Every week I save all the change and $1 bills I have in my purse. Then every Christmas I cash it in for as many $100 bills as the saved money gets me. I then wait for a family in need. I split the money in half and give half to the family in need and the other half to my nine-year-old son, Say’ Veon, who puts it in his savings account, to teach him about delayed satisfaction. Then he helps me get gifts or give the money to the family.
I adopted Say’ Veon after his mother, a close friend of mine, passed away from cancer before his fifth birthday. Even though Say’ Veon has dealt with great loss and sadness at such a young age, his generous spirit and loving heart shine through. He has given money to someone else who needs it more, such as his friends or classmates. Say’ Veon’s acts of kindness always blow me away and I feel blessed to have him in my life.
This week I got a call from a friend, DeeDee, who is 77 years old. She was upset because she had been cheated, and the cheaters took all the money out of her checking account which she lives on, and now she didn’t have the money to pay her rent and bills.
This morning, I took the money and showed Say’ Veon how much I saved this year. I told him what happened to DeeDee, and then asked him if he would be willing to give his half along with my half and donate it to her as our person in need this year.
He said, “Yes, of course.” This year our total was $400.
We went to visit DeeDee and my son handed her a Christmas card with the money. She opened it and said, “Thank you.” She then looked again and stared at the $100 bills.
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。
DeeDee froze there with her eyes wide open.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Suddenly, Say’ Veon said to DeeDee, “You are our family!”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The basketball court was filled with eager students and cheerleaders were waving their pompoms at the stands. Excited cheers could be heard from all sides of the court. My teammates and I got fully prepared for our basketball competition. Our hearts were pounding in expectation of the competition ahead.
“And let’s all welcome the Blue Team!” the emcee (主持人) announced through the microphone. All of us marched in proudly as everyone cheered at the top of their lungs. “And welcome the Red Team!” the emcee announced, and the Red Team came in. We were astonished to see that the Red Team was filled with tall and strong members! We were trembling with fear as we walked slowly towards the centre of the court. As we were short of teammates, our confidence in winning wavered (减弱).
The judge threw the ball and the other team quickly caught it! The ball danced between their hands. Our defence seemed to be in slow motion compared to the Red Team’s swiftness. Soon, the other team scored!
We were losing the match as time passed. To make matters worse, our star player, Tom, even tripped and fell, hurting his ankle! We were losing hope as our best player was gone. Just then, our captain called for a time-out. On the bench, our captain announced that this would be his last match. “Come on! Don’t give up! I want to win one last trophy (奖杯) before I quit. Let’s do it!” he insisted, giving us a wide smile. Hearing this, our team held our fists tightly. We were focused on winning this match and making our captain proud! The judge threw the ball once more. I jumped as high as I could and caught the ball. I ran as fast as lightning and scored. Our opponents were nervous but they still scored a few goals to catch up. A few minutes later, we were neck to neck, locked in a tie.
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。
Whoever scored this one goal would win the competition!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The crowd erupted into deafening applause.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Once upon a time, there lived a young boy named Ethan in a small village. With a passion for music, Ethan was enthusiastic about playing the guitar. Every day after school, he would rush home, grab his guitar, and lose himself in the melodies (乐曲) he created.
One summer, the village was hosting a talent show, and Ethan decided to participate. However, doubts started to flood into his mind. He began comparing himself to other talented musicians and questioning his abilities. The fear of failure began to consume him.
But Ethan’s grandfather, who had always been his biggest supporter, noticed his grandson’s inner struggle. He sat down with Ethan and shared a story from his own youth.
“When I was your age, I had a dream of becoming a painter. But I was filled with self-doubt, just like you are now. I decided to seek guidance from a wise old artist in a nearby town.
The old artist listened to my worries and offered me a challenge. He asked me to paint a picture on a large canvas in front of a crowd. Overwhelmed by the challenge, I hesitated.
The wise artist smiled and told me not to focus on what others might think. He asked me to paint from my heart and pour my soul into every stroke. The beauty lies not in perfection, but in the authenticity (真实性) of one’s creation.
Encouraged by these words, I accepted the challenge. I painted with passion, letting my emotions guide my brush. Finally, a beautiful masterpiece appeared on the canvas.”
Finishing the story, Ethan’s grandfather said, “That day, I realized that success is not defined by how perfect we are or how we compare to others. It’s about embracing our unique talents, taking risks, and expressing ourselves with passion and authenticity.”
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。
Inspired by his grandfather’s story, Ethan decided to give the talent show his all.
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Ethan didn’t pay much attention to the surroundings until he heard the applause at the end of his performance.
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People often talk about the “walls” that some individuals build around themselves. I was one of those individuals. Long after I divorced and became a single parent, I still wore my wedding ring. Maybe it was because I didn’t want anyone to know that I had failed at something in my life. Wearing that ring helped me pretend that everything was okay.
You think that people can’t see through those kinds of walls. But they do. They just know enough not to let you know that they see you are pretending. One day at work, however, pretending didn’t come that easily. I was on my coffee break with colleagues. Then my cell phone rang and the garage boss told me loudly the car repairs would come to $850. I looked worried. I needed that car to hold down my present job. Without it, I would have to walk fourteen miles to and from work in North Bay. I felt sick. I didn’t have a credit card, and I certainly couldn’t call the $28 in my bank account “savings”. But every problem has a solution, and in my case that meant I had to ask someone else for something—even if it was only a lift downtown after work. Luckily, my colleague Jane volunteered to give me a ride to the garage after work.
I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to come up with bright ideas about how to pay my garage bill. I figured I could borrow $200 from my mom and pay her back at a rate of $2.50 a week. I thought of what I had at home that I could live without and therefore sell. I finally decided the best I could do was to offer to type up invoices (发票) for the garage.
注意:
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
When Jane dropped me at the garage that evening, the owner asked me to step into his office.
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Before I could say anything, he added, “People who you work with have been coming in here all afternoon.”
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Joe worked as a night watchman in a factory after he graduated from high school. It was a lonely job, but he was content. He stopped by the beach every day on his way home to watch the sunrise.
One day, he was walking on the beach when he noticed a bottle in the surf. Joe picked it up and saw a roll of paper inside it. His heart beat fast. He removed the lid and opened the letter. “Hi! My name is Ritchie. I’m sending this message in the hope that somebody will find it and become my friend.”
It saddened Joe to think of this boy waiting and hoping somebody would answer his message. He took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the number written near the bottom of the page.
However, the number didn’t exist anymore. Joe was determined to find Ritchie, so he went straight to the city library for help. A librarian took him to a section of the library that felt deserted. There, she pointed him to the shelves filled with old telephone books. She sat down with him, and they searched the telephone books for Ritchie’s phone number together. Two hours later, the librarian let out an excited scream. “I found him!”
“Thank you,” Joe said, quickly copying down the address. He immediately headed for the address from the phone book. He almost screamed when he saw that the house at the address had been transformed into a hair salon. Joe stared at the sign. He held the message from the bottle in one fist and the paper with the address in the other. He walked in and explained everything to the barber. “Ritchie was born with disabilities. He has been using a wheelchair since he was a kid. Well, he’s an old man now. If you still want to find him, I hear he’s at the Serenity nursing home.” Joe thanked the man and drove to the nursing 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。
After asking to see Ritchie, Joe was shown to a sunlit room.
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One day, Joe received a call, learning that Ritchie had passed away the previous night.
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1. 时间和地点；
2. 活动内容；
3. 你的感受。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
A Meaningful Volunteering Experience
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When I was in high school in the 1980s, Jane Fonda’s workout tapes were so popular. But in those days, I was far from a workout participant.
My lack of athleticism finally caught up with me after I quit smoking and put on a lot of weight. By the time I was forty-five, I was 252 pounds. Even at six feet tall, that was way too much weight for my body. I also felt like life was passing me by, but I didn’t know what was next for me. So when I had the opportunity to enter a contest to meet Jane Fonda through a SiriusXM Town Hall event, I crossed my fingers and entered the lucky draw.
To my great surprise, I was one of the winners. I thought this was a sign that my luck was changing. I had always enjoyed Fonda’s movies and was thrilled to have the chance to meet her. So I made up as much as I could, put on my best dress, and brought my best friend Jon along to meet Jane Fonda.
Fonda was seventy-five then and looked great in person, wearing all black and looking decades younger. Not only that, but she was so kind and friendly. She really made me feel special as we discussed a film I had recently seen her in called Peace, Love &Misunderstanding. We posed for a picture together, and I even got the opportunity to ask her a question at the event.
One of the radio network’s organizers promised to send me the photo of us, so I was thrilled when I received an e-mail from her the next day with the Jane Fonda picture. But my excitement turned into embarrassment and disgust when I got a good look at the photo.
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。
That picture gnawed at me.
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I made up my mind to lose weight and get in shape.
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