Due to my unhealthy eating habits, I became fatter and fatter after college. My good friend Anoush was a running enthusiast. So he advised me to lose weight by running. I didn’t agree at first until he promised to accompany me to run although he was busy with his work.
Seven years later, I got more serious about running. And I dreamed to participate in Boston Marathon. Anoush encouraged me to realize my dream. He also said he enjoyed running too and wanted to attend the same marathon with me. Every day we spared our time to practise hard and did about 2 marathons a year, during which time Anoush gave me much professional guidance and encouragement. And then one day, both of us qualified for the 2017 Boston Marathon. We were excited but unfortunately, several weeks before the marathon, we had a serious quarrel. Even I swore never to talk with him in the future.
The day came. Anoush and I stood at the starting line. He said, “Good luck! You will certainly finish the marathon.” Hearing his words, I looked at him, saying, “It’s none of your business.”
Then we started running. I had strong mental confidence by using positive self-talk when running distances, which has helped me finish 18 marathons. Soon, I passed Anoush.
But I struggled in the heat starting at mile 16. I felt most of my oxygen went to the muscle in my legs and less in my brain, which made me feel a bit lightheaded and fuzzy (迷迷糊糊的). I continually encouraged myself. “Just get to the finish, run bold, and you will win,” all phrases that I say to myself didn’t work any more.
Gradually I felt out of breath and had to slow down my pace. As I ran down the famous last stretch of the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street, I fell down on the ground with my legs moving like jello (果冻).
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。
Just then, I felt that someone picked me up.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Anoush and I crossed the finish line, the audience at present applauded.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a busy morning and I had several tasks to do before the day became too hot outside. While walking by the side of a busy road, I noticed an old lady, maybe in her 80s standing in danger close to the traffic. Although my mind was occupied, I thought to myself that I should warn her not to stand so close to the traffic rushing by.
When I reached the spot where the old lady was standing, I recognized that she was trying to get attention of passersby who of course were too busy to take note of her. She kept pointing to the middle of the road. When I tried to gently move her back further away from the edge of the busy road, she said that she was standing there because she had dropped her house key in the middle of the road and was unable to open her house without the key. I looked around and no one seemed to be interested in the two of us. I knew I was getting delayed but decided to help.
The traffic was busy on the road with people on two-wheelers and office goers in cars as well as school buses rushing with school children. It was the worst time of the day to cross a busy road without a traffic light.
After asking the old lady to stay at a safe distance, I took a deep breath, stepped onto the road, and waved my hands wildly, expecting not to be hit by the coming vehicles. At first one lane stopped and then I moved further on to the middle of the road, continuing to wave my hand. Just then a school bus was approaching me and I stepped in front of it to stop it. My experience has been that school bus drivers are always considerate of reckless (鲁莽的) pedestrians like me.
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:
The school bus stopped exactly opposite the spot where the key had fallen.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
As I turned to continue my hurried walk, the old lady pulled me by my hand.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was around six years old, we had a neighbor, David, who was restoring an old 40’s Ford in his garage, and I was a curious kid, so I would go across the street and visit him as often as I could.
He was the first person to introduce me to Go-Jo hand soap, which I thought had an unpleasant smell. He and his wife occasionally invited me to have supper with them, and it was there that I would learn about burgers with French dressing. Eventually, he moved away.
A few years ago, I ran into David again. He went to the same restaurant to have breakfast. David retired and still had that 1940 Ford and also a mid-forties truck which he would always drive, one or the other, to breakfast.
David and I enjoyed many conversations about life, cars, and car shows. I remember just a few years ago, he was sitting at a local pizza joint with his daughter, and I sat next to him to have a conversation. I asked, “Where’s your wife?” To which his face went blank, and his daughter told me her mom had passed away. At that moment, my heart ached because, after having lost my wife, I knew that pain all too well. From then on, I noticed when David came to breakfast, he had his wife’s dog with him. Yep, he had that dog with him always. Even at car shows, they had a close bond which I understood.
I looked forward to car show season. When I saw him at the shows, it always put an emotional tear in my eye watching him and that dog. I wanted to get a picture of him and his dog, but I was always in a hurry and kept saying I would get it at the next show. However, with COVID-19 and all the fear out, car shows were getting canceled, and David wasn’t at breakfast much anymore because he didn’t want to catch it.
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:
About a week ago, when going to pick up my breakfast, I asked my waitress Tanya “Have you seen David lately?”
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David’s death has really reminded me to the meaning of life.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Richie and her husband, Pooh, decided on visiting Cape Cod, a beautiful sea town, which is about three hours drive from the city of Boston. Their daughter who then lived in Salem close to Boston insisted that she would pick them up. But they were confident of their sense of direction and not wanting to trouble her, so they refused her offer. They decided to take their journey in their own car and started early in the morning.
After a three-hour drive, they arrived in Cape Cod and started their new discovery with a road map of the town and its suburbs. Since there were many places to see, it took them the whole day to finish their sightseeing.
Now, they were visiting a suburb with shops selling handmade items. Richie was most interested in shopping, while Pooh warned her to finish before it started getting dark. They were so absorbed in their shopping that they forgot about the time until the shops began to close.
They took the same route back. Pooh had a very good memory and a keen sense of direction and so Richie just blindly followed him, without knowing where they were heading to. Soon they found themselves just going round in a maze, realizing they got lost on the way.
They had to stop the car, referred to their map, and started again. After some time, they realized it was no use trying and finding their way back. Their mobile phones had been dead for hours, and it was impossible to contact their daughter. Having no other option, they decided to ask someone for help, but being a Sunday, the roads were empty, with no people walking around or cars passing by. They were getting worried and terrified with each passing minute. The darkness and panic filled Richie’s head with horrible thoughts “Would they be robbed or attacked?” After hours of waiting silently in the darkness, they decided to try 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。
Paragraph 1:
Pooh turned the key and tried to start the car, but it wouldn’t move.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
On the edge of despair, they heard the whistle of a car.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________内容包括：
1. 度假方式；
2. 你的观点。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The best ways of spending a vacation
Last week, the school English newspaper interviewed 200 students to find out their ways of spending a vacation.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My wife and I live in an apartment. Because of the circumstances, we allow our elderly widowed (丧偶的) neighbour Mary to use our Wi-Fi connection. We’ve always gotten along really well with Mary, and her kids and grandkids live on the other side of the country because of work or other pursuits, so we’ve become a sort of “apartment family” together.
My wife just bought a new phone after her old phone crashed. After getting her new phone connected to the Internet, I went into our account to remove her old phone. When I saw the list of connected devices, there were four devices I didn’t recognize. I immediately changed the password to our connection and removed all of the devices except my own computer.
My wife and I got our devices set up, and since Mary was out shopping, we set a reminder to go over and help her reconnect when she got home. About ten minutes after I changed the password, I started hearing a lot of banging and shouting from the hallway. I opened the door and saw the man who lived across the hall from Mary pounding on her door.
I told him Mary was out right now. Then he said, “My kids were surfing online, and Mary’s Internet just went out. I’m trying to get it fixed before my kids throw an even bigger tantrum (发脾气).” I was surprised, “What do you mean, Mary’s Internet?” He replied, “She said I could use her Internet when my kids come over.”
“Mary doesn’t have her own Wi-Fi.”
“Sure, she does. I saw her password for it when I dropped off her mail yesterday.”
I knew that was not true. Mary didn’t ask him to collect her mail because if it was big enough that she couldn’t carry it up herself, she would have asked my wife or me to help her. That was mail theft. Finally, Mary didn’t have her own Wi-Fi; she used our Wi-Fi. And since my wife and I did not give him permission, and Mary would never give him permission without our permission. He was stealing our Wi-Fi.
I told him I’d be going to the building manager on Monday to let him know about all this.
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 man screamed at me.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The building manager thanked me for the information.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jack and Emma were best friends who shared a deep love for cycling. Jack was a freewheeling and fearless biker, while Emma was more cautious and methodical. This difference in their personalities often led to arguments, but they always managed to resolve their differences and come out stronger than ever.
One sunny afternoon, Jack suggested they go for a bike ride to explore the newly opened dirt track in the woods. Emma, who was still doubtful about the unknown path, tried to talk Jack out of it, but he was determined. Finally, she agreed to go along, hoping that nothing would go wrong. As they cycled along the dirt track, the landscape was filled with fallen trees and holes. Jack, who was in front, ignored the obstacles (障碍) and continued on his way. Emma, following behind, tried to avoid the obstacles but hit a slippery log and fell off her bike. Emma’s left knee was injured.
Emma was annoyed. She blamed Jack for not being more careful and accused him of putting them in danger. Jack felt guilty and apologized, but Emma was too upset to listen. She stormed off on foot, leaving Jack alone with her bike.
Jack stayed behind to repair Emma’s bike so they could continue their ride. When Emma returned, she found him patiently repairing her bicycle. His face was filled with concentration and care, and even though he didn’t say anything, his actions had expressed his intentions. Emma was moved and realized that Jack didn’t intentionally hurt her and there shouldn’t be any conflict between them.
That evening, both Jack and Emma couldn’t shake the feeling of discomfort in their hearts. They missed each other’s company. Both knew that they needed to talk about what had happened but neither wanted to be the first to initiate the conversation.
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。
Finally, Jack couldn’t bear the thought of losing his best friend.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next day they met at the riverbank, both feeling nervous.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the warm summer sun shone down on us, my dad and I stood in front of our house. “Would you like to go see Rhys and take him for ice cream?” my dad asked. I froze on the spot. I love my younger brother dearly, but it had been well over a year and a half since I had been in public with Rhys. The thought made me feel anxious.
Rhys is 14 and severely cognitively impaired (认知能力受损的). He was diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation (突变) at birth. When I was young, I accompanied my mom or dad to pick him up from his new long-term care home at the end of our busy weekends to spend some time with him, normally at our home.
After picking Rhys up and taking the short car trip, we arrived at the ice cream store. I held onto Rhys in his chair while Dad placed our order. Rhys loves to grab things. He grabbed a woman walking by. I apologized immediately, full of embarrassment.
After getting our ice cream, we sat outside. At this point, I was upset and just wanted to go home. Dad could tell that I was upset. He silently understood and let me be. But then I saw a father and a daughter walking along the road toward the ice cream store. The girl’s movements seemed strangely familiar. I noticed she was excited, behaving similarly to Rhys.
Watching those two changed my thinking completely. I realized I wasn’t the only one in this situation: out in public with a family member with special needs. I smiled as I watched the father and the daughter just enjoying their day and not focusing on what others’ thought. They acted just like every other “typical” family. It occurred to me that I shouldn’t let what others think about Rhys ruin our time together. My days of being embarrassed by his actions had to come to an end.
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 grabbed some ice cream with a spoon and playfully held it in front of Rhys.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing Rhys’s smiling face, I decided to take Rhys out more often.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One day, my parents told us that they had to work in the evening and could not come home to cook for us. My three little sisters looked at me and asked, “What’s for dinner?”
I was in middle school then, but I had three mouths to feed—ages two, six and nine. I was really short on ideas. Like a corned animal, I searched for a possible answer.
“Where’s the spinning (旋转的) game board?”
“Not spinning game board,” Abby, my oldest sister, protested, “We need food.”
I walked to the closet, pulled out the game board and tested the spinner. Then I divided it into four areas and fixed a couple of sheets of paper between the plastic arrow and the cardboard base. I looked at my sisters.
“Who wants chocolate?” I asked.
Alice, my youngest sister, screamed happily. Abby crossed her arms and said. “Mum wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Mum’s not here.” I said and wrote “chocolate” in the upper right area.
Andy, my middle sister, asked. “What are you doing?”
“You’ll see in a second.” I pointed at the second area. “How about noodles?”
Andy started dancing around in circles.
My youngest sister said, “Dress up like superheroes.”
“Absolutely!” I put her request down in the third blank area, without thinking about how that would be turned into dinner, hoping the arrow would land somewhere else. We debated the final section for a few seconds and then collectively decided on pizza for the last blank.
I set the board in the middle of the table. We gathered around the table. and I said. “We are going to spin it once, and whatever we land on that’s what we’ll do tonight.”
Abby shook her head. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“It’s okay. Mum will understand,” I comforted her.
Alice yelled, “I want to spin it.”
Alice’s try sent the little plastic arrow flying around and around until it landed on... pizza. Everyone shouted, “Pizza!”, including Abby. I still had no idea what we were going to do. Abby looked at me and asked, “But what are we going to do?”
“Let’s buy some materials for making pizza first.” I said.
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 found a basket and ran off to the grocery store.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We were really excited about preparing pizza by ourselves.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The school’s annual Animal Day performance is coming. How much happiness will it bring to the teachers and students? Jamie wandered. As a lively and humorous student, Jamie often makes his classmates burst into laughter with his humor, sometimes even in class. But now, he sat in his English class, mindlessly doodling (涂鸦) on his notebook, when suddenly a notice came from the loudspeaker of the classroom.
“Jamie Turner, please report to the head master’s office immediately.”
Jamie’s heart sank, not knowing what it was for. When he reached the headmaster’s office he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. But what he found was far beyond his expectations. The headmaster, Mr. Harrison was wearing a giant yellow chicken hat on his head. The hat had red combs, white feathers, and wings that covered his ears. Jamie’s mouth fell open at the sight, too shocked to speak.
Mr. Harrison glanced at Jamie over his reading glasses, “I’ve called you here because we’ve been having some complaints about your behavior.”
“Complaints?” Jamie repeated, trying to keep his voice steady.
“Yes,” he said, nodding seriously. “You’ve been…too funny.”
He leaned forward, “You see, we’re getting reports from your classmates that you’re constantly making them laugh in class. They can’t focus on learning.”
Jamie’s jaw dropped further. Was that really the reason he was called to the headmaster’s office?
The principal continued, his tone serious “Now, we take our education very seriously here, and while we appreciate a good sense of humor, we have to draw the line somewhere. We cannot have students spoiling the learning environment with their…their humor. Well, just …just make sure you keep your jokes to a minimum during class time, okay?”
Jamie nodded promising he would try to be less funny in class. “Um, Mr. Harrison, why are you wearing a chicken hat?” Jamie asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Mr. Harrison told Jamie that he would play the part of a chicken at the school’s Animal Day performance. Jamie grinned, imagining the sight of his normally serious principal acting like a chicken.
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。
Then Mr. Harrison said to Jamie mysteriously, “I have a great idea.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________He stood up and thanked Mr. Harrison for giving him the opportunity to perform.
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