Once upon a time, there was a naughty (淘气的) and curious little boy named Jack. Growing up in the city, he had always been fascinated by the countryside and all its wonders. So when his mother decided to take him to visit his grandmother in the village during one summer, Jack was overjoyed.
As soon as they arrived, Jack’s eyes widened with excitement at the sight of the old-fashioned spinning (纺纱) wheel and waterwheel in the yard. But it was the large geese (鹅) in the fenced enclosure that truly seized his attention. Their white feathers, long necks, and distinctive cackles (嘎嘎叫) were unlike anything he had ever seen before.
Eager to explore, Jack approached the fence and reached out to gently tap one of the geese on its head. He laughed at his own playfulness, but little did he know that his actions would have unintended consequences.
The goose, feeling threatened and annoyed, let out a loud squawk and charged towards Jack. Frightened and shocked, Jack moved backwards, tripping over his own feet and falling onto the ground. The goose continued to pursue him, its sharp beak (嘴) coming dangerously close to his face.
Just as the situation seemed terrible, Jack’s grandmother rushed to his rescue. She quickly grabbed a broom and managed to scare the angry goose away, saving Jack from potential harm. Breathless and shaken, Jack sat on the ground, realizing the gravity of his action.
His grandmother sat down beside him and gently explained that animals, even seemingly harmless ones like geese, could attack if they felt threatened. She reminded Jack that it was important to treat all creatures with kindness and respect, regardless of their size or appearance.
Feeling ashamed and regretful, Jack apologized to the goose for his thoughtless behaviour. From that day on, he made a conscious effort to be more mindful of how his action could affect others, both human and animal alike. He learned that true bravery wasn’t about being fearless, but about facing your fears and making amends (补偿) when you were wrong.
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。
As the summer days passed, Jack helped his grandmother tend to the garden and care for the animals.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Years later, as an animal rights activist, Jack often reflected on that decisive summer in the village.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was our first day to explore the city of Jerusalem on our own, without a friend or tour guide leading the way. We had completed a week-long tour and felt confident that we could walk through the ancient streets by ourselves now. Then we suddenly realized that the sky had turned from clear blue to gray.
“It's time to head back!” we said at the same time. As we proceeded along the Hebron road to our apartment, the storm clouds covered the entire sky, and the first raindrops began to hit our heads. “Should we grab a taxi?” I shouted to my husband, the rain being so loud I had to raise my voice. “No, we can make it,” he replied loudly. “It's only a twenty-minute walk, and we will go fast.” As the rain and wind increased, so did our footsteps.
We marched ahead, but it wasn't long before we realized that we had been walking much longer than it should have taken us to arrive home. How in the world did we manage to take a wrong turn? We stopped a moment to say a prayer. It was simple and went something like this, “Please, God, lead us back to our apartment and send us your angels for protection.”
It was still pouring when my husband paused, detecting what appeared to be a pathway off the main road. “I think we should take this path,” he announced. “Here?” I was doubtful. I followed his lead as we made our way through overgrown brush until we entered a slight clearing. Looking out into the darkness from behind the bushes, we realized that we had come to a residential neighbourhood. “Let's just wait a minute,” he said. As we stood under the trees, some headlights appeared. A car pulled up to the roadside just below where we were huddled (挤在一起). Soon, a woman got out of the car.
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 approached her and the woman was noticeably shocked to see such a sight.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Noticing the confused looks on our faces, the woman suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In December, an unseen disease arrived in a village. Ally was one of the victims. She lay, barely moving, in her bed staring at a wall out of the window under her blanket.
The doctor took her father, who was a painter, aside and claimed, “She has one chance in—let us say, ten. And that chance is for her to want to live. Try to encourage her to think more hopeful thoughts, about the future, about living.”
Her father took some paper and a pen into Ally’s room and began a pen drawing, in an attempt to raise Ally’s spirits. Ally’s eyes were open, but they weren’t watching him. Instead, she stared out the window and counted backwards, “Ten, nine, eight, seven…”
“What are you counting, dear?” asked her father. “They’re falling faster now,” replied Ally.
“Three days ago there were almost a hundred. But now there are only five left now. Five leaves on the ivy vine (常春藤). When the last one falls, I must go, too.”
“Oh, I never heard of such nonsense,” quickly replied her father. But Ally’s mind was made up. “I want to see the last one fall. I want to go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves.”
“Try to sleep,” said her father. Ally closed her eyes quietly. Watching her daughter’s pale face, he was lost in deep thought. As a painter, he had never produced a masterpiece he longed to paint in 40 years. As a father, he even couldn’t help her daughter cheer up. Looking out of the window, he noticed that there was just one remaining leaf. What’s more, a cold rain was falling mixed with snow. “Are there people in the world that are foolish to think they’ll die because leaves drop off from an ivy vine? This is not a place in which Ally shall lie sick.” He made up his mind to do something.
The next morning, Ally woke and asked for the curtains to be opened. One leaf remained on the ivy vine, bravely holding on in the wind and rain. “It will fall today. And I will die with it.”
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。
The following day, Ally asked again for the curtains to be opened.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A few weeks later, Ally recovered completely and the secret was revealed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Dad’s Outer-Space Sweater
Grandma knitted Dad a sweater for his birthday. It was PURPLE, the glow-in-the-dark purple! Even crayon purple couldn’t compete. Dad loved it, claiming it was his favorite sweater. But I found it embarrassing as he wore it all the time: walking the dog; shopping for groceries and — worst of all — coming to my school events.
During a visit to our local farm, Dad tore his sleeve on a fence. When I pointed out that it was ripped, he said he would just wear it around the house. The hole got bigger and one night, at dinner, the thread became a table guest. Dad forked it up with spaghetti (通心粉) and lifted it to his mouth.
“Look out, Dad!” I shouted. “You’re about to take a bite of your sweater.”
Dad laughed, put his fork down and sighed, “The sweater might be beyond saving now.”
The next day, Mom and I repurposed the sweater on a Halloween scarecrow and put it in our front yard. When our neighbor dropped by to give us some used tennis balls for our cat, she gave her thumbs-up at our idea. But the sweater got rained on, and leaves stuck to it. Birds pulled the yarn (毛线). Dad finally removed it and was about to throw it away. He stood there long, looking sad. It made me sad too. I thought about the day he got it, the day he tore it, and ail those days he wore it. Then I thought of the day he almost ate 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。
Paragraph 1: And that gave me an idea for the school year’s art show.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: My Spaghetti and Meatballs, Outer-Space Style stood out in the art show.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Look!” I said to my husband, Roger, pointing to the branches. “The doves (鸽子) have built a nest.
On a chilly April day, we watched with horror as a hawk dived down and took one of the doves. By the next morning the other parent was gone too. Roger climbed up a ladder to take a look into the nest. Was it possible the hawk had spared the young? Yes, there sat a newly hatched baby dove! We brought him inside and set up the nesting box with the heat lamps we had used for raising chickens. Then we rushed to the pet shop to buy the formula (配方奶) which needed to look like the mother’s milk. But even with our care and prayers, we knew that the dove’s chances were slim. We were especially worried that our little bird, whom we’d named Hawkeye, hardly cooed (咕咕地叫) at all. That had to be a bad sign.
But to our surprise, Hawkeye not only survived but also thrived. Within a month, he was able to stand on the edge of a bowl and eat out of a baby spoon. And before we knew it, he was eating the seeds we gave him. Having the opportunity to nurture this new life brought me a greater measure of peace with each passing day.
As Hawkeye grew, we noticed that unlike all the other doves in our yard, he had a double breast with a line dividing it. When I did some research on the doves, I found out that females don’t often coo.
“We got it all wrong,” I told Roger. “Hawkeye is a girl!”
We realized that we’d have to teach her to fly. First, we urged her to fly from a finger to the bottom rung (梯子的横档) of a six-foot ladder, and in no time she was moving quickly to the top. She lit out (逃走，溜掉) for the kitchen whenever she heard the click of the spoon on her bowl. By mid-June she’d gained full confidence in her wings.
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: At that time, we knew it was time to set our Hawkeye free.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: But one May morning, Hawkeye and the other dove landed on the rooftop.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I started high school, I was fourteen years old and six foot tall. The scary thing about being so tall when you’re so young is that people automatically teat you as if you’re older. Yes, I was the size of an adult (actually, bigger than most! ) , but I was still just a kid. And acting more like an adult wouldn’t win me any fiends. As a card-carrying Good Boy, I wanted to meet adults’ expectations and get their praise, but as a Regular Kid, I wanted to be like my peers and get their friendship.
I walked into school that first day in my bluejacket and trousers, the school uniform. I noticed some of my old classmates from my junior high, the ones who had turned their backs on me, and we continued our policy of actively ignoring one another. I felt the pain of their betrayal (背叛) , but I forced my face to remain expressionless. I was here to study hard at academics and to work hard at basketball under my new coach, Jack Donahue. I was here to be excellent. Nothing else mattered.
Indeed I was excellent. I made the honor roll in the first semester, pleasing my parents and teachers. Leaming came naturally to me. I loved reading, especially about history and adventure stories like The Three Musketeers. Basketball, however, I had to work at to do well in.
As a freshman, my style of play reflected my personality: politely passive. I had some skills, but I didn’t have an aggressive nature: The good player around me knew how to play rough, use their bodies with authority, and power their way to a rebound (抢篮板球) . I knew I had to toughen up, and I was committed to getting better, but it wasn’t happening fast enough.
One morning, our school team was scheduled to play a game against Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, and Coach Donahue surprised me by taking me into his office. I figured he was going to discuss his disappointment in my progress as a player, maybe even say something about it all being a big mistake.
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, he handed me a team uniform.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________All day, I allowed myself to imagine the game.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Life is a series of unpredictable events. One man, who suffered a severe injury while on the job, underwent a life-changing and first-of-its-kind medical procedure, and the trials and hardships have changed his entire outlook. James, a 46-year-old Arkansas native, was familiar with what it was like to go through such situations and turn into a changed man, both on the inside and the outside.
It was one day in June when James had his entire life changed forever. While on the job, James was attempting to transfer wires to a new electrical pole. However, James’s face touched a live wire, sending more than 7,000 volts of electricity into his body.
The injuries from the incident were deadly. Half of his face was blown off. He was left without his left eye and his nose. Additionally, doctors had to remove part of his arm and several of his teeth. That period was an extremely difficult time for James and his family.
The injury had left him unable to eat solid food. The only way for him to consume food was to sip (吸) soup from a straw. He ended up losing more than 70 pounds.
James, a husband and a father of one kid, often questioned the entire situation. “I got pretty down and went through the whole ‘Why me?’ I broke down, and I cried,” James said.
But then James and his family received a little hope. They learned about the possibility of a face and eye transplant (移植). James met with the professional doctors. They did a thorough examination about James’s situation and considered about the potential risks. Fortunately, James was judged to be a perfect patient for the transplant.
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。
So the surgery was ready.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Days later, he was allowed to look into the mirror．
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was almost New Year’s Eve, and as I made my way home from work, I decided to stop at the neighborhood coffee shop in our town—a town that had previously been busy and wealthy but was now poor and deserted. After parking in a parking lot that was close to the coffee shop, I headed toward the shop door when I spotted trouble.
What lit a warning light in my mind was a group of teenagers—three boys and a girl, each of whom stood on a skateboard. I wasn’t alarmed by the way they were dressed, which showed they seemed to be a group of bad teenagers. Rather, it was the extremely late hour and the fact that they wandered on the sidewalk in a half circle around an elderly man sitting in a chair that raised a red flag in my mind. Wearing only a very worn-out shirt and without shoes on his feet, the old man looked positively cold and probably homeless.
He was in trouble with a capital T. Against my better judgment, I went inside the warm store and ordered nice bread and a cup of coffee while keeping a worried eye on the group outside. Thoughts raced through my mind, and I was wondering what the intentions of these teenagers were. “What do the teenagers want on earth? Do they intend to play a bad trick on the old man, make fun of him, or…?” I wondered, anxious. “Whatever it is, they seem to plan to do something bad to him. Oh, these kids seem to be mean,” I thought and felt upset.
But nothing seemed to be happening. Slightly relieved, I began to enjoy my food. However, minutes after I finished my food and headed toward my car, something indeed was “going down”. I heard one boy say, “Stand up and walk.” “Oh, no,” I thought. “The old man is now in real trouble.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
But wait, I had misjudged the situation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I looked down, finding the teen was wearing nothing on his feet.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Crab Lessons
My son Geordi was a rather spirited boy. Very little held his attention for long. He spent most of his spare time thinking up new ways to scare me half to death. Like the time he decided to “surf” on a tiny plastic table that was meant to hold a few drinks rather than a six-year-old boy. Geordi had just begun learning about the ocean in school and was surprisingly fascinated by it. We lived in Delaware, so any discussion about the ocean usually included horseshoe crabs, which crowded our coasts to mate in the late spring.
As part of the lesson, Geordi’s teacher brought horseshoe crab shells (壳) to school for the children to touch and examine. Hearing that horseshoe crabs had been around for over 300 million years, even before the dinosaurs, Geordi thought that was officially the coolest thing he had ever heard. He could not stop talking about it for days, and I decided it was time for us to take a drive to the Delaware Bay.
As we stepped out from the car, strong wind nearly blew my poor forty-five-pound child to the ground. Being a six-year-old mischievous (调皮的) boy, Geordi saw this as an opportunity to showcase his amazing talents, which included falling down, getting up, falling down and, yes, getting up again. This, of course, was always complete with giggles (咯咯笑). The drama came to a sudden stop as Geordi spied the dozens of army-truck-looking creatures in the sand. The next sound effect was “Wow!” as his body froze and his eyes widened with wonder.
Geordi ran around excitedly, not knowing which one to check out first. He settled on a horseshoe crab that was on its back, legs waving wildly in the air, desperate for water. “Mom, look at this one!” he screamed. “He’s cool!” I pointed out the different body parts of the crab for him, and he listened quietly and absorbed the information. He said, “I really liked him. I think I will name him Spike because he had all those really cool, spiky (尖的) things on his back.” Then I picked up the crab, turned it over to its proper position and placed it at the edge of the water.
注意：1.续写词数应为150 左右;
2.请按如下格式作答。
Geordi asked what I was doing.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Geordi spotted many more horseshoe crabs on their backs.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The ability of young children to remain calm during a crisis is often limited, but a five-year old girl Savannah from Hancock County, Indiana proved to be an exception, which can be life-saving.
The incident began with an emergency call to the local 911 dispatcher (调度员) , Jason Bonham. To his surprise, the person on the other end was a little girl. Despite the gravity of the situation, her behavior and the clear conversation left a significant impression on Jason and millions who later heard the call.
Savannah was up late seeing a movie with her father, Frank, and her mother was on a business trip. It was during the movie night that she heard disturbing sounds from the kitchen. With their pet dog barking ceaselessly, Savannah went to investigate.
In the kitchen, Savannah found her father on the floor, clutching (捂着) his chest. She was terrified but remembered her parents’ advice about emergency situations. Her father was unable to speak, indicating he was in critical condition.
Savannah took the initiative to contact emergency services, dialing 911 from the kitchen wall phone. Her parents had taught her what to do in such situations, which now proved invaluable.
Jason, the 911 operator, had been in this job for 11 years but was amazed by Savannah’s calmness. Despite the challenging circumstances, Jason was able to gather crucial information about Savannah’s father’s condition. Savannah conveyed her father’s symptoms of difficulty breathing and chest pains to Jason, which helped identify the emergency as a possible heart condition.
Jason kept Savannah on the line, distracting her with light conversation while making sure she was keeping an eye on her dad. Jason asked Savannah to unlock the front door for the convenience of paramedics' (急救医士) entering. Savannah kept communicating with Jason until the paramedics arrived. She performed admirably, not only updating Jason about her father’s condition but also taking practical measures, like unlocking the front door for the paramedics,
Before accompanying her father to hospital, Savannah called her mother. And her father was immediately taken into surgery the moment they reached the hospital.
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。
Savannah’s father made it through surgery successfully.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Her example demonstrated that even a child as young as five could make a difference.
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