A Turning-point Party
The cold snow was falling as Kelly struggled home from school in December. How much she hated the snow---and everything else about Pinetree, Wyoming, America. How much she missed Thailand! “I hate it here! I want to go home!” Kelly thought.
She reached for a small white envelope in her pocket. In it was an invitation to Jennifer’s party: Kelly didn’t want to go. She felt awkward at the thought of being at a party with a bunch of kids she barely knew. She closed her eyes and remembered this time of year people would hold a festival to thank the Mother of Water in Thailand, They used banana leaves to make a little boat with a candle lit in it, made a wish for the coming year and set the boat floating on the river.
Kelly sighed and pushed open the door to her parents’ restaurant. They were busy working. “Maybe I should go just this once for Mama and Papa. They are so worried that I’m not making any friends.” Kelly went over and tied an apron around her waist. As she was washing dishes, she told her mother that she had been invited to a party on Friday night. Mama smiled saying now she might be happy in their new home. Kelly nodded, thinking Pinetree could never be her home.
On Friday evening, Papa drove Kelly to the party. Jennifer met her at the door and led her into the dining room. Six kids from her classes were seated around the table, on which were sitting small brown cookie houses. They were selecting colorful candies and gluing them to their own houses, Wow, she loved making things. For this part of the party, she could be herself. She decided to decorate her cottage like one of the golden temples of Thailand. As she was making it, Jennifer wondered how she did it. The others joined staring at Kelly with admiration, Kelly felt a warm glow. Maybe I could fit in here-----a little, she 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。
After dinner, the party went on and the talk turned to the coming holidays.
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Suddenly, Kelly came up with an idea.
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Molly ran back home from school and dropped her schoolbag on the sofa. Then on the table she saw “Mum’s Wish Book” —a mail order catalog from a gift shop. “Mum,” she said excitedly to herself, “this year you’ll get the gloves you want!” Molly had walked a dog for a neighbor and saved her money all year to buy Mum the gloves.
She opened “Mum’s Wish Book” and hoped that she could find these gloves in it. So carefully did she look through that tears ran down her face when she saw the gloves in the catalog. Mum wouldn’t buy them for herself, because the family had a hard time on the farm. She once heard Mum say to Dad, “Maybe some day, I’ll have the money to get them.”
Molly ran out by the back door and went straight to the post office. There she carefully filled out the order form torn from the catalog.
“I need to buy a stamp to send the form.” She said to Mr. Smith, the only worker in the post office.
“Umm, a pair of gloves?” said Mr. Smith, as he passed a stamp to her.
“Yes, It’s a Christmas gift for Mum, but please don’t tell her. It’s our secret, OK?” Molly didn’t realize how white Mr. Smith’s beard was until that moment. In fact, he reminded her of Santa Claus.
As Molly walked back home, she decided to tell Dad her secret. “You’ve got to check the mailbox every day,” said Molly quietly to Dad. He nodded, with a big smile.
Coming home from school every day, Molly peeked at Dad when Mum wasn’t looking , but every time he shook his head.
On Christmas Eve, Dad came back from the mailbox, still empty handed. Molly felt sad when she went to bed, because she didn’t have the gloves for Mum.
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:
Before Christmas dinner, Molly felt so hopeless.
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Paragraph 2:
Mum thanked Mr. Smith and took the box .
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It was not uncommon to see a person like me in an amusement park, who held purses, cellphones and sunglasses while others enjoyed themselves riding roller coasters. I admitted their courage, but refused to challenge myself.
One day when we were at the Happy Amusement Park in Seattle, my friends tried to get me to ride a roller coaster. But the click, click, click of the cars climbing up the tracks made me scared. The stop at the top, before falling with people's screams, seemed terrible.
My friends were still trying to persuade me, and I was saying no as usual, when I suddenly saw a familiar face, one I had never seen in real life. It was Raine, a popular young tennis star at the top of her game, who was my heroine. I pulled out a pen and the only paper that I could find and walked to her.
She was making her way through a rope that led to a ride called the Loudest Scream. I was running fast because I didn't want to miss the chance to meet her face to face, but I was also a bit nervous. So I waited at the exit to calm down and get closer to her as she came off the ride.
Several minutes later, she got out from the exit, laughing and talking with her brother. I focused on her walking toward me. She walked past. It was more difficult to talk to a star than I thought, but I had to take the chance. I called her name, not very confidently, but more like a question, “Raine?” She turned around. Our eyes actually met. “Would you mind signing for me?” I asked, handing the pen and paper toward her. Her hand wrote over the paper and she said, “You are the first person who has recognized me in the park so let's take a roller coaster together.”
Paragraph 1:
Her warm invitation actually filled me with mixed feelings.
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Paragraph 2:
My friend came up and asked, “Are you sure you will take the Loudest Scream?”
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