It was a great pity when one day I heard that the Sunshine Bookstore was closing after fifty years of business. I was also heartbroken. The bookstore was a place where anyone in the neighborhood could drop by (顺便拜访) and be connected through their love of books.
When I hurried to the store, I saw the books were being packed into boxes. Sighing deeply, the store’s elderly owner, Thomas, told me how it was becoming difficult to run an independent bookstore. Most young people preferred to read e-books on tablets. Customers were being attracted by chain stores and online discounts. I tried to think of some words of sympathy, but I had to admit that the Sunshine Bookstore couldn’t stay in business much longer.
Childhood memories came flooding back. A bunch of us kids would frequently drop into the store after school, looking at the new books, or just chatting with old Thomas. He knew every book in the store and would always pick the perfect one for us. We spent hours reading, seated on the store’s old, but comfortable furniture. Thomas encouraged us to share our ideas and comments on the books by writing them on a large board in one corner of the store.
When I left the bookstore, it was becoming cold and dark outside. I turned to wave goodbye to Thomas, but both he and his bookstore were already hidden in a thick mist. It made me realize that the bookstore and all that old Thomas had given to the community could soon disappear for good.
A few months later, I was back in the neighborhood from my vacation and was surprised to see that the Sunshine Bookstore was still there and open for business. Its old brick outside hadn’t changed, but inside it was like a different world. Clearly, the Sunshine Bookstore was in good and creative hands.
I was told that the community had decided to work together on a campaign to save the Sunshine Bookstore. The campaign had been led by Martin, a salesman who had grown up in the neighborhood and who was helping Thomas run the bookstore.
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 entered the bookstore and saw how it had changed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Where is Thomas,” I said to myself.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I don’t look like the rest of my family. As a matter of fact, I stand out quite a bit with my white skin and blue eyes. When people see us together, it is clear that I am adopted. I am happy to have such a loving and caring family, but sometimes I wish I knew who my birth parents are.
My friends often ask, “Are you sad that you don’t know your real parents?” I know that they are just curious and concerned about me — I’m fine, for the most part — but I feel like there’s something missing in my life, like a giant hole in my heart. My mother listens when I tell her about my feelings, and she feels that it is important for me to be in touch with my culture. Because of this, she and I go to Chinese Heritage Camp (CHC) each year in Snow Mountain Ranch.
CHC is a two-day camp where hundreds of adopted kids like me spend time with each other. We talk about how it feels to be adopted, and we participate in fun outdoor activities. It’s great because we can talk about our feelings without having the conversation get too intense. Confusion, occasional disappointment and anger are no longer strange; they are normal here. It makes me feel like I am not alone, and there is someone out there going through the exact same emotions. Whether we’re talking, laughing, crying, or dancing, CHC is always an experience to remember. I like all of the new people I meet, and I will keep them in my heart forever, because it always feels good to know there are people out there just like me.
In this way, my journey to find my roots continues for several years. I also gradually come out from the shadow of a seemingly inseparable teenager. Camp has changed the way I look at things. Each year seems to open up new surprises, adventures and friendships.
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。
CHC teaches me to learn that being adopted doesn’t mean that I’m strange.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I also sincerely love and thank my parents.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My son David was injured in his forehead so I had to take him to a hospital. I looked around the crowded waiting room in the hospital and sighed. I thought, “Will the doctor be able to see my eight-year-old son soon?” I tried steadying the ice pack (冰袋) over his forehead, but it was no use. I couldn’t stop shaking. The injury in his forehead was deep, but at least blood wasn’t pouring from it anymore.
His face was full of tears, but he seemed really brave for his age. I handed him the ice pack, and he covered his forehead with it. He was doing a much better job than I had. We were at the hospital because another child had thrown a rock at David during a break between classes as he was running around the corner. His teacher called me, and when I arrived, I found him sitting in front of her. His teacher was caring for his injury, trying to keep him calm. She felt terrible about what had happened, but I knew none of it was her fault.
David received four stitches (缝线) and didn’t cry once throughout the whole treatment. For the next two days, his forehead was swollen and black and blue. I felt like I’d had a mini nervous breakdown. Every time I tried to sleep or tend to housework, horrible thoughts crept into my mind. Fear had taken over, and then the fear turned to anger. I was angry with the child who’d thrown the rock. I just couldn’t shake it. What was she thinking? She should have known about that better.
David’s headmaster and teacher called me that evening to see how David was feeling and told me Cherry, the girl, felt terrible. I wanted to stand up for my son, do the right thing and protect him.
The next day, David’s teacher stopped by to see how David was feeling and dropped off a get-well card that Cherry had made. David and I read it several times, and I couldn’t help but feel a little choked up. It was a sincere apology.
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。
This card mattered a lot to us.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We wondered how Cherry would make a response after reading the letter.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Nancy is used to getting up early every day. She is a young mother. By seven, she has already eaten breakfast, had a cup of coffee, washed the dishes, taken her shower, and put on her make-up. Then, it’s time to do the housework.
One early Saturday morning, when she was washing her son’s vacuum bottle (保温瓶), she felt upset. After having been used for long, the bottle was in poor condition. It was high time that she should buy a new one for her kid Bill, but her budget was limited. She had to decide that she would buy a new one only months later. Complaining wasn’t how she would normally choose to start the day, especially with the sun shining.
To cheer up and continue the day a bit more optimistically, she left the housework for later and set out with her little kid Bill for their morning walk on the beach a little earlier than usual. The local shops hadn’t opened yet. It was quiet outside; there were few people around.
Walking through the down town area, something on the pavement caught her attention. From a distance, it appeared to be a package of some sort. They walked over and Nancy picked it up. Upon examination, it turned out to be a brown paper bag. The downtown had nine blocks with stores. Grocery stores, furniture shops, cake shops, banks, bookstores, home-goods stores, clothing shops, and other businesses lined the street. Looking around, Nancy found none of them had been open for business. It was too early.
Nancy knew all this indicated that the object had most likely been purchased by someone the evening or day before. Since it was near the road, Nancy guessed someone must have dropped it, probably while loading other bags into a car.
Nancy looked inside the bag for more information. After opening it, she found there was a small handbag. In the bag, there were many cards. Among them, there was the owner’s ID card, which showed the owner’s address and name. Besides, there was a box in the brown bag. “What may be in the box?” Nancy thought to herself.
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。
She checked it, surprised to find there was a new vacuum bottle for kids in it.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Nancy looked at the owner’s address again and made sure where the owner lived.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Harry’s reward
Harry didn’t want to learn to swim. He couldn’t figure out what the use of learning to swim was. But Harry’s parents believed it was a great pity for a healthy boy to be afraid of the wind and the sea.
“Everybody, especially every Englishman and boy, should know how to swim,” Papa had said. “There is never any knowing the use it may be of.”
“Isn’t it very hard to learn?” Harry asked.
“It takes some patience,” his father said. “But in three weeks or so, you should be able to swim fairly well, if you have a lesson every day.”
There was no escaping it, however. Papa, though very kind, was very firm, and once he said a thing, it had to be done. So with a rather white face, poor Harry set off every day for his swimming lesson. He was a quick and clever boy, and a strong boy, and his father knew this. After the initial fear was overcome, it went on better and faster than could have been expected. Two weeks later, Harry had the pleasure of hearing his father say to his mother, “He swims already very nearly as well as I do myself.”
Seacliff, the place at which the family was spending the summer, was not a fashionable watering place but a little village. There were a few gentlemen’s houses in the neighborhood, so that in fine weather merry groups met at the little sheltered bay among the rocks.
One day, Harry, having finished his own morning swim, set off to walk home at his ease. Suddenly a sound disturbed his pleasant thoughts. A carriage was rushing wildly along, coming nearer and nearer. The driver, Ann, stood upright in the carriage (马车), hitting the poor horse as if she were mad, while from time to time she screamed, “Help, help!”
“What is it?” screamed Harry too, as Ann passed. She would not stop, but she threw back some words through the wind. “My sister—Alice—is drowning (淹溺). Go to the village to fetch someone who can swim.”
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。
Harry ran back to the bathing place at once.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________There were plenty of hands to help carry them to land once they were within a safe distance; however, it was Harry who was the true hero.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lisa woke up on Saturday morning very excited. Today she was turning 10. She thought her mother would make her a special breakfast. Last year on her birthday, Lisa woke up to the smell of pancakes and sausage cooking. The kitchen table was full of fresh fruit and juice, and her family had even bought lots of fresh flowers to put on the table.
But when she went downstairs this morning, her father, mother and brother were eating cereal at the table, just like any other day. No one even said “Happy birthday.”
When the phone rang and her mother announced that Lisa’s aunt wanted to speak with her, she knew that it must be to wish her the best on her 10th birthday. But to Lisa’s surprise, her aunt simply wanted to remind her to pick up her mail the next week while her aunt was out of town.
Lisa was quite confused. She thought that her family would say something about her special day, but she didn’t want to seem upset. She tried to be cheerful. After all, she was looking forward to meeting her friends in the park soon. Surely they were going to be excited about her birthday.
When Lisa arrived at the park, her friend Jane was the first to greet her. “Nice day, isn’t it, Lisa?” she asked.
Lisa, ready for her friend to wish her a happy birthday, responded excitedly, “Yes, it is! It’s a great day. You know why?”
“Because it’s Saturday and the weather is great!” Jane replied.
Lisa nodded, but looked down in disappointment.
Soon the rest of her friends arrived, and they all had a good time playing soccer and spending time together. But Lisa couldn’t help but think that it was strange that none of them had mentioned her birthday.
As she walked home in the late afternoon sun, Lisa tried her best not to cry. How could everyone forget her birthday? She was close to tears by the time she reached her home.
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。
On stepping in, Lisa was quite surprised.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the birthday candles were lit, the warmest moment came.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On a windy day, Emily invited Nora to play football in her garden. “I go first!” Nora shouted as she kicked the ball towards Emily.
“Is that all you got? Watch me, the champion, hit the ball. It will travel off to infinity (无穷大)!”
Emily ran like the wind to the ball and kicked it so hard that it flew over the fence of her garden and into the neighbor’s house. There was a sharp cracking sound.
“Uh oh... what did you do?” Nora asked, feeling afraid.
“L…I don’t know. Oh no! 1 think I broke my neighbor’s window,” Emily cried as she dashed across her garden and hid behind some cherry bushes. Nora faded into thin air.
Terror was written all over Emily’s face. She saw the neighbor, Mr. Mason, picking up the pieces of sharp glass. There was anger, as well as panic, on his face.
The sun was setting. Emily knew that it was not secure for her to stay out so late. Eventually, as the light faded, she returned home, keeping her eyes wide open for the neighbor.
Her heart was shaking as she cautiously arrived home. Her mother saw the sweat on her face. She knew, her daughter had done something wrong. Mother sat next to Emily on the comfortable sofa and then asked, “Emily, are you okay? Is something wrong?”
Emily held her mother’s hands. Her eyes were wet with tears. “Mom, I did something bad, but it was unintentional. I hit the football so hard that it flew out of our garden and broke Mr. Mason’s window.”
Mother listened to her patiently as she calmed her and wiped her tears away. Then she held a sharp-tipped pencil. “Do you know why pencils have erasers?” Mother asked, surprising Emily since she wasn’t expecting such a question.
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 erase our mistakes, ” Emily replied.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With her heart beating fast, Emily walked up to her neighbor’s front door.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It had been a challenging week, marked by a sudden large increase in oil prices coinciding with a sharp drop in temperatures in Boston. It was nearly below zero degree. With three missed workdays under my belt, my upcoming paycheck was going to be lower than normal. The stress weighed heavily on me as I carefully sought for every conceivable opportunity to save pennies, ensuring that I could afford both groceries and keep the house warm.
My eight-year-old son didn’t understand when I told him we were struggling that week. He had his heart set on a particular brand of yogurt, but I didn’t have the extra three dollars to buy it for him. It was the kind of yogurt decorated with a cartoon child skateboarding on its packaging, containing a mere two spoonfuls per cup. Such products, designed to lure children with their flashy marketing, only served to make me hate advertising.
However, a bunch of parental guilt gripped me as his innocent eyes met mine, silently questioning, “Why is yogurt such a big deal?” Determıned to sweep his disappointment, I made a sacrifice typical of single mothers. I returned an item needed to the shelf, ensuring that he could enjoy his favorite yogurt.
On the journey back from the grocery store, a sight caught my attention—a homeless man, holding a sign by the roadside. My heart ached, and I turned around, observing passers-by purposefully steer (绕开) clear of him, avoiding any meaningful interaction. Even my son didn’t seem to care much. either. Yet, upon closer inspection, I noticed the man—bare hands grasping a piece of cardboard, snot frozen to his face, a worn-out jacket. And there I was struggling because I had to buy oil and groceries. But I decided to help. I pulled over to the man and handed him a five-dollar bill.
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。
Seeing this, my son became confused and surprised.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On that day, my son performed an act that most adults wouldn’t have done.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was the first swim meet of the year for our newly formed middle-school swimming team. The atmosphere during the three-hour bus journey was filled with anticipation as the group of forty-eight young teenagers thought of nothing but victory. However, the excitement turned into shock as our kids got off the bus and stared in disbelief at their muscle-filled Greek-god-like opponents.
The coach checked the schedule “Surely there has been a mistake,” he thought. But the schedule only confirmed that this was the right location and time.
The two teams formed a line on the side of the pool. Whistles blew, races were started and races were lost. Haifway through the meet, coach Huey realized that there were no participants for one of the events.
“Okay kids, who want to swim the five-hundred-yard freestyle?” the coach asked. Several bands shot up, including Justin’s “I’ll race, coach!” he shouted. The coach looked down at the youngest boy and said, “Justin, this race covers twenty lengths of the pool. I’ve only seen you swum eight”.
“I can do it. Coach. Let me try,” Justin insisted . Coach Huey hesitantly agreed. ”After all, “be thought,” it’s not the winning but the effort and determination that build character.“
The whistle blew and the opponents rushed through the water and finished the race in just six minutes and fifty seconds. The winners gathered on the sidelines to socialize while our group struggled to finish. After three more minutes. the last exhausted (筋疲力尽的) members of our team came out from the water-except for Justin.
Justin was stealing breaths as his hands slapped against the water, pushing i: aside to push his thin body forward. It appeared that he might go under at any minute, yet something seemed to keep pushing him forward.
“Why doesn’t the coach intervene?” the parents whispered among themselves. “It looks like he’s about to drown, and the race was over four minutes ago.”
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右：
2.请按如下格式作答。
Approaching Justin, the coach noticed the determination in the young swimmer’s eyes.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Touched by the scene, members of the opposing team also cheered Justin as he continued to swim.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.调查结果描述；
2.简单评论；
3.你的建议。
注意:
1. 词数80字左右;
2. 短文的题目已给出。
Ways to Relieve Stress
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
