for them.” I didn’t understand what Mom meant. Mom explained, “I don’t want these coats to cost them their pride or dignity (尊严). We can’t show we are somehow better than they are.”
I asked Mom what we should do if they refused the coats. Mom smiled and said, “I have a plan in mind.”
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。
Later that day, we went to the Inglers’ house again.
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As we left, I noticed Becky examining the coats happily.
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