Despite their genetic similarities, my twin sisters Lenna and Elsa were quite different. Lenna was a recognized athlete in our community. We all expected her to attain a scholarship on one field or another, but she lacked a certain edge to her reasoning. Elsa got along well with everyone who works in the library, but she had the grace (优雅) of a two-legged table. They had found few occasions to relate with one another and grew distant. Had I not lived with them, I would not have known them to be sisters.
They did, however, share a drive for success that seemed to become more successful around the same time during senior year. After a track and field season, Lenna was offered full scholarship at a reputable state university near our home, so long as she maintained a 3.0 GPA. Elsa had a more important thing to do: she was one perfect report card away from seizing the chance of making a speech at a graduation ceremony from her opponent, Chet Goodweather. At the end of the sixth Wednesday of the fourth marking period, as the sisters unfolded the printed report cards, their smiles turned to tears: Lenna was getting a “D” in science and Elsa was getting a “C” in gym class.
Lenna and Elsa came home at the same time and were surprised to find one another disappointed. As they argued with one another about who had suffered the greater misfortune, they realized that the other’s problem sounded easy to solve. Elsa barked, “Your problem isn’t even a problem. I could pass that test easily and 1 can show you how to as well.”Lenna retorted(反驳), “Well, all you need to do to get an ‘A’ is to shorten your mile time to five or ten minutes. Two weeks of training with me and the coach will try to have you on the track team.” The girls exchanged glances and came to a quick agreement.
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。
Every morning for the next two weeks, Lenna woke Elsa up at 4:30 to run.
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Final report cards were distributed the Monday before graduation.
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I was awakened by the sound of heavy boots hitting the floor as my grandfather walked across the wooden floor to the fireplace. He added wood to the fire. Soon, the small wooden house felt warm.
It was 5: 30 on a cold January morning, deep in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. I, a12-year-old boy, was here with my grandfather and four other men on an annual deer-hunting trip. My grandfather wanted me to take the adventure to increase my courage and fun.
Looking at me, he smiled, “Could you make some coffee?” To prove that I was qualified to join this male club, I got up and started the work.
After breakfast, we left the warm and safe house and headed out into the dark, snowy morning, walking through deep snow. When we climbed over a mountain and crossed frozen streams, my grandfather told me to be mindful of where we had been and where we were headed. I tried to keep track of our route, but later had no idea.
About mid-afternoon, we made our way down the side of a new mountain to the stream bed below. My grandfather told me to head to the top of the next mountain, walk along the ridge (山脊) for a few hundred feet, and then come back down. If there were any deer on that part of the mountain, I would need to threaten them down to the bottom where my grandfather waited. So, off I went with a gun.
It took me 20 minutes to climb to the top. I walked along the ridge and then headed back down. I didn’t realize I had crossed over the top and had started back down the other side of the mountain. I headed in the wrong direction. After walking for 45 minutes, I realized I was lost in the woods. I was shocked.
After finally calming myself, I sat down and worked out a plan. I would first fire the gun and then start a fire, hoping my grandfather would know where I was by the sounds and smoke.
I looked at my watch. It was 4: 00. The sun would set down soon.
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 held my gun and immediately fired three shots.
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Finally, I found my grandfather and other men walking in my direction hurriedly.
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My dad, John, was a basketball fan. He played in college and even coached a local youth team for a few years. His love for the game was unbelievable, and some of my earliest memories are of us playing basketball in the nearby court. I’ve even seen old photos of him in his college days, a proud smile on his face as he held a basketball. But when it came to my own involvement in basketball, he was surprisingly positive that I should focus only on study. “Basketball won’t pay the bills,” he’d often say, a statement that always struck me as ironic (讽刺的) given how much he loved the sport.
I loved basketball too, and I was pretty good at it. My school coach, Coach Miller, saw potential in me and encouraged me to join the school team. He said I had a natural talent that could take me far if I trained hard. But my dad was against it. He believed that sports would distract me from my studies, and with the final exam around the corner, he didn’t want to take any chances. “Your future is in the classroom, not on the court,” he would insist, dashing my dreams of following in his athletic footsteps.
This tension between us reached a peak when my head teacher, Mrs. Williams, announced a school basketball tournament (联赛). It was a big deal; students from the whole city would come to watch. My friends were excited, and even some teachers were talking about it. However, I knew I couldn’t participate without my dad’s approval. It felt like an invisible chain holding me back, a conflict between my passion and his expectations.
Then something unexpected happened. Mrs. Williams called my dad for a meeting. I was nervous but also hopeful. Mrs. Williams was not just an educator; she was also a parent and understood the balance between academics and extracurricular activities. She had seen students succeed in both, and I hoped she could convince my dad.
After the meeting, my dad seemed to be in deep thought. He didn’t speak immediately, taking his time as if weighing his words carefully. Finally, he broke the silence, “Mrs. Williams made some good points about teamwork and discipline. Maybe it’s time to rethink my stance (立场) on you playing basketball.”
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 was thrilled but also cautious. “So, can I play in the tournament?” I asked.
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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After an accident in January, 8-year-old Thomas was badly injured. His dream of winning this year’s inter-school football championship was destroyed overnight.
“It would be at least a year and a half before your son walks again unless there is a miracle,” doctors told Thomas’ single mother, Beth. After knowing this fact one night, Thomas cried sadly on the hospital bed. Beth tried to encourage him. During it, she fished inside her pocket and pulled out the inhaler (吸入器) when suddenly feeling dizzy — Beth had asthma (哮喘), and the inhaler could help her breathe more easily.
In September, after staying in hospital for months, Thomas returned home and had to completely rely on a wheelchair to move around, feeling hopeless. Beth tried to cheer him up.
One afternoon, the mother was near the door reading for Thomas, while the boy was relaxing on the sofa in the living room, listening. Suddenly, Thomas heard a strange loud sound coming from the porch (走廊).
“It’s just... my book fell!” Beth said. But Thomas could tell she was struggling to breathe. It seemed that something was stuck in her throat.
Normally, Thomas’ wheelchair would be right by the sofa, and he could easily roll towards his mother. But earlier that afternoon, while Thomas was asleep, Beth pushed the wheelchair into the yard to let it get some sunshine.
Beth tried to get up for her inhaler put on a shelf inside the room, but she lost her balance and fell onto the floor. When Beth wasn’t able to respond to Thomas’ calling out her name, Thomas realized this was an emergency.
He hurried to take out the phone from his pocket and quickly informed the police of what was happening. Although help was on the way, Thomas knew he couldn’t just sit and wait.
He looked at his mother’s inhaler. It could help save her life, but it was on that shelf seven meters away from him. “I must go there to get it,” he said to himself. Despite knowing his legs probably wouldn’t listen to him, he was determined.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1: He held the couch’s seat as tightly as he could, using his weak hands.
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Paragraph 2: After amazingly standing up, Thomas began struggling to walk to that inhaler.
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I took up flying more or less on a whim (突发奇想). I had a really difficult time at that time. My mother left me and my favorite cat was lost two weeks later. My life was filled with uncertainties and sadness and I was left feeling terribly down. So when I passed our local airfield and saw an advertisement for trial flying lessons, I decided to book one. It was something I’d always imagined trying, and I hoped it would cheer me up.
I enjoyed my trial lessons and decided to book some more. I found that flying an airplane was attractive, and it took my mind off my personal difficulties. By the end of that summer, I had my private pilot’s license, and I started to do some local flights for fun.
Then I decided to have a go at flying helicopters, and I found that I liked that even more. Despite having promised myself and all my friends that I wasn’t going to take it up, I got my private pilot’s license for helicopters, too. Soon, I was hiring small helicopters and taking friends flying. But helicopter flying is very expensive, and I knew I couldn’t keep doing it as a hobby forever. I knew a lot of people at our local airfield, and many were taking commercial (商业的) flying exams — some with a goal of working as commercial pilots, others wanting to be instructors. I had an idea — I could become a helicopter instructor. That way, I could fly for free, and even get paid for it.
Then I told my friends my thought, but I didn’t expect some of the reactions I got. My friends couldn’t believe that I really meant to do that. “Oh, don’t be silly, Helen. You can’t possibly be a helicopter instructor,” one of my friends said. After all, I was well over forty, which is not the usual time to begin a new career. But I chose to stick to my idea.
注意：
1. 续写的词效应为150左右；
2. 请按照如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1:
Quickly, I went ahead with my plan.
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Paragraph 2:
Soon I found a job at an airfield, not too far from my home.
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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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Henry Crawley was a cab driver who drove long circuits every day. His job kept him away from family for long hours. It was the topic of many quarrels he had gotten into with his wife, who understood why he was away so often but could not resist the urge to cry out for her husband’s physical absence.
To make up for not always being there for his daughter, Leslie, Henry was determined to make it to her 16th birthday party on time. On the day of her birthday, Henry conveyed as many passengers as he could as usual. When he finally finished the last order to a distant town outside the city, Henry rushed back to his city for the small party.
However, he got caught up in a heavy snowstorm that restricted mobility on his way back. Stubbornly, he decided he would press on anyway and continued driving even though he had to go at a snail’s (蜗牛的) pace.
It was 6: 00 pm and Leslie’s party started at 6: 30 pm. He complained about the weather as he fastened his eyes on the slippery road. As time passed, he got closer to the city. Suddenly, he spotted a person sitting beside the road. He stopped his car to check on it, and found it was an elderly woman who was unable to speak but almost freezing. Her bedroom clothes told him she must be from the town nearby he just drove past.
Henry decided to take the woman to her town, but he remembered that his wife would be upset with him if he missed his daughter’s birthday party. He called his wife to explain things. As he predicted, she said nothing, ending up the call. That made him uneasy and almost turn back to his car. But he knew that he could not leave the woman helpless. “I’d want someone to care for my wife or daughter if they ended up in such a tough situation,” he said to himself.
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。
Without any hesitation, Henry was determined to help the stranger.
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Upon his arrival, it was late at night and Henry became more uneasy.
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Back to first grade
“Criss Cross Applesauce!” The teacher’s voice bounced off the walls of the first-grade room. Immediately the six-year-olds ran to the reading rug (毯子)and took their seats with their legs crossed. I looked at the students and gave them a thumbs-up.
Just six weeks ago. I had been the envy of my classmates. For my mentoring (导师) project. I had been assigned to first grade. Everyone figured that working with little kids would be less challenging than working with the older elementary students.
“You’re so lucky, Chloe,” said my best friend Maneya. “I have to work with fourth graders. Ugh!”
“I know! It'll be like having a couple of hours off from school each week!” I said.
But I soon learned that helping teach first grade was no vacation at all. I was assigned four students: Sara, Allie, Fernando and Cameron. Sara cried every morning. Allie continually wiped her hands on the back of my shirt. Fernando refused to speak. Cameron didn't want to participate in anything.
“I think first grade has changed a lot from when we were first graders,” I told Maneya. Maneya smiled at me, and secretly I thought she was thanking her lucky stars that she was working with fourth graders. Her students completed their exercises without complaining. It sounded like a great classroom to spend time in.
Twice a week, I worked with my group. Most days I returned to my own campus really tired. Once, my teacher asked me why I was wearing a paper crown. I had completely forgotten that I had been filling in for Cameron. who had decided he no longer wanted to be the king in the group’s rehearsal (排练) of their performance “King for a Day”.
Maneya comforted me as I told story after story about first grade. But as the weeks went on, I began to notice I wasn’t the one who was complaining anymore. I had figured out how things worked in the first grade, and Maneya was the one who started to complain. Her experiences with fourth graders began to dull in comparison with my adventures with the six year olds.
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。
Now the mentoring project was about to finish, and overall, things had changed for the better.
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Finally, the performance day came.
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Andy’s finger traced the lines on a blank United States map, each state represented by a number. He whispered to himself, “New Jersey is eating Pennsylvania, and Ohio is a chicken nugget.” Beside him lay another paper with numbers 1—50 written down. Despite 20 minutes of intense concentration, all Andy had to show for his efforts were those numbers.
“OK, and Utah is the washing machine. No, Montana is the washing machine. Or North Dakota? Gah! They’re all washing machines!” Andy was caught in his confusion.
This wasn’t the first time his memory had failed him during a test. No matter how hard he studied, nothing seemed to stay in his brain for long. He had tried memory tricks, even spending nights examining an old paper map in his bedroom. It had given him a glimmer of hope, but now that hope felt distant.
The time was up, and Mr. Crane began collecting the answer sheets. Andy quickly stuffed his blank test into the pile, wanting to forget about it. Unfortunately, his brain seemed to remember only the things it should forget. During lunch, Andy stared at a map, frustrated that he had handed in a blank sheet of paper.
Andy’s friend Aaron shrugged. “You only need a 70 to pass.”
“Yeah, well it’s hard to get a 70 when you hand in a blank sheet of paper,” Andy mumbled, frowning.
Aaron popped a grape into his mouth. “Well, Mr. Crane will let you retake (补考) it tomorrow.”
Andy was the only one standing at Mr. Crane’s desk after school. He apologized quickly, head drooping. But instead of scolding him, Mr. Crane patted his shoulder, saying, “I think you are trying, but you might learn better by being active. Just practice more!”
Andy looked into Mr. Crane’s eyes, finding comfort in the teacher’s understanding gaze. Mr. Crane invited Andy to help him organize a pile of magnets (磁铁), each with the name of a state on it. On the wall hung a large magnetic map — part of a review game the class had been playing.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
As Andy arranged the magnets, an idea suddenly came into his mind.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When doing homework, Andy was told he scored an 88 on the retake.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thomas and John have a lot in common. They are both talented high school seniors. They both love basketball. They are both captains of their respective high school basketball teams. But on one Saturday night in February, they were forever linked in the minds of all who were present for a mutual act of courage, sportsmanship(体育精神)and respect.
The remarkable moment came during a game between Thomas's small town Illinois team and John's big city team in Wisconsin—a game that almost wasn't played. Just days before the game, John's mother lost her five-year battle with cancer. Her death was sudden and painful for all who knew her.
John's coach wanted to cancel the game, but John insisted that the game should be played. So with heavy hearts, his teammates prepared to honor their captain's wishes and play without him.
What they weren't prepared for was John's appearance in the gym mid-way through the first half. As soon as the coach saw John, he called a time out, and players and fans surrounded the young man to offer love and support.
The coach asked him if he wanted to sit on the bench with the team. “No,” John said. “I want to play.” Of course his team was excited to have him. But because John wasn't on the pre-game roster(候选名单), putting him in the game at that point would result in a technical foul(犯规)and two free throws for the opposing team.
However, John's coach agreed with that. He could see that this was the teenager's way of coping with his loss. He thought the points didn't matter. The opposing team understood the situation and told the referees to let John play and forget the technical foul. The referees argued that a rule is a rule, and the free throws would have to be taken before the game could proceed. For possibly the first time in basketball history, referees had to force a team to accept and take the technical free throws.
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 team captain, Thomas volunteered to take the free throws.
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John and his teammates stood and applauded the gesture of sportsmanship.
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