Helen was putting her dress on. It was a bit small, but she could manage.
She would be getting the rent with her father, Mr. Resnick, today. Helen didn’t often get to spend time with her father these days. He was always working, and always trying to make enough money to support the family. The rent was what kept them going during the Depression (经济大萧条). When Helen worried about her too-tight dress, other children had to worry about food or even their homes.
The houses were not far, and three families lived there. Everything went smoothly at the first two apartments, but both Helen and her father were worried about the third. The Katz family never had enough money, and it had become harder and harder to accept their rent, even though her father had lowered it.
Mrs. Katz opened the door when Helen’s father knocked. “Her eyes were red—from crying,” Helen thought. “Good afternoon, Mr. Resnick,” she said, hands nervously smoothing her gray dress.
“How are you, Mrs. Katz?” he asked.
“We’re. we’re getting by (勉强度日),” she said, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes or even Helen’s. “You’re here for the rent.”
“Yes, Mrs. Katz, I’m afraid so.”
“Please come in.”
Inside of the apartment, Mr. Katz and the two children were sitting at a table, waiting for Mr. Resnick. “They all have such thin faces!” Helen thought. She was embarrassed, suddenly, by her own round cheeks and strong body.
Mrs. Katz gave Helen’s father the money. He thanked her and turned to go.
“Mr. Resnick?” Mrs. Katz said before they could leave. He turned to look at her. In a shaking voice she told him, “We haven’t eaten in two days.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为120词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答；
3. 写作提示：第一段可写出Helen和她父亲听到消息后的反应；第二段可写出Helen买东西及众人的反应。
Two days! Helen couldn’t imagine such a thing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Yes, Dad,” she answered and started running on the way to the store.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 . Academic success is very important to us. To achieve your success, it’s important to develop good habits
One of the most critical skills for academic success is effective management of your study time.
You can’t expect to meet your goals if you experience tiredness. That’s why it’s so important that you take care of your physical and mental health. Some effective ways include eating a well-balanced and nutritious diet, and exercising regularly, which can relax your mind, reduce stress, and increase your ability to focus on your studies.
Using mind maps (思维导图) can be an effective way of organizing and summarizing key concepts. Start by writing the central concept in the middle of your page and then draw curved lines branching out with related ideas.
Academic success can really increase your overall quality of life.
| A．Building good study habits is also critical. |
| B．Getting outdoors can also improve mental health. |
| C．Set small goals to help you accomplish large goals. |
| D．How you choose to manage your calendar is up to you. |
| E．Then add branches to the related ideas with further points. |
| F．These habits can guide your learning and keep you on track in studies. |
| G．It can also be helpful to share experiences with your teachers and classmates. |
Ten-year-old Riley Christensen and her mother, Lynn, were sitting in front of the family computer, checking out models and prices of bikes. “Let’s pick one out for your birthday,” Lynn suggested to her daughter. The air in the room was filled with excitement as they scrolled through various options, envisioning the joy when Riley cycled around the neighborhood. They laughed together, exploring the features of each bike, and discussing colors.
As Riley scrolled down the home page of the Bike Rack, a shop in their town of St. Charles, Illinois, a video link for Project Mobility caught her eye. She clicked on it out of curiosity, unaware that this simple click would unfold a profound story of compassion and sympathy. The video clip began to narrate the inspiring journey of Bike Rack co-owner Hal Honeyman. Through it, Lynn and Riley were transported into the world of Project Mobility, witnessing how Hal Honeyman had transformed a passion for biking into an organization dedicated to providing specially engineered bicycles for those facing physical challenges. The video footage (镜头) painted a vivid picture of the positive impact these adapted bikes had on individuals — accident victims, injured veterans, and children with disabilities, including Hal’s own son, who had been born with cerebral palsy (脑瘫).
“I don’t want a bike for myself. I’m going to buy a bike for one of those kids,” Riley told her mother. Two days later, she showed Lynn a letter she had written asking for donations. “I think it’s amazing for a guy to make bikes for kids who can’t walk,” the letter said. “I saw how happy a boy was when he got one... I’m writing to ask for your help.”
Lynn was blown away by her daughter’s effort, but doubts quickly emerged. The cost of just one of those special bikes could be as high as $4,000. Riley could never raise the money.
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。
Nonetheless, her letter went out to 75 relatives and friends.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On her birthday, Riley delivered the bicycles to three lucky kids.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was sitting down in the examining room chair, annoyed that my mom had even scheduled the appointment when the doctor arrived and dove right in to the basic small talk about my health history. But then he threw in a question that shocked me, “So Robin, what are you going to do after high school?”
What was I going to do after high school? Was he kidding me? “don’t know,” I mumbled (嘟囔). I was seventeen. I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do after high school. My high school guidance teacher told me in certain terms that I wasn’t “college material” and I believed her. My grades were far from satisfactory. Education wasn’t exactly emphasized in my family.
“You don’t know? Well, why don’t you go to college to become a doctor like me?” He smiled as he glanced at his watch. Go to college to become a doctor? Who was this man kidding? I thought he was crazy for even suggesting it. No one in my family had even graduated from college, let alone become a doctor. And I wasn’t college material. “I’m not smart enough to be a doctor. ”
Hearing this, the doctor immediately turned toward me. He looked at me straight in the eyes when he very seriously said, “Let me tell you something: you don’t have to be smart to be a doctor. You just have to be persistent.” Then he turned around to gather his things and rushed off to his next appointment. I never saw him 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。
On the ride home I found myself thinking about the conversation with the doctor
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So, I began to focus on classes and break down the difficult things into steps
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 . My phone was an extension of myself. I couldn’t go anywhere
When I was watching TV shows or movies and there was a boring part, I
I have welcomed silence into my life with open arms and am enjoying the increased
As much as having a smartphone was
| A．through | B．without | C．despite | D．upon |
| A．updates | B．instructions | C．assessments | D．decisions |
| A．symbol | B．responsibility | C．reality | D．addiction |
| A．conscious | B．shameful | C．foolish | D．random |
| A．sell | B．pull | C．throw | D．mind |
| A．avoided | B．denied | C．missed | D．allowed |
| A．assist | B．improve | C．associate | D．occupy |
| A．requests | B．thoughts | C．directions | D．comments |
| A．instead of | B．regardless of | C．but for | D．apart from |
| A．creativity | B．productivity | C．knowledge | D．independence |
| A．routine | B．necessity | C．loneliness | D．temptation |
| A．genuine | B．grateful | C．direct | D．desperate |
| A．naturally | B．certainly | C．seemingly | D．gradually |
| A．wonder | B．imagination | C．interest | D．authenticity |
| A．depressive | B．comfortable | C．stressful | D．boring |
Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became extremely angry with him. He would squirm (来回扭动) in his seat and make a lot of noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly. Most of the time, however, Jeremy just annoyed his teacher.
One day Doris called his parents and asked them to come in for a talk. As the Forresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, “Jeremy really belongs to a special school. It isn’t fair to him to be with younger children who don’t have learning problems.”
Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband spoke. “Miss Miller,” he said, “there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here.” Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to flow into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a serious illness. But it wasn’t fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction.
As she thought over the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared to that poor family, she thought. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy’s noises and his blank stares.
Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus (耶稣), and then to highlight the idea of new life, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. “Now, I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Miss Miller,” the children responded enthusiastically — all except for Jeremy. He listened carefully; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual nose.
The next morning, 19 children placed their eggs in the large basket on Miss Miller’s desk.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then Doris opened the third egg but it was empty.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1940, I worked in the checkroom of the railway station. I saw everybody that came up the stairs.
Harry was a young man who came to the station and waited at the head of the stairs for the passengers from the 9:05 train.
I remembered seeing Harry that first evening. He wasn’t much more than a thin, anxious kid then. He was all dressed up and I knew he was meeting his sister, who he hadn’t seen for many years.
Well, the passengers came up and I had to get busy. I didn’t look toward the stairs again until nearly time for the 9:18 and I was very surprised to see that the Harry was still there. His sister didn’t come on the 9:18 either, nor on the 9:40, and when the passengers from the 10:02 had all arrived and left, Harry was looking pretty upset. Pretty soon he came close to my window so I called out and asked him what his sister looked like.
“She’s small and dark. She is nineteen years old and very neat in the way she walk,” he said. “She has a face that has lots of spirit. I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long, and her eyebrows come to a little point in the middle. She’s got a brown fur, but maybe she isn’t wearing it.”
“I couldn’t remember seeing anybody like that,” I told him.
He showed me the telegram he’d received: ARRIVE THURSDAY. MEET ME AT THE STATION. MAY. It was from Omaha, Nebraska. “Well,” I finally said, “why don’t you phone to your home? She’s probably called there if she got in ahead of you.”
He gave me a sick look. “I’ve only been in the town for two days. We were going to meet and then drive down to the south of the city where I’ve got a job. She doesn’t have my address.”
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 I came on duty the next day, Harry was still there and I asked more about his sister.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
One day, after about two weeks, I thought I could say something encouraging to him.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The fourth graders’ school day was coming to an end. Wilson was filling his backpack when a voice came out of the loudspeaker. “Good afternoon, students. This is a reminder that the All-City Math Contest will be in two weeks. The contest is open to fifth and sixth graders, and the top prize is fifty dollars. Please speak to your teacher if you’d like to participate.
“I am confident that I could excel in that contest,” Wilson thought to himself. Determined to participate in the competition, he rushed to his teacher’s desk and told her that he wanted to enter that math contest.
Ms. Jones looked up from her papers and said, “That’s wonderful, Wilson, but I’m afraid that this contest is for fifth and sixth graders only. Besides, our class has not yet covered some of the topics that will be tested.”
Wilson was not ready to give up. He knew he had a natural talent for math. “But you know that I’m good at math!” Wilson protested. “I do math problems with my brother all the time - and he’s in sixth grade! I think I could do really well!”
“You are a very good math student, Wilson, but rules are rules. I’m sure that you can enter next year.”
Wilson came home frustrated and disappointed, stormed upstairs without saying a word to his mother, and slammed the door to his room shut. His mother quickly appeared at his door, knocked, and came in. “Dear, did something happen today?” She was concerned.
Wilson was quiet for a minute, then it all came out. In a burst of emotion, he told his mom about the contest, how excited he was to enter, and how angry he felt when his teacher told him that he wouldn’t be allowed to do so this year. “It’s just not fair, Mom,” he complained. “I know I could really do well on it. Why won’t they let me?”
Wilson’s mother put her hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes, son,” she said softly, “people follow rules even when they don’t make sense. Perhaps you can persuade your teacher to make an exception for you.”
Wilson perked up: he had an idea.
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, Wilson went straight to Ms. Jones’ office.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Forty minutes later, he finished Ms. Jones’ test and handed it to her.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Peter was a cheerful and warm-hearted person who was always ready to help others. When he was in college, he got along well with his classmates. After graduating from college, he hunted for jobs several times, but he failed. So he was a little unhappy during the period of time.
One day, when he was surfing the Internet, an advertisement came into his sight. He read the advertisement carefully, which was recruitment (招聘) information. To his delight, the position was in line with his major he studied in the university. The conditions and the pay the company offered were so attractive that Peter decided to have a try. Following the tips provided online, Peter went to the company. There were so many people waiting on the first floor of the building. What Peter didn’t expect was that the company was scheduled to hire not so many employees, but hundreds of applicants were there. Peter was a little worried.
At last, Peter filled out the form as required as many applicants did. A staff of the company told all the applicants to wait for their turns to attend the interview. They waited there excitedly and anxiously, wondering what on earth the interview was! At the moment, a man rushed toward them and said he had something urgent to do. Seeing as if it was going to rain, he could not find enough workers to unload the goods. He asked the group of people to help him. Hearing what the man said, some applicants thought that they should help the man. However, some thought they had something more important to do and they couldn’t spare time.
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。
Peter stood there, considering whether to give a helping hand or not.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When they were wiping the sweat off their faces, the man came up toward them.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I lost all my hair at age 2 due to alopecia (脱发). Though all I can do was fit in when growing up, I would look at all the beautiful girls I was surrounded by at schools and in the media and think if I had hair, I would be beautiful, too.
I wore a wig (假发) and was often laughed at for it. They called me “bald (光秃的)”. I had no choice but just to let them laugh at me, because I know it was the fact. I felt like I deserved it, as if losing my hair was somehow my fault.
When I came to the senior high school, I still wasn’t okay with my alopecia and avoided talking about it. I was expecting a huge change, and I extremely wanted to be like everyone else. I kept my alopecia a secret and was fearful of telling anyone about it.
I remembered one day I built up the courage to tell a girl about my alopecia. Hesitating for a long time, I finally stammered (结结巴巴地说), “I have no hair because of alopecia.” She was shocked because I hid it so well. “I can’t have a date with someone who doesn’t have hair,” she said in a low voice. Disappointed and heart-broken, I turned around and walked away. From then on, I shut down, never wanting to let anyone know my alopecia again. I continued to wear my wig no matter what the weather was and what I was doing. It was my security and way to hide from the world.
Sports became my escape, though. I was fortunate to have inborn athletic ability. I would race home and play basketball for hours every day. I would pretend to make the game-winning shot when I was playing. I had big dreams. I did not think about my alopecia during these moments, but think who I wanted to become and what I wanted to accomplish.
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 put all my time and energy into becoming the best player I could be.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then a marathon totally changed my life.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
