I was in 7th grade when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was very sudden and unexpected for our family and obviously I was beaten. I tried my best to balance my first year of middle school and my home life, even if I knew this was impossible. I hated coming home from school every day for fear of what I would see when I got home. I hated seeing my mom sick all the time; she was not herself and all I wanted was for her to stop treatment and get better. Luckily, I had lots of support from my family, friends, and teachers during this hard time to help get me through it.
At the beginning of the year, I was determined to stay on track with my homework and studying and get through my first year at middle school successfully. Slowly, I started to become more distracted while at home with taking care of my mom, cleaning the house and helping my grandma cook our meals. While I was at school, I could escape and put my mom’s sickness in the back of my mind while I hung out with my friends and enjoyed playing. I noticed that my quiz and test grades were increasingly getting worse, but I never brought this to the attention of my mom because I did not want to worry her. Eventually, all of my grades were lower than C’s.
I knew that I was not doing well at school, and I needed to get my grades back up. I knew that a lot of my teachers were cutting me some unimportant work because they knew what was happening at home. Ms. Zazoski, my English teacher was the most supportive teacher that I have ever had and I am so glad that I was in her class that year.
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。
One day my teacher had me stay after school to have a talk with her.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That was the motivation that I needed to improve my grades.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was somewhere between spring and summer, and my mom and I were driving through the countryside. Back then, I was 13 years old, and always felt unhappy with Mom. But I didn’t know that this trip was going to be a special one.
A pot of flowers sat in the back seat, whose heavenly fragrance(香味)filled the car. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, my mom stopped the car. “What are you doing?” I shouted, fearing that the car had broken down and we’d be trapped there, so far from home. But that wasn’t the case. My mom jumped out of the car, grabbing(抓)the flowers from the back seat. “It’ll just be a minute,” she called back through the open windows.
I impatiently looked at the side of the road before finding a little sign showing that it was a nursing home. I looked back to the building, a little annoyed, as my mom reappeared ——empty- handed.
Before she started the car, curiosity drove me to ask, “Do you know someone there?” She shook her head. “Then what did you do with the flowers?” She smiled slightly, “I gave them to the receptionist (前台接待员).” “What?” She laughed at my confusion. “I told the receptionist to give the flowers to whoever needed them, especially those who haven’t gotten any in a while.”
I kept silent for a moment. Not long after we continued our driving, I spoke again, “Did you leave your name?” To this, she answered instantly, “No. Leaving flowers there for someone who will appreciate them makes me feel good, which is enough of a thank for me.”
Suddenly, still thinking about Mom’s deeds, I heard something burst loudly. It was our car that broke down! Nothing could be worse, because neither my mom nor I understood how to repair it, and we didn’t know where the garage was. It also seemed impossible to wait for any passer-by, since we had seen so few people along the way.
注意：1. 续写的短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1
We were worrying about what could be done.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2
As we drove along, a flower shop came into sight on the road.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8-year-old Evan was standing by the sidewalk when he noticed Mrs. Carter opening her shop again.
Several days ago, when Evan was passing by her store, he saw a closed sign on the store’s door. When the shop remained closed for not just two days, Evan was worried he’d never be able to get his “dream job”.
85-year-old Mrs. Carter was a woman selling flowers for a living and Evan had befriended her when he helped her cross the street one day.
Now seeing her again, Evan ran up to her and greeted her. “Can I help you today, Evan? Do you want flowers?” Mrs. Carter asked. Evan smiled, “I’m looking for a job! Can you please hire me?”
“A job?” the elderly lady laughed, thinking Evan was too little for that. But Evan proudly replied he knew many things, like making sandwiches and helping his mom get grocery bags from the car. Mrs. Carter laughed and asked Evan how much money she would have to pay him if she hired him.
Evan shook his head. “All I want is a big bouquet (花束) for my mom. Her name is Stacey and her birthday is one week away. Mom says we should work hard for what we want. I want to work hard for that bouquet. Can you hire me?” Evan asked. Mrs. Carter was impressed and nodded.
Then for a whole week, Evan would come to Mrs. Carter’s store in the evenings and help her, and having Evan around relieved Mrs. Carter’s boredom while she was working. Some customers thought Evan was lovely and entertaining, so they bought more flowers. Mrs. Carter’s business became better.
A week later, on Evan’s last day on the job, Mrs. Carter was emotional. They had grown close for working together, and Evan had become like a grandchild to her. While making a huge bouquet for Evan’s mother, Mrs. Carter secretly placed one envelope into the bouquet. The envelope contained $200. When handing him the bouquet, she said, “Will you come to see me someday, Evan? I’d be delighted to have you here.”
“I will!” Evan smiled and waved goodbye to Mrs. Carter.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。Paragraph1:
Carrying the flowers, Evan rushed home to surprise his mom.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph2:
Then, Evan and his mom hurried to return the money to Mrs. Carter.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When I was a child, we lived next door to the Schonfield Home, People who got too old to take care of themselves lived there. I was a regular visitor and enjoyed spending time with the old people there.
One day, a very old lady named Mrs. Kurtz moved to the Schonfield Home. She seemed sad all the time. For days, I had never seen her smile or laugh. My parents learned that she had no family or friends.
Weeks later, I was visiting the home again. And I saw her sitting alone, looking unusually depressed(消沉的). Mrs. Smith, one of the old people told me that Mrs. Kurtz had turned eighty-nine, and that she was upset to be celebrating another birthday all alone without any cards or gifts. She truly believed there was no one in the world who loved her.
This moved me deeply, and I started to create a plan in my mind. I ran home and raced to my room. I took out my piggy bank that I always valued. And I poured out all the money that I had received on birthdays and other special occasions. I had been saving money for a new bike. Although the money wasn’t enough to buy a bike, it was enough for what I wanted to do then.
I raced down the stairs. My mother was cleaning the house. I walked to her and explained what I was about to do. And she smiled at me proudly. She planted a kiss on my cheek and said, ”I must be the luckiest mother in the world to have such a caring daughter." My mother stopped what she was doing.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数至少应为80左右;
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好;
Paragraph 1:
And we went to a gift shop together.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
We went up to Mrs. Kurtz and gave her our gifts.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Almost all of my holidays were spent with my grandpa. My grandpa was a retired army officer and the years in the army had made him a very tough person, which helped him a lot in fighting with cancer for a long time. Silver and golden stars on his shoulders and medals on his chest in grandma’s old photo albums reflected the marks of his distinguished service and numerous adventures. Grandpa had fine qualities and was a real personality. He was strict with his family, me included, as well as himself.
In our ancestral house there was a big pond as was common in bygone Bengali homes with lots of trees and bushes. Both my grandparents were fond of our so-called garden. One morning our new neighbor saw my grandpa planting two trees on both sides of our main gate, which still stand tall today. Across the street our new neighbor also got the same kind of tree and planted the trees exactly on both sides of his gate too.
My grandpa didn’t often give enough amount of water to his plants and didn’t always give his full attention to them, while our neighbor gave a lot of water to his plants and looked after them too well. My grandpa’s plants were simple but looked good. But our neighbor’s plants were much fuller and greener.
Normally, during April and May, we have short but violent thunderstorms called “Kalboishakhi”. One late evening during a Kalboishakhi we had showers with strong winds, which continued right throughout that night. Next morning along with my grandparents I came out to inspect the damage to our garden. I saw our neighbor was there in his garden too, but looked upset as his plants were uprooted. But, our plants were not damaged and were standing firm on the ground.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Seeing this, our neighbor was surprised and curious.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Grandpa’s explanations not only convinced the neighbor, but made me realize something.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I remember the hot summer when my friends and I discovered ice cream sandwiches at the corner store. They were ten cents apiece, a lot of money back then. I don’t remember how we came to buy one and taste it, but we were mad after that. Of course, none of us had any money. Whether we rode our bikes, or played ball, or sat and played cards, we talked and dreamed about those soft, creamy sandwiches.
My dad worked nights, coming home to join us for breakfast, and then sleeping till late afternoon. When he came home one morning, I heard the jingle (叮当声) of change in his pants and something ugly slowly came into my mind. That change was just what we needed, what I had to have. All day long I kept coming into the house and listening at his door. When I heard his sleeping sounds, I cracked the door. And there hanging at the foot of the bed were those pants. I slipped in and took a handful of change. It was enough for my friends and me to buy an ice cream sandwich, which we ate like greedy pigs. And I became a hero to my band of friends.
That went on every day for about two weeks. I had gotten good at slipping in and slipping out, and then ran to my friends and we headed to the store.
One day there was no change in dad’s pocket so I felt for his wallet, hesitated a moment, and then took out two whole dollars. I had been okay with taking the change, but those dollars made my face hot. Even before we began enjoying sandwiches, my stomach felt sick. The importance and joy I had felt buying for my friends was gone. If dad knew what I had done, he’d kill me.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.开头已给出。
Paragraph 1:
Early that afternoon, I hid myself in our basement, crying.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
In a moment I would never forget, he said, “Son, I’ve known since the first day you took the money.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Three years ago, I was offered a better job and went to work in a new clinic of a small hospital in Victor Harbor, an hour away from my house. I rushed there on my first day, driving to the clinic and getting used to the different rules there.
In my worry and anxiety, and feeling a little unfamiliar in the new environment, I removed my three rings according to the rules: my wedding ring, a ring that belonged to my mother and one that was a gift from my husband. I put them in a wrinkled tissue and placed them beside my computer.
During midday break, I ate my lunch at my desk and when I was finished, I hurriedly cleared away the waste, together with the wrinkled tissue into the rubbish bin. I went about my duties and my day went on well. I met new patients and felt that I had done a good job.
Driving home at the end of the day, just moments before I reached my house, I noticed that my rings were missing. I felt the heat in my body rise, my cheeks burning red. I went inside and tried to calm down. I spent an hour or so making telephone calls，trying to locate my rings. The first people I called were my manager and colleagues, and they gave me a few contact numbers for the cleaners. I got in touch with a lady who managed the cleaning services for the clinic, and she told me that the bins had already been emptied and gone to rubbish station.
Heartbroken, I knew nothing could be done then. I had lost my wedding ring and one of my most important rings-my mother’s wedding ring. If I had not been so careless, all this would not have happened. With great sorrow and regret, I just sat there in my chair wondering what I should do.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式作答。
After two hours or so, I received the most amazing phone call in my life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I decided to thank the wonderful person face to face.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
（1）该地方的基本情况（如名称、地理位置等）；
（2）该地方的特色（如文化、景点等）；
（3）你对该地方的印象和感受。
注意：
（1）词数不少于100：
（2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯。
A Beautiful Place in China
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Our Garden and the Salad
“Christine, come and help me in the garden. I want to plant all of the seeds today.” My father was calling to me. “I'm busy...” I said. I didn't understand why working in the dirt excited him so much.
By the end of April, his plants had come up in neat rows. Unfortunately, in early May, my father was seriously injured in an accident. He was in hospital for about two months and during that time he often asked me about his garden. Even after he came home, he had to stay in bed for a while.
My mother had several business trips so I said that I would take care of his garden. I assumed that the little plants would continue to grow as long as they had water, and luckily it rained fairly often so I didn't think much about the garden.
One Saturday morning in July, my father said to me, “Christine, I think that the vegetables should be about ready to be picked. Let's have a salad today!” I took a bowl and went out to the garden. I looked at the leaves and was upset to see that many of the leaves had been half eaten. There were hundreds of bugs (虫子) all over them! I tried to get them off, but there were just too many. I looked at the carrots next, but they didn't look healthy.
I got in panic for a moment, but then thought of a good idea. I quietly went to the nearest store to buy some vegetables. I went back home and cut them up to make a salad for my father. When I gave it to him, he said, “Oh, Christine, what a beautiful salad! You must be taking very good care of my garden.” My father looked happy, but I felt a little bit guilty.
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 went back to the kitchen when my mother came home.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I carefully made a salad and took it to my father.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
