You never know where life will lead you. When I was a young boy. I found myself constantly overshadowed by my elder sister, Becky. It was not her intention to outshine me, nor did she make any effort to do so. However, with Becky exceling both academically and athletically, it was only natural that her accomplishments got all the attention, while my own achievements went unnoticed. Being the younger brother of someone who effortlessly excelled in all areas of life proved to be a big challenge, as I struggled to find my own identity under her brilliance.
Becky’s talent in swimming was particularly noteworthy and she was recognized as the finest swimmer in our province. Yet, the swimming pool never attracted me. Even as a child, I developed a dislike for swimming after a rather unpleasant experience of water entering my nose. Swimming was not for me.
However, fate had its own way of transforming my life. One day, I fell off my skateboard and broke my leg so badly that the doctors said I could never really engage in the sport again. They said there was only one exercise that would be good for me-swimming!
Reluctantly, I decided to give swimming a try. At first, it was a struggle. I had a lot of fear and anxiety about putting my face in the water, fearing a repeal of the incident that had scarred me as a child. But little by little, with the support and guidance of my sister, I slowly overcame my fear and learned to enjoy swimming.
As I spent more time in the water, I realized that swimming wasn’t just exercise; it was a way to challenge myself and push my limits. I began to set goals for myself, starting with simple tasks like swimming a certain distance without stopping, and gradually progressing to more advanced techniques. With each achievement, my confidence grew, and I found myself becoming more comfortable in the water.
Swimming also brought me closer to Becky. We spent hours together at the pool, motivating and encouraging each other. She became my trainer, helping me improve my technique and providing me with valuable advice. It was through swimming that we developed a deeper bond as siblings (兄弟姐妹).
注意：(1)续写词数应为150左右；(2)开头已给出。
As the years went by, I started participating in local swimming competitions.
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Today, as I reflect on my journey, I am grateful for the twist of fate that led me to professional swimming.
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Today was Sunday, so I was in no hurry to get out of bed. As I rolled over and stretched, I heard my father shouted, “Oh, dear, fire!” There was unmistakable urgency in his voice. Upon hearing that, I got up and hurried downstairs. And my mother who was preparing breakfast also stopped cooking immediately. My father showed us a video shot by some witness, where we saw a fire inside a building. My mother stood beside him and shook her head.
“What a pity! Is it local?” my mother asked. As a policeman, my father had a keen observation ability. “It’s your hospital!” he watched the screen carefully and said in surprise.
It turned out that a building of the hospital where my mother worked as a head nurse was on fire. We found out later that an old wire first caused the building to catch fire and it began to spread. The camera captured the firefighters’ figures in black and orange uniform as they aimed endless streams of water at the fire.
“I have to get there,” said my mother, feeling anxious. My father and I offered to go with her. She threw on uniform and drove to the site.
Luckily, the fire didn’t spread to the building where my mother worked. After making sure that it was safe, we came to my mother’s office. My mother’s co-workers came to the office off and on as well. They were horrified at the sight of the next building but still thought about how to help.
Through a front window, I suddenly saw the rows of medical records in the next building, and I hurried to tell my mother. She felt really nervous and instantly consulted with her co-workers about how to cope. The situation was very urgent. They knew that if they waited until the firefighters who were busy evacuating (疏散) patients got here, those recordings might burn up. The fire broke out before the records, which were irreplaceable histories of their patients, could be entered into the computer.
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。
They decided to rescue the records, and my father and I offered to help.
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Finally, some firefighters arrived.
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It was the afternoon before Christmas Eve as I looked tiredly at my youngest daughter Kitty’s wish list for her presents. Major dental surgery (牙科手术) two days earlier had left my face painfully swollen (肿胀的), and most surely influenced my holiday spirit.
To make matters worse, Kitty had provided me with the world’s least helpful list: “Something red. Something old. Something you can put things in. Something strange ...”
After completing the important shopping of lots of food necessary for a big family gathering the next day, I was just quite tired and impatient. But no matter how hard it was to please my youngest daughter, I couldn’t let her down. Then her older sister Helen came up with the solution. The local antique store was sure to have something that fitted Kitty’s wish list. Owned by an extremely nice couple, the place was packed with valuable things and also not-so-valuable ones.
Surely, it was the last place where I wanted to go. Three years before, I had rushed out of the place in tears after selling them my grandmother’s silver forks and spoons and most importantly my valued ballet-dancer doll. That year had been difficult, and though I told myself that they were only things, it hurt to trade my remaining valued things, especially my ballet-dancer doll, for common things such as electricity and food. The shame of crying in public over it only made matters worse. Since that year, I had never visited that store.
After this long period of time and with a greatly swollen face, I thought it was unlikely that the owners of the store would recognize me. And, sure enough, the place offered gifts for every possible taste.
So in the afternoon before Christmas Eve, wearing a hat, I left home together with Helen to the antique store to pick up the gifts that Kitty wanted. Before long, we arrived at the store. While walking and choosing the gift there, I wondered, “What if the owners recognize 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。
So I pulled down the edge of my hat to hide my face.
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And the owner held out my old ballet-dancer doll, adding, “It’s our Christmas present to you.”
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Garden of Discovery
I was kneeling outside in my garden, pulling weeds in the bright sun, when a voice suddenly said, “What are you doing?”
I looked up. Looking over the fence was the boy who had just moved with his family into the house behind ours. “Don’t you hate getting dirty?” he said.
I laughed. “No, I don’t mind.” I stood up. “Hi, I’m Jeanie.”
“Mike,” he replied.
I saw him looking at my garden. “I’m getting ready to plant tomatoes, potatoes,” I said. “Also beans and...”
Mike interrupted. “Why go to all this trouble when you can buy vegetables at the store?”
“It’s fun,” I replied. “I bet you’d enjoy gardening if you tried it. All boys like gardening.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he said.
I smiled. “Work with me for a week. If you still don’t like it by then, I’ll never talk about it.
To my surprise he nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
Before I knew it, the week was up. I was sure that Mike had changed his mind about gardening. He no longer complained about getting dirty! Each time he planted a seed, he would say, “I hope you grow big and make Jeanie and me proud of you.”
On the last day, Mike and I worked until the sun had set.
“That’s it,” I said, standing up. “Everything’s planted.”
Silently Mike rose, too. “The week’s up,” I said. I smiled at Mike, confident that he was going to tell me that gardening wasn’t so bad after all.
For a moment he didn’t say anything. Suddenly he said, “I’m glad that’s over. Don’t forget our deal—no more garden talk. See you.” Then he ran into his own yard. I stared after him in disbelief.
I went to bed. Around midnight a crash of thunder woke me up. Outside there was a terrible storm. I worried about my plants until the rain finally ended, and I fell back asleep.
The next morning I jumped out of bed, eager to see my garden. I pictured in my mind broken plants and flooded rows of seeds.
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。
“It’s about time for you to get here,” said a voice as I pushed open the back door.
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“I can’t believe what you’re doing after what you said last night,” I said.
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Although it’s been almost two years now, I can still remember that day as if it were yesterday. We were all glued in front of the television, when Dad came rushing into the house after work to tell us that he had just bought a new boat. He promised us that the following week he’d take us all on a fishing trip. We were all very excited and happy at the prospect of it.
The much-awaited day finally came. After we packed everything onto the boat, Dad started the engine and steered it slowly out of the harbour. We headed out until we were a good distance from the shore. Then, when we found what seemed like a good spot for fishing, Dad stopped the engine.
The sky was crystal clear and the sea was as calm as a sheet of glass. We spent a good couple of hours bathing in the sun, fishing rods in hands, without a care in the world. It was fantastic just being there, staring out at the beautiful blue sea. We caught a good number of fish.
We must have lost track of time, chatting and laughing, because the next thing I remembered was being put into a darkness which was so thick that one could almost cut it with a knife. Looking around, it was all pitch-black. Then, out of nowhere, a big wave came crushing into the boat, nearly overturning us all overboard. If that wasn’t bad enough, we could hear the rumbling (隆隆声) of thunder in the distance—it was unbelievable how the weather had changed so quickly before our very own eyes. The storm was rolling up on us fast and it wasn’t long before the rain started to come down in showers. The rain was so dense and heavy that we could barely breathe.
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。
Dad immediately rushed to start the engine but it would not start.
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Suddenly, we started to hear what seemed like the sound of a helicopter approaching.
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I had a trip to New Mexico last year, a trip I still remember very well to this day. I went to a place called Philmont and attended a summer camp. There were thirteen people including me. The entire 10-day hike we took through those mountains went well, except for the second day, because of the terrible weather.
It had been a nice sunny day up until we were halfway to the camp we were staying at that night. Then without a word it started raining gently. There was nothing too bad and certainly nothing we couldn’t handle. We put our raincoats on and continued on our way. It stayed raining slightly for a while, so I decided it would be a good idea to say, “Well, it can’t be much worse than this, right?” And in less than five seconds the thunder crashed around us. It almost sounded like a laugh, as if it was laughing at us. Then the rain started to come down harder, and then, the hail (冰雹) came.
Getting hit with balls of ice in the middle of the New Mexico mountains was not something I had ever thought would happen to us, but here we were. All thirteen of us were wishing at that moment that we could go home. But we quickly abandoned the idea. It was freezing, and my feet felt like they might fall off. Wet, cold, and carrying 40 pounds on our backs, we hiked on.
But soon enough we got lost for about a mile because of a mistake that our “Navi-guesser” made on getting us to our destination. At the same time, one of our boys got a minor case of hypothermia (低温症). We decided to stop for a while, unpacking our tents to get into a nice warm sleeping bag. I don’t know if you know this, but unpacking camping gear (装备) in the rain was not very fun, especially setting up a tent.
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。
We came up with a solution.
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The rain stopped just as we were about to start.
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Despite their genetic similarities, my twin sisters Lenna and Elsa were quite different. Lenna was a recognized athlete in our community. We all expected her to attain a scholarship on one field or another, but she lacked a certain edge to her reasoning. Elsa got along well with everyone who works in the library, but she had the grace (优雅) of a two-legged table. They had found few occasions to relate with one another and grew distant. Had I not lived with them, I would not have known them to be sisters.
They did, however, share a drive for success that seemed to become more successful around the same time during senior year. After a track and field season, Lenna was offered full scholarship at a reputable state university near our home, so long as she maintained a 3.0 GPA. Elsa had a more important thing to do: she was one perfect report card away from seizing the chance of making a speech at a graduation ceremony from her opponent, Chet Goodweather. At the end of the sixth Wednesday of the fourth marking period, as the sisters unfolded the printed report cards, their smiles turned to tears: Lenna was getting a “D” in science and Elsa was getting a “C” in gym class.
Lenna and Elsa came home at the same time and were surprised to find one another disappointed. As they argued with one another about who had suffered the greater misfortune, they realized that the other’s problem sounded easy to solve. Elsa barked, “Your problem isn’t even a problem. I could pass that test easily and 1 can show you how to as well.”Lenna retorted(反驳), “Well, all you need to do to get an ‘A’ is to shorten your mile time to five or ten minutes. Two weeks of training with me and the coach will try to have you on the track team.” The girls exchanged glances and came to a quick agreement.
注意:
1.续写词数应为150左右:
2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Every morning for the next two weeks, Lenna woke Elsa up at 4:30 to run.
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Final report cards were distributed the Monday before graduation.
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Henry Crawley was a cab driver who drove long circuits every day. His job kept him away from family for long hours. It was the topic of many quarrels he had gotten into with his wife, who understood why he was away so often but could not resist the urge to cry out for her husband’s physical absence.
To make up for not always being there for his daughter, Leslie, Henry was determined to make it to her 16th birthday party on time. On the day of her birthday, Henry conveyed as many passengers as he could as usual. When he finally finished the last order to a distant town outside the city, Henry rushed back to his city for the small party.
However, he got caught up in a heavy snowstorm that restricted mobility on his way back. Stubbornly, he decided he would press on anyway and continued driving even though he had to go at a snail’s (蜗牛的) pace.
It was 6: 00 pm and Leslie’s party started at 6: 30 pm. He complained about the weather as he fastened his eyes on the slippery road. As time passed, he got closer to the city. Suddenly, he spotted a person sitting beside the road. He stopped his car to check on it, and found it was an elderly woman who was unable to speak but almost freezing. Her bedroom clothes told him she must be from the town nearby he just drove past.
Henry decided to take the woman to her town, but he remembered that his wife would be upset with him if he missed his daughter’s birthday party. He called his wife to explain things. As he predicted, she said nothing, ending up the call. That made him uneasy and almost turn back to his car. But he knew that he could not leave the woman helpless. “I’d want someone to care for my wife or daughter if they ended up in such a tough situation,” he said to himself.
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。
Without any hesitation, Henry was determined to help the stranger.
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Upon his arrival, it was late at night and Henry became more uneasy.
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Thomas and John have a lot in common. They are both talented high school seniors. They both love basketball. They are both captains of their respective high school basketball teams. But on one Saturday night in February, they were forever linked in the minds of all who were present for a mutual act of courage, sportsmanship(体育精神)and respect.
The remarkable moment came during a game between Thomas's small town Illinois team and John's big city team in Wisconsin—a game that almost wasn't played. Just days before the game, John's mother lost her five-year battle with cancer. Her death was sudden and painful for all who knew her.
John's coach wanted to cancel the game, but John insisted that the game should be played. So with heavy hearts, his teammates prepared to honor their captain's wishes and play without him.
What they weren't prepared for was John's appearance in the gym mid-way through the first half. As soon as the coach saw John, he called a time out, and players and fans surrounded the young man to offer love and support.
The coach asked him if he wanted to sit on the bench with the team. “No,” John said. “I want to play.” Of course his team was excited to have him. But because John wasn't on the pre-game roster(候选名单), putting him in the game at that point would result in a technical foul(犯规)and two free throws for the opposing team.
However, John's coach agreed with that. He could see that this was the teenager's way of coping with his loss. He thought the points didn't matter. The opposing team understood the situation and told the referees to let John play and forget the technical foul. The referees argued that a rule is a rule, and the free throws would have to be taken before the game could proceed. For possibly the first time in basketball history, referees had to force a team to accept and take the technical free throws.
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 team captain, Thomas volunteered to take the free throws.
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John and his teammates stood and applauded the gesture of sportsmanship.
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Tigger wandered the pet shop to find an extraordinary animal as his companion.
The shop owner enthusiastically presented various special pets to Tigger, but none caught his attention until he noticed a cage in the distance. “What’s in there?” he asked.
“That’s Marmalade, just a regular parrot.” the owner replied.
Curious, Tigger approached the cage. The big white bird cocked her head to one side and let out a little squawk (尖叫).
“Can she talk?” Tigger asked.
The pet shop owner nodded, “Sometimes. She will talk when she has something important to say.”
“That makes her unique,” said Tigger, “and she will be my pet.”
After the purchase, he lifted the cage off the counter and walked proudly out of the shop.
At home, Tigger placed Marmalade on his bedroom desk. He pushed his face up close to the cage and said, “Watch my lips, Marmalade. My name is Tigger. Now say hello Tigger!”
Marmalade hopped round the cage. She pecked at seeds lying on the floor. She tapped the hanging silver bell with her beak, but she did not say a word.
Despite her quietness, Tigger consistently shared his school day with Marmalade as soon as he came back.
One afternoon, Tigger returned home late. Marmalade acted quite strangely. She glared at the door, walking round and round the cage. She jumped up on the wires and banged the silver bell with her beak. Then she stopped and opened her beak as if she was going to talk. But before she could say a word, Tigger rushed into the room waving a yellow piece of paper.
“Look, Marmalade!”
He pushed the paper against the cage. “The school’s annual pet show is tomorrow. And guess what? I’ve entered you. Unlike other years, besides judges, our headmaster, Mr. White, will select a special winner. I believe you’ll enjoy it.” Yet, Marmalade remained silent.
The next morning, Tigger woke early. He cleaned out Marmalade’s cage, filled the dishes with water and seeds and polished the bell.
“You know, Marmalade,” he said happily, “I’m sure no one will have a pet like you, a talking bird. Marmalade will be the winner!”
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 续写部分分两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
Upon entering the school hall, Tigger saw excited children displaying their unique pets.
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Paragraph 2:
As Mr. White prepared to announce the winner, a voice suddenly rang out, “Hello, Tigger!”
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