“She needs me.” Those were the exact words I spoke to my husband when I spotted Dottie, a little dog we found at a local shelter eight years ago.
Dottie leaned (倾斜) away when I tried to pet her and refused to let me hold her. While the other dogs jumped and barked, Dottie returned to the back of the cage, curled up in a ball, hoping us to leave her alone.
On the entire drive home, Dottie was in fear. So, upon arrival at our house, we got right to work. I held her as much as possible, touching her head and softly singing in her ear. We learned that she loved belly touch, so every time we passed by, we would offer a gentle touch. Eventually, we noticed her presenting her belly as we walked by her. I knew we were making real progress when I found her quietly sleeping on a chair one day, her head resting on one of my shoes. My heart melted (融化) as I realized she had brought it there because it contained my smell, and she wanted it nearby.
Ever so slowly, our little dog came to life. She began to play with toys, enjoy walks, and rest on our laps. There was no special treatment, no fancy food or toys. All we did was love her. And she grew well. She was so broken when we first met her that we had no idea what her true personality would be. But now we found a sweet, playful, loving soul.
One day, a few years after her adoption, I was busy doing housework around the house, doing laundry and climbing the stairs from the basement up to the main floor. When I finished, I sat down and enjoyed a well-deserved break. That’s when I realized I hadn’t seen Dottie for a while. I called to her and began searching. My heart raced and my pace quickened as I began checking under beds and behind sofa.
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。
Suddenly, I remembered the door to the basement.
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I held her in my arms tightly, telling her how sorry I was.
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I watched my dad scowl (绷着脸) as he listened to the voice coming through the telephone receiver. I heard him say, “Yes, Miss Beisner,” and “I understand what you’re saying, Miss Beisner. I appreciate you sharing this information. We’ll see what we can do about the situation. Thank you for calling. Goodbye.”
Miss Beisner was my first-grade teacher, and I loved her. I thought she felt the same about me, but now I was beginning to wonder. The tone of Dad’s voice, the redness in his cheeks, and his repeated clenching. And unclenching of fists made it pretty clear. This was not a warm and fuzzy good news-from-the-teacher call.
As I was deciding whether I should lock myself in my bedroom for the rest of my life or run away from home, Dad hung up the phone. “Jacquie, come here and sit down. We need to talk.”
Uh-oh. When Dad said, “We need to talk,” it meant he needed to talk, and I needed to listen.
I shuffled (拖着脚走) over to the well-worn brown chair in the corner of the living room, plopped down, and waited to hear the nature of my crime.
Dad told me that Miss Beisner thought I was bright but not working up to my ability. She said I had strong verbal skills but weak study habits. Translation: I never closed my mouth, and I seldom opened a book. Apparently, my failure to memorize the addition facts, or even attempt to, was more than she was willing to put up with. Hence, the telephone call.
Dad ended our one-way conversation with a verbal outline for his plan of attack. Bubbles, our Toy Manchester Terrier, was going to teach me math. Silently, I thought, No way is any dumb dog going to teach me how to add, not even our beloved Bubbles. Out loud, I said, “How?”
Dad summoned Bubbles from her bed near the stove and commanded her to sit. “Bubbles,” Dad said, “how much is five plus three?” Bubbles let out eight loud, crisp barks.
I was incredulous (满腹狐疑的). I couldn’t understand how a dog could add, and I was more than a little embarrassed by the fact that the family dog was smarter than 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。
Paragraph 1: After that, I threw myself into math with newfound determination.
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Paragraph 2: One day, I asked Dad whether Bubbles really knew how to add.
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A Moment of Kindness
A lioness with her cub (幼崽) was moving around in the jungle searching for their prey(猎物) . While coming out from the den (洞穴), the baby asked her mother, “Mum, why are we going out for prey when a deer is already at home? Let us eat it first, then we can search for the next.”
The mother smiled and licked her child with love and said, “No, my love! We can’t eat that deer because it has no choice but to seek our help. He is wounded and helpless. We must help him.”
The baby cub was surprised and questioned again, “Why so, Mum? That’s our food.”
“Honey, you are absolutely right! It’s our food, but this particular deer is well aware that if we want, we can kill him in a second. Do you think that he deserves to be killed when he has come to us in a hope that we would protect him?”
The baby cub couldn’t understand her mother. It kept quiet and paced with its mother. That was not a lucky day for them. They didn’t get any prey even after a long search. At last, they came back to their den.
The deer on the other hand was terrified of his own decision. He was attacked by a hunter and managed to escape. While running for his life, he saw the den and without a second thought entered it. When he realized that he was in the lion’s den, he gave up the idea of running back again. At that time, the lioness and her cub were present over there. The deer stared at the lioness with a pitiful look. Tears were rolling down.
The lioness understood his hopeless condition. She came closer to the deer, smelled it and slowly moved out of the den with her cub for hunting.
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 they returned without any food, the cub repeated the same question.
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The lioness came close to the deer after the cub fell asleep.
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Many years ago, I worked at a very small county animal shelter. Under the state regulations, we were only allowed to keep a dog for a certain period of time before it was claimed by its owner. Unluckily, we had limited space, and when a new dog came in, we had to make room for it somehow. It wasn't always the most pleasant task.
One day, about an hour before closing time, a small, elderly, red dog was sent here. We had no space and didn't know what we should do. My heart broke. In fact, we were supposed to let go of one of the dogs who had been there too long, but the volunteers had been putting in extra hours, bathing the dogs, and taking their pictures to try to find them homes. We were full, but the other dogs all stood a good chance of finding a home if they just had some time.
That little old dog waddled over to me and sat at my feet. She looked up with cloudy eyes, and then curled up on the floor. I bent down, lifted her to the desk, and gave her a quick exam. Her teeth were in terrible condition, but it appeared the cause was a lifetime of canned food. Someone was surely looking for this princess.
We found her a box. To our surprise, the dog whined and wagged her tail. I set her down on the floor, and she waddled over and climbed into the box! I decided to take her home for the night, and she could spend the days in the office until her owner came. Then we wouldn't have to put down another dog to open a cage.
I finished up my paperwork while the old dog slept in the box. When it was time to leave, she followed me.
Paragraph 1:
In the morning, she accompanied me to work.
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Paragraph 2:
One of our volunteers knew an old woman who would love this dog.
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