My father asked me to chat with him for a while. Actually, I was unwilling to listen to his talking endlessly as he always did. My father was a lawyer, but I never wanted to go to law school or follow his path through life.
As was expected, he cleared his throat and started to say, “Er... What... What do you really want to do in the gorgeous(灿烂的) future?”
I was silent for a moment playing with the cell phone. I kept thinking, “Should I tell him my true thoughts? What if he gets angry? What if I let him down?” later I replied, “Well, I want to be a writer.”
I guessed this may be not the answer he would expect. But surprisingly, “Interesting idea!” he answered. I was shocked, speaking in a low voice with hesitation.
“Are you serious, dad?”
“Well, you need confidence and good preparations, and you still have plenty of time. You need to find out what you really enjoy now. Look, it’s late. Let’s take the boat out tomorrow morning, just you and me. Maybe we can catch some crabs (螃蟹) for dinner, and we can talk more.”
Early next morning we packed up the equipment and set off for the coast. We didn’t talk much, but enjoyed the sound of the seabirds and the sight of the coastline.
There were no big waves and blinding sunlight at that time. “Let’s see if we are lucky,” he said, picked up a web basket with a rope tied and threw it into the sea. We waited a while, then my father stood up and said, “Give me a hand with this,” and we pulled up the crab cage onto the deck.
To our joy, the cage was filled with dozens of soft shell crabs. Squatting (蹲) down, we watched them for a moment. At first they fought against each other to climb out hard, trying to escape. Many were pulled back into the cage. Later, some gave up, but there were still some crabs trying to escape again and again.
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。
At that moment, my father pointed to the cage, “Look at that crab, there!”
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From that day on, I was determined to make my dream come true
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The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat my father to a special meal. I glanced through the cookbook and chose a menu which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time, I started on it as soon as he left for work.
As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozen would be better, so I doubled everything. As Dad loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was sticky dough (面团) covered with ugly yellowish marks. Realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face him laughing at my work.
I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Dad got home, we sat down to Cornish chicken with rice. He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went outside, saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing.
Looking out, I saw Dad standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in the rubbish bin. Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder.
Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the. fermenting yeast (酵母) made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. I had to admit what the "living thing" was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed by the whole thing, Dad or 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。
My dad tapped me gently on the shoulder, and we went inside.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At a party three months later, everyone wanted to try my bread.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One winter Sunday, my little sister, Colleen, and I built the greatest snowman ever. We gave him a carrot nose, beautiful hat, cozy scarf and gloves. He was a masterpiece.
The next morning when looking outside, we smiled lovingly at him over our meal. We gave him a high-five (击掌) as we passed by on our way to school. A lot of kids went past our house, so he was the hot topic at our school that morning. It was our pride!
The day dragged on until finally we could rush home. But as our yard came into sight, we saw something wrong. The snowman was gone! We only found a broken stick here, a torn glove there and balls of snow everywhere. Worst of all, the snowman’s once-proud carrot nose lay limp(无力的) and half-eaten.
What had happened? We were both astonished and angry. But then, we were only kids, who wouldn’t have anything take away our happiness. Actually we knew only one thing: Our snowman would rise again. And so we rebuilt him.
The next day we came home to find another mess on the front lawn(草坪). For the rest of the week, the destruction was repeated daily. Each afternoon we’d return to find our snowman had fallen apart, and then we built again.
By Saturday morning, we had a plan. We borrowed a really big bucket(水桶) from Mom, filled it with water and left it outside. The next morning, it was frozen solid. We packed snow all around the ice block as the base(底座) of the snowman. Then we built the other parts of it once again. The trap was set. and we waited for the snowman bullies(破坏者) to come.
注意：续写的词数应为 150 左右。
Monday morning, hiding behind the window, we soon saw what we were waiting for.
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Seeing their pained look, we couldn’t help laughing.
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One weekend in July, Jane and her husband, Tom, had driven three hours to camp overnight by a lake in the forest. Unfortunately, on the way an unpleasant subject came up and they started to quarrel. By the time they reached the lake, Jane was so angry that she said to Tom, “I'm going to find a better spot for us to camp” and walked away.
With no path to follow, Jane just walked on for quite a long time. After she had climbed to a high place, she turned around, hoping to see the lake. To her surprise, she saw nothing but forest and, far beyond, a snowcapped mountain top. She suddenly realized that she was lost.
“Tom!” she cried. “Help!”
No reply. If only she had not left her mobile phone in that bag with Tom. Jane kept moving, but the farther she walked, the more confused she became. As night was beginning to fall, Jane was so tired that she had to stop for the night. Lying awake in the dark, Jane wanted very much to be with Tom and her family. She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she loved him.
Jane rose at the break of day, hungry and thirsty. She could hear water trickling (滴落) somewhere at a distance. Quickly she followed the sound to a stream. To her great joy, she also saw some berry bushes. She drank and ate a few berries. Never in her life had she tasted anything better.
Feeling stronger now, Jane began to walk along the stream and hope it would lead her to' the lake.As she picked her way carefully along the stream, Jane heard a helicopter. Is that for me? Unfortunately,the trees made it impossible for people to see her from above. A few minutes later, another helicopter flew overhead. Jane took off her yellow blouse, thinking that she should go to an open area and flag them if they came back again.
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；
3)请在答题卡的相应位置作答；
4)字体端正，格式规范，卷面整洁。
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But no more helicopter came and it was getting dark again.
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It was daybreak when Jane woke up.
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A light knock on the door brought me from my kitchen. Because we had just moved into the neighborhood, I couldn’t imagine who it would be. Opening the door, an old man stood there, who was dressed in dirty clothing and wearing dirty rubber boots. His hand hung a plastic bag.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Would you like to buy some fresh garden vegetables?” His blue eyes were hopeful.
“Are they from your garden?” I looked inside his plastic bag and saw some carrots with soil.
“Yes,” his voice was soft. “And I can get some apples from a tree in my yard. Would you like some of those, too?”
My heart softened, and I wondered if he was badly in need of money. With a sigh, I said, “Please step inside and I’ll get my money.”
The next day, he knocked at our door again. This time, my little four-year-old daughter got there first. “Oh, hello. Would you like to come in for some tea?” Without a second thought, the old man stepped inside and held out a broken basket with several apples. “From my tree,” he said, removing a worn cap. “You might like to make a pie.”
The three of us sat at the kitchen table and drank our tea. It was obvious that my daughter liked hosting a visitor in her never-ending questions. “What is your name? Where do you live? Why are your clothes so dirty?”
The homeless-looking man laughed as he answered each question. His name was Mr. Locket and he lived around the corner. His wife had passed away several years ago, and his children all lived far away. He was lonely. His need for company had sent him door to door selling fruit and vegetables. Ours was the only door opened to him that day.
注意：1. 续写词数应为100左右；
2. 开头已给出。
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When he finished the tea, he said he had to go home and promised to return the next day.
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Several years later, a small envelope was delivered to our home—a letter from the old man’s daughter.
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When I was eight or nine years old, I wrote my first poem. My mother read the little poem and began to cry. “Buddy, you didn’t really write this beautiful, beautiful poem!” My mother poured out her praise. I glowed. “What time will Father be home?” I asked. I could hardly wait to show him what I had accomplished. My mother said she hoped he would be home around seven. I spent the best part of that afternoon preparing for his arrival. First, I wrote the poem out in my finest flourish(花体字). Then I used colored crayon(蜡笔) to draw an elaborate border around it that would do justice to its brilliant content. Then I waited. As 7 o'clock drew near, I confidently placed it right on my father’s plate on the dining-room table.
But my father did not return at seven. I admired my father. He was head of Paramount Studios in Hollywood but he had begun his motion picture career as a writer. He would be able to appreciate this wonderful poem of mine even more than my mother.
This evening it was almost 8 o'clock when my father burst in. He was an hour late for dinner. His mood seemed thunderous. He could not sit down but circled the long dining-room table with a drink in his hand, calling down terrible oath(诅咒) on his employees.
Suddenly, he paused and stared at his plate. There was a suspenseful silence. “What is this?” He was reaching for my poem. I lowered my head and stared down into my plate. I was full of anxious daydreams. How wonderful it would be if this very first work of mine drove away the angry clouds that now darkened my important father’s face.
“Ben, a wonderful thing has happened,” my mother began. “Buddy has written his first poem! And it’s beautiful.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to decide for myself.” Father said.
I kept my face lowered to my plate as he read that poem. It couldn’t have taken very long to read that poem. It was only ten lines. But it seemed to take hours. I could hear him dropping the poem back on the table.
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。
Now came the moment of decision.
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A few years later I took a second look at the first poem, and I had to agree with my father’s judgment.
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Boys like to be considered to be brave, but what kind of things can be considered to be brave? It is not a question that can be answered by words, but by the actual deed. A boy with the name Henry gave us a good example. Ronny and Henry were two friends in the same class. They always played together and went home together. One day as Ronny and Henry were going home after school, they saw some people fighting in the street corner. Ronny said excitedly, “Some people are fighting! Let’s go and have a look!” But Henry refused, “It’s none of our business. We’d better go home and don’t get close to them. Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together at home and I don’t want them to worry about me.”
“You are a coward, and afraid to go,” said Ronny, and off he ran to the spot with some other boys. Henry had to go home alone and didn't think about it anymore.
But Ronny thought Henry was a coward and told all the boys that. They laughed at him a great deal. From then on, they looked down upon Henry and didn’t want to play with him.
Henry was sad but he wasn’t angry with Ronny for his rude behavior, because he had learned that true courage was shown most in bearing misunderstanding when it was not deserved, and that he ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong. Thus, he just ignored the other boys’ laughter and continued to stick to his thought and go to school and study as well. However, Ronny didn’t invite Henry to go home with him anymore. Instead, he had his new friends who also thought Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn't go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had lots of fun.
注意：
1. 所续写的短文词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为二段，每段的开头语已经为你写好；
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A few days later, something terrible happened to Ronny.
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At that moment, Henry happened to pass by.
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I still remember the sunshine that came in from the floor-to-ceiling windows of Pudong Airport on the morning of the 29th. It was brilliant and brilliant. The anxiety and excitement of careful thought were not obliterated（抹杀）by the three-hour rumbling sound, so that he almost lost his pass when he passed the customs.
The first thing I saw was the red double-decker airport bus, quietly nestling in the same bright sunshine in Hong Kong. The bus passed a bridge, followed by a green area, and then a bridge. On the sea were various cargo ships, unconsciously matching each other with colorful containers to create the colors of Hong Kong. The clouds are like cotton candy just out of the oven, densely crowded in the sky not too far away.
I started walking around on the first day. After packing my luggage at the hotel, I went to a small well-known "Yishun Milk Company" near Jordan. I ordered double skin milk and a portion of something else. I don’t remember the taste. I just remember that the uncles and aunts over there are very friendly. I sat under the air-conditioning blower silly to eat, and the uncle greeted me to change my seat and told me to be careful of catching a cold. It's really easy to have a good impression of a city. One sentence makes the mood as crystal clear as the weather in October.
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Then I went to the most prosperous area in Yau Ma Tei.
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Suddenly, it rained heavily in the sky.
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Wrinkles of confusion rippled across Holly’s forehead as she opened the gift from her best friend, Susan.
“I...I thought you could use it for something.” Susan’s stammered explanation did nothing to help us understand why a twelve-by-eighteen-inch dark blue carpet remnant(残余物) was being presented as a birthday gift.
Holly, my daughter, tried bravely not to allow her disappointment to show. She laid the carpet on the kitchen counter, and the two girls headed outside to play.
The next morning, I carried a kitchen bag outside. My heart ached as I saw Susan’s carpet lying in the trash can. Hesitating only a moment, I reached in and picked it up. After giving it a light brushing, I brought it into the house and placed it in the hall closet. Occupied with the business of daily living, the carpet was soon forgotten.
Prior to Holly’s birthday, Susan had been a regular visitor in our home. On several occasions, she rode the bus home with Holly and was one of the few friends ever permitted to stay over on a school night. But now I realized it had been nearly three weeks since we’d even heard mention of Susan’s name. I missed her warm smile and eager-to-please ways.
One day, Holly had arrived home from school. “Susan invited me to come over to her house after school tomorrow,” she announced as she took her books down on the kitchen table. Although her voice carried a so-what attitude, I sensed she was pleased by the invitation.
Arrangements were made, and the girls rode home together on the school bus the following day. As I negotiated the winding country road that led to her house, Susan chatted nervously about her foster mom and the seventeen cats she had taken in and cared for. Soon we arrived at Susan’s house.
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A woman wearing a shapeless sweater stood in the doorway to greet us as we approached the small shabby farmhouse.
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Hearing my words about everything of Susan, Holly sat silently in the car, with her head stretching forward(前伸) as if willing the car to move faster.
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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.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The twins carried the breakfast upstairs and woke their mother up.
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