A painter living by painting portraits was leading a poor life.
One day, a woman came by. She liked the paintings very much and asked the painter to draw a portrait for her. They agreed on 2,000 dollars.
Before painting the portrait, the woman asked the painter to draw more jewels. The painter curiously asked why, but the woman refused to explain. After a week, the portrait was done and the woman came to take the painting. At this moment, she hit on an evil idea of bullying the unknown young artist. She thought, “The portrait is me. If I don’t buy the painting, nobody will buy it. Why should I pay so much money?” So the woman said to the young painter, “I will only pay 200 dollars for it.”
The young man was surprised, for he had never come across such an experience. He argued with her, expecting this woman to keep to the agreement.
“I can only pay 200 dollars to buy the painting,” the woman thought she would win for sure.
The young painter knew the woman broke her promise on purpose, so he felt annoyed. He said in a firm voice, “No, I would prefer to keep this painting rather than be humiliated by you. Today you break your word and some day you must pay 20 times for it.”
“What a joke! 20 times will be 40,000! I won’t be stupid to pay 40,000 dollars to buy the painting!”
“Well, we’d better wait and see,” the young artist shouted to the woman who left angrily. After the stimulation of such an incident, the painter moved out of this sad place, studied under acknowledged teachers and worked hard day and night. More than a dozen years later, he finally started a new way and became popular in the circle of art. However, the woman had forgotten the artist’s painting and words the next day.
注意：
1）续写词数应为150左右；
2）请按如下格式作答。
One day, that famous painter decided to hold an art exhibition.
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The woman went there hurriedly, apologised a million times and promised that she would buy her portrait as soon as possible.
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My wife, Megan, and I went out to dinner with an old friend who we had not seen for a while. There had been some talk of COVID-19 on the news, but it was early in the outbreak and people were still going about their daily routines. Even though everyone in group felt perfectly, we took precautions (预防): we washed our hands with soap and used hand sanitizer (洗手液), did not share food, and had no significantly close contact.
A few days later, our friend called and told us that she had tested positive for the coronavirus. She had felt some mild symptoms for a day or so after that dinner and was able to be tested because she is a doctor. On the following day, I started to feel a little tired and my head was a bit cloudy. I decided to stay in the master bedroom away from the rest of my family. The next morning, I woke up with a 39-degree fever. That was when we realized that I might have caught the virus from our friend.
At once, Megan called our state’s coronavirus hotline, who then called in our primary care doctor and the head of our local hospital system’s coronavirus team. We explained that we had been in contact with someone who had been tested positive, and I was having symptoms. They quickly approved me to receive a test at an urgent care center located 5 kilometer’s drive from my house. The result made my heart sink-I was also tested positive, and the local hospital didn’t have the facilities for my disease. As a mild case, I was recommended to stay home and quarantine (隔离) myself.
Following the doctor’s advice, Megan and I quarantined ourselves and our kids. With my symptoms developing, I started isolation in the bedroom, and the only interaction I had with Megan was when she brought in food. She slept on a small couch in our home office away from the kids’ rooms. She also minimized her contact with our kids in case she was carrying the virus.
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:
We decided to call everyone we had contacted over the course of the past week.
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Para.2:
Though worried about the seriousness of the virus, I knew I had to be brave
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A GIFT FOR GRANDPA
Summer vacation was coming. Jack and his brother Berlin were filled with excitement as they thought of visiting their grandparents again.
The big day came at last. After the happy family got ready, they set out for the grandparents’ eagerly. On the way, the brothers were excitedly talking about the fun they had with grandparents.
A little blue house with a tall white chimney finally appeared. Behind the property was the forest carrying their good memories with Grandpa. They arrived at the driveway, at the end of which Grandma was waiting for them joyfully.
Jack and Berlin each gave Grandma a big hug and then swept to the living room, shouting excitedly “Grandpa, we are back!”
Seeing his grandsons, Grandpa was wild with joy and tried to get up with all his strength from the chair but in vain. A helpless expression flashed on his face. Grandma explained that his health was declining rapidly and maybe couldn’t stand up on his own forever. But Grandpa declared stubbornly (倔强地), “I can!” Certainly, he was stuck in his boyish way. Mum and grandparents were happy to meet again after a long time. They sat together and chatted about what happened recently.
The brothers were soon bored with adult conversation, went out and wandered into the forest. Tall trees stretched up to the heavens with large branches crossing each other, while young ones rose straight like soldiers. Grandpa was once a great explorer full of wisdom. He could tell where the birds came from only by their calls and songs. The trees, birds, lizards, lots of bugs...How many merry moments they spent with Grandpa in the kingdom!
But now Grandpa couldn't get up. This made them worried. “We’d think out a way to cheer him up.” Jack said. “Grandpa is a bird lover, and we can catch him a bird.” Berlin suggested. “But he hates birds being caged!” Jack shook his head.
Then a bright idea came to Jack’s mind. “Why not make a cane (拐杖) out of a young tree!”
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。
Berlin thought it was a good idea.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jack and Berlin handed the cane to Grandpa.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of the 5th grade class on the very first day she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible because there in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. She paid no attention to Teddy.
However, when she read his file, she was in surprise. Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around." His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates. But he is troubled because his mother has a deadly illness and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tried to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest." Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class.” By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She thought that she could make a difference.
She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with pretty ribbons, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson opened it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children stared to laugh when she found a stone bracelet(手镯)with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.
Paragraph 1:
Mrs. Thompson, her voice choked up with tears, thanked her students for their presents.
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Paragraph 2:
Ten years later, Teddy invited Mrs. Thompson to attend his wedding as groom's mother.
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Sabrina and I were in gym class together. I was quiet and kind. She was a bully(仗势欺人者). She and her friends enjoyed harassing(骚扰)me on a daily basis.
I was less than athletic. That day, we had played soccer. I not only embarrassed myself, I also made Sabrina mad — basically because she was on my team, and we didn’t win. So, in the shower, she threatened me! “I will meet you after class,” she sneered(讥笑).
Immediately class was over, I slid out the teacher’s entrance and ran to my locker where Susan, my older sister, was already waiting for me, so we could walk home together.
“What’s up with you?” she asked, noticing the look of panic in my eyes. “Sabrina!” I choked. “We lost the soccer game in gym and it was my fault.”
“Oh,” Susan simply stated. “Well,” she said, “we will walk down Seventeenth South instead of Harrison. It’s out of the way enough that Sabrina won’t find us.”
Next day, in the math classroom, Sabrina’s best friend passed me a note that stated, “At lunch, you will pay for running away!” I didn’t even look up, but I accidentally swallowed my gum and felt a severe pain in my chest. Mr. McKonkie excused me going to the nurse’s office.
Walking down the hall, I felt a slight sense of relief and freedom. But suddenly someone hit me on the shoulder from behind. “You little chicken!” Sabrina’s voice sneered. I didn’t turn around. I started running down the hall. I had no idea what she was going to do and I was extremely scared.
Sabrina was now rushing after me. At last, she caught up with me enough to kick the back of my legs, trying to knock me down. In a panic, I swung around to the stairs. Sabrina was so close to me by then that my sudden change in direction knocked her off balance and she fell down the stairs. I stood there watching her fall.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
At first, I felt a sudden independence and victory.
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Paragraph 2:
Sabrina never harassed me after that.
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It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, just a short note inside which says what we have done to celebrate Christmas. It has stuck through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas—oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it—the overspending, the anxious running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma—the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to avoid the usual shirts, sweaters, ties, and so on. I reached for something special just for Mike. The idea came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling (摔跤) at the junior level at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team supported by an inner-city church. These teenagers, dressed in sport shoes so ragged (破烂的) that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast (对比) to our boys in their stylish blue and gold uniforms and new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. Obviously, the poor team could not afford.
Well, we ended up defeating them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he walked around in his rags with a kind of steet pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, ‘‘I wish just one of them could have won, "he said "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them. ’’
注意∶1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答,
Paragraph 1:
That’s when the idea for his present came.
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For each Christmas, the envelope has become the tradition of our family.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Strange Footprints in the Snow
Jonathan woke up and looked around. For a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was. Then he remembered. He and his sister, Julie, were visiting Aunt Gwen. They had spent yesterday helping Aunt Gwen clean her basement. Today they would have time to play.
He looked out the window. Fresh snow covered the ground. He could hardly wait to go outside. Jonathan dressed and hurried downstairs to the kitchen.
“Hi, sleepyhead,” said Aunt Gwen. “Julie has already eaten her oatmeal. She’s outside.”
“That’s where I’m going as soon as I finish breakfast,” Jonathan said.
A short time later, he zipped up his coat, put on his boots, and walked out the front door. The sun made the snow sparkle. He looked around. He didn’t see his sister, but he saw something else. Strange footprints in the snow tracked across Aunt Gwen’s yard.
“They’re way too big to be Julie’s. They look like they belong to a dinosaur,” Jonathan said. Then he added, “But that’s silly. Dinosaurs are not around anymore.”
He looked closer: The footprints were the shape of a very large oval (椭圆) with a stem. “Maybe they belong to an elephant or a hippo that escaped from the zoo,” he thought. He held his breath and listened. He didn’t hear anything.
He remembered a book he’d seen earlier on Aunt Gwen’s shelf. It was a book about animal tracks. He dashed inside to get it. The book had pictures of animals and the tracks they made. He turned the pages one by one, but none of the photos looked like the footprints in Aunt Gwen’s yard.
He stared at those footprints again. An animal that made such big tracks would have to be heavy. Its tracks should sink far down into the snow. Yet these footprints seemed to skim across the top.
How can that be? He wondered.
Jonathan noticed something else. The tracks never left Aunt Gwen’s yard. Instead, they turned and went around the house. “Maybe the animal is still here,” he whispered.
Paragraph 1:
Quietly, he began following the footprints.
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Paragraph 2:
That was when he saw her—his sister, Julie.
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One Wednesday, many years ago, when I was working as a psychologist (心理医生) at a children's institution in England, a boy showed up in the waiting room. I went out there where he was walking up and down uneasily.
I showed him into my office and pointed to the chair on the other side of my desk. It was in late autumn, and most trees outside the window had lost all their leaves. "Please sit down," I said.
David wore a black rain coat that was buttoned all the way up to his neck. His face was pale, and he stared at his feet while wringing his hands nervously. He lost his father in a car accident 3 years ago. Before he came, his head teacher called and told me, "After his father's death, the boy becomes very sad and depressed. He refuses to talk to others or attend any activities or clubs. He has no social life at all. However, when his father was alive, the boy was active and talkative. After school, they would play chess games happily!"
I looked at David. How could I help him? Perhaps the best thing I can do is to listen openly and to be there for him. But I am still not sure what to do.
David didn't say a word, and only looked at the children's drawings on the wall behind me. As he was about to leave, I put my hand on his shoulder. He didn't step back, but he didn't look at me either. "Come back next week this time, if you like," I said. I hesitated a bit. Then I said, "I know it hurts."
Finally, he came and I took out a set of chess.
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。
Staring at the chess set in silence for long, he whispered in tears, "Father liked it…"_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Another Wednesday, David appeared with a box of chocolate, smiling brightly._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1．倡议的原因；
2．倡议的内容。
注意：
1．词数80左右；
2．题目已为你写好；
3．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
More Exercise, Better Health
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For many years, I had a recurring dream. I was a little girl again, rushing about, trying to get ready for school.
“Hurry, you'll be late for school,” my mother called to me.
“I am hurrying, Mom! What did I do with my books?”
Deep inside I knew where the dream came from. It was about some unfinished business in my life. As a kid, I loved everything about school. I loved books, teachers, tests and homework. Most of all I longed to someday march down the aisle to receive my diploma. That seemed more appealing even than getting married.
But at 15, I had to drop out because my parents couldn't afford tuition. My hope of getting a diploma was dead, or so I thought. Pretty soon, I married and had three children, and I thought: “There goes my diploma.”
Even so, I wanted my children to be educated. But Linda, our youngest child, had juvenile arthritis in her hands and knees, which made it impossible for her to function in a normal classroom. I felt sorry for her and I didn't want her to live her life with regret. I didn't give up hope of her being back to school in some way.
One day, I saw an ad in the newspaper for evening courses. “That's the answer,” I said to myself. Linda always feels better in the evening, so I'll just sign her up for night school.
Linda was busy filling out enrollment forms when the secretary said: “Mrs. Schantz, why don't you come back to school?”
I laughed: “There's no way! I'm 55!” But he persisted, and before I knew what I had done, I was enrolled for classes in English and crafts. “This is only an experiment,” I warned him, but he just smiled. So, I told myself to try for just a semester and to see if it would work. Anyway, my dream was still there in my heart.
1. 写作词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1：
It was exciting to go to school again but________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Linda and I saw each other through the time.
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