December strode (阔步走) into the mountains of Colorado, shooting snowflakes and blowing them into a thick blanket of white. As Christmas approached, the farmers there closed down most wooden houses for a holiday cheer. Not all were closed, however. There was still work to be done, and someone had to stay. That someone was Slim Carter.
Old Jake, another farmer there, had offered to keep him company, but Slim shook his head. “After all, a young man like me has got plenty of Christmases ahead,” Slim joked. Before Jake offered to stay again, Slim hurried on. “I’ll just have a private Christmas this year, and that’s the way I want it.” So he was left alone at the house. Alone, with his horse in the farm and the wolves roaring in the forest nearby.
Truth was, Slim had decided not to celebrate Christmas at all. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Christmas. In fact, his Christmas memories were good ones. His mother would fill their house with the light of candles and the smell of candy. His father would make their Christmas tree hunt an all-day, men-only affair. Slim smiled as he remembered sitting on the broad back of their horse with the freshly cut tree along behind. Back home, they would cover the tree with paper snowflakes and homemade decorations and sing all the Christmas songs they knew. And that’s the way he liked it. Those were the memories he pulled out on nights when he was working alone. Such memories warmed him inside, even if his outsides were aching with cold.
This was Slim’s first year away from home. “Christmas is nothing if not spent with family,” Slim declared to the empty house. That was the real reason he’d sent Jake away. He figured he would handle Christmas better if he just pretended it was an ordinary winter workday.
But on Christmas Eve, as Slim headed back with snow beneath his feet and stars overhead, his head hung low. It was Christmas, even without the tree and the gifts. Christmas, and he was all alone.
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。
Then he remembered decorating the tree with his family again.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________While singing to his decorated Christmas tree, Slim heard a knock on the door.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . 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。
An Unforgettable Thanksgiving
We were living in Jakarta, Indonesia. However, our family of six had to experience a holiday without my wife, Esther, who was in Singapore. This meant that I was in charge of our four children. It was a struggle, putting in part-time at the union mission office, then coming home to manage the children.
Shortly after arriving in Indonesia, I made friends with some of the employees at the United States embassy, where a number of United States marines (海军陆战队) were stationed, and I had great conversations with them. I checked out films from the United States Information Service office on the embassy to show to our children and neighbors.
With Thanksgiving week upon us I thought what we would do to celebrate. Many thoughts ran through my mind. The film about the National Football League game of the week could be checked out for a few days.
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, the quiet of our house was disrupted by the sound of a jeep. We heard it drive up and stop in our driveway. Before we could determine who had come to visit us, a big muscular man was knocking at our door. It was Willie, one marine guard stationed at the United States Embassy. He held a big box in his arms, leaving me instructions: “Pastor Jones, let’s have a real nice Thanksgiving dinner together, OK?” Then out the door he went, “I’ll bring four other marine guards”. I immediately investigated the contents of the box: a frozen turkey and a half-gallon container of Magnolia ice cream — Singapore’s best brand.
The next day I walked from our union mission office to our home. I came across one of my newly-made friends, Tim. He was walking along, depressed and downhearted. I greeted him and asked, “What’s the matter, Tim?”
“Pastor Jones,” he said, “this is our first Thanksgiving away from home, and my wife and I are in the dumps. We went shopping for a turkey for Thanksgiving, and all we could find was a lot of skinny chickens. No turkeys anywhere. Thanksgiving will be no perfect despite my wife’s excellent cooking skills.”
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。
No turkey? First Thanksgiving away from home? I made a deal with Tim on the spot.
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At the appointed time we heard the jeep from the embassy at the gate of our house.
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1. 重阳节意义；
2. 重阳节风俗。
注意：
1. 写作词数为100字左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Double Ninth Festival
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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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：吉祥物mascot；二十四节气24 solar terms；一起向未来Together For A Shared Future；雪如意Snow Ruyi — the National Ski Jumping Center。
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1.泼水节（Water Splashing Festival）是傣族人（the Dai people）庆祝的最重要的节日。（significant, 过去分词作定语）
2.它通常以丰富多彩的活动为特色，最受欢迎的活动是相互泼（splash）水。（feature，非限制性定语从句）
3.节日期间人们常常会穿上传统服装相互泼水，希望消除疾病和灾难。（dress up）
4.庆祝泼水节是完全值得的。（be worth it）
5.它是文化交流的重要渠道。（bridge）
1. 众所周知长城被认为是世界的七大奇迹之一。（be considered as）
2. 现如今，像长城一样的古文化遗迹正在遭受毁坏。（现在进行时）
3. 各种各样的遗迹正在处于灭绝的危险中（die out）
4. 幸运的是，关心文化遗迹的人们正在采取有效措施保护它们免遭破坏。（定语从句，be concerned about）
5. 我们只有与古遗迹和谐地相处，才能了解我们从哪里来。（only+倒装句；harmony）
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It was the night before Christmas and Rob was lying in bed, thinking about the next day. His family was poor, living entirely on the farm they ran, and most of the excitement of Christmas was in the turkey they had raised themselves and pumpkin pies his mother made. He rolled over to look at his old watch—it was two o'clock. Three hours later, his father would call him to get up, even if it was Christmas.
His father never talked about loving him—he had no time for such things. There was always so much to do on the farm. “Or, maybe, he just doesn’t love me,” Rob thought. He had a reason to think so. At 5 o'clock every morning, his father would call him to get up and help with the farm work. He had to go to the barn (畜棚) to hold the milking pails (挤奶桶) steadily when his father was milking the cows. He had to help put the tools in place and do the cleaning after the milking. He hated it that he had to do all these things at so early time.
He was not the only one awake at this night. He heard his parents whispering in the next room. “Mary, I hate to call Rob in the mornings. He’s growing so fast and he needs his sleep. If you could see how he sleeps when I go in to wake him up! I wish I could manage alone.”
“Well, you can’t, Adam.” His mother’s voice was gentle, “Besides, he isn’t a child anymore. It’s time he took his turn.”
“Yes,” his father said slowly. “But I do hate to wake him.”
When he heard these words, something in him spoke: his father loved him! He had never thought of that before, taking for granted the tie of their blood. Now that he knew his father loved him, he had to do something different on this Christmas. He did save and buy them each something every year, but he wished he had a better present for his father instead of the usual tie from the ten-cent store.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150词左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph1:
A good idea suddenly struck him.
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Paragraph2:
It being almost five, he rushed back to his room and jumped into bed, waiting to be woken up.
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Right before Thanksgiving, I prayed, “Lord please make me a blessing to others as Santa”.
A week later as my husband and I were preparing for this year’s Santa visits with my Mrs. Claus basket, we discovered a letter to Santa from a young mother named Mary, who was ill and was asking if there was a Santa and if miracles did happen that her young children would have a good Christmas because she was told by doctors that it could be her last. In it was her name, phone number and address.
I tried to make contact with Mary, but however many times I tried, I had no luck in getting someone to answer the phone. One week before Christmas, I decided to make a call one more time.
This time a woman answered the phone. I discovered that it was Mary’s mother. She first said that no one lived there by the name of Mary. I had two choices: to thank her and hang up or keep trying. I decided to continue and explained that I was Mrs. Claus and that we had found a letter written to Santa by Mary at this telephone number, expressing the desire to help her kids. She was in shock and told me that Mary had had an operation two weeks before.
The mother started crying as we continued talking. In the end, she said she would ask Mary to call me back and we would talk more. The next day, as promised, I received a phone call from Mary. We talked about her children. She gave me their names, ages, and a little about them. I told her that we wanted to fulfill her wishes and make her dream come true this Christmas to help her family. She cried and I did too as we spoke. Before hanging up, she said that she was happy that her children would have a good Christmas.
In the following days, we were busy making preparations. Much to our delight, everything was ready just before the Christmas eve. We waited eagerly for the daybreak.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
On Christmas morning, we arrived at Mary’s home.
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Paragraph 2:
The time went by quickly and it was time to say goodbye.
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After dinner, Mrs. Quimby told the family that Grandma, who lived on a farm, had sent in a lot of pumpkins for jack-o’-lanterns (空心南瓜灯) for the neighborhood children. There was one in the basement waiting to be carved, she added. Ramona sprang to her feet and dashed down to bring it up, but it was too heavy for a second-grader. Finally Mr. Quimby gave a hand.
“Let’s make it smile like last year,” exclaimed Ramona.
“Hmm. Let’s see.” Mr. Quimby studied the pumpkin, turning it to find the best side for the face. With a pencil he sketched (素描) a nose-shaped nose, not a triangle. Then the mouth turned up on both sides. “smiling!” Ramona clapped her hands.
Mr. Quimby nodded with a smile, cut a circle around the top of the pumpkin and lifted it off for a lid. Without being asked, Ramona found a big spoon for scooping out the seeds. Picky-picky, the Quimbys' shabby old cat, came into the kitchen to see if something had been put in his dish. When he found that it had not, he paused, sniffed the pumpkin smell and angrily walked out with his tail twitching.
Mr. Quimby began to whistle as he carved with skill and care, first a mouthful of teeth, each one neat and square, then eyes and eyebrows. He was working on two ears shaped like question marks when Mrs. Quimby announced it was bedtime for Ramona. Unwillingly Ramona ran, took a shower and quickly returned. Now, Mr. Quimby had just carved a few C-shaped curls (卷发) around the hole in the top of the pumpkin. He reached inside and dug a candle holder in the bottom.
“There,” he said, putting down his knife. “A work of art.” Mrs. Quimby found a candle stub (残根), inserted it in the pumpkin, lit it and set the lid in place. Ramona turned off the light. The jack-o’-lantern was smiling with a flickering flame. “Wow!” Ramona threw her arms around her father before going to bed with great satisfaction.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
In the middle of the night Ramona awoke to a noise.
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Paragraph 2:
On the table their jack-o’-lantern no longer had a whole face.
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