I sat in my parents’ car. Mom had insisted I go with her to pick up Dad from work. Across from Dad’s office is a bike store. That was the day my eleven-year-old eyes first saw the purple BMX Mongoose bike. From that day on, all I could think about was that bike. I even drew pictures of the bike in class. Every evening afterward, at five thirty, I eagerly went along with Mom to get Dad.
And every day I told my parents, “I want that bike!” But they disagreed and replied that I had already had a perfectly good bike at home. I’d argue it was old and ugly, thinking that my happiness depended on that purple bike. Days later, I found the store had sold that bike. I knew I’d never be happy again.
A week later, returning home from school, I tripped over something. Lying in the weeds near a river and some wooded lots, was a bike — the exact bike from the store. “Hey, whose bike is this?” I shouted, scanning the area. No one replied, and there was no one in sight. Maybe its owner didn’t want it any longer. I couldn’t leave it lying in the weeds. So I took it home and hid it behind the garage. Every day after school, I sat there, admiring it. But I didn’t feel like riding and didn’t feel as happy as I had thought. Thinking about the bike made my stomach tighten and uncomfortable.
A few days later, during lunch at school, my friend said, “Did you hear about Tyler, in the other fifth-grade class? He lost his new purple BMX Mongoose bike he had just gotten for his birthday. He left it by a river while playing in the woods. It got dark, and he couldn’t find it.”
“I’d never go off and leave a new bike like that. He doesn’t deserve to have that bike,” I replied. My friend added, “Kids say he’s nice. And they say Tyler is upset because his dad worked overtime to buy the bike for him.” For the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about Tyler.
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。
After school, I returned home and dragged to my room.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“I know Tyler’s house,” Mom said. “I’ll drive you there.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________To me, you can become a hero just by deciding to go for a run every morning. But what if you stop your run to save a group of pets from a burning house? That’s the making of a superhero.
The sun rose in the buzz of the alarm clock, and a new day began. Paul Murphy turned off his alarm, put on his running clothes and went out for his daily run. When he was running past a house, he saw a smoking garage. He stopped at the house and pressed the button on the newly installed ring doorbell camera. No one was home, so he heard a recording, “He can’t answer the door right now, but if you’d like to leave a message, you can do it now.” Murphy was wild with anxiety, because he could do nothing but dial 911. Just after a while, a woman’s voice came through the speaker, “Hi!”
“Hello?” he said in the video. “There’s smoke coming out of the top of your house.”
Not good! Courtney Polito, who owns the home and was the voice coming through the ring speaker, heard the house’s smoke alarms going off.
At this very moment, she was on duty in her office 48 miles away and her husband and kids were out on holiday. What worried her most were her four loving pets. But in the face of the emergency, every second counted. Polito had no time to think, and she gave Murphy the security code to enter her home and save her pets. After getting the access code, Murphy ran into the house to save the family’s two dachshunds (腊肠犬), a cat, and a rabbit. Through the camera, Polito first saw Murphy running out of the home carrying one of the dachshunds to safety. Without a stop, Murphy threw himself into the rescue attempt of the other three pets. Finally, he rescued them all from the burning 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。
Murphy was safely outside the house when the firefighters arrived on the scene.
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Polito said she was looking forward to giving Murphy a hug to thank him.
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Ever since I came to work in my present company five years ago, I have heard about a small restaurant nearby called Love Dad. Everybody believes that it is owned by somebody’s loving dad. The restaurant does give the diners a sense of home. The furnishings are homely, with dining areas looking like family dining rooms. Best of all, they have hand-drawn cards, which diners can take away with them when checking out. The restaurant doesn’t have a menu. You never know what will be served until you come to its door with a “served today” notice hanging to it.
Whenever I pass by, I just can’t help entering to enjoy the homely atmosphere. It’s a reminder of my own home and my dad, who will prepare a great dinner for the family every day. Dad is a manager in a construction company and a great cook at home and not only a great cook. He is the kind of hero-like father at home, who can fix everything in the home and deal with all problems. As my parents live in another city, this small homely restaurant is where I choose to go to comfort my homesickness.
Curiosity about whose dad the owner of the restaurant is has always been there among my workmates who are its regular customers but it seems that nobody has a clue. It doesn’t matter much as all of them can get a taste of home there.
Last month, when I was home for the Christmas break, my parents talked to me about their plan for retirement and I mentioned the restaurant Love Dad to them. We all thought it would be great if Mom and Dad could join the restaurant in some way. They asked me about the exact location of it and decided to deal with the matter themselves.
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。
One week later, I got an email from Dad.
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One day, I was sitting in Love Dad again.
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The word “so” is holding my life at present. How is it that two little letters have the power to change and build up a retired woman? I don’t know, but they did, when I changed its location in my awful repetitive statement “I’m so lonely”, which had almost ruined me.
As a newly retired empty nester with few friends, I was lonely and felt desperate. I didn’t know how to kill time in that situation. Days repeated like circles. No calls from friends and no invitations from neighbors. I even had no interest in making meals for myself.
Day in, day out. I said to myself over and over again, “I am so lonely.” I repeated the same sentence in my heart inadvertently. I logged on my Facebook and wrote down many articles about my sadness, loneliness and helplessness. What’s worse, there were no people who would like to comment on my articles. The life I had created while working and raising my children was vastly changing. And so was I. I reminded myself of that fact every single day since my phone stopped ringing. There were no play dates to schedule and no office meeting s to complain about. I had dreamed of enjoying the life after retirement for long. But when I had the chance I realized how great the busy life was. I would rather get up early to go to work with so many colleagues around. But it was a dream. I could hope to get older but I couldn’t hope to get younger. What I could do was complain.
Then one day, when I couldn’t stand the loneliness. any longer, I logged on my Facebook again. I noticed someone had commented on my article, saying “you can move that terrible adverb to the front of your sentence”, which completely changed my awful situation.
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。
My sentence turned into “So, I’m lonely.”
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I made a great change.
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In our weekly staff meeting, our editor Ashley was not pleased with the quality of our reporting. “Our readership is way down. We need better stories for this Thursday’s school newspaper. Does anybody have any ideas?” she said.
I handed her my article about our basketball team beating Deerfield High School the previous night by one point. “Sports stories are fun,” she said, “but not good enough for the front page. We need something to really get people ‘s attention.”
After our meeting, we left the newsroom together and heard someone screaming, “Perry is missing!” Perry was a big red parrot and had been our school mascot (吉祥物) for ten years. He played an important role in students’ lives, both in and out of class. He had also been a constant presence at school events, inspiring a sense of unity among students.
Everyone gathered around Perry’s empty cage, heartbroken. Suddenly, a student from the crowd came over and showed me a photo. “You’re a reporter for the school paper, right? I happened to take this yesterday,” he said. In the photo was a Deerfield High School basketball player with something large hidden under his shirt around the size of a parrot.
“He must have stolen Perry to get back at us for winning the game!” Ashley cried. We hurried back to the newsroom, agreeing to run the photo on the front page with the headline “Deerfeld Stole Perry.” “This is just the story we need. Everyone will read it,” Ashley said confidently.
After she left, I took a closer look at the photo. The clock in the background read 4:15 pm, but our game against Deerfield hadn’t started until 4:30 pm. Why would the boy have taken Perry before we even played? An uneasy feeling came over me that we might have falsely accused someone.
I went to Perry’s usual caretaker to ask if he knew Perry was missing. ”He’s not missing. He’s retired. He’s ready for some quieter days,“ he said. Learning the truth, I immediately told Ashley and suggested writing a story to say goodbye to Perry.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右:
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
To my surprise, Ashley insisted on reporting the “Deerfield Stole Perry” story.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On Thursday, the paper came out with the headline “Bye-Bye, Perry” on the front page.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My heart sank when I received the news—no salary again. How would I manage the increasing bills, the groceries and my children’s needs? The future seemed hopeless. With a heavy heart, I hurried to pick up my two children, my mind racing wildly.
That’s when I saw it—a wallet, lying on the sidewalk. It was as if fate had thrown me a lifeline (救生索). Hope came to me as I approached it. The wallet was large, and when I opened it, my eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of a large amount of cash inside it. I hesitated for a moment, torn between the immediate relief that this money promised and the morality (道德) of keeping it.
Curiosity led me to search through the wallet. The things it contained were a photo and a couple of business cards. No matter how much I wanted to take the contents, my moral principles and inner voice told me not to do this. The decision became clear; I couldn’t keep this money. It wasn’t rightfully mine.
I picked out a business card. The name and number were there. With a deep breath, I dialed the number and explained my find to the voice on the other end. The voice came, completely emotionless, warning that they would come to me. He hung up without even saying “thank you”. I was angry with the impoliteness. I even regretted my decision, but my conscience (良知) did not allow me to go back on my choice. I had told the voice where I lived and went to get my children.
Shortly after we arrived home, a large black car suddenly pulled up to our house. The driver got out and knocked on the door. When I opened it, the driver told me that the owner of the wallet wanted me to personally hand over his wallet.
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 didn’t want to do so, but I agreed to go with the driver at last.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________He wanted to reward me for my honesty and kind act.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was in high school, my art teacher asked me to participate in a regional painting competition. I hesitated at first. Although I loved art, I had always painted for myself, not for contests or recognition. My family, who had moved from Mexico, encouraged me to express our culture through my art, but I was unsure about exposing my work to the public. Painting was a personal journey for me, a way to connect with my roots and express my emotions.
But my teacher saw something in my paintings that I hadn’t. She said, “Your work tells a story, a vibrant narrative of your heritage and dreams. You should share it with the world.” Motivated by her confidence in me, I decided to take the leap.
I chose the theme of ‘Migration’ for my painting. It was a tribute to my family’s journey from Mexico to the United States, a blend of colors and emotions depicting both the struggles and hopes of moving to a new land. I poured my heart into that canvas, each stroke representing a piece of my story.
As I worked, I found myself lost in the memories and experiences of my family. The more I painted, the more I understood the sacrifices they had made for me. My doubts turned into determination. I wanted this painting not just to be seen but to be felt. I stayed up late for several nights, perfecting every detail, ensuring that every color and every line conveyed the emotions I felt so deeply.
When I finally finished, I was no longer concerned about winning. The painting was a part of me, a representation of my family’s journey and my growth as an artist.
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 day of the competition arrived, and my heart was racing as I displayed my painting among the others.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the competition, I walked up to my art teacher, filled with a mix of gratitude and pride.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________There are all kinds of enemies, and one of the arts of living is to learn to tell them apart. But consider the kind who never meant to be an enemy at all, and doesn’t want to be an enemy, really. He’s not mad at you; he’s mad at the world, and if you are wandering around on his lonely battlefield, you get shot, which is not meant for you at all.
Let me tell you about one of them. She was the dark-eyed daughter of our town barber: a big, stormy Gina Lollobrigida. Years ago, I brought my two little girls home from South America and put them in school down the road. They talked a very peculiar language that was neither English nor Spanish, and their classmates gave them a hard time. Especially Gina, who was older and the ringleader (元凶) of the terror of the tiny kids. She had an air of anger with her fiery eyes, which seemed to pierce through anyone who dared to cross her path. Her words were hurtful, and even in moments of silence, the tension surrounding her was evident, like a thick wall built between her and the rest of the world. When my daughters were misunderstood and teased because of an unfamiliar language, Gina proved to be the most troublesome among all the students, dominating the younger children and causing chaos whenever she pleased.
Pat and Peggy came home crying almost every day, so I decided to cheer them up. “Let’s have a party,” I said. Pat’s and Peggy’s tears dried magically. Right away they got creative: “Ice cream! Cake, big red balloons!”
“And friends?” I said. The tears started again. “We haven’t got any friends,” Pat cried. Peggy howled, “Nothing but enemies.” Then I had one of my rare inspirations. “Let’s have an enemy party. Let’s invite all your enemies – and we’ll fill them up with ice cream and cake and give them red balloons to take home.
Little Pat and Peggy exchanged knowing looks, and one of them said in Spanish, “Qué passa al Viejo?” (“What is wrong with dad?”)
It turned out that the “Enemy Party” was a mad, merry success.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Another bonus of the party was that Gina seemed a different person afterwards.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It snowed for days. Everything was frozen solid. As we hadn’t the heating in our classroom, most of us wore thick and warm clothes. Then, by chance I discovered under Lucas’ dirty woolen coat, there was just a semi-sleeved shirt.
It was so strange that I couldn’t help wondering whether Lucas was crazy to make such a choice. I told this to the boys in my class. “How stupid!” We all ran to see Lucas and jokingly pulled of his coat. Lucas stepped back, shaking with both cold and anger. I saw tears welled into his eyes.
When I went back home, I told mom “the stupid choice” Lucas made.
Mom fell silent. Then she made a phone call. The next day, she told me to bring a package to the school. “Give it to Lucas. Tell him to put on the clothes in it.”
“Why?” As a fourth-grader, I wasn’t wise enough to see something hidden behind. It was years later that I understood that Lucas’ family had the basics, but there was little money for much else beyond food and shelter.
Mom hugged me and said softly, “Guess why a hungry person doesn’t eat?”
“Because he can’t get any food to eat.” I answered loudly.
“Exactly.” Mom said, “So, why doesn’t Lucas wear thick and warm sweater?”
It all clicked into place.
It made me feel guilty. Mom said it was unkind to make fun of disadvantaged friends. And mom also told me to “see” through my heart, but not just through my eyes. I wondered “How?”
At the end of the term, the teacher told us we were going to take a class picture as, for some reason, we would break up when we stepped into the fifth grade. Twenty-two students lined up in three rows and faced the camera with happy smiles. The teacher told us anyone who paid a dollar would bring a class picture back home. I could hardly wait to get my first class picture.
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 suddenly, I thought of Lucas.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lucas was frozen in shock when the teacher handed him that class picture.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was four years old, I learned an important lesson about trust and water. It was a lesson I would carry with me for the rest of my life.
I remember those lazy summer days when my father and I used to play in the swimming pool. He was a giant in the water, his chest towering above the surface, while I struggled to keep my head above water. One day, he decided it was time to teach me how to swim. Here assured me, “Put your head underwater. It’s not scary, I promise.” But my four-year-old self was too afraid of the unknown depths. What if something happened to me down there? I couldn’t take the risk. My father pointed to a distant flag and said, “Look at that flag!” As soon as I turned to look, his hands pushed my head beneath the water. For a brief moment, I couldn’t see or breathe. Then, just as quickly, he let go, and l emerged breathing for air. It was a memory that stayed with me.
A year later, during a family vacation in Miami when I was five, my father suggested we try the waterslide at the hotel pool. The slide was tall and full of twists and turns that made me dizzy just looking at it. He said, “Let’s go. If you’re scared, we can come back down.” I climbed to the top but refused to slide. I remembered his trick from the previous year. Unexpectedly, he lightly pushed me, and I went sliding down with a splash.
Over the years, with my father’s challenge and company, I tried various kinds of adventurous water sports, including surfing, sailing, and rafting. Gradually, I had turned from distrusting my father to trusting myself. As I turned 18, my father prepared a special gift for me, cliff-diving in Red Rocks, Arizona, where participants jumped off cliffs(悬崖) into bodies of water. After hours of flight and drive, we were there.
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I stood on a cliff, facing the deep sea and vast sky and preparing to jump.
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