As I stood in line waiting to cash out at a “pack your own” kind of store, where customers pack their items by themselves, I stared at the customer in front of me reading the magazines. She was young, but she already had a tired look to her, with head bent forwards—as if life had beaten her down too many times.
Her face looked pale from extreme tiredness. Her winter coat was thin and unbuttoned. The well-worn scarf around her throat probably did little to protect it from the cold weather. Her hands turning a few pages, were rough and red. When I looked down at her boots, I could see a small piece of a clear plastic bag partially visible through a hole in her left boot.
The items in her cart (购物车) included the cheapest cuts of meat and some things like rice and potatoes. There were also lots of noodles. Day-old bread, inexpensive soap, and tissues on sale—well, almost. In a far corner sat a little toy and a pretty dress that was 50 percent off.
She continued to look at the magazines as we waited, and more people lined up behind us. She finally took one out and turned it over several times, trying to find a price before finally turning to me.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she began in a shy and nervous tone. “But can you tell me how much this is? I forgot my glasses at home.”
“Of course” I said with a smile.
When I finally found the small print and told her, she shook her head and put it back.
“They’ve become so expensive, haven’t they?” I said sympathetically.
“Next!” The cashier called in a gentle voice before she could answer, and she moved forward to begin her transaction(交易)
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。
When told the cost, the woman’s face paled.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I approached the cashier and whispered “Include her removed items in my bill, please.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Living in a competitive and dishonest community was not always easy. People kept walking in and out, wearing artificial smiles. All selfish souls! Finally, my parents decided to have a breath of fresh air. We were on vacation, having driven to New Hampshire. We wouldn’t see friends on family—it would be just me, my parents, and my little brother, Wyatt, out for a nice, socially distanced week away.
We had hiked about half a mile to a popular spot called Dianna’s Baths, where the water falls of a series of flat stones on the mountainside. The baths were full of families, so we made our way to one of the upper levels of rock to keep our distance.
Both where we sat and down below, the water poured and fell into small pools, where kids in swimsuits were splashing around. We couldn’t help rushing to join them. Some parents nervously drove their kids away from the rocks’ edges, while my parents were grateful that they were out of that stage, so we two, at sixteen and eight, could keep our physical space with more confidence. Don’t get me wrong: Mom was sill terrified as she saw us jump between the slippery rocks, “No running,” she said again and again. “Stay away from all those edges.”
But she soon relaxed, and we were all having fun, splashing in the pools. Then, seconds later, things changed.
I turned and saw my Wyatt sitting down between two stones in a fast-moving stream. I yelled at him to get out. He yelled back something that I couldn’t hear, and then he disappeared over the edge.
it was about 12 feet from the top of the waterfall to the pool below, where there were many huge rocks. All I remember from the moment is mother’s screaming, over and over, like a prayer, “Somebody helps my son!” My father was already dashing down the rocks, when I heard another woman scream. “That child just went over the waterfall!” she shouted at her husband. “Hurry up! Let’s give them a helping hand!”
注意：
1.续写词数应为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:
While everyone else looked on from a distance. this young woman didn’t hesitate.
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Paragraph 2:
The ambulance came, taking Wyatt out of the park on a stretcher.
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John reached into his backpack, searching for his cell phone. He was scared of having to spend the spring break at Aunt Letty’s farm. Although he had protested, his parents decided that spending time on the farm would be a great experience for him. They grew up on a farm and believed that responsibility, hard work, and respect for the land were valuable lessons.
“So, have you ever ridden a horse?” Aunt Letty asked, trying to turn his attention away from his phone. “Hmmm, no.” he answered. “Well, we’ve got a nice calm horse I think you’ll like. Hercules — sounds like a beast, but he’s basically a gentle giant — big, but kindhearted!” she said, smiling. John glanced at his aunt, annoyed that he was expected to work. He tried to text a friend but there was no cell reception.
The next few days were busy. The crow of the roosters woke them up, and they had breakfast before dawn. Then they went out to the barn to get the feed while the animals waited to be fed. The afternoons were filled with transporting hay, cleanup, and caring for the animals. At dusk, when the farm was finally quiet, Aunt Letty stretched her arms out and inhaled (吸气), “Just take a deep breath of that sweet country air!” John, exhausted from his chores, was unable to appreciate his work.
On the third day, without warning, Aunt Letty announced, “It’s time to meet Hercules.” She led John into the stables (马厩). Aunt Letty was right. Hercules was remarkable!
Aunt Letty held her hand open for John to take. Reluctantly, he let her guide his hand toward Hercules and allowed the magnificent creature to sniff his palm. Softly, Hercules rubbed its nose and mouth against him.
“It feels like velvet (天鹅绒) !” John beamed(眉开眼笑). An hour later, John was scratching Hercules on his neck and offering him carrots.
That night, as they headed toward the house, John was inspired. His arms spreading wide, he inhaled and said, “Take a breath of that sweet country air!”
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。
The next morning, John found Aunt Letty waiting outside with Hercules.
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Fascinated by the breathtaking scenery in the countryside, John obviously changed a lot after the ride.
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My teenage son, Jordan, always complained about having to be home earlier than all his friends. He would tell me that he was already seventeen, but still had a curfew (宵禁). He believed he was practically an adult. I pointed out that he was not an adult as he was still in high school.
“You don’t trust me!” he yelled. Before I continued, he rolled his eyes, slammed the door and walked away. I sighed. How could I make Jordan see that I only wanted to keep him safe?
I decided to go for a walk, hoping the December air would clear my head. I opened the front door and nearly stepped on her: a small black cat, just like a meatball. “Hi, Meatball,” I said, bringing her into my arms. I walked back in, touching her neck gently. Meatball seemed happy enough to come in the house, but after an hour or two, she sat by the door, meowing to go back outside.
“Why won’t she just stay in with us all the time?” Nathan, my youngest son asked.
I explained to him that she was happy here but she liked being able to come and go as she pleased.
“That must be nice,” Jordan muttered from the other room, complaining why the cat, not him, could come and go. He even asked me to give Meatball a curfew.
Meatball became a regular.
One night, temperatures were unusually low. Meatball stood at the door, meowing to go outside.
I shook my head at her, afraid that she might freeze to death. She stared at me and meowed again. I patted her head, “I know you’re not happy, but it’s for your own good.”
“Mom’s not being mean to you,” Nathan told the cat. “She’s just trying to keep you from turning into a frozen meatball.” We both laughed at his joke.
The next morning, I couldn’t find Meatball. I asked the kids if anyone had seen 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。
Jordan nodded, “I let her out last night.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As I drove to the animal hospital, Jordan sat in the back, holding Meatball inside his coat.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Every girl dreamed when she was young and Cindy was no exception. Her favorite ballet was Swan and Lake and she had read dozens of books from the library or in the bookstore on how to become a ballerina. She anxiously hoped that one day her dream would come true. She had taken ballet lessons and all her teachers confirmed that she was a good student and full of potential, which made her look forward to the future.
One day she saw an advertisement that a famous ballerina troupe (剧团) would be performing in her hometown. Her thoughts ran wild, “I must meet up with the leader of the troupe and show him my skills,” she murmured to herself. She dressed herself in her ballerina costume and managed to avoid the guards and hid in the dressing room to wait, with her heart pounding. It was uncertain whether she could see the leader.
Luckily, the leader entered and she timidly knocked at the door.
She bravely approached him and handed him a bunch of red roses. And in her excitement, she pricked (刺) her finger on the thorns but she did not make a big thing about the pain. The leader observed her action, nodding his head slightly, as she told him her dream. “All right, you dance and I will give you my judgment.”
But half way through the dance he stopped her and said with an impish (恶作剧的) smile Cindy didn’t notice, “I’m sorry you’re not good enough!” On hearing this, Cindy was too ashamed to ask the leader the reason and ran crying away, as fast as her legs could carry her without a brief stay. Shaking his head in disappointment, the leader said to himself, “Persistence matters more than talent.”
Three years passing, she was still chasing her dream. Then one day she heard that the same ballet troupe was performing in her town again. Bitter memories of the leader’s harsh words came flooding back to her. This time she was determined to find out why the leader had told her she was not good enough when all her teachers thought otherwise.
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 leader glanced at Cindy in peace, “I remember how you had pricked yourself but you carried on bravely.”
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At the thought, she ran after the leader immediately.
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The Perfect Christmas Tree
In our house in Middle Cove, Newfoundland, the tradition was to find the perfect tree before Christmas Eve. And this year, my brother Gilbert and I were being trusted to do it entirely on our own. And we took the challenge very seriously. So, axe in Gilbert’s hand, saw in mine, we set out for all the spots we imagined we might find a magnificent fir (冷杉树).
We were young, but we knew the rules. Trees could not be taken from personal land and not near any road.
We started out with the best of intentions. We were on Pine River Lane, and looking at the firs in the fields, but none of them looked quite good enough. It was getting dark but we still had no luck. On the way home, it was Gilbert who stopped, grabbed my arm and said, “I see it!”
“You see what?” I said.
“Right there, look. It’s perfect.”
And he was right. It was a young tree, two metres tall, standing alone. It was the classic Christmas tree. In all my years, I had never seen such a perfect one.
Perfect except for one small problem. The tree was pretty close to the road. Also, it was behind a fence, so the tree was in someone’s yard. And not just any someone. It was in the yard of Timmy Green, my best friend.
However, the chances of our finding another one like it were slim to none.“You stand guard,” Gilbert said. And with that, we were over the fence and on our bellies crawling toward the target. I lay in the snow and put the Greens’ house under surveillance (监视). I was to whistle or cough if I saw anyone coming.
Within a few minutes, it fell.
“Grab the end,” Gilbert said, and we lifted it over the fence. Now we were on the road.
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；
Suddenly Gilbert’s eyes widened. “Our footprints!” he said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________So it shocked me when I found Mr. Green in our house with my parents, drinking tea on Christmas Eve.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Nike was a wheel dog who was directly in front of the sled (雪橇) and take most of the force. Whether little Nike had been named after the athletic shoe or the Greek goddess of victory, I would never know. He came into my life due to an injury in one of his legs which prevented him from making the team for the Trail Sled Dog Race.
My lifelong dream was to become a mountain man. So this winter, my wife Cheryl and I headed into the mountains with supplies to live for five months. In January, we had begun pushing east toward an untraveled area of the Yukon River. The trapping prospects there looked promising. We returned to our main cabin and made plans for me to use Cheryl’s dogs, hooking (钩) them together to form a large team. The idea was to bring supplies several miles down the river and establish a permanent camp.
That meant I’d be traveling alone and driving a sled loaded with around 300 pounds of goods, which meant extra hard work for my wheeler, Nike. The first serious challenge in our trip came where the path went down a steep valley that led to the river. As we started down, I stood on the brake with all of my weight in an attempt to keep balance. But the heavy sled began overtaking the dogs, and they picked up their pace to stay ahead of it. The sled became faster and faster until we came to a sharp turn at the bottom of the hill.
Eventually, the dogs got entangled (缠结) with each other and the sled got stuck in a crack in the river ice. I emerged from a large snowdrift and assessed the damage. I expected to find my dogs and a broken sled. But the sled was fine, and the dogs had jumped over each other, freeing themselves from the tangled ropes. Nike emerged from’ the snow, shook himself off, looked at me with encouraging eyes and made me smile.
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 I have to save myself from the icy river.
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I had begun to accept that this was how I was going to die, but Nike wouldn’t have it.
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8 . Pumpkin (南瓜) carving at Halloween is a family tradition. We visit a local farm every October. In the pumpkin field, I compete with my three brothers and sister to seek out the biggest pumpkin. My dad has a rule that we have to carry our pumpkins back home, and as the eldest child I have an advantage — I carried an 85-pounder (85磅重的南瓜) back last year.
This year, it was hard to tell whether my prize or the one chosen by my 14-year-old brother, Jason, was the winner. Unfortunately we forgot to weigh them before taking out their insides, but I was determined to prove my point. All of us were hard at work at the kitchen table, with my mom filming the annual event. I’m unsure now why I thought forcing my head inside the pumpkin would settle the matter, but it seemed to make perfect sense at the time.
With the pumpkin resting on the table, hole uppermost (向上), I bent over and pressed my head against the opening. At first I got jammed (塞住) just above my eyes and then, as I went on with my task, unwilling to quit, my nose briefly prevented entry. Finally I managed to put my whole head into it, like a cork (软木塞) forced into a bottle. I was able to straighten up with the huge pumpkin resting on my shoulders.
My excitement was short-lived. The pumpkin was heavy. “I’m going to set it down, now,” I said, and with Jason helping to support its weight, I bent back over the table to give it somewhere to rest. It was only when I tried to remove my head that I realized getting out was going to be less straightforward than getting in. When I pulled hard, my nose got in the way. I got into a panic as I pressed firmly against the table and moved my head around trying to find the right angle, but it was no use. “I can’t get it out!” I shouted, my voice sounding unnaturally loud in the enclosed (封闭的) space.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请如下格式在相应位置作答。
It was five or six minutes though it felt much longer.
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The video was posted online the Monday before Halloween.
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When I was 13, I climbed my first mountain — a fairly gentle 3, 900-foot peak near where I live in Surrey, British Columbia. I loved the challenge of conquering something bigger than myself. Soon I’d climbed nearly 100 peaks.
I often go climbing with my friend Mel Olsen. Two years ago, on December 30, when I was 16, she and I drove to Oregon to conquer 11, 240-foot Mount Hood.
It's safer to start winter climbs at night when there's less risk of the sun melting the snowpack. That day, we started at 3 a. m. The temperature was about 14 degrees, and we wore clothes we could easily remove. Along the way, we met two other climbers, and the four of us continued on together.
After about five hours, we reached Devil's Kitchen, a plateau at about 10, 000 feet, just before the final push to the top. By this point, the wind conditions were horrible. My exposed skin felt as though it were burning. The other climbers decided to turn back, but Mel and I went ahead. We had ice axes (斧), helmets, and crampons (钉鞋). We were prepared for the climb.
The trail we followed grew narrower and steeper. At around 9 a. m., we reached a patch of ice called an ice step. It was about three or four feet tall and sloped at a 75-degree angle. I volunteered to go first. I placed my left foot on the ice step.
I gained a sense of the ice when I stuck my ax and crampons into it, and it felt good. Confident that I was safe, I put my full weight on it. Suddenly, I heard a crack, and a whole block of ice broke off the step, right under my foot.
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。
In an instant, I fell backward.
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As Mel made her way down, I yelled for help.
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A GIFT FOR GRANDPA
Summer vacation was coming. Jack and his brother Berlin were filled with excitement as they thought of visiting their grandparents again.
The big day came at last. After the happy family got ready, they set out for the grandparents’ eagerly. On the way, the brothers were excitedly talking about the fun they had with grandparents.
A little blue house with a tall white chimney finally appeared. Behind the property was the forest carrying their good memories with Grandpa. They arrived at the driveway, at the end of which Grandma was waiting for them joyfully.
Jack and Berlin each gave Grandma a big hug and then swept to the living room, shouting excitedly “Grandpa, we are back!”
Seeing his grandsons, Grandpa was wild with joy and tried to get up with all his strength from the chair but in vain. A helpless expression flashed on his face. Grandma explained that his health was declining rapidly and maybe couldn’t stand up on his own forever. But Grandpa declared stubbornly (倔强地), “I can!” Certainly, he was stuck in his boyish way. Mum and grandparents were happy to meet again after a long time. They sat together and chatted about what happened recently.
The brothers were soon bored with adult conversation, went out and wandered into the forest. Tall trees stretched up to the heavens with large branches crossing each other, while young ones rose straight like soldiers. Grandpa was once a great explorer full of wisdom. He could tell where the birds came from only by their calls and songs. The trees, birds, lizards, lots of bugs...How many merry moments they spent with Grandpa in the kingdom!
But now Grandpa couldn't get up. This made them worried. “We’d think out a way to cheer him up.” Jack said. “Grandpa is a bird lover, and we can catch him a bird.” Berlin suggested. “But he hates birds being caged!” Jack shook his head.
Then a bright idea came to Jack’s mind. “Why not make a cane (拐杖) out of a young tree!”
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。
Berlin thought it was a good idea.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jack and Berlin handed the cane to Grandpa.
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