In my childhood, under the influence of my el der brother and my peers in the neighborhood, I tried a number of outdoor activities. Of course, I was not so taken by all of them. whether I was doing them for the first time or continuously. However, fate had its own plans in store. You never know when an outdoor activity will change my life.
The name of this activity is “fishing”. About ten years ago, I didn't really like the idea of sitting on the bank of a lake or river, spending long hours under the sun's ultraviolet rays, which can cause sunburns and skin damage, and anxiously anticipating some fish to be kind to take my bait(诱饵). In fact, I used to think of this outdoor activity as some kind of “hide-and-seek-game” that is popular with most young kids, except that it was much harder because I could see my “prey (猎物)” only after catching it.
However, all that changed when I paid a visit to my aunt in the countryside during a summer holiday. I was finally convinced by one of my cousins to accompany him to a nearby lake in order to do some fishing practice with him. In fact, he even assured me that fish would eat my baits. So I agreed and went to the lake expecting to catch some fish. Before throwing my fishing line into the water, my cousin did some tricks attaching some sort of food to my fishing pole.
Learning to fish in a river or lake can be challenging for the beginners like me. The act of dropping a line is easy, but being a successful fisher is hard. That's why they call it fishing but not catching But with practice and patience, it can become easier over time. Patience is essential in lake fishing. It may take some time to find the right spot or lure (鱼饵) that will attract fish.
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。
My cousin had to repeatedly remind me to keep patient.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When we finally left the lake, I had caught three fish!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It took a day’s drive, but distance was beside the point. I always enjoyed long journeys in my father’s car with my family. However, things went different that time. We were moving to a new town, not for any tourist destination, but to settle down, for my father had a new job there. My mother, sitting on the passenger seat in the front, was talking with my father. She looked excited for the coming new life. But I was down, feeling nervous about starting a new school life. Entering a new school meant adapting to a completely different environment and meeting new classmates and teachers, which I was not good at.
On my first day at the new school, I felt lost and out of place. The students already knew each other well, and they chatted happily during breaks. I missed my old friends terribly and wished I could go back to my old school. Feeling lonely. I often spent time alone during breaks and after classes, reading books in the library or drawing pictures in the art room. I missed the good days I had with my old friends and longed for that sense of belonging.
As the days went by, I still found it hard to fit in. I was shy and found it difficult to strike up conversations with my classmates. Some of the kids in my class noticed my discomfort and tried to be friendly, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling of being an outsider. I only had words with my desk mate, Alex, when necessary. Things took a turn for the worse when I knocked off Alex’s water bottle by accident, although I picked up the bottle immediately and apologized to him. He got mad at me and seemed not to forgive me. Soon I found we were avoiding each other.
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.
However, I was assigned to pair up with Alex to design a poster.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Alex proudly introduced that the fantastic picture was drawn by me.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I pressed my fist into Dad’s old baseball glove as I stared out of the window of my stepfather’s van. Not a day went by that I didn’t think about Dad and how much I missed him.
The van stopped at the edge of the baseball field. “Hey, buddy, have fun at practice. And don’t forget about your sister’s recital (表演) tonight,” said my stepfather as I climbed out.
Zoe is not my sister, and you can’t tell me what to do, I grumbled (嘟囔) to myself.
A bunch of guys from the team waved from the dugout. I jogged over half-heartedly. “Why do you look so unhappy?” David asked. “I have to go to my stepsister’s dance recital,” I sighed. “It could be worse,” David replied. I shot him an I-highly-doubt-that expression. “What if you had to perform in it?” Kevin said as he leaped and twirled (旋转) like a rodeo bull. I tried not to smile.
The truth was that I had a lot of mixed-up feelings since Mom remarried a few months ago. I had always loved baseball, but even that felt different lately. I could barely concentrate.
After practice, David and I sat together waiting for our ride. “I wish things didn’t have to change,” I said, “you know, for my mom and me.” “I have a stepmother and stepbrother too,” David said as if it were no big deal. “Seriously?” I hadn’t realized that, so I asked. David shrugged, “They’re just Mom and Dennis now. Give it a chance.” I let out a breath, still unsure about the recital tonight. Still unsure about everything!
Back home, I found Zoe in her costume, but something was wrong. Her arms were folded tight across her chest, and her eyes were glossed with tears. “What’s wrong, Zoe?” I asked. “Opening night jitters (战战兢兢),” my stepfather said. “She doesn’t want to be in the recital,” Mom said.
Huh. This should have been the best thing that could have happened — the possibility of not having to go to the performance. But somehow it wasn’t. Zoe had practiced so hard. And she’d reminded me at least a thousand times where she would be onstage.
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。
Thinking of Kevin’s funny dance, I had an idea.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After Zoe disappeared into dancers backstage, we found our seats.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was around six years old, we had a neighbor, David, who was restoring an old 40’s Ford in his garage, and I was a curious kid, so I would go across the street and visit him as often as I could.
He was the first person to introduce me to Go-Jo hand soap, which I thought had an unpleasant smell. He and his wife occasionally invited me to have supper with them, and it was there that I would learn about burgers with French dressing. Eventually, he moved away.
A few years ago, I ran into David again. He went to the same restaurant to have breakfast. David retired and still had that 1940 Ford and also a mid-forties truck which he would always drive, one or the other, to breakfast.
David and I enjoyed many conversations about life, cars, and car shows. I remember just a few years ago, he was sitting at a local pizza joint with his daughter, and I sat next to him to have a conversation. I asked, “Where’s your wife?” To which his face went blank, and his daughter told me her mom had passed away. At that moment, my heart ached because, after having lost my wife, I knew that pain all too well. From then on, I noticed when David came to breakfast, he had his wife’s dog with him. Yep, he had that dog with him always. Even at car shows, they had a close bond which I understood.
I looked forward to car show season. When I saw him at the shows, it always put an emotional tear in my eye watching him and that dog. I wanted to get a picture of him and his dog, but I was always in a hurry and kept saying I would get it at the next show. However, with COVID-19 and all the fear out, car shows were getting canceled, and David wasn’t at breakfast much anymore because he didn’t want to catch 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。
Paragraph1:
About a week ago, when going to pick up my breakfast, I asked my waitress Tanya “Have you seen David lately?”
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David’s death has really reminded me to the meaning of life.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________For more than 20 years I have been traveling the world, preferring often to spend a year or two in different countries rather than to just visit as a tourist. It has become an important part of my personality as I grew older and shaped the way I saw the world and myself.
My little taste of this amazing life was when I was 19 years old. I was selected among a small group of college classmates to spend a year abroad. This was long before people could travel the world through social media like Facebook and Twitter. In order to see a place, you had to go there and experienced it.
I was raised in a middle-class family and couldn’t afford to travel around the world the way I wished I could. The only way I knew about the world outside was through letters I wrote to pen pals from over a dozen countries as a kid, and from television. Growing up, I always loved the very funny British comedies that were shown on local public television every Saturday night. So when I got the chance to apply for a study abroad program, I chose London.
Living abroad can be exciting, scary and challenging. I thought it would be easier because I spoke the same language as the local people did. But I also like to relish (享受) the little differences between the British and American culture and language. I also learned that in England, they spell words differently than in the U. S. In British spelling, they put a “u” in words like favor to make it “favour” and an “s” in words like analyze to make it “analyse”. I was able to adapt quickly to this new way of writing since I was submitting papers all the time for my classes.
Academically, I got to take classes that weren’t offered at my college back home. For example, I had a course in sociology and learned about the native people of Papua New Guinea.
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: But there were also challenges that year too.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Sometimes the difficult times made me sad and homesick.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Last summer vacation, I worked as a servant at a BBQ restaurant as a part-time job. One day, a man and his son came in and spent a very long time looking through the menu. Eventually, the father came up and started asking me about ingredients because his son was allergic.
At some point, the boy, who was probably about six or seven, handed me a card that listed all his allergies. It was a lot. I don’t remember exactly, but I know eggs, gluten (面筋), and pork were on there, as well as a couple of seasoning (调味品) things, like onions. There was no way I was remembering this, and I didn’t know what the seasoning blends were off the top of my head, so I asked to borrow the card so I could go check. He agreed, and off I went.
It turned out that a lot of our seasonings and sauces used at least one thing the boy was allergic to, and the allergy to pork took over half our menu options away on its own. I spent roughly ten minutes checking basically everything to see what we could serve him safely.
I occasionally went up to update the family on what I was doing. The father seemed mildly surprised that I was going out of my way to figure this out. Eventually, I did figure out what I could serve the boy. Because one of his allergies was meat. I switched out every piece of my cutting board, wiping the table for good measure as pork grease (猪油) gets everywhere. I also cleaned the remains out of the cutting station and made sure anyone else I saw serving them did the same, but that usually took less than a minute.
The father thanked me deeply for being so accommodating. He had apparently had trouble finding a restaurant that served something his son could eat. They quickly ended up becoming regulars, and I would see them at least once a week. Since the boy already knew what he wanted and what was safe, it was much faster.
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 tried to serve them well to satisfy them every time they came here.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________They appeared one afternoon and I asked why they hadn’t come here for a month.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a bright and sunny Saturday when Mr. Jones moved in next door. He is an old gentleman with thick-framed glasses and a wiry beard. I could see his many belongings: antique chests, a large and tattered (破败的) painting of a rainforest, and boxes and boxes of old books. The line of movers bringing items into the house was endless! However, there was one item that Mr. Jones refused to let the movers touch. It was covered in a red velvet cloth and he carefully carried it inside himself.
That night, I heard an odd noise coming from Mr. Jones’s house. It was such a strange noise that I could not sleep at all! To my astonishment and anxiety, every night the strange sound would come up. After much consideration, I decided to investigate this mystery. I wondered what on earth Mr. Jones was? What could this strange noise be? What could he be hiding? Many doubts always echoed in my mind.
The next day, to confirm my guess, I slid into his house. Mr. Jones had left the window of his basement unlocked and I crawled inside without permission. Making several attempts, I made it! I felt around the walls for a light switch and when I finally turned the light on, I was amazed!
The basement was like a museum. There were many exquisite jungles and animals’ models which were often seen in museums. On the bookshelf were some academic books about zoo animals. I also noticed some remaining corns in the corner. When I glanced at the table, there was a first-aid kit on it! Determined to find out the truth, I was making my way across the room when I heard that strange noise again, coming from upstairs! Nervously, I walked up the stairs as quietly as I could but then on the last step… the floor beneath my foot creaked (嘎吱作响)! I paused, hoping no one was home to hear 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。
Suddenly, the door opened and there stood Mr. Jones staring right at me.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________And then in the other room I saw it-a large cute parrot in a delicate gold cage!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sarah had unspeakable pain because she had to raise her children alone. But over time, she changed too much, looking skinny in the mirror, with dark bags under her eyes. She knew she had to stop burning herself out before it was too late. So she emailed her manager that she was taking an urgent day off.
It had to be the best day ever. Sarah hated instant coffee but didn’t have time for anything else. But not now. Sarah placed her favorite coffee maker on the stove and walked to the kitchen windowsill, enjoying her company when her phone rang loudly from her bedroom. “Yes?” “Hello, Sarah! How are you doing?” “Natalie? Oh, my goodness! Is this really you?” …Natalie was Sarah’s friend, but they’d lost touch after Natalie and her husband moved to Europe. Unfortunately, Sarah got so carried away by the conversation that she completely forgot about her coffee on the stove. The weather turned harsh, and strong winds blew the window curtain toward the stove, causing it to catch fire. Sarah put the phone down immediately when she smelled something burning and the smoke caused her to cough.
Sarah’s house was reduced to a pile of charred wreckage (残骸). Her neighbors looked at her pityingly and offered to shelter her until she could find a place to live. But Sarah couldn’t take their favor. She knew no one wanted to see a swarm of children at home, especially in the current economy. Sarah and her children had been dragged to a shelter in the street.
A few months later, it was Sarah’s birthday. She decided to take her children out for a good lunch and then get back to her work. But they didn’t want to and had a strange request. They blindfolded (蒙住眼睛) her, guiding her out of the house. Sarah had no clue what her children had planned for her. She knew they were heading somewhere far from the homeless shelter since they were on a bus at some point.
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。
As Sarah did remove the blindfold, her hands went to her mouth in shock.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Her neighbors had actually built her a new home.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Never had I thought I would end up playing computer games in my bedroom during the summer break before university. In fact, I studied hard in my senior year and got admitted into my dream school with a full scholarship. I should have been throwing parties or hanging out with my friends. Where was this sense of disorientation (迷失方向) from?
I missed my high school years. My classmates were nice and my teachers were helpful. Everything was well-planned and prepared. All I had to do was follow the rules and hand in my work on time. While I also complained about the rigid life like my fellow schoolmates, I adapted to it quite well. Three-year high school life moulded me into a “good” student.
Now everything was different. Without work and pressure from my high school teachers, I had no idea what I was supposed to do with all this free time until my best friend called.
“You know what, Dennis? Sally has acquired a full scholarship to study at a school abroad and Alex is starting his internship at a television station.”Leo kept me update d of everyone’s interesting and meaningful new life. “And I’m considering applying for a pre-college exchange program. What have you been up to, Dennis?” Unwilling to tell him the fact, my tongue twisted and my face flushed with embarrassment, “Well, nothing worth sharing.” But I felt a strong urge to ask, “How do you manage to arrange your life so well?”
“Well,” answered Leo, “I just want to make each day a masterpiece.” Hearing his words, I couldn’t help but reflect on the days that I had already let slide by. Sensing my depression, Leo offered, “I can forward the information about my program to you if you want. Just let me know if you want to check it out.” “I’ll think about it. Thanks, bro.”
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:
Hanging up the phone, I began to wonder what a “masterpiece day” looked like to me.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
I applied for the same pre-college exchange program as Leo did.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As I unzipped my lunchbox, the whole place was turned into a spicy curry (咖喱) dream. I immediately hid it under my seat, hoping no one would take notice.
Mom had really outdone herself with masala — our family’s all-time favorite dish back in India. But today, it wasn’t just about me and my lunch. A warm smile on his face, Ricky invited me, a new transfer student from India to New York city, for lunch.
“Ava, come sit here!” Ricky called out, gesturing towards a vacant seat.
As I made my way over, memories of those awkward lunchtimes when I studied in Kansas, one of the most conservative states, flooded back. I could still recall how everyone would wrinkle their noses and stare curiously when I unpacked my Indian food. It always made me feel like an outsider, like I didn’t belong.
Therefore, before my first day in this school, I had demanded my mom pack “normal” western-style food for me. I still remembered the look on her face upon hearing it, as she signed in disappointment and confusion, “Isn’t there a moment when you feel proud of your origin?” That was hurting, but not more hurting than others’ giggles and whispers. Honestly, long queues were common in Indian restaurants in New York city, a cultural melting pot, but I wouldn’t take that risk.
Unfortunately, this morning, Mom had forgotten to make sandwich or any “normal” food, so I had to bring leftovers from our dinner. At the thought of the possible oh-no-second (社死), I felt like being thrown into darkness.
However, before I came back to reality, Ricky noticed my sneaking (躲躲藏藏). “What do you have for lunch?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with interest. I tried to brush it off (搪塞), claiming I wasn’t hungry. But Ricky wouldn’t let it go, and before I could protest, he had the lid of my lunchbox open and I prepared myself for such familiar responses as “Ew” or “What is that?”
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。
However, I did not get what I was expecting.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After school, I found Mom preparing sandwich for tomorrow’s lunch.
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