A Community Puts on a Dazzling Display of Support
In Sara’s family, putting up Christmas lights was always a big day of celebration. Every year, just after Thanksgiving Day, her dad Anthony, 70, would visit local stores to check out new decorations and then excitedly string lights and hang decorations in and out of the house. The dazzling (绚烂的) display made him a hit in the community.
On 2020 Christmas Eve, as usual, the whole house twinkled with lights, and gifts were piled under the tree. While everyone was looking forward to enjoying another Christmas together as a family, Sara, got a call: the whole family had tested positive for COVID-19. Their Christmas celebration had to be canceled.
At first, everyone’s symptoms (症状) seemed manageable. But right after the new year, Anthony started having trouble breathing and unfortunately passed away two weeks later, though the rest had recovered from COVID-19. The following week of planning the funeral was the worst for Sara and her husband, Frank. Sorrow left them doubled over in pain. The saddest of all was that no neighbours attended her father’s funeral. Only the twinkling Christmas lights at night brought them a little bit joy. The lights were one of the last moments they had of their beloved father, so they kept them up.
One morning in February, Sara received an envelope. “Take your Christmas lights down! It’s Valentine’s Day!!!” the unsigned letter read. Sara looked at the paper in shock. Then she got angry. She could have bottled up that anger, but she decided to write about it instead. She logged on to a local community Facebook group and shared the letter. She ended the post with this: “We all had a tough year. Be kind to people because you never know what they are going through.”
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。
Half an hour later, Frank rushed into the room excitedly, with his phone in the hand.
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When night fell, Sara and Frank were surprised by what they saw outside.
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Lora’s house stood on a wooded slope not far up from the river. On a sunny morning in July, she decided to take her three kids down to the river, Mikey aged 13, Paul 8 and Lisa 5. As a nature lover, she insisted they spend as much time as possible outdoors. “We are going to pick berries now,” she announced.
The group made its way over the dusty road and then onto a dirt trail through the trees. Stopping the children at the first berry bush, “Look, the berries are all over,” she said. Mikey broke into a run to the berries. Lora and the little ones hurried to keep up. She helped Lisa find some clusters(串；簇) on the lowest branches. Paul watched and then tasted a berry. “Mmm, good,” he said, and got busy picking more.
Lora and the children moved slowly from bush to bush. Within 20 minutes, the children had filled their jars and were almost at the river. “OK,” Lora commanded after the group climbed down to the sandbank, “Let’s play just right here.”
Lora rested herself not far from the children, listening to their laughing and playing. Suddenly, she sensed the children go quiet. She looked up to see the back of a big-sized cat standing over Lisa. It was a young cougar(美洲狮). The sight of the cougar near her kids immediately froze Lora. The three kids, rooted to the spot, were too nervous to say a word. She knew she must do something.
Paragraph 1：
The first idea that hit Lora was to attract the cougar’s attention away from her kids._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
Just as Lora was struggling with the beast with almost her last strength, she saw the three kids running back, each holding a stick.
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Jesse and Vern used to be totally strangers living in two towns hundreds of miles apart. Their friendship started with an orange shirt in a bottle 22 years ago, when computers and Internet were not available.
8-year-old Jesse lived a simple and happy life in a small town with his parents. School was starting next week. The family would get Jesse a new set of clothing. Jesse was not so passionate for new clothes. After his father’s persuasion, Jesse finally agreed to the shopping. Jesse tried on a pair of new pants, new shoes, and an orange shirt. He didn’t like the pants and shoes much. But he did like the orange shirt.
School started, and Jesse put on his new orange shirt. All the other kids had new clothes too, but his orange shirt, in Jesse’s mind, was the most handsome of all. He wore it almost every day. Even when it was dirty, he would insist that it be washed and ready, so he could wear it the next day.
Time passed quickly and Jesse had grown over two inches. But his orange shirt was not growing with him. One day, his mother asked him to go to the grocery store to pick up some things for supper and reminded him not to wear that small orange shirt any more, which looked funny on Jesse.
Jesse ignored what his mother told him. In the store two little girls laughed at his tight orange shirt. Feeling embarrassed, Jesse picked up his groceries and hurried home. Getting home, he told his mother that he wouldn’t wear that shirt any more. His mother said, “Jesse, since the lovely shirt is too small on you, maybe someone else needs it.” “I really hope it goes to a lovely boy. But who can it be?” said Jesse. The next morning, Jesse’s father told Jesse that he had a good idea, saying he would take Jesse to the river.
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。
When they got to the riverbank, Jesse’s father took out a large plastic bottle together with the orange shirt.
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Little Vern was fishing with his father in a small boat down the river.
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It is funny that our lives seem to go on, but our use of clothes often doesn’t. It was a few weeks ago when my sons showed me the hole in their jeans. Further inspection showed that both my sons’ pants were worn out and had holes. While shirts were in better shape, both of them had “grown” too well to wear them. Their bodies grew out and their shirts grew tight because they were in adolescence.
I spent the whole afternoon first at the second-hand shop, and then at the department store picking out new blue jeans and better fitting shirts. It was a lot of work and I was tired when I got home. I took off the tags and put up their new clothes and then I gathered up the old ones to throw them into the garbage can.
The jeans were more than garbage ready, but when I picked up their shirts to throw away, I felt a little push in my mind. I knew at once what it was. It was the good nature in us. The good nature let me know that most of the shirts were still in good condition to wear. They shouldn’t be deserted when someone less fortunate could use them. I smiled to myself and my good nature made me lay out the shirts.
I called out loudly, “Sons, help tidy up your clothes!” They felt confused and asked, “Mom, what are you doing?” I patiently explained what I wanted to do. And we checked carefully to see if any shirts were too old. I threw away some, but I put the rest back into a big bag for donation. As we put them in my car, I felt a joy in my heart.
Meanwhile, I also taught my sons, “Always listen to those little pushes in your mind. Always listen to your good nature. And they will always lead you to give more love and receive more joy. They will always lead you to be a better yourself.” My sons understood my words and were supportive of me doing something with second-hand clothes.
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 decided to encourage more people to donate old clothes.
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Now I’ve set up a charity to collect and hand out clothes.
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When my grandfather died,my 83-year-old grandmother, once full of life, slowly began to fade. Although she was visited often by our loving family members, it was often hard to arouse her interest.
One chilly December afternoon, my sister Meagan, eight, and I were settling in for a long visit with my grandmother, when she noticed that Meagan was carrying her favorite doll.
”I, too, had a special doll when I was a little girl,“ she told wide-eyed Meagan,”I got it one Christmas when I was about your age.The very first gift I opened that Christmas was the most beautiful doll. She had an exquisite,hand-painted porcelain face, and her long brown hair was pulled back with a big pink bow.”Grandma’s eyes filled with excitement and her voice shook with emotion as she recalled that Christmas gift.“I played with my doll all morning long. She was such a beautiful doll... And then it happened. My mother called us to the dining room for Christmas dinner and I laid my doll down, ever so gently, on the hall table. But as I went to join the family at the table,I heard a loud crash.”
“I hardly had to turn round — I knew it was my precious doll. When I ran in from the dining room, there lay my beautiful doll on the floor, her face smashed into a dozen pieces. I can still see mother trying to put my poor doll together again. But it couldn’t be done. She was gone forever.” A few days later, Grandma’s younger sister was also gone because of pneumonia. Now the tears in her eyes spilled over-tears, I knew, not only for a lost doll and a lost sister, but for the lost time.
During our rest stay, Meagan thought a good idea and exclaimed,“Let’s get our grandma a new doll for Christmas, one exactly like the doll that got broken. She would not cry when she thought about it.”My heart filled with pride as I listened to my compassionate sister. But where would we find a doll to mach our grandmother’s fond memories?
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。
Where there’s a will, there is a way. We got in touch with a local doll maker.
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Finally, our creation was finished.
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As a college student majoring in engineering, Tom was in bad need of an advanced computer, which would cost him an arm and a leg. Tom chose not to upset his parents with this issue because he didn’t want to be dependent on them all the time. After careful consideration, Tom decided that a second-hand computer of high quality would also do and he could afford one with the money he had earned by taking part-time jobs.
One Saturday morning, Tom went into a second-hand computer shop. Luckily for him, he came across a computer of the exact model he wanted. Better still, it was nearly brand new and was sold at just a third of its original price. It meant that if Tom bought it, he would still have 300 dollars left. It seemed too good to be true! Out of curiosity, Tom asked the shop owner why the computer was sold at such a low price. “Oh, it’s a sad story,” replied the owner, adding that it was from a college student called Steven who was diagnosed with some type of cancer last month and now was badly in need of money for his treatment.
Hearing this, Tom felt truly sorry for the young man who was supposed to have a promising future. But at the same time, he also felt lucky to have this ideal computer for his college life. Without hesitation, he paid the shop keeper, took the computer and went back to his dorm (宿舍). He couldn’t wait to show his computer to his roommates. Everyone in the dorm thought Tom was lucky to have got the computer.
But deep in his heart, he knew something was not going right.
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With the phone number given by the shop owner, Tom contacted Steven and paid him a visit.
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“Everybody in the world should receive a standing ovation（鼓掌）at least once in their life.” Marv said to Scruff and Max. “People like you can’t get a standing ovation.” Scruff and Max rebuted（反驳）him. Marv ignored them and walked away, thinking, “I will show them that I can receive a standing ovation!”
Every year on the final school day, one child is awarded The Edward Yellow Award. This award is awarded to the school topper. Marv desperately wanted this award.
Marv didn’t have normal legs like others. He walked in a very unusual way. Everyone did not go close to Marv. He was home-schooled till 4th grade as his parents were a little nervous to send him to a regular school. So he started formal education from 5th grade. He really liked the teachers in his school. One of his favorite teachers was Mrs. Harsia, who teaches maths and he really liked this subject. Mrs. Harsia used to call him the “Math Wiz”. Though he was disabled, he had a sharp mind to do difficult mathematics calculations.
5th grade’s math’s final assessment was coming up and he was teamed up with Scruff, who had developed a liking for Marv due to Marv’s brilliant maths.
“Ha, you are with the fat guy!” Max teased（取笑）Scruff.
“Stop teasing him,” Scruff said, “How would you feel if somebody called you this name?”
Max silently walked away.
Scruff asked Marv to start to do their project. Marv thought many great ideas. “Ah, this looks so awesome Marv!” Scruff said, “You ‘really are a Math Wiz!” They soon became good friends.
One day, Marv heard someone scream on the campus. He ran towards the voice. A girl was crying, her knee bleeding. In no time, Marv took out his handkerchief and covered the girl’s knee to stop bleeding.
“What is your name?” Marv asked.
“Kate. I know you are Marv. My brother often mentions you.” the girl responded.
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。
Just then Max came running.
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Dr. Frederick, the headmaster, gave a speech at the awarding ceremony.
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Now one foot, now the other
Bobby was named after his grandfather, Bob. Bob was the one who helped Bobby learn to walk. “Hold on to my hands, Bobby,”his grandfather said. “Now one foot, now the other.”
One of the best things Bob and Bobby did was to play with the old wooden blocks that were kept on a shelf, in the small sewing room under the front stairs. The blocks had pictures of animals on them. Bob and Bobby would put the blocks one on top of the other very slowly, building a tall tower. Sometimes the tower would be almost finished. “Just one more block,” Bob would say.“And that’s the elephant block.” And they would carefully put the elephant block on the very top. But Bob would sneeze and the tower would fall down. Bobby would laugh and laugh. Then Bob would sit Bobby on his knee and tell him stories.“Bob, tell me the story about how you taught me to walk,” Bobby would say. And his grandfather would tell Bobby how he held Bobby's hands and said, “Now one foot, now the other. And before you knew it ...”
Then one day Bobby came home from school and his grandfather wasn’t there. “Bob is in the hospital,” Dad told Bobby,“He’s had a stroke (中风) and he is too sick to see anyone.” Months later, his father told him that Bob was coming home.
“Now, Bobby,” Dad said, “Bob is still very sick. He can’t move or talk. And he can’t remember us.”Bobby just nodded and didn’t say anything.
One day, Bob tried to say something to Bobby, but the sound that came out was awful. Bobby ran out of the room.“Bob sounded like a monster!” Bobby cried. “He can’t help it, Bobby,”Mom said. So, Bobby went back to the room where Bob was sitting.
“I didn’t mean to run away, Bob. I’m sorry,” Bobby said. “Do you know who I am?” Bobby thought he saw Bob blink (眨眼睛) his eyes.
“Mom,” Bobby called. “Bob knows who I am.”
“Oh Bobby,” Mom said. “Your grandfather doesn’t recognize any of us.”
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。
Para 1：
But Bobby knew better and he ran to the small sewing room under the front stairs.
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Para 2：
“OK, Bob. Now one foot,”Bobby said.
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Of all the people in Lily’s life, one in particular stands out. As Lily thinks of Shanda, a smile spreads across her face. She feels loved and grateful more than ever that she has such a teacher and friend. Thanks to Shanda’s presence, Lily has become a good dancer now.
Eleven years of dance and going on twelve that year, she doubted it would end up like any other year. She might be stuck in any empty spot and didn’t know what to do with her next dance move. Little did she know that year would change her completely.
That year, Lily felt lucky that Shanda would choreograph (编舞) for her dance. Lily expected to work with Shanda, a young talented dancer, to have an okay dance, but she never expected she would have such an impressive impact on her way to dance.
The moment Lily walked into the marble floored, wall-to-wall mirrored rooms, she already felt like Shanda had faith in her. Shanda smiled at her with appreciative eyes. In the following days, Shanda always encouraged her, “Work to the best of your ability and keep going.” When she wanted to give up, Shanda told her that the real importance of dance was to love it.
Throughout their hard work and devotion, not only did Lily s ability to dance grow, but also their friendship grew. Shanda became more than a teacher to Lily. She was also a close friend that Lily could turn to for anything. Shanda gave her encouragement when Lily need edit the most, and Shanda was always there to cheer Lily up when she felt down,
As the year quickly came to an end, it was high time for Lily to show her dance to the audience. As she walked to the backstage filled with other dancers warming up and expecting their performance, she prayed for a good performance that would convey her improvement. The rhythmic music before her rang in her ears. She waited anxiously for her turn. Finally, after what seemed like days, the hostess announced “Lily”.
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。
Lily had butterflies in her stomach as she stepped onto the big stage.
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Lily felt very excited when the hostess asked her to make a speech.
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In today’s competitive world, the emphasis in athletics is so often put on breaking records. A runner’s creed: “I will win; if I cannot win, I shall do my best.” Those inspirational words, and others like it, fuel the soul of the long distance runners. Competing not only with one another, they hope to achieve their own “personal best”.
For one teen Brandon Schutt, a student in Omaha Burke High School, had been looking forward to his final cross-country race before graduating from high school. He was determined to finish the race with a respectable enough time to qualify for the upcoming state meet. Like him, all other runners were accumulating strength for a take-off.
One runner, Blake Cerveny, whose record was the fastest, tried to beat his own best. After a fast start, he continued to push himself to the limit. If he could hold on to his lead, there was no doubt that he would win. However, with less than 400 meters to go, Cerveny’s legs cramped up(抽筋)and failed him. Resolve to finish，Cerveny rose up from the ground, and continued on his way,only to fall again.His legs had simply given out. Seconds later, he lay curled on the ground, frustrated and disappointed. Other runners surpassed Cerveny with-out stopping. His will to go on faded from his body gradually.
A few moments later, Brandon, running at a very aggressive speed, drew near Cerveny. He had actually been in the same position three weeks prior when he wasn’t able to complete a race. He felt awful about not finishing. He had trained so hard for this final race in high school, to hopefully qualify for the state meet. So this time, he had made up his mind to prove himself under no circumstances.
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, noticing Cerveny’s struggle at arm’s length, Brandon hesitated.
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Everyone in attendance recognized Brandon’s decision as true sportsmanship.
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