Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night, I took a fare (出租车乘客) at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, sanding on the sideway was a small woman in her 80swith a big suitcase.
After I helped her into the taxi, she gave me an address and asked, “Could you drive through downtown?” “It is not the shortest way,” I answered quickly. “I don’t mind,” She said, “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice (临终安养院).” I looked in the rear-view mirror (后视镜). Her eyes were wet. I quietly reached over and shut off the meter (计价器). “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newly married. She had me stop in front of a shabby house where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she asked me to slow in front of a particular building and sat staring into the darkness, saying nothing. At last, she said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the destination. It was a grey low building.
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。
“How much do I owe you?”she asked, reaching into her purse.
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I said goodbye to her.
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I was confident at the tryout for the school play and felt pleased to gel a role. It just felt good to be in the play, even if I had only four or five lines. I worked hard at perfecting those lines. I repeated them over and over again. I put in the emphases and tone that my drama teacher had suggested and, because I was on stage much longer than for just four or five lines, I had many actions to rehearse (排练) and perform. “Do them in front of a mirror,” my drama teacher had advised me. “Watch how you look; practice and rehearse as often as you can.” I did just that. I worked and worked at it. It was fun and exciting to rehearse.
Then finally the big night came. Suddenly, things felt different. The theater was full of people. As I dressed, I could hear the chattering and noises of the audience——something that hadn’t been there during rehearsal. I looked around at the other more experienced actors and saw that the confidence they’d shown at rehearsal seemed to have disappeared. Everyone was nervous, anxious, and worried. Had they got their makeup right? Was the costume done up correctly? What if they forgot their lines? The more people talked about their anxiety, the more nervous everyone became. The worries bounced from one person to another—like a baton being passed in a relay race—until the whole of the backstage area seemed to be buzzing with tension (紧张) and worry.
I was on stage early, performing my non-spoken role in the background with several other guys around the same age. When，suddenly, I heard my cue，the lights were bright in my eyes; I couldn’t see the audience but knew there were hundreds of people out there all watching me. The words that had flowed so easily when I stood in front of a mirror in my bedroom didn’t want to come，and when they did I found myself hurrying into them. I tried to slow down my thoughts and my words.
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。
But I suddenly realized I had missed a sentence.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________No one commented on my missed sentence——apart from my drama teacher.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. What does ASO-S mainly do?
| A．Do solar observation. | B．Study Earth’s atmosphere. | C．Make weather forecasting. |
| A．Four years. | B．Forty hours. | C．Seventy years. |
| A．It can block the sun’s radiation. |
| B．It may fill China’s gap in the field. |
| C．It is the first solar satellite globally. |
4 . Bumblebees are vanishing at a rate consistent with widespread extinction, and climate change is playing a big role. The analysis comes from a new study published in the journal Science today.
The authors found that the likelihood of a bumblebee population surviving in any given place within North America and Europe has dropped by an average of 30 percent as temperatures have risen.
Pesticides, habitat loss, and pathogens(病原体) have already hit bumblebee populations hard. The new study, however, is able to isolate the effect that hotter temperatures are having on bumblebees. Sadly, bees are having a hard time adapting to a warming world. “If things continue along the path without any change, then we can really quickly start to see a lot of these species being lost forever,” lead author of the study Peter Soroye tells The Verge.
That’s not just a tragedy for the bees. It’s also bad news for all the plants that they pollinate and for humans who eat the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. “We also lose out on a lot of color on our plates,” Soroye says. “Tomatoes, squash, and berries are just some of the crops we can thank bees for pollinating. Animal pollinators like bees, birds, and butterflies could be responsible for up to 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat,” the US Department of Agriculture says.
For this study, Soroye and colleagues examined data from 1900 to 2015 on 66 species of bumblebees across North America and Europe. They mapped the places bees called home and how their distribution changed over time. They found that bees were vanishing in the areas that had heated up beyond the limit in which the bumblebees had historically been able to survive.
Some bee populations are colonizing new territories that were previously too cold. But those gains are overshadowed by losses in areas where the bees once thrived but are now too hot.
1. What is bumblebees’ main struggle?| A．Habitat loss | B．Climate change | C．Human activities | D．Virus treat |
| A．Humans can barely strive to save bumblebees from extinction. |
| B．Bumblebees will inevitably die out some day. |
| C．Bumblebees serve as a delicacy on our plates. |
| D．Human’s lives are tightly linked to bumblebees’. |
| A．Animal pollinators eat up 1 out of 3 of our food. |
| B．Peter Soroye’s study started from 1900 and lasted 25 years. |
| C．Bumblebees can not be accustomed to the places they used to live in. |
| D．Bumblebees are more used to colder weather. |
| A．The negative effects outweigh the positive ones. | B．No cold areas are left for Bumblebees. |
| C．The losses are beyond estimation. | D．Bumblebees will have a rather bright future. |
Thomas and Christine Noctor have lived and raised their family in the home for three decades. They and their 12-year-old grandson Dean, who lives with them, had most of their personal belongings damaged or destroyed after a fire broke out in Thomas’ home office on Saturday evening.
Ally Noctor was in the home with her mother, father, nephew Dean, and brother James when the incident happened. “My mom has COPD (慢性阻寒性肺病) so I said ‘just get out the back’, and she took the dog out the back,” Ally recalled. “My brother came running down looking for a fire extinguisher (灭火器), and my dad was screaming, ‘Fire !’”
The fire started in the box room It’s Thomas home office. He’d just done it up. It was clearly an electrical fault but no one thought at the time to turn off the electricity. The room started filling with smoke quickly and they had to leave immediately.
The house is located just a short walk away from the fire station. But when neighbors called, the available trucks were already out — so nearly 20 minutes had passed before the fire crew arrived.
Thankfully, they managed to prevent the fire from spreading to the attic (阁楼) or to any more homes in the community.
The family then went back inside the house to investigate what had happened and survey the damage caused. Dean’s gaming PC was melted, toys were melted, and even the shower was melted. All their clothes couldn’t be taken out.
“The downstairs is okay, but there is smoke damage and water damage. And all of the upstairs is completely damaged. My mom is still in shock. She’s just staring into space,” Ally said.
But Ally was quick to praise her community, who were right there to help the Noctors get out of the house the moment they sensed trouble and every one of the family got timely help.
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上作答。
Ally ran out the door without shoes on when escaping.
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The temporary house is OK but New Year may be difficult.
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6 . 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。
When I was in high school a few years ago, I was an energetic and brave teenager. I loved smiling, writing, and doing sports, especially football.
One day, my football teammates and I took part in an important football game. After the game began, the ball was soon kicked in my direction. I received the ball and crossed it twenty feet toward the goal, just in time for my teammate to meet it and hit it right into the net. “Good shot!” everyone shouted. The game started well.
Later, the game became more and more challenging as the other team tied with our team. And in the second half of the game, the score was still one to one until I received the ball with one minute left. I needed to hit the ball into the net, and I had a successful try, making the final score two to one. But in the meantime, a bad thing happened.
In an attempt to block my shot, one player from the other team challenged me in midair. But instead of hitting the ball, his body happened to hit mine, while my teammates shouted cries of victory and horror at the same time.
When I woke up, I found myself lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by my family members, friends and teammates, with a great pain in my right leg. There were also doctors around me, who told me how serious my injuries were. To my surprise, I would have to undergo a very rare operation that had only been performed a limited number of times in the United States, and the success rate is only 50 percent.
After considering for a long time and getting the support of people around me, I decided to have the operation because I knew that no matter which way I chose, there would be many challenges waiting for me. Would I be able to return to school? What effect would it have on my social life, hobby or future? These questions took over my mind. However, only time would provide answers.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
A few days later, I underwent the operation.
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Paragraph 2:
I decided to bravely face my bad luck that I lost control of my right leg.
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William, a highly skilled plumber (水管工) with three decades of experience, was admired by everyone for his outstanding plumbing abilities. However, what many didn’t know was his deep love for music. Ever since he was a young boy, William was passionate about singing. He dreamed of attending a music school and becoming a famous pop singer, just like his idol Willie Nelson. He even dreamed about performing in his own private concerts someday. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when a car accident claimed the lives of both his parents, abruptly ending all his ambitions for the future. As the eldest brother in his family, William had to drop out of school and find a job to support his two younger sisters.
After three decades, William’s passion for singing remained as strong as ever. As he went about his plumbing work, he always carried a little radio with him, belting out tunes and joyfully singing along. The dull tasks of repairs became enjoyable and much more manageable with music in the background. Occasionally, when inspiration struck, he even composed a song or two of his own. In fact, he had setup a small basement studio where he recorded some of these songs, purely for the fun of it.
One day, William received a call from a client, Remus Gall, asking him to help repair the pipes in his kitchen. William accepted the mission readily. Upon arriving at Mr. Gal’s, he was led into the kitchen and began his work. As usual, while doing the repair work, he happily sang along to his small radio. Coincidentally, Remus Gall was a music producer and owner of a small recording company. Remus overheard the plumber singing and immediately realized there was something in William’s voice. He was amazed that an ordinary plumber should have such great talent in singing. After the repair work, Remus got the chance to talk with William and introduced his profession to him.
“You’ve really got a beautiful voice.” Remus said sincerely. “Have you ever thought of releasing an album of your own? If so, I would be more than glad to help you.”
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。
William was greatly shocked by what he heard.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After three months’ hard work, William’s first-ever album finally came out.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In our weekly staff meeting, our editor Ashley was not pleased with the quality of our reporting. “Our readership is way down. We need better stories for this Thursday’s school newspaper. Does anybody have any ideas?” she said.
I handed her my article about our basketball team beating Deerfield High School the previous night by one point. “Sports stories are fun,” she said, “but not good enough for the front page. We need something to really get people ‘s attention.”
After our meeting, we left the newsroom together and heard someone screaming, “Perry is missing!” Perry was a big red parrot and had been our school mascot (吉祥物) for ten years. He played an important role in students’ lives, both in and out of class. He had also been a constant presence at school events, inspiring a sense of unity among students.
Everyone gathered around Perry’s empty cage, heartbroken. Suddenly, a student from the crowd came over and showed me a photo. “You’re a reporter for the school paper, right? I happened to take this yesterday,” he said. In the photo was a Deerfield High School basketball player with something large hidden under his shirt around the size of a parrot.
“He must have stolen Perry to get back at us for winning the game!” Ashley cried. We hurried back to the newsroom, agreeing to run the photo on the front page with the headline “Deerfeld Stole Perry.” “This is just the story we need. Everyone will read it,” Ashley said confidently.
After she left, I took a closer look at the photo. The clock in the background read 4:15 pm, but our game against Deerfield hadn’t started until 4:30 pm. Why would the boy have taken Perry before we even played? An uneasy feeling came over me that we might have falsely accused someone.
I went to Perry’s usual caretaker to ask if he knew Perry was missing. ”He’s not missing. He’s retired. He’s ready for some quieter days,“ he said. Learning the truth, I immediately told Ashley and suggested writing a story to say goodbye to Perry.
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。
To my surprise, Ashley insisted on reporting the “Deerfield Stole Perry” story.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On Thursday, the paper came out with the headline “Bye-Bye, Perry” on the front page.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As Wale Ayeni once said, “Be thankful for what you have. Your life, no matter how bad you think it is, is someone else’s fairy tale (童话). ”
Often, I find myself wishing I was living other people’s lives. I’m sure many of us wish that we could step into a luxurious (豪华的) private plane and fly to a private island. However, I’m also sure that many of us wish to have a bigger house, or wish to be able to work fewer hours.
I’ve seen numerous homeless people on the street and in the subway.
When I was younger, I never understood the reality of their lives. I was just scared of them and walked on the opposite side of the street. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to consider how difficult and painful their lives must be and how much they struggle.
I take the subway home every day after school. One day, when I got off, I noticed a young man on the side of the road holding a sign asking for money. I had seen him a couple of times in that spot, and now I saw the sadness on his face. He looked upset. I immediately looked in my wallet to see if I had cash to give him, but I didn’t.
I finally realized that this guy’s wants are things that come to me so easily every day. He probably never gets to eat three meals in a day. He doesn’t have a home to live in. He doesn’t have a family to spend time with.
I went home and continued to think about that look on his face and knew that I had to bring cash with me the next day to give to him.
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 afternoon, when I got off the subway to walk home, I hoped he would still be there, and he was.
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After that day, I began to reflect on the things I should be grateful for.
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It was time for the annual Potato-Salad Contest in Russet Park. After trying for the third time, Alexis shook her head sadly. There was no way she would win the Golden Potato again because Grandpa wasn’t here this year.
Memories of how Grandpa taught her to make potato rose in her mind. She sighed and missed Grandpa so much.
Alexis cut the potatoes and mixed the boiled potatoes, some sauces and a little salt and peppers in a bowl. But it didn’t taste right. Alexis tried a bite of the salad mixture, wondering what was missing. Seeing her frown, Mom suggested, “What about something spicy? Your Grandpa loved spicy things.”
“You’re right! Maybe he put a jalapeno pepper in it,” Alexis said, cutting up a bright green jalapeno and adding it to the bowl.
It was closer, but it still didn’t taste right. Alexis was drooping her head, disappointed. “Should we look in a cookbook?”
“Grandpa was never one to follow a recipe,” Dad entered the kitchen and said.
It was true. People loved Grandpa’s potato salad because it was one of a kind. Alexis remembered posing with Grandpa for a photo while they were making the salad.
Photo! That gave her an idea. Alexis hurried to the bookcase and found an old photo album. She immediately flipped it open, expecting to find clues in the photos there. Lots of photos showed Grandpa and Grandma cooking together. Dad laughed, “He and Grandma loved to tease each other but he always called her Honey.”
“Do you think he put honey in the potato salad?” Mum asked.
“It is worth a try,” said Alexis. She stirred some honey into the bowl.
But it still wasn’t quite right. Alexis’ heart sank, on the verge of giving up. Dad kept flipping the album. At the end of the album was the picture of Grandpa and Alexis making the salad together.
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。
It looked like Grandpa was crying in the photo.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With hesitation, the family tasted the potato salad with onions in it.
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