Lizard (蜥蜴) Problems
My problems started when I learned that Mrs. Smith would be my fourth-grade teacher. She had a lizard in her classroom, and lizards were on my list of terrifying things.
Worse, Richard was in my class again. He knows I’m afraid of spiders (蜘蛛), and all year he pretended to put them in my hair. If he found out lizards were on my list, I’d be finished.
On the first day of school I tried not to look at the glass container in the corner, but Mrs. Smith pulled out the lizard and set him against her shoulder like a baby. “This is Ripley”, she said.
Richard whispered, “Bet you’re scared of him.” “I am not!” I said. Mrs. Smith looked toward Richard and me. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Amy’s scared of Ripley” Richard announced. “No, I’m not.” My chest tightened. “I love lizards. They’re my favorite animals.”
Mrs. Smith smiled. “I was going to ask for a volunteer to feed Ripley at recess (课间休息), but since you’re a lizard lover, how would you like the job?”
She probably thought I was speechless with joy.
Before recess, Mrs. Smith showed me Ripley’s bag of greens. I can handle that, I told myself. I’ll just lift the container lid (盖子), drop in the greens, and run.
As Mrs. Smith led the class out the door, I was frozen in a block of ice. I wanted to cry, but my tears were frozen, too. Ripley sat still watching. I knew he was waiting to jump at me the second I lifted the lid. I just stood there for a long time, staring back at Ripley.
Voices in the hall told me recess was over. I closed my eyes, lifted the lid, threw in the greens, and shut the lid. Mrs. Smith said, “You must be enjoying your job, Amy You didn’t come out for recess at all.”
Richard’s eyes got wide. I’d fooled him. But now I’d have to spend every recess with a lizard.
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。
After a few weeks, Richard said “Why does Amy always get to feed Ripley? I want a turn.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I meant for Richard to put Ripley down inside the container, but Richard set him on the floor and ran outside.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Not Without My Mama
Thirty-eight. That was how many stray cats (流浪猫) I had been feeding on the street where I lived. I loved them all, but I did have a favorite. A gigantic yellow cat with blue eyes had seized my heart.
I named him Butterball. Often, Butterball would try to jump in my car when I arrived home or come inside my house. I wished that I could bring him inside, but it was not allowed where I lived.
Week after week, I fed the large group of cats. Mostly, none of them wanted to be touched. They would eat in a hurry and leave, but not Butterball. He would stick around for head scratches (抓挠), purring (发出呼噜声) loudly. I noticed that he was always in the company of a small Calico cat.
Though not as friendly, she was touchable.
One day, my dream came true—I bought my own house. The cats, especially Butterball, watched anxiously as I started moving my things to my new home. I began to be away longer as I set up the new place, but I never forgot to go back and feed them every night. Butterball would jump in my car and try to get in extra hugs.
Sometimes, I found him amongst the boxes in the back when I came out with another load. As I packed up the very last load and set out the cats’ nightly dinner, I paused before leaving.
The nights were starting to get cold, and soon winter would be upon us. Upstate New York winters can be bitter. Butterball seemed to know I was leaving for good. I peered into his blue eyes and told him, “I will come back for you.” He turned away as if he didn’t believe me.
The next day, I returned with a group of friends. We set out a bunch of humane traps and caught the strays one by one. We transported them to a no-kill shelter. All, except Butterball.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150词左右;
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
I intended to take Butterball to my new home.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Surprisedly, I followed him to the bush and found Calico.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Mary entered the south Pole Penguin Research Lab, she saw her friend Tom gently stroking (轻抚) a penguin in his arms. As children of the lab scientists, Mary and Tom often observed the emperor penguins that were studied to understand how they adapted to extreme temperatures —insights that could aid human survival.
“We’re thirteen, Tom. It’s time to grow up and stop playing with the lab penguins,” said Mary as she started cleaning. “They’re research animals, not pets.”
“But the birds listen to me1” insisted Tom, his breath forming a cloud in the freezing air. “You’re just trying to be a penguin whisperer again,” Mary replied, shaking her head with a gentle smile. The penguins seemed playful as they walked, dove, swam and chased their live fish for sport before eating.
Suddenly , an alarm rang out and red lights flashed , signaling a problem. The kids rushed over to look into it. “It’s colder than before —there’s ice forming on the water,” noted Tom. Though always cold, Mary had never seen ice here before. She checked the habitat monitor and found that the temperature had gone down a lot. “The heater must be broken!”
Mary quickly sent a message to their parents’ research team, who were conducting outdoor studies. With the adults away, the kids would have to deal with the freezing conditions until help arrived.
Time dragged as Mary and Tom anxiously waited. The increasing cold caused them to shake. “I wonder what emperor penguins do in extreme cold, since they stay in the Pole all winter instead of going somewhere warmer,” asked Mary. “They huddle (挤作一团), ” Tom answered. “They huddle together tightly so that the birds in the middle will be warm enough.” “What about the ones on the edge?” Mary asked. “They push their way towards the center, and then move back out to the edge, and struggle back again. Scientists in the early 21st century recorded it.” He replied as he stared at the large crowd of the penguins in the lab.
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。
”I have an idea to stay warm1" Tom shouted excitedly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Two and a half hours later , the parents returned with help.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was eight years old and wasn’t aware of all the arrangements being made for our journey as a family to London in 1950. My mother was in great pain and wished to visit specialists in London. My father reluctantly had to sell our property in Queensland. The day before we boarded the ship, Father unwillingly said goodbye to his five-year-old cattle dog, Spider, who was loved by us all. Father’s friend Sandy was to be his guardian while we were overseas, as he had been getting to know Spider for many weeks.
Six weeks later, an airletter arrived from Sandy, giving my father the news that Spider had run away just two weeks after we had sailed. Sandy had advertised constantly on ABC and other regional newspapers. Despite many “sightings”, the dog was never found. It seems Spider just kept running and searching for us. As he was cattle dog, my father thought he would shoe or dingo-trapped, because of his appearance. But our family thought that Father held a secrets hope that Spider was still alive.
We sailed back to Australia two years later and re-established our home. My father immediately began his own search for Spider. One cold winter’s Saturday morning eight months after our return, my father had a call from an elderly lady living on her own on the outskirts of the town. As she told my father on the telephone, it was “just glimpses of a dingo-type dog in the shadows” of her disused tennis court. That was enough for my father to interrupt my homework.
We set off in his blue and black Jensen car which he had brought back from England. It was hardly the right vehicle for the rough roads we travelled that day. Five and a half hours later, we found the run-down old property. Sadly, she told my father that the “dingo dog” hadn’t been around for a few days. My father had a strange look in his eye. He put two fingers to his lips and did his special whistle for Spider.
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 there was a sound in the bush.
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Once home we had the task of getting all the prickles (刺) off him.
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During the 25 years we’ve lived in our home, many cats have appeared on my porch (门廊), gazing through the glass door, silently begging for food. Well, what can I do? Certainly not ignore their lovely faces. Even as my husband says “Don’t feed these cats, Caren,” I am opening the door, with cat food bag in hand. These cats usually stay a few days, maybe a couple months before disappearing into the woods.
One evening while feeding the horses, I saw something move. I turned just in time to glimpse a black tail disappearing under our shed (小棚). Later, I saw a skinny young cat sneak around and finish the leftovers. The next time I saw her, she had a companion, a black male cat. I made sure to put out enough food for the both of them.
Pretty soon, they were appearing at dinnertime with our other cats. I named them Minnie and Freddy. I would give them food in separate containers, but they would walk up and down until I went back inside. Then, with no human near, they would devour their meals. This went on for a couple of weeks. One day, Freddy didn’t show up. We never saw him again.
But Minnie kept sticking around our room, dividing time between the shed and the porch. She was no longer skinny and looked quite nicely. I congratulated myself on her newfound health. However, she kept gaining weight —especially around her middle. Yup, she was pregnant (怀孕的).
注意：续写词数应为90词左右。
We fixed up a small place in the shed for Minnie.
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From that day on, our family grew not only with Minnie but also with her adorable babies, creating a harmonious and loving environment for all of us to cherish(珍惜).
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Last summer, Hilda worked as a volunteer with dolphin trainers at a sea life park. Her job was to make sure the tanks were free of any items so that the trainers could train the dolphins to fetch specific items. However, one day after cleaning, one of the dolphins, Maya, presented Hilda with a candy wrapper from the tank. When Katherine, the trainer, saw this, she blamed Hilda for her carelessness. Upset but not discouraged by this event, Hilda decided to do some spying on Maya.
The next morning, Hilda arrived at the park early. She put on her scuba gear (水下呼吸器) and jumped into the tank for her usual, underwater sweep. Finding nothing in the tank, she climbed out of the water just in time to see Katherine jumping in on the other side. After what happened yesterday, Hilda knew what she was doing. She watched as Katherine performed her underwater search, but Hilda wasn’t surprised when she surfaced empty-handed.
During the tank sweeps, Maya had been swimming playfully, but now the dolphin stopped suddenly and swam to the back part of the tank where the filter (过滤) box was located. She stuck her nose down behind the box and then swam away. What was Maya doing back there? Hilda wondered. She jumped back into the water and swam over to take a look behind the box, and her question was answered. Hilda then swam across the tank following Maya’s path and emerged from the water to find Katherine removing her scuba gear. As Katherine turned around, her mouth dropped open. There was Maya at the edge of the tank with a comb (梳子) in her mouth waiting for her treat.
“Maya! Where did you get that?” demanded Katherine, taking the comb and throwing her a fish. “I know where she got it,” declared Hilda climbing out of the tank with a handful of items still wet from their watery, resting place. “What’s all this?” Katherine asked, obviously confused.
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。
“This is Maya’s secret,” Hilda said with a big smile.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now Katherine realized what had been going on.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Josie and I wanted a dog more than anything else on the earth. We wished for one every time we threw coins in a fountain or watched the evening star drop behind the trees. However, our mother believed that we were still too thoughtless to take on the task of raising a pet. She had witnessed our forgetfulness on household chores and getting into small conflicts. In her eyes, these were signs that we lacked the necessary responsibility.
One summer night, as we sat together on the roof, Josie saw something. She pointed down toward a dark shadow, “What’s that?”
For one astonishing second, Josie and I stared at each other. Then we rushed down onto the doorway. There in our yard stood a black dog. Josie made a little kissing noise and held out her hand. The dog came to us slowly, taking a few steps forward, then a step back, not sure whether to trust us. She was so skinny that I could just feel every bone, and her coat was messy.
“We’re going to have a dog!” My inside was full of excitement, just like before Christmas or our birthday.
“What’s a good name?” said Josie.
The perfect name wrote itself in my mind, “Shadow!”
The next day, we piled together all the pocket money we had to buy all kinds of dog foods and hid it in various places because we were afraid Mom wouldn’t approve that if she knew we were feeding a homeless dog.
That night, after our parents were asleep, we silently slipped downstairs to feed Shadow. We carefully poured the dog food into the bowl, trying to make as little noise as possible. Shadow, who had been waiting eagerly by our side, wagged (摇晃) her tail. As we placed the bowl on the floor, a creaking (吱吱的) sound filled the house. Suddenly, the kitchen light was switched on, illuminating the room and revealing our shocked faces.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按所给格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
It was our mother, standing there surprisingly.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mom decided to give us a chance to prove we could be responsible owners.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was a kid in Pennsylvania, my family rehabilitated (使康复) wild animals.
I grew up with animals running around the house. We would go travelling to Bermuda and I would watch the whales off the shore. I fell in love with them and wanted to know more about what they got up to underwater. Now I've been studying whales for more than30 years and I am the president of the Center for Whale Research and Conservation.
In 2017, I was on a boat around Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, working on a film about whale conservation. The crew wanted to get more footage of me in the water with the humpback whales — I often slip in quietly to record their behaviour for research. Seeing a couple of humpbacks in the distance, I slid off the boat wearing a mask and swam towards them.
As I was approaching, one of the male humpbacks came right up to me, touching me with his head and pushing me through the water. It caught me off-guard — in 33 years of doing this work, this had never happened. I put my arm out and tried to push myself away while he attempted to roll up me under his pectoral fin (胸鳍).
My scientist brain was in overdrive as I tried to work out what he was doing. I felt a mixed sense of excitement and fear. Then the whale swam underneath me and lifted me out of the water on his fin. I signaled to the boat, then — swoosh — I was pushed back under.
After minutes of being pushed around by the humpback, I saw what I thought was a second, smaller whale. But then I noticed the tail — whales move theirs up and down, and this one was moving side to side. I realized with horror that it belonged to a huge, 18-foot tiger shark. Tiger sharks are known to attack people, sometimes fatally (致命地).
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 shark had arched its body, which meant that it was in attack mode.
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Just over a year later, I was on a boat in the same area when I heard of a whale sighting in the harbour.
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For many years, my only companion was our dog, Sno. A small but mighty Bichon Frise, our dog may have looked ordinary, but he was smart, creative, and always ready for ice cream and rolling at my request. While I worked, he slept, waking to chase the red cat from next door, greet a delivery person, or sit in the sunshine.
We didn’t agree on everything, especially when to get up and when to go to bed. He sighed with boredom when a project was due and I didn’t have time to play. He didn’t understand weekends, deadlines, and visitors who left him. However, we both agreed on walking.
At least once a week, we took a long walk to the beach. For him, there were tall grasses and exciting smells. For me, there were other dog walkers and neighbors to catch up with. We returned tired, thirsty, and very happy.
Being a dog with huge ambition and short legs, Sno needed several breaks along the way. The one at the entrance to the beach was his favorite, possibly because he knew we were circling back home. There, on a windy summer day, he looked up at me just as I was looking down at him. We both grinned (咧嘴笑). This was the best walk ever.
When he was old and dying, our walks were shorter and closer to home. I’d take him for a walk and then go out for my own walk, wandering around the beach like we used to do. I always grinned when I got to the entrance to the beach, remembering that summer day when he was young and energetic.
In his final days, Sno still insisted on walking. It took twice as long to take even the shortest walk, but we enjoyed every step. Then came that Sunday when he leaned hard toward the beach walk. How could I refuse his last-walk wish?
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。
We took the walk.
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After he died, I went for the long walk.
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It was 3 a. m. when the flood came on an unseasonably warm night in June. Rocks were heard breaking. Susan Roberts, new to Red Lodge, Montana, a small town of 2,300 people, woke from an uneasy sleep. She saw the lights on at her across-the-way neighbors’, on the side bordering Rock Creek, a 55-mile river skirting the town’s eastern edge.
Roberts’s next-door neighbor, a police officer, was evacuating (疏散) with his four kids, and he advised Roberts to do the same. So she put her dogs in the car and moved it to an narrow street behind her home, about 10 feet uphill, as her husband went from house to house, waking others. It was still dark; people were sleeping and didn’t realize. More people went to each other’s doors, saying, “Wake up and you have to get out.”
The couple stayed in their car and on the few feet of dry land surrounding it for the entirety of the next day, watching their house ruined. Trees were washed down the town’s main street. Cars floated away. Floods ruined the Beartooth Highway, a major road connecting Red Lodge to Billings. “The town looked like a riverbed,” says Roberts. “The whole community was wandering around, trying to grasp what happened.”
The day after the flood, more than 20 people friends, neighbors, strangers, even tourists flocked (群集) to help. “People went into our wet, muddy basement and pulled everything out,” says Roberts. “They sorted and took things home to wash. One person came to clean up our yard. A mother and her two young children pulled rubbish from our chain-link fence.” Helpers even saved her precious photo albums, drying each print before returning it to the book.
And volunteers kept coming every day until summer’s end. “People would not take no for an answer. If I was like, ‘Oh, we’re OK now,’ they’d be like, ‘No, I’m gonna do something,’” she says.
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。
Soon, all over town, people took action jointly to clean up the whole mess.
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More than a year later, Red Lodge began to take on a new look.
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