Christmas Day was coming. I was just a kid then, and my big sister told me there was no Santa Claus. I fled to my Grandma because she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told me the truth. Grandma was home, and I told her everything. “No Santa Claus?” She shouted. “Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. “Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”
“Go where, Grandma?” I asked. “Where” turned out to be Kerby’s General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. “Take this money, and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.
I was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people competing to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, holding that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy and who to buy it for. I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker, who was a kid with bad breath and messy hair. He sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for break during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I chose a red one, which looked really warm, and he would like that.
“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid ten dollars down. “Yes.”
The nice lady smiled at me, put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.
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:
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap (包裹) the coat in Christmas paper.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph2:
Grandma and I waited breathlessly for Bobby Decker’s front door to open.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They don’t mean it
Our family moved here from China two years ago, and we thought we were pretty well adjusted to American ways. This year my parents decided to give a party on Chinese New Year and invite some of our American friends.
The party went pretty well. Our guests were amazed at the flavor of all the special foods. After the dinner, they thanked us for showing them what a real Chinese New Year dinner was like.
“I loved the dishes. You and the girls must have spent hours doing all the work!” Mrs. O’Meara said to my mother.
“The girls helped with the cutting and I’m sorry they did such a terrible job.” said Mother.
I heard a little gasp(倒吸气) from my friend Kim O’Meara, who stared wide-eyes at Mother. When I asked what the matter was, she told me she just didn’t understand why my mother said so.
I had to laugh. “She doesn’t mean it! It’s just the way she talks.”
Seeing her still confused look, I went on explaining, “In China, parents consider it good manners to deny praises about their children. Otherwise, it would be the same as bragging(自夸).” Kim seemed a little hesitant, but she nodded anyway.
That Easter, the O’Mearas invited our family for dinner. Mrs. O’Meara cooked a huge ham which we enjoyed a lot. As Mrs. O’Meara started cutting up the cake for dessert, Mother said, “I’m not sure if I can eat one more bite. That was the best ham I’ve ever tasted!”
“Aw, that ham was terrible,” said Kim. “I bet you could do a lot better, Mrs. Yang.”
注意:1. 续写短文词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
There was a stunned (震惊的) silence around the table.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
I finally knew how Kim had misunderstood what I had said.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.节日或庆祝活动的名称；
2.简述你印象最深刻的事情；
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。
My Unforgettable Experience
Here I am delighted to share my unforgettable experience with you.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.该食物的文化或历史；
2.该食物的材料、外观、味道；
3.你喜欢该食物的原因。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Marcus sat by his window, staring at the lights on other buildings. He thought of his Papa who was visiting Marcus' sick Grandpa in the hospital. "I will try to help Mama while you are gone," Marcus had promised his father.
His little brother, Peter, sat beside him. "When are we getting our Christmas tree, Marcus?" Peter asked. "I can't wait to decorate it with Mama's straw bird." "We're not getting a tree this year, Peter." "Why not?" "Too many bills with Grandpa sick. Mama said we can't afford one."
Someone knocked on their apartment door, and they hurried to see who it was. It was Jack from downstairs. They let him in and he looked around. "No tree yet? I helped put up our artificial tree a week ago. It's up to the ceiling. Just two more days till Christmas! I guess you're not getting a tree." Jack's words left Peter quite unconvinced. "Of course not! We are going to buy a real Christmas tree, a real one!" Jack shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
Marcus walked slowly to his room and gathered his pocket money. It's only seven dollars. He thought that, with school out, he could earn enough money in two days to buy a tree and surprise Mama.
The next day, he stayed busy carrying goods to help shoppers. By the time he left, six more dollars were earned into his pocket. It was his lucky day and he expected that thirteen dollars should buy a small tree.
He whistled all the way to the tree lot（场地）. But even the smallest trees were fifteen dollars or more. Tomorrow would be busy with more shoppers. Marcus had to earn those extra dollars. He asked the seller in the tree lot: "Can you save this tree for me, sir?" "I can't," the man said, "but come back tomorrow. It might still be here." "I will be back." Marcus waved and dashed off.
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 day, Marcus and Peter came to the tree lot, only to see an even smaller tree.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They went to a nearby store to buy decorations with the spare dollars.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was now December twenty-fourth. So here we were, travelling about 2,000 miles and finally reaching our destination San Diego at last. We’d rented a room in a small, well-worn motel (汽车旅馆) near the beach.
Six-year-old Chat frowned. “There is no Christmas tree, Mommy! But it’s almost Christmas. How can Santa know where to put our presents without a Christmas tree?”
“Yes, a Christmas tree!” echoed (附和) his four-year-old brother Jay. “I want a Christmas tree!”
”Couldn’t we just get a small Christmas tree and set it up in this room somewhere?“ asked Chat. ”That way, Santa Claus will know where to put our presents.”
I sighed, looking around at our squeezed-in beds and bags. “But, honey, the five of us can barely move around in here with all our suitcases and everything. I’m sorry, but we just don’t have the room for something extra like a Christmas tree.”
Our oldest son, seven-year-old Robin, had been listening quietly. Suddenly, he grinned (咧嘴笑). “Yes, we do.”
I stared. “Where?”
He pointed to our motel room’s door. “Right there—on the back of that door. Please, Mommy, if we can’t get a real tree, can’t we make a pretend tree and put it up there? Then Santa will know we love Christmas just as much as he does.”
“And leave us some presents, too!” Chat added.
Make a tree? I looked at the newspaper that I had bought when I was searching for places to rent. If I taped some of those pages together, cut them out into a tree shape, and bought some poster paint and brushes at the store next door…
Now, I was grinning, too. “Okay, boys! Ready to make the very best Christmas tree in the whole wide world?”
“Yes!”
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 we bought some paint and then taped and cut and painted.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next morning, I heard, “Mommy! Daddy! Look! Santa did find us after all!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1．节日基本信息 2．你庆祝该节日的一次经历 3．你有何感想
注意：(1)以该节日名作为征稿的标题；
(2)开头已为你写好，不计入总词数；
(3)词数：100左右。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. 画展特色；
2. 观看感受；
3. 意见建议。
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。
“Charming China” Photographic Exhibition is perfectly fantastic.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was four years old in 1993, when my family emigrated .(移民) from the United Arab Emirates to Toronto. Young enough to be changed by my new home, but old enough to know I was different from everyone around me. I was the only Arab and only Muslim in my junior kindergarten class. Beyond those obvious differences, Canadian life proved to be quite distinct in other ways. And I discovered another surprise that December.
Overnight, everything was suddenly covered in red and green. My classmates talked excitedly about cookies and what gifts they’d asked Santa for that Christmas. At some point, I must have asked myself, “What is Christmas?” There’s nothing quite like it in the Muslim world. The closest comparison might be Eidal-Adha, which translates from Arabic to “Festival of sacrifice”. While both holidays show the same spirit of sharing with the less fortunate and spending time with loved ones, Eid meant new clothes and a family dinner. And that was about it. No tree decorated with ornaments (装饰物), and no gifts covered in wrapping paper.
Christmas was completely foreign to me, but then my parents unexpectedly informed me that Santa would be paying us a visit on Christmas Eve. “But aren’t we Muslim?” I asked.
“Yes, but Santa loves all children equally and gets them all gifts,” my mother replied.
So on that first Christmas Eve in Canada, she hung oversized red and white stockings, each one customized with our names, off our bedposts. I have a distinct memory of the restless expectation that kept me awake long after bedtime and my joy when I got up on Christmas morning to find my stocking filled with gifts.
Still in my pyjamas(睡衣), I ran over to the kitchen to tell my parents that Santa had indeed visited us last night. I asked if they’d seen him, and Mom said, “Of course!” Mom offered Santa a cup of coffee, as is the Arab custom when hosting guests. He needed the energy for the long night ahead, she told me.
When I returned to school after the holidays. I had a story to share with my classmates. Santa had visited me too! I could show off gifts while other kids showed off theirs.
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 parents kept our Christmas tradition going for years, until I was too old to believe in Santa anymore.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As an adult. I’ve come to realize creating a sense of belonging is joining in traditions.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
