At the beginning of this year, my daughter Helen spent a month in the hospital fighting for her life. Since then, she has had to deal with the disease as well as many side effects. She has met each challenge, disappointment and setback with courage.
With her 16th birthday approaching, Helen dreamt of a party and campfire at the beach with friends, relatives, and her beloved dog, Ginger. It took a while, but I finally found a good beach that allowed dogs and campfires and had easy access. However, a week before her party, Helen’s disease worsened.
Our friend Ian called the night before the party and turned our plans upside down. The small beach we’d selected and the surrounding beaches would host a 30, 000-person event on the party night and would be closed. It was a disaster because we had researched no other nearby beach would work.
Helen had her heart set on having her dog and a campfire at the beach, but as usual, she didn’t complain. In her young life, she’s dealt with much worse things than a destroyed birthday party. She sat down and began to quietly cry. After a while Helen decided she’d rather have the party at our home so she could have her dog and a campfire. We called the invitees with the changed plans.
How to design a party at home with dogs and campfire was a challenge. It occurred to us that we could make full use of our yard. Ian’s wife Jayme came first with some small signs, which read: “Welcome to Campbell Beach, where dogs and campfires are welcome. Where the beach is small and the waves are so far away, you must close your eyes to see them, but not so the love for Helen and her little dog. Happy Birthday, Helen!”
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。
An hour later, Ian arrived with a loaded truck.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Helen and her friends couldn’t wait to play on the sand.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“You should throw me in the bin, Mummy.”
Those are the words my son say to me, words a mother should never hear their child say. When I asked him why, he told me that like his digger, he was broken and could not be fixed. My heart cracked a little more at that and I knew that, I had to try and find a way to bring back the joy into our world.
At age two, he was diagnosed with type two diabetes and he was “just losing his puppy fat”. My son grew sicker and sicker until eventually, he was admitted into hospital.
Motherhood changed in that moment. I went from “Mummy” to nurse, always keeping a watch for signs he might be in danger from his own body. It can be hard to find the balance between the demands of being a full-time carer for a child with illness and being a mother. In those early days, it broke me to hear him beg and cry for me not to hurt him with needles again. The risks that come along are as big as they can be: blindness, organ failure, coma, death. His life is, and always will be, dependent on the monitoring and assessment of all these factors.
Yet, I had to find a way to raise him to know that he could live it fully and with all his dreams within reach. I had to learn how to live with these two roles, just as he had to learn to live with the demands his body would place on him. What I had not expected was to find the way through in the mud and rubble (瓦砰) of a new-build social housing estate.
My husband, son and I moved to the new estate in Cumbria when my son was four. The back garden was nothing more than a patch of newly sown grass, and a thin layer of topsoil. Underneath that was rubble and rock. The site was a former industrial stoneworks, and but to us, it was a place of hope.
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。
Soon after we moved in, my son and I decided to plant a garden.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This small garden let us both live again.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A Pleasant Surprise
For a long time, I had been longing for a piano of my own to practice on.
There was a piano shop on the street through which I went to school every day. Whenever I passed the shop, I would stop, looking at the beautiful piano which stood in the corner of the shop window. How I had been dreaming day and night to possess a piano like that!
Unfortunately, Father was just a clerk. Times were tough during the Depression, and there were five mouths to feed, besides buying coal and wood for the stove. In order to lay aside some money, on cold winter days Father walked 7 miles every day to get to work. No, he couldn’t afford to buy me an expensive piano—such an extravagance (奢侈品), though he knew that I was very anxious for one as a gift.
On my birthday, after school I went as usual to the shop window to look at the piano, but to my surprise the piano had gone. In fact, I should not have been surprised, others had the right to buy it, if they could afford to. Tears filled my eyes when I thought of not being able to see that piano any more.
Disappointed, helpless and sad, I wandered aimlessly up and down the street. About an hour later, I had just entered into our house, when I heard my mother calling me. I brushed away my tears and went into the dining-room where she was.
I could not believe my eyes.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Ryan’s parents passed away when he was only eight. Since then, his grandma raised him alone and tried her best to provide him with everything he needed.
When Ryan was 15, his grandma retired. In order to save enough money for Ryan’s college education, she took on a part-time job and worked as a cleaning lady at a nearby park. However, Ryan disliked his grandma’s part-time job, because he was afraid that his classmates would see her.
One day, Ryan was chosen to act the lead role in a school play that was scheduled for next month. Most of the students acting in the play invited their families to the performance, but Ryan was too ashamed to invite his grandma. Unfortunately, his grandma saw the posters of the play on the walls of the school. One night when they were having dinner, his grandma mentioned that she would love to see him perform.
“You won’t be permitted to see the performance, Grandma,” he lied. “No family member was invited.”
His grandma was shocked and tried very gently to know why Ryan lied to her.
“It’s because I don’t want my friends to find out you’re a cleaning lady!” Ryan broke down finally.
Little did Ryan know that his grandma kept working just because of him. If she had the choice, she would rather stay at home and enjoy her retirement. However, she knew that she had to make extra money so that she could give Ryan a comfortable life and send him to college.
Although his grandma was sad about Ryan’s behavior, she continued working. However, one Sunday morning, her back hurt so much that she could not get up and had to ask Ryan to look for the painkillers that she had been taking in secret. Soon, Ryan found the pills but they did not work.
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。
Ryan was really frightened and rushed his grandma to the hospital.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Realizing what his grandma had done for him, Ryan decided to say sorry to her.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Teacher’s Dream
When handball was introduced to Sri Lankan schools in 2010,I wanted to bring it to my school, St Anthony’s, in the remote village of Wasalakotte in central Sri Lanka. This became a challenging task as the sports teacher was unwilling to initiate anything other than traditional sports, such as cricket, rugby and basketball.
I was not a sports teacher and I had never played handball before. In fact, I was an English language teacher before assuming my post as vice principal. However, I was determined to start this game at any cost. Handball is a fascinating game which combines speed, strength, flexibility, technical precision, skill and teamwork. As a new sport, I foresaw it as a golden opportunity for our school as we had never secured a place in traditional sports.
The boys were immediately interested and 40 students aged between 13 and 19 signed up to play. I had the support of their parents. Ultimately, I managed to convince the sports teacher to agree. However, we still needed a coach.
Heshan Pradeep, a St Anthony’s old boy who graduated some nine years earlier, volunteered to coach the team. He was a member of the Air Force handball team and was happy to take on the role in his free time. He assigned exercises and drills to do in his absence.
Although handball is an indoor game, we trained outdoors as our school had limited facilities. Training started early in the morning before class and continued after school until it was dark. The boys loved the game and were enthusiastic about training.
“This handball craze will ruin your studies!” complained some of the teachers in an attempt to discourage the game. Whenever the boys were late for class after morning practice, they were scolded or punished by their teachers, but I was able to keep them cheerful.
After three months of intense training, we were able to send an under-19s boys’ team to compete with 50 other schools at the first all-island school handball tournament held in Colombo—the country’s richest city.
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。
However, the Handball Association rejected our application because we weren’t association members.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The victory sent the whole school into festive mode.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| Places | Activities |
| community centres | sing songs or tell stories for the elderly,... |
| community hospital | hand out the leaflets on the flu,… |
| community park | pick up rubbish, water flowers |
| … | … |
2. 语句通顺，意思连贯，书写工整
注意：1. 文中不得出现个人真实信息；
2. 词数：80-120
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was my first long race - marathon. The wind and the rain chilled (使很冷) me to the bone and the sun was yet out to warm up the air. The starting gun would go off any second. I was ready. I was 28 and in the best shape of my life. At least, I thought I was. I ran all the time and had already run several races. But none of them was 26.2 miles. The farthest I had run before was only 15 miles. Still, I was young and overconfident and I knew I could do it.
The gun went off and the race started. I was excited and the weather became the furthest thing from my mind. I just concentrated on holding my own position among the other runners. I had no real finishing goal in mind, but when I settled into my pace, I soon worked out that I could easily break 4 hours.
Within a few miles, I ran past an elderly runner. He must have been over 70 years old and I was surprised he was even in the race. I was even more surprised that he was still ahead of me. He kept to the side of the road, his old legs moving one in front of the other, slowly but stably. I passed him without giving him a second glance or a word of encouragement.
I kept moving. 15 miles came and I was on pace to beat 4 hours. Then something strange happened. I started to get tired. My goal of 4 hours soon got pushed back to 4:10. Then 4:20. Finally, at about the 20-mile mark, I couldn’t run any more. I had to walk.
I moved to the side of the road and with difficulty I walked along. I needed a second wind, but it wasn’t coming. The rain was back. There was nothing I could do about it but concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.
Then the elderly man passed me. He looked the same as he had earlier, running at the same speed. As he passed, he looked over at me and smiled, “Only a few more miles to go. Don’t give up now!”
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。
Thinking of being beaten by an elderly man, I moved on.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
He crossed the finish line ahead of me and I was soon to follow.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus (马戏团) . Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter (柜台).
This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of twelve. You could tell they didn’t have a lot of money.
Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly talking about the clowns. elephants, and other acts they would see that night with their brothers or sisters in a low voice.
One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It promised to be highlight of their young lives. The father and mother were at the head of the pack, standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You are my knight (骑士) in shining armor (盔甲).”
He was smiling and responding in pride, looking back at her as if to say, “You got that right” . The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, “Please let me buy eight child tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.”
The ticket lady gave the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, and his lips began to shake. The father leaned (倾斜) a little closer and asked. “How much do you say?”
The ticket lady again quoted (报价) the price. The man didn’t have enough money.
How was he supposed to turn around and tell his eight children that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?
Actually we were not wealthy in any sense. So I understand how the kids would feel. I felt sorry for them.
注意：续写词数应为80左右。Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That day my father and I went back to our car and drove home without any tickets.
Courtney Johnson arrived at her son Peter’s school just in time and immediately recognized him among the mass of students spilling through the front gate. Peter rushed to the car, climbed inside and put on the seat belt.
“How was your day at school today, Peter?” she asked as they left for home.
“Um, it was okay, Mom,” Peter said. “I’m starving! Can we please stop by McDonald’s on our way home?”
“Hungry?” Courtney stopped for a moment. “Didn’t you have lunch at school today? Or is it an excuse for chicken nuggets (鸡块)? Not again, Peter!”
“No, Mom! I’m actually starving. I would have eaten at the dinning hall, but I had to give my food to my classmate Aiden because he was hungry.”
Courtney frowned. “But everyone gets their separate meal at school, Peter.”
“Aiden doesn’t eat with us, Mom,” Peter revealed. “His mom can’t pay for his lunch. They are struggling financially. I found him in the playground one day and he told me not to tell anyone because he thought they would laugh at him. Today we had gym class, and everyone was really hungry. I knew Aiden wouldn’t have anything to eat, so I offered my portion (一份) to him.”
Courtney was happy that her son was kind enough to help a needy classmate. She wondered what went wrong with Aiden’s family, so that Aiden had to skip (不吃) lunch at school. When they got home that day, she received a text message from Peter’s teacher, saying there would be a parents’ meeting the next day. Then she thought of a plan. She called Peter’s teacher Mrs Dickens and shared her idea.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
The next morning, when they all gathered, Mrs Dickens briefed them about Aiden’s situation at Courtney’s request.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As Courtney was about to get into her car outside the school gate, Aiden’s mom met her and thanked her for her help.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________要求：
1、词数80左右；
2、可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
