“I have something important I would like to read to you,” Ava told her parents. They were sitting side by side on the couch as she stood in front of them. They looked at each other a little cautiously, but smiled. Ava took that as a good sign.

“In school,” she told them, “we’ve been working on persuasive essays. My teacher said that in order to persuade people you have to have reasons and evidence. You can’t just say the same thing over and over again.”

“Well that’s certainly true,” her father said. But Ava wasn’t done yet. “My essay is called Why I Am Responsible and Ready for a Cell Phone,” she continued, smiling as she read.

It had been a problem for months. All three of her best friends received cellphones for Christmas. But Ava’s parents would just shake their heads whenever she asked them.

For weeks it seemed like there was nothing she could do. But then, a week ago, they had started working on writing persuasive essays at school. It occurred to her that why not write a persuasive essay?

For a whole week, she’d worked on her persuasive essay, coming up with all the reasons why she should have a cell phone. She was confident that this essay was the best thing that she had ever written. There was no way her parents wouldn’t be persuaded.

“Alright Ava,” her mom said. “We both wanted to wait until you were older to get you a cell phone.” “But, Ava, since you think you are ready for it, this weekend you shall get it. But we want you to understand, a cellphone is not all just fun and games,” her Dad said. “This is a high responsibility.” He started to list all of the ways that she had to be responsible with her phone, but Ava wasn’t listening anymore. She was too busy trying to decide what apps she could download. On the weekend, her plan worked! She had a cellphone!

She couldn’t wait to show it to her friends.

She thought maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t ready for a phone yet.

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。

Being a train driver, I must concentrate on my driving when working. And on that particular day, I was glad for my outstanding attention.

From a distance, I spotted a small figure like a thin kid on the train tracks. Immediately, I rang the alarm, but no response. Observing carefully, I saw a boy lying on the tracks, unable to escape from my train, as his foot was stuck. I pulled the brakes with all my might as soon as I could. Luckily, the train stopped a few inches from the boy, who was crying loudly in fear.

I approached him, asking how he felt and whether I could give a hand. After getting his permission, I cautiously checked how his foot was stuck in the tracks. And after a few pulls,   the boy's foot came out finally. Hugging him and making sure everything was okay, I asked whether I needed to call his parents. To my astonishment, the child said nothing, just looking at me with his tearful eyes. Considering it was dangerous to leave the boy alone, I decided to take him to my home after work.

Arriving at my home, I introduced him to my wife, Amelia. She looked at the child in surprise for a while, but she calmed down quickly and asked whether the boy remembered her. The boy nodded. Amelia explained to me that she had just walked out of the supermarket with some bread and vegetables the other day, when a group of bad guys blocked her way. Just then, a little boy ran toward them and screamed to attract the police, which at last saved her. Here stood the brave boy.

In the following hours, we chatted with each other, and thus we knew that the kid was named Tom and he was abandoned by his parents and became an orphan who had been alone on the streets for years. As we didn’t have any children, we were determined to adopt Tom.

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 told Tom our decision, waiting for his answer.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, we opened our bedroom door and saw Tom standing there.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In 1940, I worked in the checkroom of the railway station. I saw everybody that came up the stairs.

Harry was a young man who came to the station and waited at the head of the stairs for the passengers from the 9:05 train.

I remembered seeing Harry that first evening. He wasn’t much more than a thin, anxious kid then. He was all dressed up and I knew he was meeting his sister, who he hadn’t seen for many years.

Well, the passengers came up and I had to get busy. I didn’t look toward the stairs again until nearly time for the 9:18 and I was very surprised to see that the Harry was still there. His sister didn’t come on the 9:18 either, nor on the 9:40, and when the passengers from the 10:02 had all arrived and left, Harry was looking pretty upset. Pretty soon he came close to my window so I called out and asked him what his sister looked like.

“She’s small and dark. She is nineteen years old and very neat in the way she walk,” he said. “She has a face that has lots of spirit. I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long, and her eyebrows come to a little point in the middle. She’s got a brown fur, but maybe she isn’t wearing it.”

“I couldn’t remember seeing anybody like that,” I told him.

He showed me the telegram he’d received: ARRIVE THURSDAY. MEET ME AT THE STATION. MAY. It was from Omaha, Nebraska. “Well,” I finally said, “why don’t you phone to your home? She’s probably called there if she got in ahead of you.”

He gave me a sick look. “I’ve only been in the town for two days. We were going to meet and then drive down to the south of the city where I’ve got a job. She doesn’t have my address.”

When I came on duty the next day, Harry was still there and I asked more about his sister.

One day, after about two weeks, I thought I could say something encouraging to him.

At one table by the window, a lady just finished up her lunch. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a sandwich and some salad, with a cup of tea to wash it all down. She seemed to be in her own little world, staring out the window every now and then, like she was waiting for something. After a bit, she got up, paid for her meal at the counter and left.

Her table was still a mess, with bits of her meal left behind. It wasn’t a big deal—this happens all the time. But today, something different was going to happen. A young boy, who looked like he’d had a pretty rough time, had been watching her from the table around the corner.

This boy was in rough shape. His clothes were too big and looked like they’d seen better days. His hair was all over the place, and his face had streaks (条痕) of dirt on it. He had that look of someone who hadn’t had a good meal too long. When the lady left, the boy saw his chance, He quickly sat down and started wolfing down the leftovers (吃剩的食物) like it was the best meal he’d ever had.

But then, the waiter walked over. He was an older guy who’d probably seen everything. He didn’t say anything at first, just watched the boy for a second. The boy got scared, stopped eating, and tears started to fill his eyes. He thought the waiter would kick him out for sure. Instead, the waiter took away the half-eaten plate, and the boy’s heart sank.

The boy got up to leave, but before he could get far, the waiter came back and asked the boy to wait for a moment. The waiter gave him a full and fresh meal.

The whole cafe went quiet when they saw what was happening.

The boy, with a full stomach and a happy heart, looked as if he couldn’t thank the waiter enough.

Jesse and I are good friends. But we have recently cooled off. It was last month that the story began in gym class.

“Come on. Emily!” Jesse sounded so impatient. “We’ll be late for class.” After math class was gym class, and I was a bit slow that day. Jesse kept urging me to hurry up.

Just then I found my wallet missing. I dropped my book bag to dig through my coat pockets. I was wet with anxiety.

“Someone took it.” Jesse said. As usual, she was quick to point away from the bright side of things.

Even though we were best friends. Jesse and I were just so different.

Jesse and I had to rush into the gym. Soon Jesse spread the news about the theft. By last period in gym class, I was tired of having to say over and over again, “I’m sure I just left it at home.”

After gym class, we went into the locker room. I was changing when I heard a gasp from Jesse. I looked at her and found her face was white with shock. There at her feet, was my wallet.

“It fell out of her locker!” Jesse pointed at Hellen a “new girl” in our class. “She stole it.” Everyone began to accuse Hellen at once.

“Jesse caught her red-handed.”

“Report it!”

Some people were beginning to wonder about Hellen.

I looked over at Hellen. She picked up the wallet and held it out to me. Her hands were trembling. “I found it in the parking lot. I was going to give it to you.”

Jesse spit the words “I’m so sure!” at her.

“Really, it’s true.” Hellen’s eyes began to fill with tears.

I reached for my wallet. I didn’t know what to think, but when I looked over at Jesse, her attitude made me sick inside. I looked at Hellen. She was scared but looked sincere.I knew I held her reputation in my hands.

“I am so glad you found it,” I smiled. “Thanks, Hellen.” The tension around us broke.

“Good thing she found it,” everyone but Jesse agreed.

Just then a folded piece of paper dropped from my wallet.

I’ll call him Pete because I didn’t take the time to ask his name. A nameless hero who found his way into my heart.

I had taken Robert, my eight-year-old son, to a restaurant to celebrate his birthday. Lil’ Bob, we called Robert, wore his brand-new cowboy boots into the hall, his face shining with pride and joy. This was Lil’ Bob’s special day.

We approached the counter, where Pete greeted us with a clear warmth. His brown eyes twinkled with kindness.

“Welcome,” he said with a smile. “Wow, you look happy, little fellow.” Pete brought his face close to Lil’ Bob’s level.

“I got cowboy boots,” Lil’ Bob boasted. “I picked them out myself.” Lil’ Bob lifted his right foot in the air so Pete could see the hand-stitched leather.

“Those boots look amazing, like fresh leather,” Pete said. He opened his eyes and looked directly into Lil’ Bob’s eyes. “Thank you for sharing your treasure with me.”

Lil’ Bob laughed happily at Pete’s reaction. Then, Pete returned to the register.

“What does the birthday boy want to drink? It’s on me,” Pete offered.

Lil’ Bob shuffled back and forth in excitement since soda was a rare treat in our home. Now, he could order any soda he wanted. Lil’ Bob considered the many possibilities, taking more time than a fast-food customer should. Eventually, he settled on root beer.

“Excellent choice, my friend. It’s what I would have picked myself.”

Pete’s confirmation brought a massive smile to Lil’ Bob’s face. We ordered our meals and watched as Pete assembled the drinks and food on the tray (托盘) before us. When everything was on it, I reached for the tray, but Pete said, “Let me carry it out for you.” Pete followed us to the hall as the birthday boy took a considerable amount of time picking the perfect table. Pete patiently held our tray until we were seated.

“Wow, he is nice,” Lil’ Bob observed after Pete had walked away.

Toward the end of our stay, Pete came to our table.

Magnet (磁铁) fishing is a new trend in which a heavy-duty magnet is pulled through a body of water to see what metal objects can be brought to the surface, And while most of these treasure hunters find common items like cans, nails and bicycles, some lucky people have been able to find something surprising.

George Tindale, a 15-year-old with an adventurous spirit, searches riverbeds for lost treasures as a hobby. One lucky day, he struck gold when his heavy-duty magnet pulled out a safe (保险箱) containing thousands of dollars. Then he surprised everyone by tracking down the safe’s rightful owner and returning the safe to him.

George made his unbelievable discovery one day when he was searching the River With am in Grantham, Lincolnshire, with his father, Kevin. They both enjoy magnet fishing: using a strong magnet to pull lost metal objects out of river and ocean depths.

When George and Kevin’s magnet found a heavy object, the curious pair pulled it out to see what they had discovered. They wiped years of river sand and mud from a small safe and forced it open.

Inside, they found some wet business documents, an old wallet and a bag containing $2,500. Further check discovered that the safe also contained several bank cards, which listed the name they needed to track down the rightful owner. After some online searching, they learned that a local businessman of the same name, Rob Everett, reported his safe stolen 22 years ago. George and Kevin helped right the wrong 22 years later.

George and Kevin found Rob through his current business. Shocked that someone had found his safe 22 years after it had been stolen, Rob made plans to meet George and Kevin in his office.

The owner of the safe told them the story of how it got lost.

Rob was so impressed with George’s honesty that he would offer him a job.