Lilly paused, her plans — going climbing momentarily forgotten, as she watched the older woman’s wheels stuck in the railroad tracks. The woman, with a mixture of frustration and determination across her face, pushed against the stubborn wheels, trying to free herself.
Without hesitation, Lilly approached her. “Do you need some help?” she asked, her voice gentle yet clear.
The woman looked up, surprised and slightly embarrassed. “Oh, dear, I thought I could manage, but these tracks are more of a challenge than I expected,” she admitted.
Lilly smiled. “Let me help you,” she offered, placing her bag on the ground before grasping the handles of the wheelchair. With a joint effort, they managed to get the wheelchair back on solid ground.
“Thank you, young lady. I’m Martha,” the woman introduced herself.
“I’m Lilly. It’s nice to meet you. Martha. Are you heading somewhere nearby?” Lilly asked, curious about the woman’s journey.
“Yes, just across the street to the park. My granddaughter is playing in the school band there. It’s their first public performance, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Martha explained, her voice filled with pride.
Lilly glanced at her watch, realizing her own plans could wait. “Would you like me to walk with you to the park? It’s no trouble.” she offered.
Martha’s face lit up with a grateful smile. “I would appreciate that very much. Lilly.”
As they made their way to the park, Lilly learned that Martha had been a music teacher for most of her life, instilling(灌输) a love of music in countless children, including her own granddaughter. Lilly found herself absorbed in Martha’s stories of past concerts, and the joy that music brought to her life.
Upon reaching the park, they found a spot where Martha could have a clear view of the stage. The air was filled with the excitement of parents, friends, and locals, who gathered to support the young musicians.
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。
“Would you like to stay and listen to the performance?” Martha asked Lily.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the concert drew to a close, Martha opened her eyes and turned to Lilly.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a particularly dark and stormy night, with the fierce wind shook the windows wildly, as if some unseen force was beating them from outside. The clouds had gathered in a dense mass, blocking out the moon and the stars. Contrasting dramatically with the outside, the air in the house was filled with joy and warmth as family members gathered together, all eagerly anticipating the festival. The children were laughing and playing, chasing each other around the living room. Their laughter and chatter filled the air, creating a lively and festive atmosphere. The adults who sat around the dining table, sharing stories, were infected by their energy, finding themselves wearing smiles all the tire. It was New Year’s Eve and our annual party is in full swing.
Unexpectedly, our hearts skipped a beat as loud explosions echoed through the night, sending shivers down our spines. We rushed to the windows, hearts pounding, and looked out into the hills, where a terrifying sight awaited us. The electrical transformers (变压器) were now erupting in a chaotic display of sparks and flames. One by one, the lights in the surrounding areas began to flicker and fade. The darkness swallowed up the hills and just in a minute only a few scattered lights remained, twinkling weakly in the distance. And then, without warning, came a deafening explosion, and our own house went dark too.
I quickly gathered all the candles we had and lit them, casting a soft glow that transformed the room into a cozy atmosphere. However, we faced a challenge. With fifteen people gathering around. we still needed to prepare dinner. How could we possibly cook without electricity? The question hung in the air, but we knew we had to find a way to make the most of our situation and ensure everyone had a memorable New Year’s Eve.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
The barbecue!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the clock ticked closer to midnight, the excitement in the air reached a feverish pitch.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A woman remarried a man from Mexico. She already had a 16-year-old daughter named Bethany, while her husband had a 14-year-old daughter named Maria. Maria and Bethany had been in each other’s lives since they were children. Their relationship as stepsisters was good until recently.
The entire family was busy planning Maria’s Quinceanera (成人礼). The woman’s husband and his ex-wife joined forces to get her a beautiful dress to celebrate the occasion. In total, the dress cost $3,000.
Bethany made it clear that she was jealous (嫉妒的) of the party. Her mom had to make her understand that in Mexican culture, a Quinceanera was a great deal, just like how she had a sweet sixteen party. However, Bethany kept comparing her party to that of Maria’s. It was a massive issue for her, and it reflected in the way she behaved around everyone at home.
Knowing how it made Bethany feel, the mom tried to spend more time with her daughter to assure her that she wasn’t being disregarded. They even got her a lovely dress for the Quinceanera, but much cheaper than Maria’s dress.
Two weeks before the big day, Maria and Bethany got into an argument regarding the TV. Bethany retaliated (报复) against her stepsister by tearing off the back part of her Quinceanera dress. After finding out what Bethany did, everyone was angry. The mom couldn’t believe what her daughter did and quickly gave her husband and his ex-wife money to get a new dress.
The mom told Bethany that she needed to get a job to pay back the total price of the dress. It was her punishment for such an unreasonable act against her stepsister. However, Bethany claimed her mom was unfair by choosing Maria over her. This made the mom question whether she was in the wrong for giving her daughter no choice but to find a job. She wrote about the story online, hoping to get opinions from others on whether what she did was wrong.
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。
To her surprise, she got everybody’s support.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, the mom was determined to teach her 16-year-old a lesson.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We had a nice and laid-back Saturday. We took the kids to the park having a great time during the day and we ordered pizza for dinner. After I got the kids into bed, I went to the kitchen to get a drink for myself. That was when I unintendedly looked out of the window to our neighbor’s house across the street. To my surprise, it was completely dark.
Our neighbor was an older woman, Mrs. Biddle. She was the kind of woman who kept to herself. She lived in a big house by herself and rarely left except to go grocery shopping. Her son would visit from time to time. Although I had attempted to get close to her, all my efforts to be neighborly toward her failed. I tried to strike up conversations, but she would cut me short. Oftentimes, if she saw me walking to her house, it was obvious from the expression on her face that she didn’t want to be bothered. She would hurry inside to avoid me.
Now looking at her house, I thought it was odd that all her lights were off. Mrs. Biddle never went out at night. As a matter of fact, she was a night owl like me, with her lights usually burning way past midnight. That’s when it hit me: I had to go over to her house. I knew something must be wrong.
Concerned about her safety, I walked across the street and rang her doorbell several times. There was no answer. With a growing desire, I tried peeking through her window, but her curtains were drawn. I went back to her door to ring the bell again when I heard something stir inside. “Mrs. Biddle?” I called out loudly. Then I heard a small voice. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I knew it was Mrs. Biddle, and she needed 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。
Running back to my house, I told my husband, Harold, what had happened.
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The next day, we went to the hospital to visit Mrs. Biddle again.
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内容提示：1. What can you see in the picture?
2. Who do you think is right?
要求：(1)短文须包括所有提示的内容，可适当发挥。
(2)短文中不要出现真实的地名、校名和人名。
(3)词数80个左右。(开头已给出，不计入总词数)
As is vividly shown in the picture, it illustrates that two students ...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Go back, Mom!” repeated my six-year-old daughter, June. We had just left the nearby supermarket. When I was wondering whether I had forgotten something, June added, “Someone needs our help!”
As I looked back from the driver’s seat, I saw a homeless man. It was such a cold day, but he wore few clothes. Touched by June’s kindness, I crazily looked for some cash (现金),quickly realizing I didn’t have any.
“I have some cash, Mom!” June replied. She opened her little wallet and pulled out a five-dollar bill. “Oh, good. I’ll pay you back when we get home,” I said. “No, Mom,” she replied, “I want to help him. I don’t want you to pay me back. I want to give him my money.”
I was so proud of June. I looked at my four-year-old daughter, Scarlett, hoping she’d also give some money to show kindness. Knowing my expectation, she said, “But I only have one dollar. I want to buy ice-cream. I haven’t eaten one for weeks. More importantly, why should we be kind to the homeless? Would they be kind to others? I doubt it!’ Not wanting to force her to give away her money, I gave up. I hoped someday she’d naturally change.
As we drove back, I then kept quiet. When we got near the homeless man, I called out, “Excuse me, sir!” He walked towards our car and answered, “Yes, ma’am?” “Here you go, sir,” June handed him her money through the window. “Thank you,” he said, touched. We shared a smile.
As we decided to drive away, we were drawn to a young woman ten meters away. She was trying hard to push her shopping cart (购物推车) to her car. Unluckily, her cart suddenly fell onto the ground. All of the things she had bought were thrown out and onto the ground. She looked so sad.
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, the homeless man rushed towards the woman.
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“Mom, I wanted to give my money to him,” she said, looking up at me.
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Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks (盯着他们).
One day, Ali took Zahra’s shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra’s school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.
Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city. When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.
The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache.
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。
He looked forward and found three boys running ahead of him.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Ali came to life, he was already at home.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the bell rang for the end of the day, I hurried to the school gate where my parents usually waited for me. Looking around, I was surprised to see my new classmate, Rochelle, waving her arms round and making shapes with her fingers to a woman, who did the same in response.
“What are they doing?” I wondered. “Is she her mother and could she be deaf?”
The next morning, when I was memorizing this week’s new words on the playground, I felt a touch on my shoulder. Turning around, I found Rochelle standing shyly behind me. Rochelle only joined our class at the beginning of this week. It must be very hard to start a new school in the middle of the year.
“Shall we test each other?” she asked, pointing to my spelling book.
“Yes, of course,” I responded warmly.
But after we finished going over the new words, I asked the question that had been lingering (萦绕) in my head since yesterday.
“Umm…, what was that hand thing you did with the woman at the school gate yesterday?” I hesitated.
“Signing,” she replied briefly.
“Is it because she’s… deaf?” I asked.
“Yes, both my parents are deaf, so I communicate with them through sign language,” she said coldly.
I should have shut up at the moment, but one of the stupidest remarks slipped off the tongue, “Oh, I’m sorry. So, did your parents need someone to help them look after you when you were a baby?”
“Of course not,” Rochelle got really annoyed. “Why would being deaf mean they can’t look after their children? Being deaf doesn’t mean they’re stupid,” she was almost shouting at me. “In fact, they’re much cleverer than most people I know.”
Before I could apologize, the bell rang and she rushed to the classroom.
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。
After school, I saw Rochelle and her mother gesturing at the gate again.
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When I was at a loss what to do, I saw Rochelle coming over to me.
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The Words of Kindness
Last week, I was shopping in the local supermarket. My 24-year-old daughter happened to be with me as she had just arrived home for a much-needed visit because she was going to work abroad for six months. As we were walking through the aisles (走道) and picking things she needed, we heard a child’s crying that would last more than fifteen minutes. I wanted to walk over to investigate the situation, already picturing the scene in my mind. No doubt, the cries of the young boy could be heard clearly across the store.
My daughter came up to me and said, “Mom! Is that what I sounded like when I was little?”
“Yes, Rach, you sounded just like that,” I replied.
We tried to continue our shopping, but the loud cries made by the boy who was asking his mom for something continued for what felt like no ending. Several more minutes went by, and the boy just wouldn’t stop. I felt it necessary to follow the cries. As I approached the aisle, I could see several people watching us at the other end of the aisle, talking to each other and shaking their heads. They would walk away and then turn around with their carts (购物车) to continue their talks and figure out what was happening.
I arrived at the aisle to find a twenty-something mother standing in the middle of the aisle calmly telling the boy, “No.” She was not going to get whatever the boy wanted. He was holding his mother’s arms, crying, trying to get her to move. His face turned red with tears. He remained seated on the floor and beat at his mom’s legs with his arms while crying at the top of his voice.
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。
I walked over to the mom and touched her arm.
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At that moment, I could see relief wash over her.
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Kenny Matthews was just three when the flat he lived in went up in smoke in 1991. The accident left him with burns to 70% of his body. Despite being very young when he suffered his burns, Kenny can still remember the day of the accident.
He was playing with his toys and watching TV on the floor in the living room while his grandfather was sleeping on the living room couch. All of a sudden, he heard a sudden noise from the window and that was when the window caught fire. He had no idea what caused the window to burst like that, but all he remembered was the apartment filling up with gas and smoke from the fire. He could do nothing but panic (恐慌).
His grandfather, who had been asleep, woke up because of the smoke. He tried to save Kenny’s life, but he couldn’t really do much because he was weak. Picking Kenny up under his arms, he carried him over the window — unfortunately, that’s how Kenny got burnt by the fire.
Kenny and his grandfather were rushed to the hospital. His grandfather, whose arms were badly burned, was hospitalized for a while and then discharged (出院). Kenny went through numerous surgeries over the next few decades, which he described as a very painful journey.
Now, after having been through so much over the years, Kenny’s treatment is finally done. The 36-year-old man has shared online how his burns and scars (伤疤) have affected his life as an adult. “People don’t really care about personality — they just want somebody to look good or attractive physically, and honestly, I don’t fit that description,” Kenny says.
There was a guy who once said to him. “It is hard to feel attracted to someone like you because of your scars and burns.” Kenny understands it’s not their fault. He’s smart enough to know not every person is the same, even though he’s not actively looking for a partner.
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。
Kenny now has 2.4 million followers on the Internet.
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People always ask him how he remains positive.
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