Beautiful Birthmarks: The Power of Acceptance
Whenever you hear the word “birthmark (胎记)”, you probably think of one of those black or brown spots you have somewhere on your body. However, for me, it’s completely different — I have them both on my lips and inside my mouth, which make them quite visible and, to me, ugly. When
I was young, these birthmarks kept making me feel extremely awkward and self-conscious (难为情的). As these birthmarks always drew a lot of attention, people often asked me, “What are those black marks on your lips?” When I told people that they were birthmarks, they usually said, “How strange！”
In pictures, I used to hide my birthmarks by pursing (噘起) my lips, so I would not have to deal with people’s questions. As I was growing up, the situation didn’t get any better. In the school, my classmates would always tease me, making me feel hurt and helpless. In society, I often encountered individuals who would inquire about my birthmarks even before they knew my name.
Such experiences left me feeling disheartened. I felt like people judged me by my appearance without considering my personality.
My birthmarks are caused by a genetic condition from my mom’s side of the family. My mom’s mom has birthmarks on her lips, and my mom’s uncle and my uncle have some on their bodies. I used to try to cover them up with makeup, but it never looked good. I even consulted a doctor, wanting to have surgery to remove them. But when imagining the process, I would get nervous and eventually give up.
Whenever I cried to my mom about them, she would always comfort me and say, “Learn to accept them and see them as beautiful birthmarks.” However, it wasn’t easy for me to accept my own birthmarks. Every time I showed my birthmarks, people would look at me with strange eyes. I began to regret why I had given up on the surgery and chosen to accept my birthmarks.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 词左右。2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
One day, I met my cousin, who also had a large birthmark on his arm._
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From then on, when I met people, I began to change myself.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We Survived Getting Swallowed by a Whale
Respect and revere (敬畏) nature. I’m Julie, 56 years old, living in San Luis Obispo, California, about four miles from the beach. Every few years, the humpback whales come into the bay for several days while migrating.
In November 2020, the whales were around, so I took out my yellow double kayak (皮划艇) to watch the wildlife. I paddled out the pier (长堤) and saw seals, dolphins, and about 20 whales feeding on silverfish. They sprayed through their blowholes. Each one is huge, about 15 metres long. Sometimes they turned side fins as if waving at me. It was incredible.
At the time, my friend Liz was with me. We had met 28 years earlier. I asked Liz if she wanted to see the whales. I really wanted to share the magnificent experience with her.
“No way,” she said. She’s terrified of whales and sharks. I promised that the craft was stable and safe enough. Moreover, humpback whales couldn’t swallow down kayaks for their throats were tight even though they had enormous mouths and white-wall-like internal mouth structures, not to mention that we got paddles and life jackets. After some persuasion, Liz finally agreed.
We set off at about 8:30 the next morning. There were already about 15 other kayakers in the bay. One hour later, I spotted two whales right past the pier, swimming toward us. We were in awe, feeling amazed to be so close to a creature that size.
When whales swam down after breaching (跃身激浪), they disappeared in ripples. I figured if we paddled there, we’d be safe since they’d just left. We followed them at a distance—or what I thought was a distance. I later learned that it’s recommended to keep 90 metres away, or about the length of a football field. We were probably 18 metres away.
All of a sudden, a swarm (群) of fish started jumping out of the water into our kayak. Their movement sounded like crackling glass. Now I knew we were too close. I was terrified. Then our kayak was lifted out of the water—about two metres—and tipped back into the ocean. I figured the whale was going to drag us down somehow, and I had no idea how deep.
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 realize that Liz and I sitting in the kayak were in the whale’s mouth.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thankfully, the whale spitted us out, people paddling to help, shooting videos.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One sunny Sunday morning, Lily woke up to an unusual silence in the house. Normally, the smell of pancakes would float through the air as her mom busied herself in the kitchen, but today there was nothing. Concerned, Lily decided to check on her mom.
She knocked softly on her bedroom door. “Mom, are you okay?” she called out. A raspy voice responded, “I’m not feeling too well, sweetheart. I’ve caught a bad cold. I don’t want you getting sick too. You can fix yourself some toast for breakfast, and I’ll stay in bed.”
Lily felt sympathy for her mom. She must be feeling really under the weather if she couldn’t even make breakfast. Determined to help, Lily decided to take charge of the morning routine. After enjoying her simple breakfast of toast, Lily noticed the sink (洗涤池) was filled with dishes. Without hesitation, she rolled up her sleeves and began washing them, just as her mom usually did. She washed each plate and glass thoroughly until they were shiny, determined to make the kitchen look as tidy as possible.
But Lily wanted to do more to help her mom feel better. Suddenly, inspiration struck. Lily remembered her mom mentioning that she had planned to plant flowers in the garden today. Maybe if she finished the job for her, it would bring a smile to her face. With newfound purpose, Lily put on her gardening gloves and headed outside. As she worked, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction as she carefully planted each flower, imagining her mom’s delight when she saw them producing flowers.
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。
Entering the garden, she noticed that the leaves of some of the plants were turning yellow.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Later that afternoon, feeling a bit better, Lily’s mom stepped into the garden.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Many years ago, a farmer owned a large farm along the Atlantic seacoast. He always advertised for hired hands (雇工). Most people were unwilling to work on farms along the Atlantic. They were frightened by the awful storms that swept across the ocean, destroying the buildings and crops in its path. As the farmer interviewed people for the job, he just received “No”.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, came close to the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.
“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the man. Although he couldn’t understand his answer, the farmer hired him.
At first the little man started the hard work with confidence. Soon after, he found that the farm was much bigger than he had imagined. He had no idea how such a big farm could produce with so few farmhands, let alone fight against natural disasters. But he quickly accepted the reality that he had to make every effort to deal with these problems. From then on the little man worked around the farm every day and kept busy from dawn to dusk. And to the farmer’s surprise, he felt glad about the man’s work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly. Jumping out of bed, the farmer took a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hands bed, he shook the little man and shouted, “Get up! A storm is coming. Tie things down before they blow away!”
The little man rolled over in bed and said surely, No sir I told you…. I can sleep when the wind blows. And no matter what the farmer said, he didn’t get up. The farmer was very angry with him, so he determined to fire the man on spot.
Instead, he ran outside to prepare for the storm hurriedly.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was at this moment that the farmer understood.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In an art class my friend Mareya and I took, we had to look at art made by lots of different artists and then try creating our own. We made pencil drawings and paintings using only small dots of paint.
For our very last task, our teacher asked us to paint a portrait of a friend or family member. Mareya and I looked at each other and nodded. We both had the same idea.
“You’ll each get one of these art sets,” said Ms. Williams. “Every set contains a small canvas (画布), some tempera paints (蛋彩画颜料), and two foam brushes (泡沫刷). You can paint in any style you choose.”Mareya and I put our sets into our art bags. Then we headed over to her house.
And then our friend Jasmine stopped us. “I was so excited to tell you my amazing news. My family just got the cutest dog named Ginger, and if you want to come over, you can meet her!” Jasmine's house is only a couple of blocks from Mareya’s, so after checking in with Mareya’s mom, of course we had to go. Ginger was the cutest dog imaginable. “Whenever she’s not running around, she’s sound asleep in dreamland,” said Jasmine. She led the way to the kitchen. “Do you have time for a snack?” “Sure!” we said.
After we ate some cookies at the kitchen table, Mareya and I stood up to leave. But when we went to pick up our art bags by the front door, we found a big surprise! Mareya pointed at our torn-open art sets. “Something tells me Ginger might not have been sleeping this whole time.” “Oh no!” I said. “Our foam brushes are now foam shreds (碎片)!” “Bad Ginger!” Jasmine shouted. “It’s OK,” said Mareya. “She’s way too little to know any better.”
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。
On the walk to Mareya’s house, I said, “I hope Ms. Williams will understand why we couldn’t do our portrait task.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We ended up having a great time making our portraits with our fingers.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On the walk home from school, my friend, Cherry, happily said, “Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I’ve been saving up for the past month and plan to buy my mother the perfume (香水) she’s been wanting for so long.” Her excitement made me realize that I hadn’t prepared anything special yet. But I only had a little money left. I began to regret spending so much on snacks every day. “See you next week!” Cherry’s voice pulled me back to reality. We waved goodbye as she went into a perfume shop.
I continued walking along the road, carefully thinking about what gift I should choose. I planned to buy something like flowers or chocolate, but now it seemed like those were way too simple. Therefore, I pushed open the door to a mall (商场) and tried to find the perfect gift. The bright lights illuminated (照亮) the collection of various goods. I picked up a lipstick (口红) but immediately (立即) put it back after seeing its price. I could never afford that! Then I walked into another shop and saw a lovely cup. This cup, besides being beautiful, would also remind my mother to drink water. It’d be a wonderful gift. I picked it up and turned it over to see the price listed, hoping it was not too expensive. But once again, I couldn’t afford it even with all the money that I had. Feeling sad, I continued to wander around the shops. Time flew by quickly, and before I knew it, the sky began to darken, so I had to go home.
Since there was no time or money for me to pick out a gift, I decided to make a simple card. When I finished, the clock on my bedroom wall struck 11 p.m. I held up the card, examining its hardcover, handwritten letters, and the tiny pictures I’d drawn of my mom and me. It’s probably never going to compare to the expensive gifts that my friends bought for their mothers, I thought sadly.
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。
Soon, morning came, and it was time to give my mother my handmade card.
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“I love this card!” My mother said excitedly.
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In a small community located at a suburb of Exeter, a disheartening issue had been troubling the neighborhood for years. The once pleasant surroundings were ruined by piles of waste that seemed to multiply with each passing day. Residents were growing tired of the worsening environment, leading many to abandon their homes in search of cleaner neighborhoods. It was in this terrible situation that two young students, Emma and Mia, decided to take matters into their own hands.
Emma and Mia were classmates and best friends from Phillips Exeter Academy, both passionate about environmental preservation and deeply concerned about the pollution crisis their community was facing. Witnessing more and more neighbors’ leaving, they knew they couldn’t stand by any longer. Determined to bring about a change, they undertook a mission that would soon catch the attention of the entire community.
Their journey began with thorough research and planning. The two girls searched carefully on the Internet for information on environmental initiatives and connected with local environmentalists. They organized meetings with residents to understand the issues at hand, collecting data on the types of waste, the sources, and the areas most affected. Armed with this knowledge, Emma and Mia worked out a comprehensive plan and announced it to ask for opinions from the residents. Surprisingly it was strongly supported.
Their strategy was twofold. First, they initiated a waste classification and recycling program. They distributed recycling bins(回收箱) to every household and educated the community about the importance of responsible waste management. Soon, the streets began to show signs of improvement as the volume of garbage inappropriately thrown away decreased gradually.
The second part of their plan was more ambitious. Emma and Mia gathered volunteers from their school and the neighborhood to take part in a massive clean-up campaign. Armed with gloves and trash(垃圾)bags, they began systematically clearing the waste from the streets, parks, and even the local bodies of water. Their firm commitment and hard work inspired others to join the cause.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Half a year later, the changes were significant.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Emma and Mia received recognition and honors for their work.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I stood in the restaurant kitchen, my eyes wide, arms hanging awkwardly, ready to work but unsure of what to do. “You will be trained first,” my manager Aaron said, “and do remember to check every detail!” With these words, he walked away.
A workmate threw me a dish brush and said, “Let’s get started.” He introduced me to the basics of washing dishes and demonstrated the process. This was the beginning of my part-time job, a new stage where I was both eager to learn and anxious about the challenges ahead.
On a Friday night, Aaron swiftly entered the kitchen. “Who has just bused (收拾) the back right table?” he shouted, his voice sharp with urgency. My hands, slippery with bubbles from the bowl I was washing, nearly let it slip through my fingers. I wanted to say I was guilty, but Aaron’s cold stare didn’t promise a happy reward for the guy who admitted. Finally, a mix of fear and my own conscience pushed the response out of my mouth.
“I did, Aaron.”
“What were you thinking? Get back out here and look at what you missed!” His words forced me forward. I grabbed a rag (抹布) and followed him out to table twenty-two. As we made our way through the restaurant, he said something about rags, but I didn’t hear clearly with other conversations going on around us.
I quickly realized the true issue was the mess beneath the table. A nearly full cup of beer had tipped over, creating a small lake on the floor. It was a significant mistake on my part. “Take care of it!” Aaron tuned and stormed off to the front of the restaurant.
I dropped down to clean up the beer. That was when another problem occurred. I had brought only one rag. One already wet rag. It did nothing but increase the size of the lake. “More rags,” I thought. Immediately, I rushed into the kitchen and hurriedly grabbed five dry rags, hoping Aaron wouldn’t notice my brief absence.
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。
I had just rushed out when I found Aaron standing in my way.
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After cleaning up the mess, I reflected on Aaron’s words.
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An egg sandwich in hand, I quickly grabbed my bag and climbed into the honking car. I took out my physics notes and started skimming through them once more.
Today was a very important exam-of physics. For me, it is a really hard subject and I had worked really tough and intended to do my best in it.
I entered the queue outside the assigned classroom where the invigilator(监考老师)was checking our pencil cases. All the seniors and juniors were mixed and we were sitting in an English letter order. Upon looking at my name, I was surprised to see someone else sitting on my seat. She was a senior.
“Um. . . excuse me, I think you got the wrong seat… ” my squeaky(细的)voice faltered(支吾).
She stared in front in a bored way. I had the feeling she was deliberately ignoring me. I had enough trouble socializing with people, so I decided to leave the matter to the invigilator. The invigilator came soon enough.
“Katie, dear, you need to move one seat back for Aliya here, ” the invigilator explained.
The girl, Katie, shifted and I settled down. The girl in front of me turned around and rolled her eyes at me. Now, I was puzzled. What was wrong? I had annoyed two people at the same time?
These thoughts drifted away as I started focusing on the paper. Minutes passed when out of the blue,there was a tap on my shoulder.
The girl behind me, Katie, whispered, “Quick! Change places with me.”
I froze. It took me a moment to process her words. Without even waiting for a response, she grabbed my arms, pulled me up and made me sit on her seat, exchanging our papers too. Then she and the girl in front of her started to exchange some notes. I didn’t know what to do. I fought hard to collect enough courage and raised my hand, but the invigilator was busy with another candidate.
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。
Suddenly the door opened with a bang and in came a teacher.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“As for you, Aliya, ” he turned to me, “complete your paper here. ”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A few years ago, as a teenager, I experienced daily migraines (偏头痛) that made me want to hit my head against a brick wall. I was desperate to find a cure. For those of you who have experienced this pain, I can sense you silently nodding in agreement, while for those of you who have not experienced it, it is by no means an overstatement to say that the experience is suffering.
I had tried everything. Unfortunately, nothing worked as a continuous cure for my unfortunate painful condition. In my hopelessness, my father told me to try acupuncture (针灸), which he had experienced once in Hong Kong. It had helped cure his lower back when no other forms of therapy or medicine had worked.
I had no idea about acupuncture and had never experienced traditional Chinese medicine before. With no expectations due to my previous dis- appointments in my search for a treatment, I went on my journey of acupuncture, and soon found myself in a middle-aged woman’s office which was surrounded by Chinese herbal medicines.
After I sat myself down on the patient chair, she asked me why I had come in. Then, she placed three fingers on my wrist and silently felt my pulse. I was then taken to a room and told to lie down. Soon, she took out the needles which made me quite worried because such objects make me uneasy.
The initial procedure of receiving acupuncture proved to be quite surprising. To address my migraines, acupuncture was first administered to the back of my hand, which is nowhere near my head. The feeling was quite unexpected too: as the doctor carefully tapped and twisted the needle in, I did not sense the needle itself, but rather an effect that rippled (起伏) throughout my entire body. The doctor then continued to tap and twist more needles throughout my entire body: head, face, stomach, legs, arms, and toes. The entire process was over in 20 minutes. She then gave some herbal medicine to me to drink every day for five days.
注意：1. 续写词数为150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I returned to the doctor for a total of 10 times.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Acupuncture did change my life.
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