Looking for Snow in Summer
“Brooke’s life is coming to an end,” the vet told Andy. “Maybe she can only live for two weeks.” Hearing this, Andy was very sad. He took Brooke, the old dog with black fur, home and hoped to make her happy as much as he could.
However, her health was weakened at an alarming rate. After two days, she had no energy to do anything. Realizing that Brooke was dying, Andy began to think about what she liked most in her life.
It was snow. Lying on the snow in winter was Brooke’s favorite thing to do.
But it was hot summer now, and even in winter, it did not snow often in Andy’s city. How could he get Brooke some snow in August? None of his family members, neighbors or his friends could figure out a solution. Therefore, Andy turned to the Internet for help. He made a post on a local forum:
“Our 11-year-old Brooke, a Berner (伯纳犬), has only a couple of days left. She loves snow, but it is not going to make it to winter. Does anyone know of any rinks (溜冰场) or any place with snow where she can go and lie on the snow one last time?”
Several minutes later, Andy got the first reply. “Reach out to the staff at Win Sports Centre. Maybe they can pile some snow for you.” Then seconds later, another person suggested, “Call some of the rinks. As far as I know, they sometimes dump (丢弃) the shaved ice outside after they finish the ice surface. Any community rink should be able to help.” One woman shared her story to Andy and said that as a former Berner parent, her heart went out to Andy.
Dozens of people expressed their sympathy to Andy under his post. Andy felt very grateful for the replies and suggestions he received. It did not take long for his post to spread all over the rinks and sports centers in his city, and it was seen by the staff at Power Sport.
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。
On the same day, a staff member contacted Andy.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A few hours later, Brooke died.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The True Meaning of Love
“You don’t want that one,” the shelter volunteer said. “He’s broken. He’d been abandoned.”
“Broken? Abandoned?” I asked. Had I heard her correctly? I looked down at the black cat sitting on my foot. The minute I’d walked into the animal shelter’s cat room, he’d been one step behind me, my shadow. I wasn’t an expert, but this cat seemed friendly.
The volunteer explained, “He doesn’t like anyone—not other cats, not dogs, not people.”
“I want to adopt him.” I said.
“Really?” she asked. There were several other lovely cats up for adoption, cats that would be easier for a first-time owner. “Why?”
“Because he needs a home,” I said. Then under my breath, “And because I’m broken too.”
It was 2017. I’d been in therapy（心理治疗）for a while, but it was only recently that my therapist suggested I get an animal companion—preferably something low-maintenance, like a cat. It would be good for me. Maybe it can even help me form connections with people. I didn’t know if I believed that. But I went to my local shelter.
I don’t know what it was about that little black cat, but I immediately felt a connection with him. Two abandoned peas in a pod, I guess. I filled out the paperwork and left with him that afternoon.
At home I let him out of the carrier so he could explore. I watched as this little cat smelled every inch of the house. Eventually, his curiosity was satisfied, and he settled in my lap. I reached out a hesitant hand to pet him, saying, “You need my help, and I need yours.”
It took me a week to come up with a name for him. I finally settled on Mr. Bojangles, after the song about a homeless man who, even after getting into big trouble, remained happy and positive. I thought the name fitted this cat. Later I called him Bo for short.
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。By the time a year passed, we’d settled into a routine.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Amazingly, we both began new connections with the outer world.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Police Outpost Lake is as far south as you can go in Canada. In fact, next to the lake are the protected wetlands, where songbirds, ducks, and Canada geese glided by on the breeze, touching down briefly on the water’s surface before flapping (振翅) their way back up into the sky.
Standing at the lake’s edge, my cousin, Allan, and I cast our fishing lines separately onto the smooth-as-glass water. Down the shoreline was Allan’s father, my uncle Rick. He liked to fish alone, away from distractions, noise, and other people.
Allan shouted, “Dad, where should I stand?”
Uncle Rick pressed his finger to his lips, pointed to a shady spot by a large rock where he had cast his line and shook his head gently.
“He wants us to be quiet or else we won’t catch any fish.” I whispered.
“Why do I have to be so quiet?” asked Allan. “All those birds are making more noise than I ever could!”
I ignored him, pulling back on my rod gently and squinting into the glare of the sun. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a few great northern loons (潜鸟) gathering together not far from the shoreline. What were they doing there? Loons usually travel alone, but here were five of them in a cluster. Maybe it was a family? Just then one loon, making a loud painful cry, swam away from the group, toward me.
“Allan! Come here. Now!”
Allan laid his fishing rod down on the dirty sand, darting toward me.
“Come here. Take a look at that loon. It’s swimming toward us, not far away from us. It’s trying to get our attention.”
The loon finally stopped in the shallow water near shore, not ten feet away from us. It was so close that we could see its round red eyes. Strangely, the bird’s wings were held tight against its body.
Wading into the water and getting closer to the loon, we both saw a fishing line wrapped tightly around its neck and a shiny red hook (鱼钩) in its body. Left like this, the loon couldn’t fly or fish or survive. It was asking us to help!
注意：
1. 续写词数应为 150 词左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“Go fetch the scissors from the fishing box,” I urged Allan.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As I set down the loon on the water, it joyfully flapped its wings.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am a volunteer of Story Dogs. Rosie and I began our Story Dogs journey at a local elementary school in Term 2 this year.
Story Dogs is based on the successful American literacy program, Reading Education Assistance Dogs, which was built around the appealing idea of children and young adolescents reading to dogs.
Reading sessions take place in a quiet area of the school grounds, such as the library or outside the classroom. A reading session is about 20 minutes long, where each child is one-on- one with the dog team. Books are chosen to suit the student’s reading level.
Jayon, a Year 2 student, is such a good boy as everyone likes. No one is perfect. Jayon, however, wanted nothing to do with reading! That made Jayon’s teachers and parents feel helpless. His wonderful teacher used all kinds of teaching methods, but none of them improved. At the same time, his parents trembled with his reading performance. Jayon struggled to stay focused, which meant he was disinterested in his school work... until he met Rosie!
When Jayon first came to read with us, I noticed a few things about his reading. For example, he would guess the words and become distracted very easily. He was unable to hold the book still, which would obviously make it difficult for him to read and he would lose interest very quickly, which meant I would have to read to him.
So I came up with a plan. I decided I would hold the book instead and point to each word and helped him to sound the words out instead of guessing. To keep him focused and still, I asked him to pat Rosie’s back, which helped keep his hands busy. Rosie certainly didn’t mind a bit!
Using these methods, Jayon’s reading improved every week! He developed a beautiful bond with Rosie and she would show him so much love and affection! She knew he needed her and it was lovely to watch them together. With weeks passing by, Jayon’s enthusiasm for reading became stronger.
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。
Jayon finally loved reading.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was told that Jayon would receive the Growth Award at the end of year.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Caught in a flood
Mary and her parents were downstairs in the living room. Mary was looking through the windows at the endless rain outside. It had been raining non-stop for three days. She had never seen a storm this bad. It was making her nervous. The wind roared and the rain beat on the roof and windows. Dad was listening to a weather report on the radio, while Mum was putting their important documents and disaster supplies into a bag.
“Mum, Dad,” said Mary suddenly, “I think we should leave here right away!”
“No,” said Dad. “It’s too late: The radio says the city has already been flooded.”
“We can drive our car through the floodwater. Let’s us leave! I’m really scared!” cried Mary. “We can’t do that, honey,” explained Mum, “otherwise the moving water could wash the car away!”
Mary walked to the door. She was curious to see how much water there was outside.
“Don’t open the door!” shouted Mum and Dad at the same time. “The water may flood in!”
Dad moved the dinner table against the door, in case the floodwater forced the door open. Mum waved to Mary to sit on the sofa. “Mary, don’t worry. Everything’s going to be OK,” she said softly, trying her best to comfort Mary. Her voice was calm, but Mary could tell she was worried too.
Without saying a single word, Dad walked to the sofa, sat down and hugged his wife and daughter. The sudden silence in the house seemed to make the wind and rain more frightening outside. What could they do?
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
All of a sudden, the floodwater forced the door open.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Being upstairs, they breathed a sigh of relief.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was Monday. I was standing in the doorway of my room at The Seeing Eye (a guide dog school), anxiously waiting to hear my instructor call my name. All sorts of questions ran through my mind, and on the top was the fear that I was making an awful mistake — To adopt (领养) a guide dog when I had been afraid of dogs all my life? Crazy!
I wanted to bite my nails. I changed from one foot to the other and sighed frequently. Finally, shocking me out of my own thoughts, I heard my instructor say, “Shannon!”
“Shannon,” she said, “This is George.”
Two huge paws touched my knees.
“Down, George,” my instructor said, and the dog obeyed immediately.
We were taken back to my room where the door was closed, being left alone. I petted him. He put up his paw to shake my hand, and he sat so nicely, as if to say, “I’m a good boy, I promise.”
However, several minutes later, George got bored with me and went to the door, crying out for the lady who had trained him. I was at a complete loss as to what to do next.
Sometime later, my instructor took George and me on a walk outside. I took the handle of George’s harness (项圈) and stumbled (跌跌撞撞走) around that path instead of walking, and I kept stepping on poor George’s feet, but he never stopped and neither did I. Still, I was worried. If this stumbling around was what I could expect, maybe this guide dog wasn’t for me.
In the school, we were taught to walk with our dogs. We were also taught to feed, water and care for our dogs without any sighted help. We had to master all things before we left the school. Sometimes, it was easy, and sometimes it was not.
I struggled hard in order to pass the last day exam, where I would walk along an unfamiliar street with George. If we arrived at the destination safely, I could take George home.
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。
Finally the big moment came.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then came my instructor’s words, “You did it!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lucky
Teresa, a gentle, soft-spoken woman of seventy, had always managed to view the world with a child’s sense of wonderment. She greeted the dawn of each new day with the brightness of the sun itself and found joy in the smallest of things.
One day while out crossing the road in front of her home, Teresa had been injured in a hit-and-run. The driver left the woman in severe pain, When the mailman found her unconscious nearly an hour later, her injured leg had been bleeding heavily. She’d made it to the hospital just in time and later, the doctor had told Teresa she was lucky to be alive.
Returning home, Teresa didn't feel so lucky. Before the accident, the elderly woman had always been grateful that she was healthy for her age. Now just getting the daily mail required a huge effort. An old woman with nothing to do and nowhere to go, Teresa felt frightened, alone and defeated for the first time in her life.
When Teresa’s friend Vera came to pick her up for her checkup at the medical center, she hardly recognized her old friend. Teresa’s soft brown eyes held a deep sadness.
They were a little early for Teresa’s appointment, so to try to cheer up Teresa, Vera took a longer, more scenic route. They were stopped at a red light when Teresa suddenly shouted in terror. “Look at that cat! It’s trying to run across the street!”
Vera looked up to see a small black-and-white cat bounding（跳） out into the middle of traffic. Both women screamed as they saw one car, then another, and finally a third, hit the cat,The cat lay without moving, its small body flung（猛扔） into the grass. Cars slowed, but no one stopped to help.
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。
“We must save that poor creature,” said Tereas.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________While the cat was at the clinic, Teresa checked on him every day.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The four mountain climbers were still breathing heavily as they looked out into the distance. The views from the top of the mountain were breathtaking. In all directions, valleys, forests and other mountains were laid out before them. They could even see the small wooden houses of the village where they had spent the night and the route they had taken to reach the top of this small but dangerous mountain. Laughing loudly, they were surprised at their courage in climbing such a steep and rocky mountain slope. Filled with an enormous sense of achievement, the four young climbers patted each other on the back.
As the other three continued to enjoy the views, Jason, the leader of the group, stared at the horizon with a troubled look on his face.
“What is it, Jason?” Sofia, the youngest of the group, asked.
“Those dark clouds in the distance mean a heavy storm is fast on the way,” Jason replied. He remembered the villagers had warned him of the unpredictable weather conditions on top of the mountain and that a terrible storm could appear from nowhere.
“But it's so warm and sunny here. I don't think the storm is coming this way,” Sofia said, more in hope than expectation.
However, Jason feared the worst and knew only too well what would happen if the storm caught them in the open. He addressed the group in a calm but serious tone, “If the storm hits us, the temperature will fall dramatically. The rain and mist will make it difficult for us to see where we are going and we could easily get lost or fall off a cliff. The wind will take our strength, so we need to get moving fast.”
The four mountain climbers packed up their facilities and immediately started back down the mountain. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the storm was upon them sooner than expected. The wind screamed in their ears, the driving rain stung (刺痛) their eyes and the mist made it impossible for them to see clearly.
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。
With it getting dark, Jason decided that it was just too dangerous to continue.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, the storm showed signs of stopping and the climbers decided to continue their way down the mountain.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . 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。
“Mom, where do you suppose they are?” my ten-year-old son Danny asked for the twentieth time as he stared out of the window at the range (牧场). “They” were our horses, Ginger, and her three-year-old son, Charcoal, both of whom had been missing for days.
Our range and woods offered plenty of grass for six horses. However, spring thunderstorms during the past ten days had forced the nearby river out of its banks. The other horses had come to the barn (畜棚) during the downpour, but not Ginger or Charcoal.
When the rain stopped, I took Spot, our dog, to do some first-hand searching. We went through trees and brush in wet lowlands near the river. All my calling and Spot’s smelling were in vain.
The next morning, the sun struggled to shine through gray clouds, but dampness filled the air. Suddenly, Danny shouted, “Mom, come quick! There’s Ginger!” The horse stood at the range gate crying impatiently and moving back and forth as if to say “Follow me”.
“Hurry, Danny,” I said, “get the pot with some oats (燕麦). I will bring a rope.” Ginger walked in front and we followed. “I see him! I see him!” Danny shouted. Charcoal was lying on his side, not moving. His right back leg was badly injured.
“Oh, Mom. How long do you think he’s been lying here with no food and nobody to care for him?” Tears formed in Danny’s blue eyes. “Probably several days, but we’ll never know. Ginger took care of him, though, protecting him from attacks from hungry wolves or other wild animals,” I said.
“What can we do now?” Danny asked anxiously. “There’s no way to drive a vehicle down here in all this mud.” “We just have to get him up and lead him out,” I said, keeping my voice confident. “Afterwards, we’ll have to call the vet (兽医) out.”
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。
With our encouragement and the attraction of oats, Charcoal struggled and managed to stand up.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Upon arriving at the barn, Danny started creating a bed for Charcoal.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. 现在越来越多的人意识到很多自然灾害都与人类的行为有关；
2. 地球是人类唯一的家园，要尽力保护它。
注意：1. 词数100左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
