Barry is a middle-aged man who is going through a very difficult time in his life. His wife recently passed away. She and Barry had many happy years together, sharing their free time and even starting a business together. Without his wife, Barry is full of sorrow and feels that life is pointless. He even decides to close their business because working there makes him miss her too much.
Even months later, Barry sits around in his house all day feeling gloomy. His friends and family try to get him out of the house and encourage him to start doing new things and enjoy life, but they are not successful.
Barry’s neighbor, a very old woman named Gertrude, sees him from her yard one day as he steps out onto his porch. She has not seen him outside in days! She asks him to come closer. Irritated, he walks to the fence that protects the front of her house.
“Hello, Barry! Just look at this fence. I only had it put in two years ago, but it is falling apart. You are a strong man, and you have some free time. I want you to fix this fence for me,” Gertrude says.
Barry is angry. She knows the situation he is in. He is the one who needs help and support. He thinks the old lady is being very selfish. Still, he knows she is too old to fix the fence herself, and they have been neighbors for years. She is a nice woman, and he respects her. He agrees to fix her fence because it is really not safe for her to have it broken like that.
Barry works on the fence for days. Gertrude brings him lemonade while he works. When he finishes, she is very grateful. Barry smiles for the first time in months.
“Now that you did such a wonderful job fixing my fence, do you think you could paint it for me?” Gertrude smiles at him.
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。
Barry cannot believe she is asking for more help.
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Barry no longer feels that life is pointless.
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要求：(1)语言表达准确，语句连贯通顺；
(2)短文必须包括以上内容要点，可以适当发挥；
(3)词数 80 左右。题目已给出，不计入总词数。
A Special Spring Festival
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1. 作业和体育锻炼时间的变化
2. 学生们课余生活的变化：有更多的空闲时间做自己感兴趣的事，如踢足球、弹钢琴和画画等。
请根据以上调查结果，写一份英文调查报告，并阐述你的看法。
词数：80左右(开头已给出，不计入总词数)。
The “double reduction” policy has been carried out since July, 2021. In order to learn about the changes of the students’ life, Yangcheng Middle School did a survey.
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James Bradley had developed a strong passion for skiing. On a freezing cold Sunday in 2019, James, then a 16-year-old boy, headed to Aspen Mountain with his father to go skiing. They took a cable car to the top of the mountain and conquered the most challenging part of the long trail. Afterwards, they decided to follow different trails to go down the mountain respectively. That was when everything started to veer off course.
In the late afternoon, after finishing the final run through the side trial, his father arrived at the parking lot. Anxiously, he had waited here for his son for several hours. However, James never showed up.
It turned out that a fierce snowstorm had swept into the area as James was on his way down. Unable to see far and clearly, he turned off the path by accident and got lost. The dreadful snowstorm coupled with strong winds gained strength and enveloped everything, blocking his way back to the ski trails.
Before long, James slid down the mountain slope on his skis and stopped at the bottom of the mountain in the valley. Thanks to the thick snow, James didn’t get hurt and the winds weren’t as strong in the valley as they were up on the mountain. Looking around, he saw nothing but the branches of trees and the pure white snow. James had no idea where he was. Worse still, the sun began to sink and he was getting colder by the minute. Most worrisome of all was that he didn’t have any food or water with him, let alone his mobile phone or other supplies.
Standing alone in the wild and holding his large skis, cold and thirst, he couldn’t help thinking about the survival show Man vs. Wild that he used to watch. In the show, Bear Grylls was abandoned in a wild area like this and had to help himself out by using all sorts of survival skills. Yes! It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 个左右； 2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Without hesitation, James took action immediately.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Two days later, James saw several figures approaching his shelter.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was Thursday morning. Phil was on a mission. Hurrying along the Primary 3 corridor, he was looking for his younger brother Jimmy, who had left the house early to walk to school with a friend and had forgotten his pocket money. As a Primary 6 boy, Phil had been asked to make sure that Jimmy had it in time for break.
Phil was about to enter his brother’s classroom when he thought he saw the back of his brother’s jacket further ahead. It must have been Jimmy. No one else in the school had a jacket like that one. “Hey Jimmy!” he called out but his brother did not stop. Phil rushed forward and grabbed hold of the boy. But it wasn’t Jimmy. It was someone Phil had never seen before and he was wearing Jimmy’s jacket. As the boy struggled to break free, Mrs. Atkins came towards them. Immediately, sensing the teacher’s presence, Phil released his grasp. Staring at both boys, Mrs. Atkins ordered them to follow her. Once they were at the school office, Mrs. Atkins asked the younger of the two to explain.
“I was walking along the corridor when this boy grabbed me. I didn’t do anything!” explained Daniel.
“He stole my brother’s jacket,” explained Phil.
“Liar!” Daniel immediately jumped to his feet and faced Phil, his fists tightly closed. “I have never stolen anything! This jacket is from my mother. Stop saying that!”
“Boys! I am sure this is a simple misunderstanding. Isn’t possible that this is just an identical jacket, Phil?” Mrs. Atkins reasoned.
Phil shook his head forcefully. “My mother got that jacket for me when she was overseas some years ago. Go on, look at the label inside the collar. It will say ‘Di Roma’. That’s because she got it in Rome. That is my jacket which I’ve outgrow n so Jimmy, my younger brother, has been using 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。
Hearing that, Mrs. Atkins asked Daniel for permission to look at the label.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A short while later, Mrs. Atkins explained that she had called Daniel’s mother.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A 17-year-old boy nicknamed Tao Tao with cerebral palsy (脑瘫) has made positive attempts to achieve greater independence through selling self-made popcorn on the street on his own, touching the hearts of netizens (网友) and winning him an education opportunity.
According to Tao Tao’s mother Yao Chuanhua, her son was born with the disabling condition. Be- cause of this Tao Tao has never set his foot on school. Yao was worried about her son’s future, especially when she would get too old to take care of her son. Therefore, over the years, she has continuously tried to train him to live as normally as possible.
As Tao Tao grew up, the idea of developing his independence by selling homemade popcorn has brewed (酝酿) in the mother’s mind. She taught Tao Tao how to make popcorn at home and helped set up a stand in Xiaoshan district, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
At first nervous and not used to selling on the street, Tao Tao refused to sell popcorn alone. After keeping her son company for a few days, Yao said, “Tao Tao, it’s time for you to do this alone. Don’t worry. Take it easy even if no one comes to buy. The moment you stood here, you were already a success.” After a few words of encouragement, Yao stepped aside and let her son take charge. Noticing Tao Tao struggled to attract buyers, Yao bought a loudspeaker to help promote the popcorn and even paid some passersby to buy popcorn from her son’s stand to increase his confidence.
Gradually, despite shyness and physical difficulties, Tao Tao has become more active and confident, managing the business smoothly without relying on the loudspeaker to sell the product. He insisted on making and packaging the popcorn all by himself every day, trying his best to prove that he can make it.
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
Being proud of Tao Tao’s progress, Yao shared videos of her son’s popcorn selling story online.
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Paragraph 2
Although she refused donations from netizens, Yao accepted the help from the local education authority.
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Hats in York
Whoosh! The cold wind roared through the trees and between buildings. Winter was on its way. Susan was warm in her house, thinking about an article she’d read at school. The article had been about kids who helped out their communities, and she thought it would be really cool to help her own town, York.
The only problem was that she wasn’t sure how to help. What did her town need a kid to do? In the article, the kids had grown food for people who needed food, but it was winter. She couldn’t start a garden. Susan was still deep in thought when her mom said it was time to go grocery shopping.
As they drove along the road, Susan saw a family walking on the sidewalk, wearing only light jackets. How cold they must be, Susan thought. That gave her an idea! She could help her town, she could collect winter coats, hats, and gloves for people in York who needed them.
She shared her idea with her mom, who thought it was a great idea. But how would they spread the word so that they could get a lot of winter clothing? They decided to call the project “ Hats in York,” and they wrote up a letter explaining the idea that people can drop off their winter clothing in the park to those in need to the families. Her mom asked Susan talk to her teacher, Mrs. Monroe, because then Mrs Monroe could share her idea with her classmates at least.
Susan and Mrs. Monroe met one day during lunch time.
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Three days after their field trip to the park, Susan and her mom were driving once again.
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Once upon a time, there lived a poor but cheerful shoemaker. He was so happy that he sang all day long. The children loved to stand around his window to listen to him.
Next door to the shoemaker lived a rich man. He used to sit up all night to count his gold. In the morning, he went to bed, but he could not sleep because of the sound of the shoemaker’s singing. One day, he thought of a way to stop the singing. He wrote a letter to the shoemaker inviting him over for a cup of tea.
The shoemaker came at once, and to his great surprise, the rich man gave him a bag of gold as a gift. The shoemaker took the bag and thanked the rich man. When he returned home, the shoemaker couldn’t wait to open the bag. He had never seen so much gold in his life! He sat down at his bench and began, carefully, to count it. The children watched through the window.
There was so much there that the shoemaker was afraid to let it out of his sight. So he took it to bed with him. But he could not sleep for worrying about it. So he got out of bed and went to hide it in the attic (阁楼), but he was not sure if that was a good place.
Very early in the morning, he got up and brought his gold down from the attic. He had decided to hide it up the chimney (烟囱) instead. But after breakfast, he thought it would be safer in the chicken house. So he hid it there. But he was still uneasy, and in a little while he dug a hole in the garden and buried his bag of gold in 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。
Paragraph 1:
He was in no mood for singing and found it difficult to focus on his work.
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At last the shoemaker felt so unhappy that he took his bag of gold and ran next door to the rich man.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Mom, I’m ready to go,” called Jason.
Every Saturday, Jason looked forward to going to Chinatown to shop for food because his mom let him pick his favorite snacks: roast pork buns and bubble tea.
The streets in Chinatown were crowded with cars and pedestrians. His mother could not find the same exotic vegetables in the local supermarkets, so they always came here to shop. What fascinated Jason was tasty roast pork, even the whole pigs hanging on big hooks in the windows, their skins roasted to a glistening brown. Jason’s mouth would water just looking at them.
As they passed the newsstand carrying Chinese newspapers and magazines, Jason spotted an old man sitting on the sidewalk. His hair was long, white, and messy. The face beneath was lined, dirty, and unshaven. Frayed and torn clothing wrapped around his thin frame, and in this kind of cold weather, he even wore sandals, his feet blue with cold. He banged an empty can against the sidewalk. As Jason walked by, he could smell a musty odor and pinched his nostrils together. The old man reached out and touched Jason’s left leg. Instinctively, Jason gathered all his strength to jerk(猛拉) his leg away and kick the old man’s hand heavily. Frightened, he hurried to catch up with his mother without looking back.
“Mom, the old man touched me,” he cried, “He touched me with his dirty hands. It’s disgusting! And he smelled too.”
Jason’s mother glanced back at the man with a look of understanding and said gently, “Jason, he can’t help it. He’s homeless. He didn’t mean any harm.”
Mom’s words made Jason look back at the old man with regret, who now was looking up at other passersby, still banging his can.
On their way home, Jason asked, his voice filled with concern. “Why is that old man homeless? Where does he sleep?”
“I don’t know. It’s tough to be homeless, especially in this cold weather. He did look quite weak,” his mother replied.
Mom’s words made Jason’s regret deepened. He confessed his heavy kick to his mother, who reminded him that it was crucial to acknowledge his mistake and try to make up for 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。
The next day, with his mother’s help, Jason decided to do something.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hearing this, the old man looked at them with watery eyes.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Growing up, I rarely heard people in my family say, “I love you.” We’re the kind of people made uncomfortable by expressions of love.
Recently, I took my ten-year-old daughter and fourteen-year-old son to visit the great grandma in the nursing home and on the drive there I shared stories about her with the kids. I told them how Great Grandma was bright but grew up in a time and place where women, especially women from rural Tennessee, had few opportunities.
Great Grandma was kind and generous, but I told my kids she could be competitive, too. For instance, when I was a kid, she never let me win at cards.
The Great Grandma I described, the one from my memories, is a stranger to my kids. To them, she’s a small, white-haired woman with dementia (痴呆) who eats only chicken noodle soup and can still kick their butts (屁股) at Scrabble but needs to be reminded of their names and to turn on her hearing aids. We’re all fond of the current version of Great Grandma, but visiting her in a nursing home feels foreign to me. She’s weak and dependent, and I’m surprised at the situation because she’s no longer like the version of her that I know.
On the day of our visit, Great Grandma expected company, so she opened her door as soon as we knocked, greeting us with a big smile, telling us to come in even if she wasn’t certain who we were.
She began our visit by showing us pictures of blankets she gifted to others, and proudly showed us a blanket she was working on now. After that, we took Great Grandma out for a lunch of chicken noodle soup.
At the car my son helped her into the front seat, asking gently, “Are you in?” Then he shut the door and carried her wheelchair to the trunk of the car. When we returned from lunch, perhaps inspired by her brother’s concern, my daughter offered to get Great Grandma’s walker when my son volunteered to help Great Grandma out.
Back in Great Grandma’s room, the kids began to chat with her.
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。
Paragraph 1: When we said goodbye to Great Grandma, both of my kids hugged her.
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Paragraph 2: To my surprise. Great Grandma was excited to receive love.
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