One morning more than thirty years ago, I entered the Track Kitchen, a restaurant where everyone from the humblest to the most powerful came for breakfast. I noticed an empty chair next to an elderly, unshaven man, who looked somewhat dirty. He was wearing a worn-out hat and was alone. I asked if I might join him. He agreed quietly and I sat down to have my breakfast.
We carefully began a conversation and spoke about a lot of things. We never introduced ourselves. I was concerned that he might have no money and not be able to afford something to eat. So as I rose to go back to the counter and buy a second cup of coffee, I asked,
“May I get you something?”
“A coffee would be nice.”
Then I bought him a cup of coffee. We talked more, and he accepted another cup of coflee. Finally, I rose to leave, wished him well, and headed for the exit. At the door I met one of my friends. He asked,
“How did you get to know Mr. Galbreath?”
“Who?”
“The man you were sitting with. He is chairman of the Board of Churchill Downs.”
I could hardly believe it. I was buying, offering a free breakfast, and feeling pity for one of the world’s richest and most powerful men!
Paragraph l：
My few minutes with Mr. Galbreath changed my life.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
Several days later, I was delighted to receive a letter informing me that I was employed.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bales left the pavement of Base Road and stepped onto snow-covered Jewell Trail. She planned a six-hour hike through New Hampshire’s Mount Washington State Park. She had packed for almost every emergency and intended to walk alone.
She’d checked the weather forecast posted by the Mount Washington Observatory before she left. Based on her experience, Bales knew that her hike was realistic. Besides, she had two emergency plans and extra layers of clothing to better adjust her body temperature as conditions changed.
The hike up the lower part of Jewell Trail was pleasant. Bales felt excited as she walked up into snowy paths. The sun shone through the trees and cast a shadow over her smiling face. Less than an hour later, loads of dark clouds had replaced the sunshine, and snow covered the surrounding trees.
She still smiled. However, the weather was showing its teeth. Bales added even more layers to shelter herself from the cold winds and thick fog. She made her way across the snow-covered ridge (山脊toward Mount Washington and began to think about calling it a day. Suddenly, she noticed something: a single set of footprints in the snow ahead of her, which had been made by a pair of sneakers-typically not the type for hiking.
Meanwhile, Bales was getting colder, even though she was moving fast and generating some body heat. With strong gusts of wind screaming and attacking her back and left side, she decided to abandon her plan. The only thing, however, kept her on the trail was the sneaker tracks in the snow.
Paragraph 1:
Bales faced a dilemma about whether to follow the tracks or not.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Her searching now turned into rescuing the man.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Meredith family lived in a small community. As the economy was in decline, some people in the town had lost their jobs. Many of their families were struggling to make ends meet. People were trying to help each other meet the challenges.
Mrs. Meredith was a most kind and thoughtful woman. She spent a great deal of time visiting the poor. She knew they had problems, and they needed all kinds of help. When she had time, she would bring food and medicine to them.
One morning she told her children about a family she had visited the day before. There was a man sick in bed, his wife, who took care of him and could not go out to work, and their little boy. The little boy -his name was Bernard-had interested her very much.
“I wish you could see him,” she said to her own children, John, Harry, and Clara. “He is such a help to his mother. He wants very much to earn some money, but I don't see what he can do.”
After their mother left the room, the children sat thinking about Bernard. “I wish we could help him to earn money,” said Clara. “His family is suffering so much.”
“So do I,” said Harry. “We really should do something to assist them.”
For some moments, John said nothing, but, suddenly, he sprang to his feet and cried, “I have a great idea! I have a solution that we can all help accomplish(完成).”
The other children also jumped up all attention. When John had an idea, it was sure to be a good one. “I tell you what we can do,” said John. “You know that big box of corn Uncle John sent us? Well, we can make popcorn(爆米花), and put it into paper bags, and Bernard can take it around to the houses and sell 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。
When Mrs. Meredith heard of John's idea, she thought it was a good one, too.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With everything ready, Bernard started out on his new business.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
While many of us go to sleep before midnight, some teenagers choose to stay up much later. They are not driven by the burning desire to write a better essay or achieve a higher grade. Instead, they are busy playing online games. Known as young Internet addicts (有瘾的人), they have long been a problem in China. A report released (发行) in 2016 by the China Youth Association for Network Development showed that there were over 24 million young Internet addicts among China’s young urban Internet users. The report also said that over 18 million youths had a tendency to develop Internet addiction.
To deal with the problem of Internet addiction among teenagers, the Cyberspace Administration of China has released draft (草案) regulations which carried out a ban on online gaming. If the regulations are adopted under-18s would be banned from playing online games between midnight and 8 am.
As soon as the government’s draft law surfaced, it drew great attention from the public. Some support the law as a way to better protect teenagers, saying that too much overnight gaming is harmful to teenagers’ health and believing the period between midnight and 8 am to be important to human physical functions. However, others wondered whether it would be practical if it came into effect, as teenagers could just borrow their parents’ IDs to register (注册) accounts to play online games. The Guangming Daily suggested that parents should help their teenagers find a balance between the cyber world and the real world.
China is by no means the only one trying to fight against teenager gaming addiction. Germany introduced a regulation in 2002 in an attempt to stop teens from playing online games from 10 pm to 6 am. Meanwhile, the UK, the US and Australia have forced a rating system on computer games to make sure that teenagers cannot access “adult” content such as violence, sex or bad language.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Once upon a time,in a small village in Turkey,there lived a mother and her son.The son was known by all as Bald Boy because even though he was still quite young he had no hair on his head at all.
Bald Boy and his mother were very poor indeed and so each day Bald Boy would take up his basket and went out into the woods in search of food.
One day,as he was searching the forest floor for mushrooms,Bald Boy was sure that he could hear a young girl crying.When he looked up he noticed a little squirrel(松鼠）sitting on the branch of the tree above his head.The squirrel was crying inconsolably(无法安慰的）and so Bald Boy took the little creature in his arms.He comforted her and told her that everything was going to be okay.
When at last the squirrel stopped crying,the two friends got to talking and the Bald Boy explained how he lived with his mother and how they were very poor.
＂I need to come into this forest each day in search of food because we have no money,"he told the squirrel.
It was then that the little squirrel said,"You have been very kind to me today so I am going to help you in return."
Then the little squirrel jumped out of Bald Boy's hands and said,"Follow me." The young boy followed the squirrel through the forest for many hours until they reached a cliff edge(悬崖边） that could see the green valley below.
＂You must climb down this cliff,"said the squirrel."When you reach the bottom you will find the Forest Queen.
She will ask you three questions and you must answer them all correctly to receive the prize."
Paragraph 1:
The squirrel climbed up onto Bald Boy's shoulder and whispered...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
＂If you do not answer correctly,"she said in her cold voice,"then...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jenny was a pretty eight-year-old girl.
One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace, by which she was totally defeated. How eagerly she wanted it! But when she saw the price, her heart sank a little. She gathered up her courage and asked her mother if she would buy it for her. Her mother said, “Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I can buy you the necklace, but when we get home, we should make up a list of housework that you can do to pay for the necklace.” Jenny agreed immediately, feeling a burst of joy. So her mother bought the pearl necklace for her. Jenny worked on her housework determinedly and earnestly every day. Soon Jenny paid off the pearls.
Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would read Jenny her favorite story. One night when he finished the story, he said, “Jenny, do you love me?” “Oh, yes, Daddy, you know I love you.” the little girl said delightedly, with a broad smile on her face. “Well, then, give me your pearls.” Hearing that, Jenny froze there, an anxious expression twisting her face. “Oh! Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Rosy, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. Okay?” “Oh no, darling, that’s okay.” Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss, gently and calmly. “Good night, little one.”
A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story, “Do you love me?” “Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you.” the little girl murmured softly, trying to escape from her father’s eyes. “Well, then, give me your pearls.” “Oh, Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you remember her? She is my favorite.” The little girl begged. “No, that’s okay,” her father said, smiling broadly and sweetly and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. “God bless you, little one. Sweet dreams.”
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：
Several days later, when Jenny’s father came in to read her story, Jenny was waiting anxiously for him on the bed.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
Holding the plastic pearl his daughter offered, the father dragged out a blue box.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A friend of mine, named Jack, received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Jack came out of his office, a street urchin(顽童) was walking around the shining car.“Is this your car, sir?” he asked. Jack answered, “Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised.“You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing? Sir, I wish...”He hesitated(犹豫)．Jack thought of course he knew what the boy wanted, but what the boy said surprised him greatly. “I wish,” the boy went on,“that I could be a brother like that.” Jack looked at the boy in surprise，and then he said again，“Would you like to take a ride in my car?” “Oh yes, I’d love to.” the boy answered.
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Sir, would you mind driving in front of my house”
Jack smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Jack was wrong again.“Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
注意：
1．所续写短文的词数应为150词左右；
2．续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1：
He got out and ran up to the steps.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
Jack got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alexis Vaughan, 17, sat quietly in the passenger seat of her dad's car. She stared out the window at the Preston, Idaho, cornfields.
Alexis, a high school student, let her eyes lazily scan the landscape for wildlife. Still, she was terrified when a deer came into view about 200 yards in front of them, just a few feet off the road. "Dad, there's a deer, there!" Alexis said, rolling down the window for a better look. It was a three-point buck (雄鹿) — a male deer with sharp, three-pronged antlers (角) on each side of its head.
As the car moved closer, Alexis saw that the buck's head was bent toward the ground. Then she heard a scream. A few seconds later, she saw an arm fly up near the buck's head. Alexis realized the buck was attacking a woman. Sue Panter, a 44-year-old mother, had been out for her morning run. The buck had come out from the tall corn and began following her. Having lived in rural Idaho for years, Sue knew that most bucks got frightened by humans. But this buck edged closer, even when she threw at it with a handful of gravels (石子).
Sue went to pick up a log to use for self-defense, and the buck attacked her. It lifted her with its antlers (角) and threw her into the air. Sue could feel the horns punctured (刺穿) her leg and blood flowed down her leg. Within seconds, the buck had pushed her off the road and into the cornfield.
When Alexis and her father pulled up, the buck was rolling Sue like a rag doll. Alexis looked into the woman's terrified eyes, and before her father had even stopped the car, the 104 pound teenager jumped quickly out of the car and down the slope toward the buck. She was kicking and hitting it to get its attention. Then Michael, her father, who had followed his daughter, wrestled the buck away from the women by holding the antlers.
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:
Alexis helped Sue up the slope.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Then she heard her father yell.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The most delicious memories seem to happen during the holidays. And like a squirrel preparing for winter, I put them away to enjoy slowly during the long winter months. Sometimes, I enjoy them for years.
Among them are sweetest recollections: my little girls at the church play and the moment they got their first angel wings; a pink dolly stroller(手推车) wheeled into the bedroom with a tiny voice declaring, ''Look what Santa Claus brought me! ''; or New Year's snowmen wearing bright scarves borrowed from a grandma's fragrant drawer.
But there is one memory that is a little bittersweet -- sort of like 80% dark chocolate, but still good for you.
This story brings to mind a colorful candy dish and a very little boy. The occasion was somewhere between Christmas and New Year's when a few candies in a dish remained behind, a bright spot in dull winter gray.
Wrapped in December's chill, my then 3-year old grandson, Justin, and I had dashed from the warmth of my parked car into the building where I planned to take care of a few work-related tasks.
A smiling secretary greeted us as we brushed the snowflakes and rubbed our hands to chase the cold. Then with my grandchild close to my side, I busied myself, finishing the items of business that had brought us there. But while his hand remained in mine, his eyes fell on the candy dish sitting nearby.
As we turned to leave, the thoughtful and very observant woman behind the desk asked the question all children wait to hear.
''Honey, '' the kindly woman said, peering over her glasses at Justin. ''Would you like a candy bar? '' she asked, her hand pushing the dish close for an easier reach.
The boy looked up questioningly, his eyes meeting mine, permission hanging in the air. A slight nod from me and then a hurried beeline to the candy dish followed. One candy bar was already in his hand.
Para 1: ''Justin! '' I said from the doorway.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Para 2: In the humor of the moment, I felt something hard to swallow.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Another disappointing day was passing, and he was driving his beat-up old car home. He was out all day looking for a job. It was getting dark and light snow was coming down, so he almost didn’t see the old lady standing on the side of the road. It was clear that she needed help. He pulled up in front of her obviously brand new and expensive car and got out.
While nobody had stopped to help for the last hour and there was a smile on his face, she was worried when he approached her. He didn’t look safe. He looked poor and hungry.
He could see she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in your car to keep warm? My name is Bryan.”
A tire was flat. Bryan fetched tools from his own car to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening her car’s nuts, she rolled down the window, said thanks and asked him how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She had already imagined all the awful things that could have happened without his help.
Bryan never thought twice about the money. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed. He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home.
Soon the lady saw a small restaurant. She went in to grab a bite to eat and warm up before she made the last leg of her trip home. The waitress came over with a sweet smile and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕的). Although the waitress looked tired and walked painfully due to the pregnancy, she still served the lady.
Paragraph 1:After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a one-hundred-dollar bill. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:That night when the waitress got home from work, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
