Last Sunday morning, my parents and I were going on a vacation in Sydney, where my grandparents lived, to celebrate my birthday. Actually, celebrating my birthday in my grandparents’ home had been a family tradition. As a result, their neighbors, warm-hearted and friendly, were familiar with me. Sometimes, they even came to the house and brought me birthday gifts in person.
We took the subway there as usual. When we got off the subway, I found I had lost my bag. The bag was memorable to me because it was given by my parents when I became a senior high school student. It also had some valuable items inside, including an expensive watch a birthday gift from my grandparents.
I couldn’t help but cry because the bag meant so much to me.“What’s the matter. Lily?” my mom asked. I told her that I might leave the bag on the subway. Hearing that, she comforted me and said. “We have plenty of time. Let’s talk to the staff (工作人员).”
Instantly, my parents reported the situation to the staff at the subway station. A kind worker smiled to me and said. “If someone found it, they would hand it in.” He asked us to wait patiently for a while, and then he called for help．After half an hour, the worker didn’t give us any information. I started to become anxious and lose hope. My father said. “No news is good news.”However, the worker finally apologized to us and let us wait for the information on the recovery of the missing bag at home. We had to go to my grandparents’ house first.
In the afternoon, while I, together with my grandparents and my father, was preparing for a birthday party, I heard my mother talking to someone on the phone about my lost bag. My heart was beating violently, and I was expecting something extraordinary to happen. Sure enough, my mother got me to answer the phone, “Good news, Lily. The call is just for you, from the kind worker. He said a girl called Beatrice had sent the bag back.” I felt amazed that the girl’s name is the same as my friend’s in Sydney.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I took the phone, and then the voice of the worker who had helped us at the subwaystation came from it.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My family and I were dancing happily when someone knocked at the door.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A man was driving home one evening on a two-lane country road. Jobs, in this small, mid-western community, were very difficult to search. But he never quit looking. Ever since the factory closed, he’d been unemployed. With winter coming, the cold had finally hit home.
It was a lonely road. Not very many people had a reason to be on it, unless they were leaving, Most of his friends had already left. They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But he stayed on. After all, this was where he buried his mother and father. He was born here and knew the country. He could go down this road blind, and tell you what was on either side, and with his headlights not working, that came in handy.
It was starting to get dark and light snow was coming down. He’d better get a move on. You know, he almost didn’t see the old lady, wandering on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her and got out.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe, and he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that cold that only fear can put in you. He said, “I’m here to help you ma’am. Why don’t you wait in your car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Joe.”
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 old lady was surprised at his words and nodded slightly.
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She asked him how much she owed him.
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The snowstorm was supposed to hit the evening of Monday, January 31, 2022. I had to leave that afternoon at First Nations University in Regina to sign an emergency financial aid check for a student. As director of finance, I wanted to get it to him as soon as possible, snowstorm or not.
The route to the university takes about 30 minutes along the Trans-Canada Highway. It was just past 4:30 p. m. To be safe, I decided to take the country roads home instead of the highway, which could fast become a skating rink (溜冰场).
Fifteen minutes later, the snow started and it was coming down fast. Within minutes I was in a whiteout. The road soon switched from paved to gravel, forcing me to slow down. I had no idea where I was or even which side of the road I was on. I stopped because I was afraid of driving into a farmer’s field, a ditch or worse. I called 911. The dispatcher (调度员) told me nobody was coming to get me until morning at the earliest.
Those seconds after the call were extremely difficult. I worried other drivers wouldn’t see me and would crash into the car from the front or behind. Or the storm would continue for longer than predicted and I’d be found too late.
Breathe, I told myself. Panicking won’t help. I pinned my location on Google Maps, figuring out that I was on a road called Bouvier Lane, in between two farms. It was now 6:30 p.m. I posted this new information to my Facebook community group, begging for anyone who knew who lived on the farms to help me get rescued.
Soon enough, people started responding to my post. They knew the family who lived there! At 8 p.m., my cell phone rang. It was the son of the farmer who owned the land beside the road. He told me that his dad André Bouvier was coming to get 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。
45 minutes later, I saw a tall figure walking toward me, carrying a flashlight.
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The next morning, I decided to say goodbye to André and his family.
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A man came to a restaurant one evening to have a meal. The restaurant owner struck up a conversation with him and learned that he was saving money to bring his family to the city for a chance at a better life. He had recently arrived in the city and found work at a nearby scrap metal (废弃金属) site. This meal at the restaurant was going to be his only meal of the day, and he could only afford to spend a few cents. Touched by his story, the restaurant owner took his order, informing him that it would cost 50 cents.
Several years passed, and the man continued to visit the restaurant every evening to have his one meal of the day and chat with the restaurant owner, who always encouraged him and asked about family, and how his plans were going.
Finally, one evening, the man arrived at the restaurant with a happy smile on his face. He had bought an average-sized house in a good neighborhood with a good school for his boys, and he had just sent for his family to join him in the city. The restaurant owner was overjoyed for him and congratulated him．The man then mentioned that he wanted to spend an entire 5 dollars on his meal for celebration that evenin. The restaurant owner agreed that it was well-deserved (应得的), prepared his meal, put it in a box and sent him on his way home.
However, when the man got home and opened his meal package, he was shocked to find the same type of food he had been eating every day for the past six years. He felt deeply disappointed because he had been looking forward to a big and tasty meal to celebrate his big achievement. He was mad at the restaurant owner and felt robbed (掠夺) of his money and his celebration. He felt he had been cheated by his very good friend.
注意：
1．续写词数应为100左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Filled with anger and disappointment, the man went back to the restaurant.
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Ever since Jake first watched the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea, he had dreamed of being in the Olympics. For years, he had worked hard to become a good swimmer, training and practicing. Two decades later, he was in Beijing, China, for his first Olympic performance, as part of his country’s swimming team!
The Olympic Stadium was packed with athletes from all over the world, all eagerly awaiting the start of the opening parade (入场式). The atmosphere was electric and everything seemed perfect. Almost.
Jake loved his red, white and blue official Olympic jacket with the Olympic rings on the back. But several minutes before, Jake had torn a hole in the left sleeve (袖子) of his jacket when it got caught in a gate.
“Too bad about your jacket,” his teammate, Ben, commented.
“I hope nobody notices it,” Jake sighed.
“Someone will,” Ben laughed.
Jake didn’t respond as he was already feeling annoyed and depressed after having to deal with his lost suitcase when they landed at the airport the day before. He could not believe how things were not going his way.
Suddenly, a lovely little girl about 8 years old came up to Jake and pointed at the tear in his sleeve. Jake smiled at her. The girl started speaking in a language he couldn’t understand, all the while pointing at his torn sleeve. Unable to catch a word, Jake turned to his teammates for help but all of them shook their heads with a helpless expression. At that moment, the little girl began to take off her own jacket that was marked with a red English word “China” and looked up at Jake eagerly, signing to Jake to do so.
“Oh, I get it. You want to try it on. Here you go!” Jake slipped off the jacket and handed it to her. The Chinese girl took it, bowed and took off with his jacket right away!
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。
“Can’t she be a little thief?” Ben joked, pointing at her back.
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Jake turned around, only to see the little girl coming.
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Amy and Beth were waiting for their mom, Mrs. March, to have a Christmas breakfast.
“Merry Christmas, little daughters! But I want to say one word before we sit down. Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a little newborn baby. Six children were suffering freezing cold and hunger, for they have no fire and nothing to eat over there. My girls, will you them your breakfast as a Christmas present?”
They were rather hungry, having waited nearly an hour, and for a minute no one spoke. Suddenly, Amy shouted, “I’m so glad you came before we began!” “May I go and help carry the things to the poor little children?” asked Beth eagerly. “I shall take the cream and the muffins (松油饼),” added Amy, heroically giving up the food she most liked. Beth was putting the bread into one big plate.
“I thought you’d do it,” said Mrs. March, smiling as if satisfied. “You two shall go and help me, and when we come back we will have some bread and milk for breakfast, and make it up at dinnertime.”
They were soon ready, and the group set out. It was early and few people were walking on the street. They went through back streets and arrived at the destination.
A poor, simple, terrible room it was, with broken windows, no fire. A sick mother, a crying baby and a group of pale, hungry children were hiding under the old bedclothes, trying to keep warm.
How the big eyes stared as the group went in, with a basket of Christmas articles.
“Oh, my God! Here come good angels!” said the poor woman, crying for joy.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为80个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
In a few minutes, these lovely angels began their work.
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When I was young, I lived in a small town. The spirit of neighborliness was very strong then. All of us were quite poor by today’s standards, but we got by.
However, one family which could be considered as living a marginal (微不足道) existence was the Acob family living in the repair shop opposite our house. Mr. Acob, the auto mechanic, had a large brood of children — twelve to be exact. The joke among the neighbors was that he was aiming to form a football team among his children. However, seriously speaking, it was no joke for him trying to feed his growing children daily.
My mother was a kind-hearted soul. Often, she would remark that his children were dressed in ragged clothes and looked malnourished (营养不良的). My family was relatively better off in the village. My mother would bring over whatever food we could spare to our neighbors. I remember one particular year when times were very hard. The economy was doing very badly. There and then, Mom still decided to sacrifice a portion of our meals to the family. Despite the protests from my brothers and sisters that we too were hungry, she kept on doing the kind act.
I shared a room with my brothers overlooking the repair shop. I was interested in the repair of cars and would often stare out of the window to see Mr. Acob hard at work. As the street in front of my house was rebuilt into a main road, I noticed Mr. Acob looked more cheerful. The number of customers at his shop had increased steadily. His business took off like a rocket.
It was at this time that my father’s business took a turn for the worse. And his health was also becoming worse. We were at our wits’ end, confused by the mysterious illness he was suffering from. My father then decided to sell our family car to pay off the mounting bills, or my brothers and I had to stop schooling.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按下列格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
My father and I were parking our car outside of Acob’ shop.
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One day, Acob said to me, “You will be an excellent mechanic, boy.”
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For the past three years, I had worked tirelessly as a waitress at Lester’s Cafe during weekends and vacations, saving every penny I could for my $500 tuition (学费) bill for St John’s College of Nursing. But fate (命运) had other plans in store for me. Just days after my high school graduation, my father fell ill and needed an expensive operation to recover. My family, already struggling financially, was in urgent need of funds. With a heavy heart, I offered all my savings to help cover the medical bills.
But as the days went by, panic set in. How would I pay for my tuition? No bank would lend money to an eighteen-year-old with no hope of repayment for three years, and none of my friends had that kind of money. I felt lost, unsure of what to do.
I thought of Lester, but he always put the profits back into his little cafe. Five hundred dollars was a large sum of money then. There was only one person who came to mind — Mr. Smith, the successful engineer and a regular customer at Lester’s Cafe. He came into Lester’s early every morning for breakfast. Despite having barely exchanged more than pleasantries (客套话) with him while waiting tables, he was the only person who ever tipped me in the little cafe. Would he even remember me? And wouldn’t Lester be upset if I asked his customer for a loan?
On Saturday afternoon, I took the courage to call Lester and explain my difficult situation. To my surprise, he understood and encouraged me to approach Mr. Smith for help. “Mr. Smith still eats here every morning. And he asked about you yesterday. Come here on Monday and you’re welcome to ask him. And good luck, Jeanne,” he said to 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。
So on Monday morning, I found myself standing nervously in front of Mr. Smith.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As we left the bank, Mr. Smith smiled and shook my hand, wishing me good luck.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I had recently graduated from high school and volunteered at a local nursing home. It was an eye-opening experience. One of the residents, Ms Brown, seemed bored and unhappy. She had the reputation (名声) of being “Difficult”. She was odd (古怪的) and stayed alone all day, unwilling to communicate with others. It seemed as if she had lived in a world of her own.
The nursing workers kindly advised that when I got her up, I should tie her to her chair before going to get her breakfast, for she might fall down. I simply did as I was told. After all, I didn’t want her to fall and get hurt. I always struck up a conversation the minute I walked into her room to get her up for breakfast. She never spoke but I knew she could hear me, and she knew I cared.
One morning, I sat her down in her chair safely as before. While all of this was taking place, she just watched me attentively as I set about the task at hand, talking to her the whole time. After explaining that I would be right back with her breakfast, I stepped out into the hallway to the breakfast cart (手推车). It took a couple of minutes to find hers. I got it and started back down the hall to her room about fifteen feet away. Coming near the door, I heard some noises from inside. I looked in and saw an empty chair. Ms Brown was back in her bed, all covered up and comfortable, acting like nothing had happened. Right then and there, I realized that there was a lot more going on in that woman’s head than any of us had imagined. I had to find something that would inspire her interest in life 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。
The next month, I would talk about everything I could think of.
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From that day on, Ms Brown and I chatted every day.
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Last Saturday, I drove back home from a long hard day. It was snowing heavily and the traffic inched slowly forward like snails. I was so hungry because I skipped my lunch that I decided to stop by KFC and had a quick bite before I continued my journey home. It took me a long time to find a place to park my car. With my face buried in my collar, I walked slowly in the snow. Soon my hands were numb(麻木) with cold, so I pulled my gloves out of my coat pocket and put them on.
I ordered some fried chicken and dug into my pocket for my wallet to pay, only to find it was not there! I remembered I did bring it with me before I set out. Embarrassed, I left the chicken on the counter and said I would return in a minute. Deeply worried, I got out of KFC and ran towards my car, wondering where my wallet, with everything in it, was.
Fresh snow was like a blank paper, recording my tracks. My attention fixed on the ground, I expected to find it on my way. Unfortunately, what I found was only the shape of it in the snow. Obviously, I lost it when I pulled my gloves out. Judging from the footprints on the ground, I was not the only one. There was someone else joining my way. But the footprints of this guy were messy. It seemed that he walked back and forth. My heart sank. At a loss of which way he went, I knew I could never claim my wallet back. Bye, fried chicken, not today. I walked towards my car helplessly.
A short, skinny man was standing by my car. He seemed like homeless because he was dressed in oversized worn-out coat and his face was dirty. He was stamping his feet to keep warm. I felt sorry for him because I had nothing to help him, no money, no food.
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 man noticed me and asked if this was my car.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Refusing my money, he was about to leave.
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