Over many years, we had always got together and shared Thanksgiving Day with our family. And then, one year, we finally decided to skip our traditional family dinner and make a journey to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with our five-year-old daughter, Kerry. We never predicted what Kerry would take away from the experience, or how it would affect our lives for years to come.
We caught the early train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central along with hundreds of other excited passengers. Like many other families, we packed a small backpack with sliced turkey sandwiches and juice boxes; eating in New York City is expensive and complicated, unless you settle for pretzels and roasted chestnuts from a street vendor(摊贩). Kerry was wide-eyed and a little overjoyed. This was not an ordinary outing with Mom and Dad.
As the train pulled into the Manhattan station, everyone rose and stood in the passage anxiously waiting to get off the train and head toward the parade route along Fifth Avenue. Rather than have our small daughter pushed by the crowds, we waited until everyone had stepped off onto the chaos of the platform. As we walked up to the entrance to the station, Kerry spotted a homeless woman sitting in the shadows, invisible to all except my curious daughter.
“What’s that?” she asked. My wife, Linda, and I looked at each other, thinking how to explain something very different than the happy scene we were about to join. During our first years of parenthood we’d discussed how we would explain such nearly ineffable(避讳的) topics as death and love. But homelessness? We weren’t prepared. We gave as simple and honest an explanation as we could and continued on to the parade.
The following year, we decided to attend the parade again. So the night before Thanksgiving we went shopping for sliced turkey for sandwiches. Again, Kerry took us by surprise.
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。
Kerry asked whether she could bring some sandwiches for those people.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We went to Manhattan again with the sandwiches.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Sai Baba! Sai Baba! Hahahaha!” Rani’s cheeks burned with shame and tears welled up in her eyes as she pushed her way to the exit through the crowd of laughing boys in the packed school bus. It wasn’t the first time she’d been called Sai Baba, after the famous Hindu holy man she’d seen on TV with his trademark afro (非洲式卷发) towering over his head. But this time was the worst. Rani jumped off the school bus and landed hard in the muddy rainwater. It had been a Friday full of disasters! Angry thoughts ran inside Rani’s head as she marched home in the drizzling rain. Why did the rain have to come pouring down so hard just at the end of the school day? Why did she have to forget her raincoat back home? Why did her hair have to be like a giant cotton candy balloon just when she wanted it to behave? Why, why, why, Rani grew angrier as she turned the back door key.
“Rani, is that you?” Papa called from the family room.
“I hate my hair!” Rani cried as tears of anger and shame streamed down her cheeks.
“Why, your hair’s beautiful!”
“Then why does everyone make fun of it al the time? The boys teased me about my hair on the bus ride back home…” She paused and then tore at her hair and pulled out a couple of paper balls stuck in it. “Look, they even shot paper balls at my hair.”
Papa went up to Rani, hugging her tightly in his arms. “Listen! Those boys are bullies. They did so only to get an emotional response from you. What you need to do is either ignore them or speak up for yourself.”
Rani nodded uncertainly, remembering the hours, days and weeks she had spent trying to bring her hair under control. “Papa?” she murmured, “I don’t want to participate in the speech competition on Monday.”
“Why?” Papa sounded puzzled.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next Monday morning dawned bright and it was time for the competition.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On a flight, an eight-year-old boy named Louis was excitedly reading his favorite storybook loudly, much to the annoyance of a fellow passenger named Tyler sitting next to him. Edward, the boy’s father, had brought the book, hoping to read it to his son himself, but Louis insisted on reading it aloud on his own.
Tyler, who was trying to have a rest, became a little bit angry at the noise. “Hey, sir. Could you please tell your son to keep his voice down? I’m trying to sleep for a moment,” he complained to Edward. Although the father politely asked Louis to read in a low voice, the young boy was too excitedly absorbed in the storybook to notice his disturbance to others. His noisy reading disturbed not only Tyler but also a few other passengers nearby.
Tyler`s anger increased as he loudly admonished (责备) Louis` lack of manners and consideration. To deal with the matter, he called the flight attendant. When she arrived, Tyler completely lost his cool, admonishing both Louis and Edward. “Have you heard this boy? He’s been yelling out the whole time! And you’re still trying to defend his rude behavior! A child of his age should understand that he is causing serious disturbance and needs to show some respect for others!”
In the heated scene, the flight attendant tried to calm Tyler down. However, Tyler was a bit too disturbed to calm himself down. Edward continuously apologized while attempting to explain the situation. “Excuse me, sir. I admit what Louis did was wrong, but he meant no harm. He’s simply overjoyed at being able to read again after years of difficulties…” Edward’s eyes welled up and he was in tears before he realized it. He explained to the people around them that it was the first time in three years that Louis was able to see the world around him and could read his favorite book, one his mother who died three years ago used to read to him as a baby.
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 he revealed the heartbreaking story.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At this point, Tyler and everyone else on the flight fell silent.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On the morning of our long- awaited graduation day, expectation filled the air as I together with my best friends Sarah, Maria and Grace gathered our bags, waited for the plane and set about our adventure to Barcelona. For months, we had been dreaming about this moment, which marked the end of years of burying ourselves in hard work and staying dedicated. It was three months ago in a history class that we were drawn to its rich history, from the medieval streets of the Gothic Quarter to the groundbreaking historical architecture of Antoni Gaudi.
The happiness of burying ourselves in a new culture, filled with amazing and new cuisine and friendly people, advanced our excitement. However, despite our enthusiasm, we couldn’t ignore the fact that none of us spoke Spanish so fluently. On the day before setting off, we were still hesitant about whether to go or not. While surfing on the Internet for advice, we found that most people travelling to Barcelona considered the locals friendly and warm-hearted ones who are always willing to offer help. A sense of relief and expectation took the place of the worries. We made up our minds to go there.
As we stepped off the plane, bathed in Spanish warm sunshine, our spirits rose high. We kicked off our journey with a wander down Las Ramblas, enjoying the energy and talent of street performers. Down by the street, the traditional buildings and precious cultural sites were a true feast for the eyes.
Yet, the days passing by, unforeseen challenges began to take place. On the last day of the journey, as we were lost in the beauty of the amazing squares and traditional buildings, Sarah put forward that we could play the game of cat and mouse to better explore the architectures. After arranging our roles, we ran towards different directions to hide, while the cat, Sarah, began to count down to find and catch us.
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。
Hiding myself in the corner of a hall, I carefully observed Sarah.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Panic seized our group as we found Sarah's left arm bleeding.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We were sitting in her classroom, giggling, playing tricks on each other and talking about the latest information of the day. Mrs. Virginia DeView cleared her throat and asked us to be quiet.
“Now,” she said smiling, “we are going to discover our professions.” The class seemed to gasp(喘气) in chorus. Our professions? We stared at each other in disbelief. After all, we were only 13 and 14 years old.
Because Virginia DeView was demanding, most of us just overlooked her brilliance.
“Yes, you will all be searching for your future professions,” she said with a glow on her face as though this was the best thing she did in her classroom every year. “You will have to do a research paper on your upcoming career. Each of you will have to interview someone in your field, plus give an oral report.”
All of us went home confused. Who knows what they want to do at 13? I had narrowed it down, however. I liked art, singing and writing. But I was terrible in art, and when I sang, my sisters screamed: “Oh, please shut up.” The only thing left was writing.
Every day in her class, Virginia DeView monitored us. Where were we? Who had picked their careers? Finally, most of us had selected something: I picked print journalism（新闻工作）. This meant I had to interview a devoted newspaper reporter in person, and I was terrified. Sensing this, for the next 90 minutes, Mrs. Virginia DeView filled me with stories about print journalism…
A few days later, I gave my oral report totally from memory. Surprisingly, I got an A on the entire project.
Years later, I forgot all about Virginia DeView and the careers we selected. I was in college hunting for a new career. My father wanted me in business, which seemed to be sound advice at the time, except that I had no sense of any business skills. Then I remembered Virginia DeView and my desire at 13 to be a journalist.
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。
Paragraph 1: I called my father.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Now I've had the most incredible and satisfying reporting career.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I didn’t like Del so much. He always called me the nickname “Germy”, which meant “dirty”, instead of my real name “Jamie”. Besides, he was known as a trouble-maker in school. So when the head teacher Mr. Smith asked Del to come to his office, I naturally thought that Del had done something mean to someone. Through the window, I caught sight of a smaller boy crying. Del seemed unhappy, too.
He did not return to class that day. All of us were discussing what had happened to him. What else could such an annoying boy do? “He must have hit the boy and was sent home,” I whispered to my friends. Their eyes widened. It felt good to see them so interested in what I said.
The next morning, the whole school was talking about Del being expelled(开除) for beating up a kid. I was surprised that my assumptions were passed on so quickly. So when Del walked into the classroom, all the kids were shocked. The kids next to him shift ed their desks away. “What’s your problem?” Del asked. “I don’t want you to attack me,” one kid said. Some laughed. “Yeah, I might,” said Del. I could tell he was joking, but many kids thought he admitted he did beat up someone.
During recess(课间休息), Del tried to join the kickball game. “Neither team wants you,” one of the players said. “Why?” Del asked, looking confused. “I always play with you guys.” They ignored him and went on playing. Del sat by himself while the rest of the school enjoyed their recess away from him. Del looked lonely and sad, much different from before. I started to feel sorry for him.
Later that day, I learned what really happened. The kid was Del’s little brother and he was crying because their mother fell ill and was sent to hospital. I felt even sorrier for what I said before. I started a rumor(谣言).
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。
At recess the next day, I saw Del sitting alone watching the kickball game.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now that Del had forgiven me, I decided to do more before the recess was over.
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Tom adored does very much and he always fed the homeless dogs, enjoying the company of those lovely animals.
It was a nice holiday. Tom’s parents sent him to his Aunt’s house, where there was a a little dog called KiKi. The dog had golden fur which felt very comfortable, like touching the soft cotton. Every time KiKi saw Tom, it would leap to its feet. wagging his tail and his eyes sparkling with excitement.
However, KiKi was unhappy in the house He was not given his meals on time, nor was he taken for a walk. KiKi was always shouted at and abused all day. “Your aunt bought KiKi so that the dog could protect her house from thieves, but actually she doesn’t love him”, a neighbour of Tom’s aunt told him one day.
Tom felt sad. At night he could hear KiKi make mournful sounds in the cold.“Why don’t you make a coat for your pet?”Tom paused and said, “He feels cold.” His aunt answered, “I have much better things to do. It’s just a dog!”
One day Tom went out for a walk with KiKi, when a fierce storm started. Tom ran to take shelter in a sweet shop. It was only after a few minutes that he realized that KiKi was not with him. “The storm separated us”, Tom was sad, telling his aunt. “I searched the entire place with the help of the sweet shop owner but I couldn’t find him.”Tom’s aunt posted an advertisement in the paper. After all she had spent a lot of money buying KiKi and did not want to lose him.
It was a half-hour ride by bus. The middle-aged lady who greeted KiKi was a motherly sort of a woman. She and her husband had answered Tom’s aunt’s advertisement in the paper. Since Tom’s aunt was out on an official tour, Tom had been sent to check on the dog. “He is asleep.” the lady said. “Come and have a look. It is so cute, just like our dead dog, CiCi. We love him so much.”
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: Tom went into the room and looked at the dog. That’s the lost dog he was looking for.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph2: After a moment of hesitation, Tom struggled to say that the dog was not his aunt’s.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I still remember what I felt on a bright Saturday morning in late September, at a five-kilometer race in Clarkston, Georgia.
It was an unusual morning. About an hour earlier, when we drove into town to participate in the race, my 11-year-old son noticed a green tree cricket（蟋蟀） on my car. It was friendly, no longer than a fingernail. It jumped onto my son’s finger, and walked across my shirt, and then went back to my son’s hand, where it stayed so long that we eventually gave it a name: Little Friend.
The walk from the car to the registration table was perhaps a quarter of a mile. Little Friend stayed with my son. Then, we walked back across the railroad tracks and waited for the race to start. A few minutes before the race, Little Friend either fell or jumped off my son’s hand and landed on the sidewalk. Maybe it wanted to go free. But this was not a good place for that. Pedestrian（行人） traffic was heavy, so Little Friend was in danger. My son knelt and reached out his hand. It came back.
The race was about to start, and the tiny green insect was in for a wild ride. My son would run fast, and the race would be long. The race began. I ran well enough, and felt excited at the finish line. But that thrill gave way to anxiety when my son didn’t show up.
I knew he could run 5 kilometers in about 30 minutes. When I didn’t see him at the 35-minute mark, I began to wonder what had gone wrong. And as the 40-minute mark approached and he still didn’t appear, I went out looking for him. Had he got lost? I crossed the railroad tracks and looked down a long straightaway, hoping to see his face. Finally, there he was, just ahead of the 45-minute mark.
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。
Little Friend was riding proudly on one finger of my son’s right hand.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Smiling, we walked back to the car with Little Friend.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My husband Kenny and I grew up playing sports. We both worked in the field of physical education and coach youth high school track and field. So, Kenny and I weren’t surprised when our daughter, Becky, showed early athletic promise.
Watching her outrun other kids on the playground, I knew she was destined for winning medals on the track. Slowly but surely, track took over our lives. Weekends were devoted to training. We stopped taking vacations so the girl wouldn’t miss any practices. We missed her birthdays and family outings. I even restricted the time she could spend hanging out with her friends, which would consume the energy she needed for competition:
We didn’t really ask Becky if that was what she wanted. Of course she did! Who wouldn’t want to use a God-given talent to the fullest? Occasionally, Becky would open up after a loss, “I wish you were the same even if I have a bad day on the track. I feel like you don’t accept me just for who I am.”
Honestly, that hurt. In my heart, I knew what she said was true. I could behave more like a coach than a Mom on the sideline. But I didn’t mind. Ensuring her on the track of winning was my only goal. I probably cared more about the medals than she did. By the time Becky started middle school, our family life had revolved around (以……为中心) practices and competitions. I had visions of college scholarships, maybe even the Olympics.
One day, at a regional Junior Olympics qualifying event, she twisted her leg and ended up in a heavy fall, screaming in pain. This was not supposed to happen. Kenny and I pushed her too hard the day before and she attempted to break the record which was clearly beyond her reach.
We rushed her to the hospital right away. Never did I imagine sitting in a doctor’s office, staring at the X-ray result as the doctor calmly explained that Becky’s posterior cruciate ligament (后十字韧带) — the thick tissue stabilizing the back of her knee—was torn.
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。
“Her professional career as an athlete was over,” the doctor broke the news to me.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Following the hard-fought recovery, I watched her running with a new attitude.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I had been waiting with my fellow graduating students for the moment when I would walk out onto the stage to receive my degree certificate. I was happy and relieved, yet worried and anxious about the future. What was my first job going to be like? This short walk was going to launch me into a whole new world. How would I manage? Would I be able to carve out a career for myself? My name was called and I moved into the lights. I heard the applause. I knew my parents would be watching and smiling at each other and I tried to relax. I held my certificate against my breast and smiled at the camera. Before I knew it, the ceremony was over and the curtain had come down on my university life. Where had the time gone? Four years had disappeared in a flash. I stood with my certificate in hand and reflected on those four years.
I remembered arriving at university on my very first day, pausing at the gate to look down the long drive. I could feel my hands sweating slightly and I had to hold on tight to my suitcase. Would I be able to fit in? Did this new phase of my life mean that I was now mature enough to be entirely responsible for my own successes and failures? I took a few seconds to compose myself and to take in the scene that was laid out before me. The campus was alive with people. Anxious parents and excited students were talking in small groups, carrying suitcases or walking in and out of dormitory buildings. I wondered if the first day of school was always such a circus. I took a deep breath and carried on into the heart of the campus. Little did I know that I was about to experience the best four years of my life.
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 remembered cooperating with my classmates on group projects.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I heard my parents’ voices calling me and I returned to the moment.
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