One day, a hare (野兔) and a tortoise (乌龟) decided to have a race to see who was faster than the other. They agreed that the one who first got to the bid tree in the distance was the winner. So they started at the same time.

The hare thought, “My legs are much longer than the tortoise’s. I’m sure to be the winner.” Of course the tortoise was much slower than the hare, but he never gave up and kept moving forward as fast as he could.

As the hare ran a few kilometers, he found the tortoise far behind him.

I watched my dad scowl (绷着脸) as he listened to the voice coming through the telephone receiver. I heard him say, “Yes, Miss Beisner,” and “I understand what you’re saying, Miss Beisner. I appreciate you sharing this information. We’ll see what we can do about the situation. Thank you for calling. Goodbye.”

Miss Beisner was my first-grade teacher, and I loved her. I thought she felt the same about me, but now I was beginning to wonder. The tone of Dad’s voice, the redness in his cheeks, and his repeated clenching. And unclenching of fists made it pretty clear. This was not a warm and fuzzy good news-from-the-teacher call.

As I was deciding whether I should lock myself in my bedroom for the rest of my life or run away from home, Dad hung up the phone. “Jacquie, come here and sit down. We need to talk.”

Uh-oh. When Dad said, “We need to talk,” it meant he needed to talk, and I needed to listen.

I shuffled (拖着脚走) over to the well-worn brown chair in the corner of the living room, plopped down, and waited to hear the nature of my crime.

Dad told me that Miss Beisner thought I was bright but not working up to my ability. She said I had strong verbal skills but weak study habits. Translation: I never closed my mouth, and I seldom opened a book. Apparently, my failure to memorize the addition facts, or even attempt to, was more than she was willing to put up with. Hence, the telephone call.

Dad ended our one-way conversation with a verbal outline for his plan of attack. Bubbles, our Toy Manchester Terrier, was going to teach me math. Silently, I thought, No way is any dumb dog going to teach me how to add, not even our beloved Bubbles. Out loud, I said, “How?”

Dad summoned Bubbles from her bed near the stove and commanded her to sit. “Bubbles,” Dad said, “how much is five plus three?” Bubbles let out eight loud, crisp barks.

I was incredulous (满腹狐疑的). I couldn’t understand how a dog could add, and I was more than a little embarrassed by the fact that the family dog was smarter than me.

Paragraph 1: After that, I threw myself into math with newfound determination.

Paragraph 2: One day, I asked Dad whether Bubbles really knew how to add.

It was an early Saturday morning, about 5:30 am. My mom called to me, “Austin, get up! Time to go and serve the homeless!” I dragged myself out of bed.

I started serving the homeless when I was eight years old. I didn’t know these people would make such a big difference in my life.

Two Saturdays a month I go to the church and help get things ready for breakfast. When the gate is opened, people come rushing in to get coffee, juice or milk. They take their seats while breakfast is prepared, and then we begin to serve. We each grab two plates and carry them down the line as the plates are filled. Each person receives two pancakes, a scoop of eggs, hashbrowns, and two sausages. I walk to the tables where the people are sitting and set the plates before them. I always make sure that I smile. After I’ve served them, I ask if they need anything else and bring them whatever they ask for. Some say thank you, some don’t, but I don’t care. I’m there to serve them.

When I first started serving, I was a little scared. Some of the people were wearing clothes with patches on them and shoes with holes in them. They were not that clean and their teeth were yellow or missing. At first I stayed close to my mom most of the time, but after I got to know these strangers I realized that they were nice, friendly people. And the inside of them was often nicer than the outside. I started talking to my new friends and realized that there was no reason to be scared. After serving for a few months, I started to look forward to seeing the same people each week.

Take Cowboy. He always puts me in a good mood. When I see him, he always says, “Austin! How are you?” I’ve often heard him say that I am a really hard worker. This makes me feel really good inside because I know I’m making a difference in someone’s life.

Then there’s Curtis. He’s a really big guy.

All of these people make my day much better.

I had just a very wonderful day. Although all my days were always wonderful to me, that day was completely different. There was a bulletin(公告)board saying that they would need to find volleyball players for the girls and I was so happy! I have been loving playing volleyball since my mother taught me how to play. I was so excited that I couldn’t wait to play! Then I read more what was on that bulletin board, which said that here would be an audition(试演)after three weeks! “Three weeks?” I thought about it I did know how to play volleyball but I was not much of an expert in doing it but I still wanted to try.

After that I was determined to practice volleyball every day. I practiced hard again and again each day and never got tired of doing the same practice through all the days, and finally, the day came. I was so prepared for this and hurried to the gym to the audition. When I had reached the gym, I was surprised to see that 12 or 14 girls were lining up and I guessed I was the last one to arrive. Then our audition began. Some of the girls failed to pass the audition and some passed.

There was only one position left to complete the 6 girls to join the volleyball team and suddenly I felt nervous because the person in front of me was going to take the serve(发球). Then the girl hit the ball and then the ball didn’t pass over the net! The girl hit her forehead and left, leaving me standing in the middle of the court.

Then the coach spoke, “Okay, you serve.” She handed me the ball and I caught it with my hands. As the ball was in my hands, my hands were suddenly sweating and so was I!

I then suddenly became nervous about this.

I come to a stop, taking a deep breath and began.

7 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Catherine’s nine-year-old son, Chirag, won his first silver prize at a swim meet. It seemed like he could swim before he could walk. His dad is a competitive swimmer and a former champion, so many people think it is surely in his genes.

That’s wrong! Until a few years ago, Chirag was afraid of water. It wasn’t his fault. His dislike came from Catherine’s childhood phobia (恐惧症).

One summer when Catherine was a child, she and her brother went to a pool to learn basic swimming skills. All that went well and soon it was time for class. A coach was hired and he agreed to do a trial round. He took children to the deep end and asked then to swim across the breadth of the pool. While Catherine’s brother stayed calm and made it, she, however, immediately disliked the task. It was Catherine’s first time in such deep water, and the bottom of the pool seemed so far away that she felt really frightened. She felt she was going to drown (淹死) for lack of air. At that moment, she thought that swimming wasn’t for her. After being rescued from the water, she didn’t swim again.

Fast forward to her thirties, she was a mother of a child and living in an area with a lot of rivers and beaches. Then her son, Chirag, started school, and swimming was a compulsory course. Every Wednesday, the day for the weekly swimming lesson was Chirag’s bad dream. From the previous evening, he would be anxious and teary-eyed about going to school. It turned out that Catherine had passed on her anxiety about swimming to her little boy.

She was always worried about keeping her child safe around water and was starting to realize that the best way to do that was making him learn how to swim. Words of comfort were of no use to Chirag. He still sat outside the pool during his classes. It was obvious that he needed professional lessons to help build his confidence. She needed to challenge herself to encourage her son.

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。

So Catherine signed up for swimming classes with her son.

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To Catherine’s amazement, she didn’t drown!

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Jared was a boy who was raised by his single father, Steve, and his grandfather Michael. Although he didn’t have much in life, Jared was grateful for what he had. He enjoyed living a simple life with his dad and grandfather.

After school, Jared would often go into his grandfather’s garage and they would repair his car together. Jared was a skilled mechanic and it was all thanks to his grandfather’s patient teaching. And Jared wished one day he would open a car repair shop using his grandfather’s garage. Michael supported it.

Unfortunately, Michael died when Jared was 14. Jared continued to look after his grandfather’s car. One day, his dad entered his room and handed him the key to his grandfather’s car. “Your grandpa wanted me to give this to you on your eighteenth birthday. He said you could decide what to do with the car—either sell it or keep it,” his dad said.

Jared smiled. He was thankful that he now had a car. And he was happy it was a special car that he and his grandfather maintained together. “I’ll keep it! I don’t have to take the bus to school anymore. I can just drive!” Jared replied excitedly.

Then Steve returned to his own room. He hoped Jared would not sell the car. And he hoped someday Jared would find the envelope Michael had secretly left for him. The envelope was put under the driver’s seat of the car. In the envelope, Michael left Jared $15,000. And he had left a note. It read, “I knew you wouldn’t sell my car. Thank you, Jared! I hope the money can help you. Be a good man!”

The following day, when Jared arrived at school, many students saw his car. They didn’t think highly of it because it was old and noisy. But Jared valued it. Later that day, after school, he couldn’t start the car. There appeared to be a problem with it.

Jared decided to repair the car himself.

Confused, Jared quickly opened the envelope.