It was just another boring day for Jamie, a third-grader. He sat in his English class, mindlessly doodling on his notebook.

“Jamie Turner, please report to the principal’s office immediately.”

Jamie’s heart sank. With his mind racing, Jamie grabbed his backpack and made the long walk down the hallway to the principal’s office, avoiding eye contact with fellow students. As he walked, he searched his brain for any possible explanations for why he was being called.

Jamie finally reached the principal’s office. He took a deep breath and pushed it open, bracing himself for the worst.

To his surprise, he found the principal, Mr. Harrison who was wearing a giant yellow chicken hat on his head, standing on his desk and waving his arms as if he were trying to fly!

Jamie’s mouth fell open at the sight, too stunned to speak.

“Jamie, sit down,” Mr. Harrison exclaimed, gesturing him to take a seat. “I’ve called you here because we’ve been having some complaints about your behavior. You’ve been… too funny.”

Jamie’s jaw dropped further. Was that really the reason he was called to the principal’s office?

The principal continued, his tone serious, “Now, we take our education very seriously here, and while we appreciate a good sense of humor, we have to draw the line somewhere. We cannot have students disturbing the learning environment with their… their humor.”

Jamie couldn’t help it—he burst out laughing, doubling over in his seat as he gasped for breath.

Finally, Jamie managed to compose himself enough to speak. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s just… I can’t stop laughing at the thought of getting in trouble for laughing… and your hat! It’s ridiculous!”

The principal frowned, “Well, I’m glad you find it funny. But your teachers don’t.”

Jamie nodded seriously, trying to contain his laughter. “I understand, sir. I’ll be less funny in class.” “Um, Mr. Harrison, why are you wearing a chicken hat?” Jamie asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

“Oh, today is Animal Day for the first-graders.” Mr. Harrisjon grinned.

“Really, Mr. Harrison? You think I’m that good for the upcoming school Comedy Festival?” Jamie asked.

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.

One day, I met my cousin, who also had a large birthmark on his arm._

From then on, when I met people, I began to change myself.

4 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Last Christmas was a very difficult time for me. My family and all of my close friends were back home in Florida, and I was all alone in a rather cold California.

I was working a double shift at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, it was about 9:00 P.M. on Christmas Eve, and I was feeling really miserable inside.

When it was time for me to call the next person to the counter, I looked out to see the sweetest-looking old man standing with a cane. He walked very slowly over to the counter and in the faintest voice told me that he had to go to New Orleans. When I tried to explain to him that there were no more flights that night and that he would have to go in the morning, he looked very worried.

After much time, I was able to at least find out that this old man was dropped off at the curb (路缘) on Christmas Eve by his sister-in-law and told to go to New Orleans, where he had family. When I asked if he could come back tomorrow, he said that he would wait at the airport until tomorrow.

Naturally, I felt a little ashamed. Here I was feeling very sorry for myself about being alone on Christmas, when this old man named Clarence MacDonald was sent to me to remind me of what being alone really meant. It broke my heart.

Immediately, I told him we would get it all straightened out, and our Customer Service agent helped to book him a seat for the earliest flight the next morning. We gave him the senior citizens’ fare,which gave him some extra money for traveling. About this time, he started to look very tired, and when I stepped around the counter to ask him if he was all right, I saw that his leg was wrapped in a bandage (绷带). He had been standing on it that whole time, holding a plastic bag full of clothes.

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 noticed blood on his bandage and immediately called for a wheelchair.

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I went to ask my manager if we could find a place for him to stay.

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One day two years ago, my mother came home from work and announced that she had found a pet for the family. My father, little sister, and I eyed her in doubt.

My sister asked what kind of dog it was. My mother said it was a poodle (贵宾犬) named Pepe. I couldn’t believe she wanted a poodle — especially one with such an ordinary name. But she had made up her mind. “Actually, I’m doing a co-worker a favor,” she said. “The woman who owns Pepe says he hates to be alone and needs children to play with him.”

Pepe arrived the next night. His short tail shook happily. I didn’t get very close to him, thinking he should have stayed with his previous owner. My little sister played with him until bedtime, and he would come to me and begged for more attention. I always ignored him. But no matter how I treated him, he’d always like to be with me. He has always been waiting for me at the front door at the end of the day, smiling happily. He seems to know that I will be coming home from school at that time. Every day, he asks me with his eyes to play with him or take him somewhere. At night, he will wait until I fall asleep, leave his bed by the wall heater, walk down the hall and jump onto the end of my bed.

One night, while everyone was sleeping, I was in a half dream state. My throat hurt, my eyes pained, and some animal was crying in my ear. I opened my eyes and saw fog in my room. I wondered who left the window open. Pepe cried and bit my pajama sleeve (睡衣袖). Then I woke up and realized that it wasn’t fog in my room — it was smoke.

Courtney Johnson arrived at her son Peter’s school just in time and immediately recognized him among the mass of students spilling through the front gate. Peter rushed to the car, climbed inside and put on the seat belt.

“How was your day at school today, Peter?” she asked as they left for home.

“Um, it was okay, Mom,” Peter said. “I’m starving! Can we please stop by McDonald’s on our way home?”

“Hungry?” Courtney stopped for a moment. “Didn’t you have lunch at school today? Or is it an excuse for chicken nuggets (鸡块)? Not again, Peter!”

“No, Mom! I’m actually starving. I would have eaten at the dinning hall, but I had to give my food to my classmate Aiden because he was hungry.”

Courtney frowned. “But everyone gets their separate meal at school, Peter.”

“Aiden doesn’t eat with us, Mom,” Peter revealed. “His mom can’t pay for his lunch. They are struggling financially. I found him in the playground one day and he told me not to tell anyone because he thought they would laugh at him. Today we had gym class, and everyone was really hungry. I knew Aiden wouldn’t have anything to eat, so I offered my portion (一份) to him.”

Courtney was happy that her son was kind enough to help a needy classmate. She wondered what went wrong with Aiden’s family, so that Aiden had to skip (不吃) lunch at school. When they got home that day, she received a text message from Peter’s teacher, saying there would be a parents’ meeting the next day. Then she thought of a plan. She called Peter’s teacher Mrs Dickens and shared her idea.

The next morning, when they all gathered, Mrs Dickens briefed them about Aiden’s situation at Courtney’s request.

As Courtney was about to get into her car outside the school gate, Aiden’s mom met her and thanked her for her help.

My grandmother died when my mother, Laura, was only five years old. The year was 1945 and life was extremely hard. As the youngest child, Laura was surrounded by the love of her father, brothers and sisters. However, it could never take the place of that of a mother’s. Worse still, as money was tight at that time, her family could not even afford her a doll for Christmas.

Later, Laura got married and set up her own family. In my mother’s life, her father, her husband and then her three children and then her grandchildren were the main focus of her life. She felt that she could make up for her sad childhood through her devotion to her family, but deep in her mind there was a dream waiting to be realized.

One afternoon in December, I was working in the bank as usual when I caught sight of the beautiful handmade dolls in one of my customers’ hand. She was taking orders for the coming Christmas. The dolls looked cute and adorable （可爱的）. Without hesitation, I decided to get one for my five-year-old daughter, Kelly. Suddenly, an idea occurred to me. I asked my customer if she could make a special doll for my mother-one with grey hair and glasses: a grandmother doll. Having learned the past life experience of my mother, the doll maker accepted my request gladly, though it seemed to be a challenging job to her. So besides the Christmas tree, I also placed my order for two dolls: one blonde an one grey-haired.

Several days passed. I was expecting the arrival of the festival as well as the gifts when a friend visited and told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus, would make a visit to our town on Christmas morning. Knowing that my parents would also come to my house, I called his dad and asked him to deliver the gift to my mother. To my joy, his dad kindly agreed.

Everything was in place and I eagerly expected what was designed to be a most memorable moment in my mother’s life.