As a senior editor in a famous press, I always think of days twenty years before when I was 18, I lived with my grandparents, and my parents earned their living in another city, struggling to support our family. I had taken to delivering newspapers to support myself and my education.
I would be up every morning by 5 am and walk five kilometres from where I lived to the newspaper office. By 6 am, I would collect 50 copies which must have weighed over five kilograms. My delivery range spanned (横跨) three kilometres. After distributing the copies, I would rush home—another three kilometres away—cook my breakfast, and be off to my school.
One Friday morning, I got home after my deliveries, finding Afzal, a boy from the neighbourhood, at my doorstep. Afzal said his mother wanted to see me. When I asked him why, Afzal said, “She will tell you.” Tired after walking around for over 11 kilometres, I was looking forward to breakfast and some rest. I assumed his mother wished to subscribe (定期订购) to the newspaper, so I followed him to his home nearby.
A woman in her 40s opened the door. I later learned she was Afzal’s mother, Mrs Kader. She asked me to sit, pulled up her chair next to mine and gently asked, “Tell me about your routine, right from the time you wake up in the morning.” I wasn’t quite sure why she wanted to know, but I told her about my morning job in a few words. She asked me, “How many miles do you walk every day?” I replied, “A little more than 11 kilometres.” My reply shocked her.
Then she patted my back and went inside, reappearing carrying a large plate full of food for breakfast for me. It was a heart y breakfast, one that brought back memories of happy days spent with my parents. Later, as I was about to leave after thanking them, Mrs Kader asked me to wait and she went inside 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。
Then Mrs Kader appeared again, with a new bicycle.
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I bowed to Mrs Kader gratefully and left for school.
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It was April 5th, a lovely spring morning. The air was fresh. The trees were green and the birds were singing happily. Police officer Tidwell left the station just after 8 a.m. on such a beautiful morning. He had spent a boring night on duty and was looking forward to his day of rest. By habit he took a short-cut down the path behind Dugby Hall road. It was quiet at this time of a day. Tidwell walked slowly, enjoying the fresh morning air. But after a minute or two he saw a man climbing down a drainpipe (雨水管) from an open bedroom window of Number 29. In silence, Tidwell crept into the garden. Tidwell watched for a while and waited for the man to climb down slowly off the wall. The man reached the ground and was dusting himself down when he felt his arm caught.
“It’s 8:15 on a Sunday morning,” said the officer, “and this sort of thing seems an unlikely adventure at such a time. Would you mind explaining?” Tidwell spoke with a serious voice of a police officer, holding the man tightly at the same time.
The man was obviously scared. He struggled for a while and then said, “I know what you are thinking, officer, but it isn’t true. This is a funny mistake.”
Tidwell did not believe his words at all but he said to the man, “It’s part of my job to take an interest in unusual events. I think you’ve just left this house in a manner other than the customary one. That may be quite innocent, but I’d like to make sure.” Tidwell took out his notebook and a pen. “Name, address and occupation and then, please, tell me your story...”
“Charlie Crane, lorry driver, from Nottingham, 51 Breton Street. My story…”
“Yes. What were you doing like a fly on that wall, Mr. Crane?”
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。
Paragraph1:
The man explained that he had a breakdown yesterday and had to stay the night here.
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Paragraph2:
“Mr. Crane, what are you doing here?” A woman’s voice came behind them suddenly.
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3 . Mental Health Crisis Among Teens Demands a New Approach
Since the CDC released its survey results last month showing alarmingly high rates of sadness and depressive thoughts among teens, fingers have been pointed from two sides at the causes of this crisis.
According to the CDC’s findings, more than one in five of the 17,000 high school students surveyed reported mental breakdown. Their rates of sadness and hopelessness are the highest in a decade, reflecting an increasing trend exacerbated by society’s isolation(隔离)and stress.
Parents as well as teachers and others who have direct contact with children must accept this preventive approach. It is crucial that they not be afraid to ask direct questions about depressive thoughts.
| A．And they should resist the false idea that raising a question creates a risk that was not there before. |
| B．This means that we must put aside our disagreements and approach this issue as a matter of life and death. |
| C．Some have argued that the climate issue has created an existential threat and accompanying anxiety. |
| D．Hospitalization may also be appropriate when the person in question shows an immediate danger to themselves. |
| E．At the macro(宏观的)level, our country can do so much more to help people struggling with mental health problems and their families. |
| F．It’s time to stop blaming and turn our attention to this generation of struggling teenagers. |
| G．It’s time for those who have the power to amplify(放大)their voices and drive change to focus on helping teenagers and families access the help they need. |
My baby Reese started screaming as we watched my eight-year-old kick and hit while he was tested for his longing-for black belt. I struggled to hold him in my arms as we pushed our way through the crowd to the side of the taekwondo (跆拳道) studio.
I looked up, and that’s when I saw it. There was a woman on a flyer with a bright white smile surrounded by her daughters. “OUR MOM NEEDS A KIDNEY (肾脏),” it said above the photo. “My name is Vonchelle Knight, and I have kidney disease. I am a single mother of two girls and have been on the transplant waitlist for eight years,” it said below.
As I continued to read, I was attracted. My eyes couldn’t get to the next word fast enough. My eyes were filled with tears as I thought about how desperately this mother needed a kidney. And that’s when I felt deep in my gut, “It’s me. I’m going to be her donor.” In the middle of that busy taekwondo studio, I was called on to donate my kidney to a woman whom I had never met.
The drive home was not a typical Saturday kind of drive home. I trembled at the thought of speaking aloud what I was so convinced of just moments before. I glanced over at my husband who was driving.
“Hey, babe?” I asked nervously. “I need to tell you something.”
He looked at me, unsure and a little afraid of what might come out of my mouth next. After all, I do like to keep him on his toes. “Yeah, what is it?” he asked intently.
“I think I want to donate my kidney to a stranger.”
I thought he might drive right off the road. By the look on his face, he clearly thought I had lost my mind, I was a busy mom of two boys, working a full-time job as a sales account manage.
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。
My husband stood firm against my ridiculous (荒谬的) idea.
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I decided to donate my kidney to Vonchelle and persuaded my husband.
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Mary Lee seemed to have everything. She was very beautiful with a wonderful figure and an attractive face. She was very rich. Her clothes were better than anyone else’s and she had more of them. Her books were always new and expensive as were her pens, school bags and bicycle. She was very clever too and without appearing to do very much work. She was always the first in all the examinations and always answered all the questions, while the rest of the class were still thinking.
With all this, or really because of all this, no one liked Mary Lee. She was too good, too clever and she was also very proud. No one was quite good enough to talk to her or to be seen with her or to be her friend. And so, with all her proud ways and riches and brains, she was lonely but she did not care because she was always the best in everything. She was like a princess in the class. She always thought that the other students kept their distance from her because she was too excellent. “Lions and tigers are always lonely, and only the weak get together,” she told herself.
As the end of term drew near, the pupils including Mary Lee began to think about the most important prize of all. This was the prize, offered by the principal, for the best essay to be written on one of two subjects: Happiness and Friendship. All the teachers and pupils paid close attention to the prize, for it was really a great honor. “I needn’t worry about that,” thought Mary Lee, as the others began to read and to think about the essay. “I shall easily win. After all, my compositions are always better than the other students’.”
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。
“Pride goes before a fall,” they say and it certainly did in the case of poor Mary Lee.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mary Lee suddenly realized that how silly she had been.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I loved school, and I really did. But since May came in, it had become an uncomfortable place. May was the tallest kid in our fifth grade class. However, her height wasn’t a problem-her attitude was. No part of the student population was beyond the reach of May’s threats.
Many students thought that May was all bark and no bite. But I wasn’t so sure. I had managed to keep away from her. But all that changed when I showed up for school one morning with a new hairstyle. Apparently, by wearing my hair in a French braid (辫), I had managed to change my fate.
It all started when my best friend, Jaime, said my hair looked nice. I noticed May’s cold glare and it made me uncomfortable-but I remained focused on my math worksheet. Then came May’s frightening words as she passed me in the cafeteria: “Nice braid. Somebody might cut it off.”
I was scared, especially when May moved her fingers like a pair of scissors. My stomach dropped to my knees, and I immediately came up with a plan, which included hiding out in the bathroom at the end of the school day so as to avoid running into May on the walk home.
I told the crisis (危机) to my mother the next morning. She said to me, “She tries to make others scared, that’s all. Don’t be afraid of her. If she can see that you’re not afraid, she will stop. I’ll bet she’s like everybody else-she just wants to fit in and make friends. Perhaps she just doesn’t know how.”
I thought over my mother’s words. They were reasonable. May wasn’t so great at making friends. Maybe-just maybe-under all that toughness was a regular fifth grader who simply wanted to be liked. Did I have what it would take to befriend May? I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to find 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。
After lunch, I invited May to come to my house after school.
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May and I became pretty good friends.
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（1） 上学路上，我碰到一起交通事故，送被摩托车撞伤的男孩去医院；
（2） 经过紧急处理，男孩恢复知觉；
（3） 听说只受了轻微骨折，不久就能出院，我才松了口气；
（4） 未留姓名离开，体会到“助人是快乐之本”这一谚语的真实含义。
参考词汇：come to苏醒；emergency treatment急救；minor bone fractures轻微骨折；feel at ease松了口气
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Ethan Katicie of Edmonton, Canada, has always dreamed of-becoming a firefighter. Recently, the 18-year-old got a taste of what it really feels like to save lives!
It all started when Ethan’s two friends. Ryken Glew and Jackson Brown who called up Ethan and decided to play basketball that day, were heading to a local basketball court. They looked up and saw smoke pouring from the Citadel Mews West Nursing Home.
Instead of simply looking at the disaster-in-progress taking pictures or recording videos, the teens, who are both 17. rushed to the home to see if they could help.
“We knew that the, elderly people were going to struggle to get out,” Jackson said.
The brave teens met the staff members at the entrance who told them that there were still residents inside the building. Learning this, they didn’t hesitate to go in after them. Thinking nothing of their own safety, they ran up to the fourth floor and began to systematically empty the rooms.
“We banged on the door, shouting aloud, ‘There’s a fire! There’s a fire! Everyone needs to get out quickly,’” Jackson recalled. “After that we would open the door and take a quick look through to make sure no one was there and go to the next door.”
Smoke began to fill the hallways, and the roof was soon fully engulfed（淹没）in flames. At times, they would open a door to find a room on fire, but they were so focused on rescuing everyone that they didn’t have time to be afraid. Ryken said they only wanted to get people out “as calmly as possible” and make sure they knocked on every door. “We did our best and that was all we could do,” he said.
Jackson added. “The only thing that was going through my mind was what if I missed someone and they were stuck in the burning 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。
Ethan arrived at the scene shortly after his friends did.
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Richard Belley is one person who is so grateful to the teens for their heroism.
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9 . For humans, ignorance (无知) is inevitable (不可避免的) : It's our natural state. There's too much complexity in the world for any individual to master. Ignorance can be frustrating, but the problem is not ignorance itself.
According to David Dunning, ignorant people don't know how ignorant they are. If you give a group of people a task to do and then ask them how well they think they've done on the task. Poor performers overestimate how well they've done; strong performers often underestimate their performance: This is because those who lack skills also lack the knowledge of what skills they're missing.
Our ignorance, in general, shapes our lives in ways we do not know about. Put simply, people tend to do what they know and fail to do what they don't know.
This is a fact of life.
| A．Ignorance means you have neither. |
| B．So they think they're pretty good. |
| C．It’s the trouble we get into by not recognizing it. |
| D．But ignorance has costs. |
| E．It's knowledge of possibilities that makes us miss them. |
| F．We can't choose what we don't know about. |
| G．In that way, ignorance channels the course we take in life. |
