1 . Ricochet, San Diego’s favourite surfing therapy (治疗) dog, has caught her final wave. The 15-year-old golden retriever — a pioneer of canine-assisted (犬只辅助的) surf therapy who helped countless veterans (老兵) and kids — died on Friday, owner Judy Fridono said Saturday.
Ricochet was raised to be a service dog, but the energetic pup was more fond of chasing birds than assisting with household chores. In 2009, the dog found her career. That was the year Ricochet got on a surfboard with local quadriplegic (四肢瘫痪的) surfer Patrick Ivison. A viral video of the encounter got more than 6 million views on YouTube. “That day she hopped on the board with Patrick, she was reborn,” Fridono said in a 2012 interview.
Throughout her life, the beloved dog touched the lives of kids with special needs, wounded service members and families of fallen veterans. Ricochet was known as an affectionate companion and a shameless belly-rub beggar and had a feeling for people who needed a hug.
Notably, the furry do-gooder helped raise $ 1 million for charity and the donation of more than 1 million bowls of food for homeless animals.
Her work brought numerous awards, media attention and a loyal fan base on social media. The dog had more than 141,000 followers on Instagram and more than 270,000 on Facebook.
Ricochet’s legacy (遗产) will live on through the sponsorship of Jose Martinez, an Army veteran and parasurfer, and through donations to adaptive surfing organizations. “People believe in Ricochet’s mission… she didn’t do it alone,” Fridon o said. “Her supporters are an extension of her legacy and her roots in helping others heal through dog intervention and therapy. Now that she’s gone, I don’t want people to be sad. I want them to celebrate and continue supporting what she started.”
1. What was Ricochet’s career?| A．Canine-assisted surf therapy. | B．Assisting with household chores. |
| C．Bird catching. | D．Working as a service dog. |
| A．Brave but lazy. | B．Naughty but caring. |
| C．Cute and handsome. | D．Fierce and strong. |
| A．The contribution of Ricochet. | B．Social media’s influence on Ricochet. |
| C．Recochet’s popularity. | D．Donations to the homeless animals. |
| A．In a diary. | B．In a textbook. |
| C．In a newspaper. | D．In a guidebook. |
“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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3 . A farmer owned an old mule (骡子). One day the mule
After carefully thinking about the situation, the farmer decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth greater efforts.
At first, the old mule was mad! But as the farmer and the neighbors
This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up!” He repeated to
It wasn’t long
That’s life! We should
| A．felt | B．fell | C．flowed | D．flew |
| A．escaped | B．refused | C．succeeded | D．failed |
| A．Moreover | B．However | C．Therefore | D．Otherwise |
| A．cover | B．drive | C．save | D．wash |
| A．house | B．situation | C．wall | D．well |
| A．continued | B．stopped | C．finished | D．suggested |
| A．replied | B．got | C．turned | D．occurred |
| A．pain | B．dirt | C．fear | D．pity |
| A．encourage | B．experience | C．expect | D．explore |
| A．painless | B．possible | C．hopeless | D．useful |
| A．while | B．since | C．after | D．before |
| A．hurt | B．helped | C．punished | D．controlled |
| A．of | B．to | C．in | D．on |
| A．hide | B．cause | C．face | D．avoid |
| A．obviously | B．positively | C．curiously | D．necessarily |
Spenser’s First Web
Spenser was a small black spider (蜘蛛). Like all of his brothers and sisters, he had eight legs to help him walk and run. He was now big enough to know how to move all his legs together and not trip over them. Spenser was getting bigger every day.
Today Spenser felt nervous. It was time for him to learn to spin (织) a web on his own. He had watched his mother build beautiful, soft webs from the silk she made herself. His mother’s webs were lovely. They took a long time to make, and in the morning, they were covered with drops of dew that made them look like castles.
“OK, Spenser,” said Ms. Spinney. “It’s time to spin your first web. Let’s begin by making a big plus sign.” Ms. Spinney was Spenser’s teacher. She was old and small but very strong. She quickly used her silk to make a plus sign between two nearby leaves.
Spenser was able to make silk, but he had trouble attaching it to anything. No matter how hard he tried, the threads (丝) slipped away and fell to the ground. Spenser tried hard, but he was getting tired.
“Take a break, Spenser,” said Ms. Spinney. “You’re trying very hard, but I can see that you’re getting frustrated (沮丧的).”
“I’m not frustrated!” said Spenser. “I’m mad that I’m not good at it, and I’m sad that I can’t do it. ”Spenser felt like he was going to cry.
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。
Ms. Spinney smiled kindly.
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Spenser went back to his web making spot to see if he could do it again.
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It was dark and gloomy as the dark night swallowed the dense forest. The clear, starry skies in the backdrop (背景) made for a fitting view as the young koala bear made his way home along the river.
It was his first day out to search for food. He remembered every word that his mom said to him as he made his way back. But the words, “be back before dark,” were haunting (萦绕) him the most.
But the little bear lost track of time as the sun started to move towards the horizons.
The darkness had changed all that. His only guiding light was the shining north star in the sky, another advice from his mother which he refused to forget.
Suddenly, the north star disappeared. It seemed it was swallowed in the same blackness which had taken over the jungle.
But there was light, a raging light which seemed different to the little koala. It couldn’t be the sun, he thought.
It seemed it was getting nearer. The little bear stopped dead in his tracks. This didn’t seem right. Suddenly, a heat wave hit him in the face as he was surrounded by flames.
Battered and bruised (遍体鳞伤), the koala ran away from the flames. He could feel the fire chasing him, as the heat got stronger. He felt it creeping up his back almost reaching his fluffy ears. He was scared to death.
He longed to be home with his mom, away from this disorder. However, he was panicking, not knowing what to do. The heat was getting unbearable. He saw a hollow tree trunk in the distance. The little bear dived into it, hoping to find some relief from the flames.
But the unforgiving flames made him realize his mistake almost immediately. The poor soul looked on as the flames started to eat away at the trunk. The dryness made it all the more delicious for this fire monster to feast on the dead tree. The heat had made the little bear exhausted. He used the last bit of energy which he had left to run from the trunk, escaping from the flames.
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:
All of a sudden, his fur caught fire.
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Paragraph 2:
A moment later the little bear was in the river with his mom.
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When we lived on a farm, a black-and-white Border Collie mix showed up at our gate one day. My young son Alec fell in love with this dog instantly, and within an hour, he had named him Oreo.
Within a day, I could see how he would make a house in a mess. The great outdoors itself barely seemed enough space for him to run. When he was let out of his fence, he became a mass of black-and-white fur rushing all over the place at breakneck speed. He never seemed to be tired of running, of jumping on people, or of barking. His high energy was entertaining, but also wearing (令人疲惫的). So it was usually my husband Gary’ s job to leash (栓链子) him up for walks.
One day in late summer, Gary, Alec, and I walked with Oreo to the edge of the field and loosed the leash. He took off on his normal run across the juicy, green fields and soon disappeared over the top of a hill. My family walked on the path along the fence at a much slower pace, looking for four-leafed clovers (四叶草) when suddenly we heard barking behind us.
We turned to see two unfamiliar dogs speeding toward us, and they did not look friendly. Ears back, teeth bared, they flew toward us over the dirt path. Gary pushed Alec and me toward a tree with some low-hanging branches. “Get Alec in the tree,” he ordered as he picked up a heavy stick. Heart pounding, I lifted Alec onto a branch, and Gary squared off (摆好架势) to face the attacking dogs and give us time to get into the tree.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为80词左右；
2.续写部分为一段，开头语已为你写好。
Suddenly, a black-and-white ball shot over the hill and hit the bigger of the two dogs.
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Meagan and her close friend Samantha, both school teachers, lived together in an apartment in Denver. On mornings when Samantha had class, Meagan would help to watch her 2-year-old daughter, Hannah. Also part of the household was Meagan’s pet, Willie, a particularly intelligent and chatty parrot.
Willie was indeed funny and a good talker. In addition to some vocabulary learned from Meagan, he became a great mimic (会模仿的动物) of cats, dogs, and chickens. Plus, he could sing along to the radio. The bird was a nice playmate for the little girl, and he always knew how to lift her spirits. The bird was more than just a pet; he was a member of the family.
One day, with Samantha at school, Hannah had comfortably positioned herself in front of morning cartoons while Meagan was busy cooking in the kitchen, preparing the little girl her favorite breakfast treat, an apple pie. When Meagan was done baking the apple pie, she placed it at the center of the kitchen table to cool. She looked at Hannah and, confident the child was fully engaged with the TV, walked out of the kitchen quickly to use the bathroom.
Meagan was gone maybe 30 seconds. And suddenly, she heard the bird going crazy, screaming loudly. She heard two very distinct words from the parrot’s mouth. “Mama! Baby!” Repeated over and over again. “Mama! Baby! Mama! Baby!”
Meagan ran out of the bathroom to find Hannah in the kitchen, holding the partly eaten apple pie, fighting for breath, her face and lips a terrifying shade of blue. And Willie was still screaming loudly.Hannah had climbed up on a chair, gotten the apple pie from the kitchen table and was clearly choking on it.
注意: 1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
With a pounding heart, Meagan grabbed Hannah immediately.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Around lunchtime, Samantha came back from school.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The story started with the killing of a 19-year-old female elephant at the hands of hunters in northern Kenya in 2016. Her two calves (幼崽) then started a journey to the area where their mother
According to that sad but inspiring true story, elephant-lover Sun Xiao wrote a children’s book Samburu, I’m Back. Sun is
In the past decade, Sun
Pip is a cute little squirrel (松鼠) from a loving family, whose mother often tells him that sharing is caring.
On a cold morning in the park, Pip was looking for a tree with enough branches to shelter him from the cold. Suddenly, he found a huge one, with many branches, and to his joy, a big, brown acorn was hanging from one of the lower ones.
Knowing how important acorns were at this time of year, Pip moved as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, and climbed up the side of the tree, heading towards the acorn. As he got close to the acorn, he thought about how hungry he was, as he hadn’t had any food for two days. He reached his paw (爪子) forward eagerly and just as he was about to take his first bite, somebody took the acorn from his paws and climbed down the tree. Angry and still hungry, Pip ran after the acorn thief, and jumped across the branches, from tree to tree. He would save his lunch, no matter what!
“Hey! Come back here! That’s my acorn. I found it, fair and square,” shouted Pip, who was out of breath.
The acorn thief was another squirrel, who Pip recognized as Rascal, a squirrel in the park who always stole food from others.
“You will never catch me, Pip! Everyone knows that you are the slowest squirrel in the park and I haven’t eaten today, so this nut is mine!” said Rascal.
Hearing Rascal make fun of him made Pip angrier and run faster. Finally, Pip caught up with Rascal. After what seemed like the longest fight ever, Pip managed to take the acorn out of Rascal’s paws and he ran as fast as he could to hide away. As Rascal tried to follow Pip, a huge tree branch fell on him and stopped him from running after the acorn. Rascal couldn’t climb over the branch and he was forced to admit defeat.
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。
Pip happily hugged his acorn.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Why did you help me, Pip?” asked Rascal, quite surprised.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . This spring Steve Stuttard reunited with an unusual friend: Mrs. Mallard, a duck that nested in the flowerpot on his ninth-story apartment balcony in Manchester, UK, last year. Upon her return, she laid 11 eggs in the same flowerpot filled with grass.
‘‘I know ducks have strange routines when it comes to nesting, and if they have a successful site, they will return to it,” says Stuttard, a bird lover since childhood.
Stottard used skills learned in the Navy to create a jackstay (稳定锁) with a red rope and a bucket. Those skills came in handy last year when he quickly and safely transported Mrs. Mallard’s seven ducklings (小鸭子) down once they hatched.
“Getting the ducklings down isn’t as simple as a ride in the elevator. It’s crucial not to hurt the bond between the ducklings and Mrs. Mallard,” Stuttard says.
However, Stuttard faced more of a challenge this year. He had four additional eggs and high winds. He also had a new global audience heavily invested in the fate of the ducklings.
Emma Newman, Stuttard’s daughter, updates about his preparation for this year’s nesting, which took off on Twitter. “I’ve been absolutely bombarded with messages,’’ Newman says. “I actually can’t keep up because thousands of people are following the story. Whenever I tweet about it, I get several hundred replies a second sometimes.”
On Tuesday morning when two ducklings poked (探出) their heads out of the flowerpot, the wind was awful. Stuttard waited and kept watching. Fortunately, late in the afternoon, Mrs. Mallard finally made her move. This was Stuttard’s clue to get to work.
Stuttard picked Mrs. Mallard up and threw her off the balcony, and she flew off. Immediately, he placed the ducklings in the bucket one by one. Then, he used his jackstay to carefully lower the bucket. “Within two, three minutes from when I walked out on the balcony, Mrs. Mallard was swimming away with her family,” Stuttard says.
1. Why did Mrs. Mallard choose the same flowerpot?| A．She wanted to be protected by Stuttard. |
| B．She liked to lay her eggs in high places. |
| C．She nested there successfully last year. |
| D．She remembered Stuttard and his family. |
| A．Staying with them all along. |
| B．Creating a professional jackstay. |
| C．Transporting without using the elevator. |
| D．Keeping their connection with the mother. |
| A．Coated. | B．Rewarded. | C．Linked. | D．Flooded. |
| A．Ducklings Succeeding in Going Downstairs |
| B．Ducklings Overcoming Survival Challenges |
| C．Man Helping Ducklings Down His Apartment |
| D．Man Welcoming an Unusual Duck Back Home |
