Tionae Thomas couldn’t be prouder of her 14-year-old daughter. Plenty of people overlooked a boy sitting alone under a tree in a shopping center parking lot. But not Tionae’s daughter. The 14-year-old girl stepped in to help the stranded(滞留) boy. And the Internet is applauding this girl for her kindness!
Tionae and her daughter were on the way home. But as they passed a shopping center, Tionae’s daughter begged her to pull over. She’d noticed a boy who looked like he was most likely in elementary school. He sat all alone under a tree in a small island within the parking lot.
“It’s too hot, mama,” the girl told her mom.
So, Tionae pulled over and her daughter got out, asking the stranded boy where his parents were. But the boy didn’t know.
The kind girl let the stranded boy use her cell phone to give his dad a call. Then she suggested he move from his spot under the tree to the front of a nearby Rite Aid. She told him it would be safer. At the same time, the girl left him her phone number and told him that he could call her if necessary.
Getting back into the car with her mom, the girl asked to wait to make sure the stranded boy got picked up. She hated the idea of leaving him alone. And because of the warmer temperatures, she wanted to get him some water.
Plenty of others must have noticed the boy. Maybe they left him alone because they didn’t want to disturb or scare him. Maybe they just thought someone else would do something. But Tionae’s daughter was the only one to step in and help.Para 1: Two days later, the girl received the boy’s call.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para 2: And Tionae couldn’t help but brag(自夸) on her sweet girl, posting the whole story on Facebook.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was Father’s Day and I wanted to make it special for my father. I planned to surprise him with a homemade breakfast in bed and a day full of activities that he loved.
I woke up early that day and started preparing his favorite breakfast, paratha with butter and honey, and a glass of milk. I put a note on the side of the plate where I had written, “I love you, Dad!” and arranged everything perfectly.
With the plate in my hands, I walked toward Dad’s bedroom. I opened the door and tiptoed(踮着脚走)toward his bed. But to my surprise, Dad was not in bed. I looked around the room, but couldn’t find him there. I searched for him in the house. But there was no sign of him.
I checked his car and it was in the garage(车库). I was very worried and did not know what to do. Just then I saw my mum coming out from the other room. I asked her about Dad and she told me that he had to leave early for work that day. He had an important meeting and a car was sent from his office to pick him up.
I was sad to hear that. Then I slowly walked towards my room, and there I noticed a note on my side table. It was from my dad. He had written the same thing Mum had just told me, but he had also promised to buy oranges on his way back as I had asked him to do so the night before. He had also expressed how sad he was to be spending this day without me, but promised to make up for it as soon as possible.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右;2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1: I was disappointed but I knew that work was important to my dad.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph2: The next morning, I woke up early and quickly freshened up.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mia had always been a shy and reserved girl, finding comfort in the shadows rather than the spotlight. Throughout her school years, she struggled with public speaking, often feeling her heart race and her palms sweat at the me re thought of standing in front of a crowd. This fear held her back in many ways, making her pass up opportunities that came her way, from leading class projects to participating in school debates. Her classmates saw her as the quiet girl in the back row, the one who always had her nose in a book, but seldom raised her hand to answer questions.
During her final year of high school, Mia’s English teacher, Mr. Thompson, announced the annual speech competition. The theme was “Overcoming Challenges,” and it was a significant part of the grade. Mia felt a familiar wave of anxiety wash over her. However, this time, something within her stirred. She was tired of letting her fears define her experiences and limit her growth. It was a spark that inspired her determination to change her life.
With a newfound determination, Mia decided to face her fear head-on. She chose a topic close to her heart: “The Power of Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone.” Preparing for the speech became her mission. She researched extensively, wrote and rewrote her speech multiple times, and practiced in front of her mirror, then her family, and gradually, a small group of friends. Each step was a challenge, pushing her beyond the familiar boundaries of her comfort zone. Her friends and family noticed the change in her, the gradual increase in confidence that came with each practice session.
The day of the competition arrived, and as Mia waited for her turn, she could feel the familiar symptoms of her anxiety creeping in. But she reminded herself of the journey she had gone through, the effort she had put in, and the support she had received. She realized that regardless of the outcome, she had already overcome the biggest challenge by facing her fear directly. This realization brought a sense of calm over her, a quiet confidence that she had never felt before.
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。
Mia stepped onto the stage.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What happened next was unforgettable for Mia.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Move to a New Life
I was shocked when my parents told me we were moving from Baton Rouge, Louisana, to New York. First, I complained about not being able to make new friends and not knowing anything about New York.
My mom said, “You’ll make new friends, and it’s not like you know anything about Baton Rouge anyway.
I protested, “But I don’t want to leave Louisiana. The weather is perfect here!”
My mom shot me a disapproving look and said, “You’ll get used to the weather in New York.”
I remember thinking about running away and joining a circus somewhere, but then I remembered that circus animals smell really bad, and I would miss my parents. So I wandered around the house pick picking up random things, like my baseball and glove, and throwing them into a cardboard box. I felt like a big, heavy rain cloud I was hanging over my head.
Within three days, all the furniture we were taking e taking with us was packed into a moving van (小型货车). Oder things were ready to be sold for nowhere near what we paid for them. Little by little our yard sale decreased until no one even looked at the well-worn coffee table, chewed-up plastic toys, and slightly damaged coffee cups—all of which I had my teeth on at one time or another
The next day was Monday, and we got up early to beat the traffic. I’ll spare you the details of how boring it was to sit in a van and watch each tree as it passed by only to see another tree getting closer until it a so passed by. Halfway there, we stopped at a motel (汽车旅馆) to spend the night. This time, no one could sleep because of the smell coming from the heater in the room. By the time we finally made it to New York, it was the middle of the night, and my head was already drooping (低垂) on to my shoulder.
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。
When I woke up, I didn’t find a smog-filled city as expected.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As I got used to this new setting, I realized that I didn’t have to be afraid of change
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In second grade, while other kids played outside, I stayed behind at my desk and created books from construction paper. Using the limited vocabulary of an eight-year-old, I wrote stories and dreamed of one day becoming an author. My second-grade teacher urged my parents to nurture (培养) this desire, but they didn’t take my dream seriously.
Through adulthood, the desire to write remained. The dream never died but there were more certain ways to generate income, so I was controled in different directions. None of the jobs I held afforded me the opportunity to write, and raising two daughters gave me little free time to pursue becoming an author. However, I held onto the dream that had flickered (闪烁) in me as a child.
At the age of fifty-eight, I continued to manage the office of my husband’s construction company, but I was looking for something that would fill the void (空虚感) of our now empty nest. Writing stories and sharing them on social media filled some of that void, and the stories got quite a few likes, but it never crossed my mind as I approached my senior years that writing could be a career for me.
One day, I met a friend from high school who was also my friend on social media. We hadn’t seen each other in several years, so I walked over to greet her. Anticipating that her first words would consist of how long it had been since we’d seen each other, I was shocked at what she spoke out. “You want to write. You need to write.”
She had been reading the stories I shared on social media and had always commented with encouraging words. But no one had ever spoken these words to me. I had never even spoken these words out loud to myself. Those simple words she uttered lit a flame that had only been a flicker for a long time. Deep inside, I knew I still wanted to be an author. I wanted to follow my friend’s advice. I wanted to write. I needed to write.
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 went home that day and set out to write a story.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One day after a year, I received an e-mail from the magazine.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With no air conditioners and no trees providing shade, the classrooms that faced south at my children’s middle school got too hot during the warmer months of the school year. I knew from my days volunteering in the school that students and staff got overheated and that it was difficult for them to concentrate.
As a long-time master gardener, I knew trees could shade those classroom windows and reduce the temperatures inside to relatively comfortable levels. If benches and trees were added, the front yard would be transformed into a beautiful outdoor classroom, one that would encourage teachers to bring their students outside to learn. And I imagined how wonderful it would be for our district’s kids, many of whom live in apartment buildings without yards or green space, to experience the happiness of sitting on a bench under a leafy green tree during their school day.
Then, I met with the school’s Parent-Teacher Association and told my idea of changing the school’s front yard. And I expressed my willingness to organize the project. The group liked the idea but thought it was too difficult. However, several days later, the principal told me, “I had further discussions with my staff. We all think you are very kind. We want to work with you to transform our school’s front yard.”
Later, I found a professional landscape designer who promised to design our front yard free of charge. After that, I found a local company that promised to deliver topsoil (表土) at a deeply discounted price when we were ready to transform our front yard. Then I contacted a charity which promised to provide us with various shade trees for free that would grow well in our area. And it would send a professional crew to help us plant the trees.
Then, we named our future front yard “The Habitat for Living & Learning”. At this point, we spoke with everyone we knew about the Habitat for Living & Learning. The hard work of spreading topsoil, digging and planting was scheduled to begin within weeks.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式作答。
Para. 1: So we posted the tasks in the school’s front hall where everyone could see them.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para. 2: Soon, everyone — students, staff and volunteers — began working to spread the topsoil.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Becky, a 12-year-old girl, was deep in her maths homework. Her father Bill asked her to help fix the gate of the stall (牛栏). “I couldn’t come out and help, Daddy,” she responded, without even looking up. “I’ll get extra marks if I do these equations (方程式).”
Frowning, Bill was concerned about Becky. She only loved numbers, showing little interest in other things. Bill hoped his daughter could enjoy animals and help on their farm.
“Wouldn’t you like to win the blue ribbon competition with your very own calf next year?” Bill refused to give up. In the competition, children show the calves they raise and the best calf (小牛) with a large build, well-developed muscles and strong legs would get the blue ribbon.
Becky listened without a word. “You know, raising a calf also requires mathmatics, like calculating the expenses to maintain health and muscle development during growth.” Bill continued.
It seemed that something clicked with Becky, “It might be a perfect opportunity to show my math talents.” She then followed her dad into the stall. Bill pointed to a new born calf. “Here she is! Tag 333. She will be the best calf!” Becky looked, and a smile brightened her face. “OK. I’ll give it a try.”
In the following weeks, she started a journal of projected expenses —vaccinations, registration fees, vet bills, grain and hay. “She’s finally getting interested in cattle,” Bill thought. But for Becky, the calf seemed more like a mathematical challenge than a living animal that would require care and love.
Winter came —the tough time for the calves. One morning, an extreme snowstorm hit. Calves! Bill and Becky hurried to the stall to check. All the calves were inside except Tag 333! Where was she? They searched everywhere and finally found her a mile away from the stall. The little calf was lying still, covered in ice and snow. Her eyelids were sealed shut by glittering frost. “Is she dead?” Becky cried. Bill pressed his fingers against the calf’s chest. “No. But we need to do something —fast,” he urged.
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.
They rushed the calf into the stall.
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Time flying by, the judging day finally arrived.
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Two years ago, my husband took a new job, requiring us to move from our home in Texas to Washington, D. C. It wasn’t an easy move.
The family part was the problem. No one would be moving with us. All our children were grown and on their own. This move would be different, just the two of us, my husband and me.
When we sat down for dinner in our new, empty house, I thought the quiet was going to swallow me whole. I didn’t know how to survive this transition.
Then the dreams began.
At first, I tried ignoring them. After all, how many times can a person be accepted to graduate school, run away from the opportunity, and hope to knock on the door again?
I had discovered my passion for writing thirty years ago while working on my English undergraduate degree. I fell in love with children’s literature and knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life: write for children. But life kept me busy, and my dream was put on the back burner.
Two decades later, I thought working toward my Master of Fine Arts(MFA)would get me back into writing. So I applied and was accepted into a program. The workload, however, seemed daunting (令人望而却步的) in light of our constant moves and busy family life, . so I gave up again.
The dreams never stopped. One morning, I awakened from dreaming that I had contacted a university’s writing department, asked to rejoin, and was accepted. The dream had shaken me. So I reached for my cell phone and dashed off (匆匆写成) an e-mail asking what I would need to do to reapply. Later that afternoon, my cell phone rang. It was the program director. By the end of our five-minute conversation, after I explained the tum of events in my life, the dreams, and how I needed the program, she invited me back. I would begin course work in January, exactly as my dream foretold.
I am in the last semester of earning my MFA in Writing for Children. The program has helped me grow in ways I never realized I needed to grow.
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。
Has the road been easy?
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I’ve learned that not everything we view as a setback (挫折) is truly a setback.
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A week before New Year's Day, the phone rang. "Maggie ran off, and I can't find her, "my husband, Jerry, said in an anxious voice. He'd driven to the town park with our dog, Maggie. “Why'd she run away?” I asked. “A smaller dog scared her, and she took off over the footbridge. ” Maggie was eleven years old, overweight, and afraid of her own shadow. I asked Jerry to find her before she ran too far away. Our daughter overheard my end of the conversation. Jennifer often played upon the couch with Maggie. "Maggie's lost? Tell Dad I'll help him look for her. "She flew out of the door.
At first, Maggie's tracks were easy to follow because a couple of inches of snow covered the ground. But her prints stopped at the parking lot where the snow had melted. My husband and Jennifer searched for hours into the night. Before leaving the park, Jerry hung his jacket on the branch of a tree and placed Maggie's bed below it. He hoped the wind would carry his scent and Maggie would find her way back. But there was no sign of her the next day. Jennifer made dyers and handed them out to houses around the park. We posted Maggie's photo on all the "Lost Dog" sites and social media. Friends and family promised to keep an eye out for her.
The third day, I waited at home for calls and contacted M&M Pet Rescue. They offered to help. But there was no sign, and we were all worried. Jerry and Jennifer went door-to-door with Moggie’s picture, asking if anyone had seen her. Soon Maggie's story spread through the whole community.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答.
The forth day, a lot of people reached out to help look for Maggie.
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As Maggie came toward us, I cried tears of joy.
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I was already afraid of the water. After experiencing a shark attack when I was eight years old on a family trip to Florida, I barely went in the ocean any deeper than my knees. By shark, I mean dolphin, and by attack, I mean he was bobbing around in the water about five miles from shore, but people were screaming “SHARK!”and waving their hands around along the coastline. Real shark or not, that moment stuck with me. That memory, coupled with being freezing in any weather less than thirty degrees Celsius (摄氏), made the idea of plunging (投入) into cold water a hard pass.
My husband, Mike, had been cold plunging (冰浴) for years and would present me with facts to prove that it was a good thing. By doing so, you experience benefits such as heightened energy, immune (免疫的) system support, boosted mood, better sleep, and stress reduction. It was an appealing list of benefits—none of which mattered to me. What was presented as a clear “wonder drug” was still not attractive enough for me to get out of my warm house and go swimming. Did I mention that I live in Canada? It’s minus twenty degrees Celsius here sometimes.
On New Year’s Day, Mike invited me to his cold plunging. I had been thinking less about health data and more about my confidence. Do you want to do something hard? Something brave? I asked myself. Something completely scary, uncomfortable and seemingly crazy, or do you want to say no and focus on all of the reasons why you wouldn’t dare? I put on my swimsuit, covered it up with eighteen wool sweaters, and joined Mike for the adventure.
In fairness, it was a beautiful day. This made the scary thing feel a little more reasonable as Inegotiated (谈判；协商) with myself the entire twelve-minute drive. My heart was already pounding. We had packed a bag with towels, blankets, warm water for cleaning our sandy feet, and a hot cup of coffee to warm our hands.
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 determined to do the hard thing.
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I have now been cold plunging for over a year.
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