The dark sky, filled with angry, swirling clouds, reflected Greg Ridley's mood as he sat on the stoop（门廊）of his building. His father's voice came to him again, first reading the headmaster's letter, then lecturing endlessly about his poor efforts in maths.
“I had to leave school when I was thirteen. That's a year younger than you are now. If I'd had half the chances you have, I' d...And you want to play basketball? That must be some kind of a joke. Now you just get into your room and hit those books.
It was beginning to cool. Soon large drops of rain splashed onto his jeans. Down the block there was an abandoned house. Without much thought, Greg made a dash across the street and entered a room. Suddenly he heard a man's voice behind him.“What are you doing here?"
“Who are you?" Greg hardly recognized his own voice.
“I'm Lemon Brown," came the answer.
He was an old man. It didn't seem that he was dangerous. “You aren't looking for my treasure, are you?” he asked.
“No. It is raining out." Greg answered, smiling. “You have a treasure?"
"Every man has a treasure." Lemon Brown said, “You want to see mine?"
“If you want to show it to me," Greg shrugged.
The old man carefully untied the strings, and revealed some yellowed newspaper clippings （剪报）.
Then he started telling the story of his life. He was a famous blues singer in the past. His wife died young, and his only son went abroad to work.
“I gave him these newspaper clippings that told him who I was, and where he came from. One time I came home, there was a letter saying that he got killed in an accident. It broke my heart. They sent back these clippings. That was my treasure, and when I gave it to him, he treated it just like that, a treasure."
Lemon Brown put his rags in place and looked out of the window.
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。
“You get on out of here and get yourself home," said Lemon Brown.
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When Greg was walking in the street, the night had warmed and the rain had stopped.
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My wife, our two kids under 4 and I were in the post office a few weeks ago. We have to go there every month to pay various fees. I was being served when an old man in his eighties, with obvious, significant health issues, was waiting to pay his electricity bill. He was struggling to walk on a walking stick, and his hands and arms were shaking all the time. I knew by feeling that the old man was in trouble. After asking, I figured out that the old man's problem was that he was 20 cents short.
The lady behind the counter had the old man in such a state, looking for a further 20 cents, and he was shaking, obviously looking upset. But instead of letting the man go, she insisted that if his bill wasn't going to be paid in full, the electricity company would probably give a fine on his next bill for unpaid fees.
Hearing this, I got really upset. So I went over and asked the lady behind the counter to give ALL of his money back to the old man and I handed her my debit card and paid the bill for him.
The old man was asking “why are you doing this?” as he began crying. I told him because it was the right thing to do. He thanked me over and over and smiled at my two kids on his way out of the post office.
The best part of this event was that the old man walked out of the post office and straight to Woolies and bought a full basket of food, which he wouldn't have been able to buy had I not done that at the post office.
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。
It happened that we met this old man again in our community.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Our family decided to help improve the old man's situation.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My wife, Megan, and I went out to dinner with an old friend who we had not seen for a while. There had been some talk of COVID-19 on the news, but it was early in the outbreak and people were still going about their daily routines. Even though everyone in group felt perfectly, we took precautions (预防): we washed our hands with soap and used hand sanitizer (洗手液), did not share food, and had no significantly close contact.
A few days later, our friend called and told us that she had tested positive for the coronavirus. She had felt some mild symptoms for a day or so after that dinner and was able to be tested because she is a doctor. On the following day, I started to feel a little tired and my head was a bit cloudy. I decided to stay in the master bedroom away from the rest of my family. The next morning, I woke up with a 39-degree fever. That was when we realized that I might have caught the virus from our friend.
At once, Megan called our state’s coronavirus hotline, who then called in our primary care doctor and the head of our local hospital system’s coronavirus team. We explained that we had been in contact with someone who had been tested positive, and I was having symptoms. They quickly approved me to receive a test at an urgent care center located 5 kilometer’s drive from my house. The result made my heart sink-I was also tested positive, and the local hospital didn’t have the facilities for my disease. As a mild case, I was recommended to stay home and quarantine (隔离) myself.
Following the doctor’s advice, Megan and I quarantined ourselves and our kids. With my symptoms developing, I started isolation in the bedroom, and the only interaction I had with Megan was when she brought in food. She slept on a small couch in our home office away from the kids’ rooms. She also minimized her contact with our kids in case she was carrying the virus.
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。
Para.1:
We decided to call everyone we had contacted over the course of the past week.
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Para.2:
Though worried about the seriousness of the virus, I knew I had to be brave
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I grew up in a small town where elementary school was a ten-minute walk from my house and in an age, not so long ago, when we children could go home for lunch and find our mothers waiting.
Our lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly practiced my lines（台词）with me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped on stage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained patiently that she needed a narrator (叙述者，旁白员) and had written a narrator’s part to the play, and asked me to play the role of the narrator. Her words, kindly delivered, still hurt me especially when I saw my part go to another girl.
I didn’t tell mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my upset, and instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard. It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine（ 藤 ）was turning green. Under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions（ 蒲 公 英 ） appearing unexpectedly through the grass in bunches (簇，串）, as if a painter had touched our landscape with small amounts of gold. I watched my mother casually bend down by one of the bushes. “I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling a blossom up by all its roots. “From now on, we’ll only have roses in this garden.” I immediately argued, “But I like dandelions. All flowers are beautiful — even dandelions.”
注意：
1. 续写词数应为 150 左右：
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已经为你写好。
Paragraph 1：
“Do you mean that every flower has its own beauty?”asked my mother thoughtfully.
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Paragraph 2：
Having learned what had happened, Mom patted me on the back gently and said,“But you will be a beautiful narrator.”
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The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat my father to a special meal. I glanced through the cookbook and chose a menu which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time, I started on it as soon as he left for work.
As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozen would be better, so I doubled everything. As Dad loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was sticky dough (面团) covered with ugly yellowish marks. Realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face him laughing at my work.
I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Dad got home, we sat down to Cornish chicken with rice. He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went outside, saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing.
Looking out, I saw Dad standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in the rubbish bin. Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder.
Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the. fermenting yeast (酵母) made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. I had to admit what the "living thing" was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed by the whole thing, Dad or me.
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。
My dad tapped me gently on the shoulder, and we went inside.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At a party three months later, everyone wanted to try my bread.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Everything about moving day was a puzzle. I didn't know anything about our new building on a new street. Our old life was broken into pieces and packed up in piled boxes. I wondered if it would ever fit back together again.
Mom introduced me to our new neighbours, the Chens. Mrs Chen worked with Mom at the job she'd just started. Mr Chen was a famous craftsman(匠人) from China.
Mom said it was a fresh start, but it felt broken to me. I just wanted things to go back to how they had been before.
After the first day at my new school, I walked home alone. Mom had told me she had to work. I was still hoping she'd meet me after the bell. I had to open the door myself with the new key. I felt a bit hungry and went straight into the kitchen, ripping tape from the packed boxes while I searched for a clean plate. My fingers slipped, and something went crashing to the ground.
“Benjamin” cried Mom from the doorway. I didn't hear her come in. “What just broke?” she asked, kneeling to pick up the pieces. In her hands, I recognized the shattered pieces. It was Grandma's bowl. “I can't believe you broke this,” she said.
“Well, I can't believe we have to live here now! I can't believe I have to switch schools, and I can't believe you didn't even meet me after my first day” I ran into my room, slamming the door behind me.
The broom swept across the kitchen floor. Then the click of Mom's bedroom door closed behind her. I sneaked out into the kitchen and found the fragments in the dustbin. There were so many pieces in here, but maybe I could put them back together. Turning the pieces, I tried to match them,but this bowl would never look the same again.
“I'm sorry I yelled,” said Mom, as she opened her door. “Please just throw out the pieces. We can't make a fresh start with broken things.”
As I wandered down the hall, Mr Chen was emptying his garbage.
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：
“Are you sure you want to throw that out?” he asked.
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Paragraph 2：
I brought the repaired bowl into her room.
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When I was a child, I lived in a house with a beautiful garden full of different flowers, and roses were the most beautiful of them. There was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting in the garden with my mother, reading stories to me. When I was in primary school and old enough to read, I enjoyed reading stories aloud to her.
I will never forget one day when I had been picked to be the princess in the school play. For weeks my mother had practised my lines so hard with me. But however easily I acted at home, as soon as I stepped, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s (叙述者) part to the play, and asked me to change my role. Her word, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.
I didn’t tell my mother what had happened that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to take a walk in the garden.
It was May and roses were blossoming and, under the trees, we could also see yellow dandelions (蒲公英) in the grass, as if a painter had painted our garden with red, yellow and green. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion.
“I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling it up by its roots. “From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden.”
“But I like dandelions,” I protested. “All flowers are beautiful — even dandelions.”
My mother looked at me seriously. “Yes, every flower is beautiful in its own way, isn’t it?” she asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over.
“And that is true of people too,” she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.”
Realizing that she had guessed my pain, I started crying as I told her what had happened. She listened and smiled reassuringly.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Paragraph 1:
“But you can make a good narrator,” she said with encouragement in her eyes.
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Paragraph 2:
After successful performance in the play, I took home the dandelion carefully.
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When Ruth was sixty-eight years old, she visited her daughter Judy and teenage granddaughter Marcy in California. They headed for their cabin, moving forty miles up and down the mountains in their car,along a narrow one-lane road that wound terrifyingly close to cliffs (悬崖).
After dinner, Marcy announced the water tank was low and that she would drive the car down to the pump and get water. Ruth was nervous about her young granddaughter driving down the narrow road by herself, but Judy reminded her that Marcy had been driving vehicles up there roads for many years
“Just be careful, Marcy”, her mother warned. “They’ve had a drought up here and the road along the cliff is pretty shaky. Be sure to hug the mountain side.”
Ruth and Judy watched Marcy from the big window where they could see the road winding down the mountainside. Fifteen minutes later, Judy was still watching when suddenly she screamed,”Oh no! She went over the cliff, Momma! The car and Marcy--they went over! We have to help her!Come on!”
Judy took off running desperately. Grabbing a three-foot-long walking stick against the cabin door, Ruth ran behind her, but Judy was quickly out of sight after the first turn in the road. Breathing hard, Ruth ran on and on, trying to catch up with her daughter. It was getting harder and harder to see anything at dusk.
Suddenly she stopped, not knowing where she was.”Marcy!Judy!”she shouted.
A faint voice .”Momma!”It was Judy.
Ruth screamed into the darkness “Judy,where are you?” Off to her right and down the cliff she heard, “Down here,Mother!Don’t come near the edge! I slipped on loose rocks and fell over. I’m down about ten feet.”
“Oh dear! Judy, what can I do?”
“Just stay back, Momma!”
Facing the situation, Ruth felt her heart was pounding, and chest pains almost took her breath away. She started to sob, totally at a loss what to do.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右：
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At that moment, Ruth glimpsed at the walking stick, an idea striking her.
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Ruth held her close and said anxiously. “Judy. We have to get help for Marcy!”
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Every previous year on Thanksgiving Day I’d woken up early, filled with excitement, unable to wait for the turkey, pumpkin pie with pecans, and my grandma’s famous cheesecake. But I would never forget the lesson that my mother taught me when I was 14 years old. That Thanksgiving, I couldn’t find the magic anymore. For some reason the holiday seemed fake (假的). I suddenly felt like Thanksgiving was a big lie. I saw no reason to celebrate.
As my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma started to arrive carrying plates of food, baskets of bread, and pitchers of egg nog, I grew more and more angry and frustrated. None of them were really thankful, I realized. The whole thing was a lie!
When my mom called for everyone to take their seats for dinner, I left. I ran into the guest room where no one would look, crying. I was defiant (反抗的) because I wanted to be an honest person but 1 was realizing that Thanksgiving was fake. It didn’t feel right to join in the tradition---say something beautiful one by one around the table.
My mom, worried that 1 was absent from the table, came to see what was wrong, “No one is really thankful!” I sobbed, “They just pretend for one day because that’s what you’re supposed to do!"
My mom sat down next to me and listened wisely. Then she nodded. “You’re right,” she told me, “it’s fake until you find the truth for yourself.” She said Thanksgiving was a time to reflect because we don’t always get a chance to see loved ones and eat a good meal. Then she left. I didn’t listen to her. I was convinced that I could never find joy celebrating again.
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。
But I was also starving and I had to eat something.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At her words, I realized they wanted me to be a part of the tradition.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jack couldn’t believe it when he saw them. The trainers (运动鞋) were on top of a cardboard box, next to a pile of rubbish bins. And they look really good and brand new. He peered inside the trainers and found they were just his size. Jack cried out, “Why would anyone throw them away?” Anna shrugged. Anna was his best friend, but Jack didn’t expect her to understand. She knew that he liked running and she even helped by timing him when he ran around the park. But Jack didn’t just like running---he was crazy about it.
He unzipped his school bag and put the trainers into his bag. “It’s the Area Cross-Country Championships in two weeks,” he said. “I’ll never do well in my worm old trainers. These will give me a chance.”
Anna nodded. She knew how important the Championships were to Jack. Five runners were selected from each school in the area. Jack hadn’t been chosen, but then one of the runners had gone to hospital. So they picked Jack to be his replacement in the race. Jack knew he had no chance of beating Beadle, the best runner in the school. However, he would be happy if he just did okay in the race---he didn’t want to let himself down.
Much to their surprise, something unusual happened when Jack put on the trainers. Usually Jack set out at a light jog at first when he practised running. But this time he reached top speed straight away. He didn’t plan it---it just happened. It felt as if he was running on air. He zoomed round the park and kept picking up sped. In fact he just had to relax and the trainers did the running. However, Anna felt really upset. She knew no pair of normal trainers could make such a difference. Anna shook her head, “You shouldn’t wear them in the race. It won’t be YOU who wins, will it? Anyone could win if they wore those trainers.” But Jack wouldn’t listen. “I won’t give them up. These trainers are my only chance to win that Championship. I don’t need your help!” he shouted. With that he turned and ran off like a speeding train.
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。
He was even faster with each practice, but he didn’t feel happy.
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I was time for the big race and the organizer called the runners to the starting line.
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