A MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE
The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How pleased and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They planned to make French toast and chicken porridge. They had watched their mother in the kitchen. There was nothing to it. Jenna and Jeff knew exactly what to do.
The big day came at last. The alarm rang at 6 a.m. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the kitchen. They decided to boil the porridge first. They put some rice into a pot of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Jeff broke two eggs into a plate and added in some milk. Jenna found the bread and put two slices into the egg mixture. Next, Jeff turned on the second stove burner to heat up the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until Jeff started frying the bread. The pan was too hot and the bread turned black within seconds. Jenna threw the burnt piece into the sink and put in the other slice of bread. This time, she turned down the fire so it cooked nicely.
Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to shake. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna panicked. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the gas quickly. But the stove was a mess now. Jenna told Jeff to clean it up so they could continue to cook the rest of the porridge. But Jeff’s hand touched the hot burner and he gave a cry of pain. Jenna made him put his hand in cold water. Then she caught the smell of burning. Oh dear! The piece of bread in the pan had turned black as well.
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 the twins looked around them in disappointment, their father appeared.
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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After Henry delivered all thenewspapers, he pedaled fast to The Gazette offices by 8: 30. The chief editorhad something important to tell him. He parked his bike and bounded up twonights of stairs to the chief editor's door.
Mr. Trotta greeted him."About those papers," he paused, "no good way to deliver badnews," Henry’s smile faded. "Were closing shop Saturday. Advertisingis down. Television is how people get their news today, Mr. Trotta shrugged, "You won't have to get up early on weekends." "No," said Henry, "but I like waking up early and meeting people on my route. It'ssad People won't get their neighborhood news any more.”
As Henry rode past the familiar houses, he saw Mr Grady on his porch (门廊) holding a broom (扫把). "Mr. Grady, wait," Henry called, setting down his bike. He led Mr. Grady to a chair and took the broom. In minutes, the porch was clean. "Now, Mr, Grady, anytime you have chores (家务) call me." They sat for a while asMr. Grady recalled how happy he’d been moving his family to 26 Maple. He sounded lonely.
A week after closing, Henry wondered if his customers missed The Gazette as much as he did. He thought of a way to find out.
He started out on his oldroute with a notebook. First stop: Mr, Jonas, 17 Oak. When Henry asked him about the paper, Mr. Jonas answered, "I sure liked reading the week'shappenings. By the way, I have a pile of old comics from The Gazette. Think someone would want them?"
“I’ll ask around." Henry made a note in his notebook.
He stopped at Mrs. Burke's, 27 Maple. She opened the door holding two babies. Her other two kids held on toher legs. Henry stared. "You could use a babysitter." "Definitely. I meant to put an ad in The Gazette, but....Know any neighbors with experience?”
Mr Simon was next door, carrying his violin out to his car. "Hey, Henry. My band is having aconcert in the park next Friday. Tell all your friends.”
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 Henry made more notes, anidea started forming in his head.
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Customers cheered Henry idea and helpedsupply the news.
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Lily loved school. However, there was one class Lily worried about more than any other—art. She didn’t know why she just wasn’t any good at drawing, painting, or cutting.
Ms. Clay, the art teacher, stood at the front of the room. “Class, next Friday our school is going to have an art competition,” she announced. Ms. Clay was a great teacher, and Lily liked her a lot. But this announcement made Lily nervous. “Everyone in the school will create a piece of artwork to show in the library. You can use the different types of artwork we have been studying.” Ms. Clay was quite excited when she spoke while Lily found herself sinking lower in her chair.
Lily had the whole weekend to work on her project, but she could not think of anything to do. On Monday, Lily felt frightened, so after school Lily asked Ms. Clay if she could write an art paper instead of doing an art project.
“I understand this project scared you, Lily,” Ms. Clay said. “Just remember, you can create any kind of art you want.” Ms. Clay smiled at her. “Art is a person’s way of expressing his or her feelings—it isn’t always painting, drawing, or cutting. I know you will think of something very creative, and I can’t wait to see it.”
When Lily arrived home, she took out a piece of paper and a pencil. She remembered Ms. Clay’s words. “Art is a person’s way of expressing his or her feelings.” Lily wrote the word “terrified” on her paper. She crumpled (揉皱) the paper and threw it to the side of her desk.
Then Lily stared at the crumpled ball. Suddenly an idea struck her.
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Why not create something out of crumpled paper?
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On Friday, Lily carefully carried her project into the library.
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During this past year, I’ve had three instances of car trouble. Each time these things happened, I was sick of the way most people hadn’t bothered to help. One of those times, I was on the side of the road for close to three hours with my big Jeep. I put signs in the windows, big signs that said NEED A JACK (千斤顶), and offered money. Nothing. Right as I was about to give up, a Mexican family in a small truck pulled over, and the father bounded out.
He sized up the situation and called for his daughter, who spoke English. He conveyed through her that he had a jack but that it was too small for the Jeep, so we would need something to support it. Then he got a saw (锯子) from the truck and cut a section out of a big log on the side of the road. We rolled it over and put his jack on top, and we were in business.
I started taking the wheel off, and then, if you can believe it, I broke his tire iron. No worries: He handed it to his wife, and she was gone in a flash down the road to buy a new tire iron. She was back in 15 minutes. We finished the job, and I was a very happy man.
The two of us were dirty and sweaty. His wife prepared a pot of water for us to wash our hands. I tried to put a $20 bill in the man’s hand, but he wouldn’t take it, so instead I went up to the truck and gave it to his wife as quietly as I could. I asked the little girl where they lived. Mexico, she said. They were in Oregon so Mommy and Daddy could work on a fruit farm for the next few weeks. Then they would go home.
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 I was about to say goodbye, the girl asked if I’d had lunch.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After they left, I got into my Jeep and opened the paper bag.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was ten years old, I lived with my family in a small house in rural South Jersey. I often accompanied my mother to the A&P to buy groceries. Without a car, we walked, and I would help her carry the bags.
My mother had to shop every carefully, as she was a waitress, and her salary barely sustained (勉强维持) us. One day, while she was weighing prices, a promotional display for the World Book Encyclopedia (百科全书) caught my eye. The volumes were beautifully cream-colored. Volume I was ninety-nine cents with a ten-dollar purchase.
All I could think of while shopping was the book. I stood at the register (收银台) with my mother, holding my breath as the cashier rang up the items. It came to over eleven dollars. My mother produced a five, some singles, and a handful of change. As she was counting out the money, I somehow found the courage to ask for the encyclopedia. “Could we get one?” I said, showing her the display. “It’s only ninety-nine cents.”
I did not understand my mother’s increasing anxiety; she did not have enough change and had to sacrifice a large can of peas to pay the amount, “Not now, Patricia,” she said sternly. “Today is not a good day.” I packed the groceries and followed her home, upset.
The next Saturday. my mother gave me a dollar and sent me to the A&P alone. Two quarts of milk and a loaf of bread — that’s what a dollar in 1957. I went straight to the World Book display. There was only one first volume left, which I placed in my cart (购物车). I didn’t need a cart, but took one so I could read as I went up and down the aisles. A lot of time went by and I knew I had to leave, but I couldn’t bear to part with the book. With no detective in sight, I, impulsively (冲动地), put it inside my shirt and zipped (扣上拉链) up my jacket. I was a tall, skinny kid, and I am certain the shape of the book was obvious.
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My heart beating rapidly, I headed for the register.
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Back home, I told my mother what I had promised the detective.
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I am a mother of three children and have recently completed my college degree.
The last class I had to take was sociology(社会学). The teacher offered inspiring teaching that I wish every human could be graced with. Her last project of the term was called “Smile”. The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway, so I thought this would be a piece of cake. Soon after we were given the project, my husband, the youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s in a cold morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and even so did my husband.
I did not move a bit. A strong feeling of fear turned up as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around, I smelled a terrible “dirty body” smell, and standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was “smiling”. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of hope as he searched for acceptance.
He said, “Good day!” as he counted the few coins he had been holding. The second man was obviously mentally disabled. I held my tears when I stood there with them.
The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, “Coffee is all, Miss.” because that was all they could afford (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. They just wanted to be warm.).
Then I really felt the desire was so great that I almost reached out my hands and hugged the little man with the blue eyes.
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At that moment I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were staring at me.
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I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it.
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Human beings are smart. However, it seems that people are gradually losing their smartness as smartphones become more and more important assistants in their lives, reported news website Record Japan on Oct. 22. As we rely too much on technology instead of our brains, many people have lost three basic abilities, said the website.
The first skill many people have lost is remembering phone numbers. Because phone numbers are stored in smart phone contacts, there's no need to dial a number or look at it again.
And some people may also have lost their sense of direction because navigation apps can guide people anywhere they want to go. These apps can even find shortest routes for you and avoid traffic jams. But the worst lost skills may be social ones, meaning that some people are becoming socially inept(无能的）. People often bury themselves in their smart phones. As we're too addicted to what's happening in the virtual world, some of us have lost conversational skills and sometimes can't even tell whether a person is happy or not.In August, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied 51 students aged 11 and 12 who had over five hours' screen time every day. Their task was to tell the emotions of 48 pictures of faces that were happy, sad, angry or scared. The children made an average of 14.02 mistakes at the beginning. But after a five-day camp without electronic (电子的) products, they made only 9.41 mistakes on average. “If you’re not practicing face-to-face communication, you could be losing important social skills,” concluded professor Yalda Uhls from the research.
Luckily, people still have a chance to get these abilities back. You should try to keep your parents' numbers in mind for emergencies. You should also pay more attention to street signs and stores, which will help you to draw a mind map and stop you from getting lost. And the easiest solution to social skill loss is to take a break from electronic devices because we are social creatures. We need device-free time.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Whether we notice it or not, our child is a little reflection of ourselves. They grow up looking more and more like us. They even have similar personalities and hobbies. And in some cases, the standard of choosing a good friend.
One day, my 10-year-old Jane said, “Mom, I made a new friend at school today. Can she come over tomorrow?” Her words made me extremely happy because Jane was a shy girl and I wanted her to make some friends to bring her out of her shell.
“Sure, honey, that sounds great.” I said, thinking back to my own childhood best friend, Susan. We lived across the street from each other in Washington Heights, New York. We met at the age of 10, too. Like my daughter. I was shy and had trouble making friends. But Susan drew me out. She was one of the friendliest people in school, with shiny black hair and a mile-wide smile. Thanks to Susan. I was happy every day.
In senior high school, Susan went on a trip to Florida. This was the first time we had to be away from each other for a few days. “I’ll be back soon and I will write to you as soon as I arrive.” she told me. But I didn’t get her phone call nor receive any mail from her. Soon, my family moved to New Jersey, making my hope of seeing Susan impossible.
Whenever I thought of him, tears came into my eyes.
The next day Jane brought her new friend home. “Hi, Mrs. Smith.” the little girl said. Her hair was so shiny and black and she gave me a big smile. “My name is Jo. My mom will pick me up 2 hours later.”
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。
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I was puzzled because my daughter’s new friend looked so familiar.
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Two hours passed really quickly, and there was a knock on the door.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The fourth Thursday in November is called Thanksgiving Day, which has been one of the most important festivals in the United States. The theme is thankfulness for peace and happiness of family life during the past year. People usually eat roast turkey and pumpkin pie to celebrate the holiday.
There are always moving stories about Thanksgiving Day. Though the stories have different leading roles, the topics of them are the same: showing the sincere appreciation to their loved people, such as parents, siblings（兄弟姊妹），friends, teachers and so on.
I also have a moving story that happened on Thanksgiving Day. At first it sounded like a thanksgiving story, but the more I reflected on it, the more appropriate it seemed for any time of the year. The story went like this: when Thanksgiving Day was coming, a teacher gave her class an interesting task-to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful.
Most of the class might be considered economically disadvantaged, but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey, corn, pumpkins and other traditional things of the season, like all of those symbols drawn on the holiday decorations and greeting cards. These, the teacher thought, would be the subjects of most of her students art.
All students drew their pictures as the teacher thought, except one boy-Peterson. He made a different kind of picture. Peterson seemed to be a strange student in the class. As other children played during break, he usually chose to quietly stand close by the teacher's side. They didn't know what had ever happened to him and nobody could guess how Peterson felt behind his sad eyes. He didn't like to play with the other students nor talk with them.
When the little boy was asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful, he drew a hand. There was nothing else but an empty hand on the picture. It was different from other pictures.
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。
His abstract picture caught the imagination of his classmates.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the children went on to discuss other pictures,the teacher paused at the boy's desk.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________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.
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With everything ready, Bernard started out on his new business.
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