When I moved to Dallas in the fourth grade, I noticed I was behind in my reading at Saint Michael’s School. Reading out loud, I had difficulty with half the sentences.
My teacher, Mrs Agnew, said my reading comprehension (理解力) and ability to pronounce words were at a lower level than other fourth graders’. I was nervous every time she called on me to read aloud because, although I would try my hardest, she would always have to help me with the words. She guessed I suffered from dyslexia (诵读困难), and she suggested I be tested for dyslexia.
At first, I didn’t want to be tested because I feared it would prove I truly had dyslexia. However, finally, I decided to receive the test.
One morning, I went to hospital with my parents and met Dr. Waites. Before long, I began to take the test. The test made me feel uncomfortable, and I was frightened to answer the questions related to the test, in fear of facing failure. When the test ended, Dr. Waites said the test results showed that I had dyslexia, I was shocked and felt upset. Dr.Waites comforted (安慰) me, saying that his hospital had many other kids who had dyslexia. Then, he smiled and suggested ways to get over dyslexia.
According to him, I should often read books and understand what was read. And I should try to read aloud, and build a vocabulary of recognized and understood words. Besides, I should often do physical exercise. And he suggested I receive speech therapy (治疗) in his hospital every few days. As for my parents, Dr. Waites suggested they spare time to read aloud with me.
After returning home, I searched information on the Internet and further leaned about dyslexia. I found it was not easy for a person to get over dyslexia. I had little confidence that I could succeed in removing my dyslexia, and I was worried and frightened about my future. Noticing it, my parents tried to encourage me.
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。
Para 1: They brought me a book about some people defeating life challenges.
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Para 2: Several years later, when I volunteered at the same hospital, a girl who had dyslexia asked me to read a book to her.
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It was a beautiful May morning. As usual, I started my day by sitting outside breathing the fresh air as I read my book and drank my coffee. Afterwards, there were two things I was determined to do. First, make sure my husband got our small Christmas trees down from the attic(阁楼) and, second, take several bags of clothes, blankets and comforters to the donation center. I had been faithful in doing that every year, but for whatever reason, I had delayed this year and the bags were now piling up and overflowing.
After reading for a while, I went into the bedroom to ask my husband to bring the trees down. He was asleep so I figured I’d surprise him and get them down by myself.
I went to the garage to access the attic storage and moved our tall metal ladder into place. I had to move the bags of clothing and blankets out of the way, determined once again to get those to the donation center.
I climbed the ladder, and two steps from the top I was able to reach up and push open the attic door. Then, with my feet on the very last step and part of my upper body in the attic, I saw my trees. I awkwardly raised my leg to climb onto the attic floor. Looking down, and then looking up again, I decided that this was actually too much for me. I should wait for my husband to get them.
As I stepped down, my foot missed the shaky ladder’s step. With one foot swinging and the other on the top step, I grabbed(抓住) the attic floorboard and called my husband. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hear me. As I went to take another step down, the ladder suddenly came out from under me, loudly crashing onto the concrete(混凝土的) garage floor, leaving me hanging from the attic with sweaty hands. In that second, which seemed like a century, I prayed and then called my husband.
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。
With my body swinging in midair and my hands slowly sliding closer to the edge, I fell.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Arriving at the emergency center, I anxiously waited to see the doctor.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?” Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what our teacher might have found out. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.
“Oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance (零花钱). “My father is going to have a temper,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward. I told the truth, “I did it.” Then I was silent. It was hard enough saying what I had.
My teacher went to one of our bookshelves and took down a book on bird field guide. She then began walking towards my desk. I had never seen my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.
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 was so afraid that I closed my eyes tightly.
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I was very moved.
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Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been shy. The thought of talking to new people or being the center of attention made my heart race and palms sweat. As I entered middle school, this shyness turned into social anxiety, making it even harder for me to interact with my peers.
One day, during a class presentation, I stumbled (结巴) over my words and everyone laughed. I felt extremely ashamed. That only made my social anxiety worse, and I started avoiding speaking in front of others.
My parents noticed my struggle and suggested I talk to our family therapist (治疗专家), Dr. Smith. At first, I hesitated, but I knew I needed help. During our first period, Dr. Smith explained that social anxiety was a common issue and there were ways to overcome it. She recommended some effective treatments. Over the next few months, I attended weekly treatment with Dr. Smith. Slowly but surely, I began to feel more confident in myself. As part of the treatment, Dr. Smith encouraged me to take part in school events and clubs that interested me. It was terrifying to put myself out there, but I knew it was necessary for my growth.
注意：
1.续写词数应为120左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
A few days later, a school speech contest was to be held.
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After the contest, I went to visit Dr. Smith happily.
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My friend invited me to a trapeze (高空秋千) class. I was doubtful because of a lack of courage and a short of self-confidence, but her enthusiasm and assurances of strict safety rules won me over.
I had been fearful of heights since elementary school and avoiding my fear of heights became second nature. But here I was, at age twenty-six, facing my fear of heights in a rather extreme way. I had come around to the idea of trying trapeze. I figured it wasn’t much different from swinging (舞动) on the monkey bars as a kid. One difficulty I didn’t expect was the ladder (梯子). In order to reach the trapeze, I had to climb up a twenty-two-foot ladder.
I could hear one of my classmates expressing her impatience with my slow climb up the ladder. “If she’s afraid of heights, why did she sign up for a trapeze class?” However, my friend was at the top of the ladder, trying to encourage me. Besides, his distraction techniques helped to take my mind off my dangerous task. I found a rhythm(节奏) and kept going. With a slow and steady pace, I made it to the top. The cheers from my classmates rang out below.
An instructor told me to step to the edge of the platform. He reminded me of the safety rules, including the net below that would catch me at the bottom. He also asked me to listen to the directions while in the air, so I could perform a trick.
As the instructor counted down, I took a deep breath and pushed off the platform, swinging back and forth. At that moment, I lost awareness of time and space. Fortunately, the instructor’s voice came over the loudspeaker, giving me step-by-step instructions for performing a trick. Instead of doubting my inability to perform the trick, I took his directions one step at a time.
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。
During my flight on the trapeze, my fear didn’t completely leave me.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This experience opened up a new way of seeing myself and approaching other challenges.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Gloria Estefan started primary school, she could not read, write nor speak English. She felt lost, unhappy and completely frightened. However, someone changed her life—her English teacher, Mrs Collins. Her family had left Cuba in 1959 when she was only a year old in the hope of finding a better life in America. Initially they moved to Miami where the family settled in a set of apartments with other Cuban women and children who had immigrated.
The women were close-knit and supportive. While she felt safe, she was also isolated. They all spoke Spanish, and she rarely heard English. On her very first day in school, which she was looking forward to, she was completely shocked. She came home and told her mother that she had learnt her first English word “stupid”. It was the nickname a boy had given her.
In every way possible, she was set apart from her classmates. She was the only panic and non-white student. She also found it difficult to grasp the English language as it was her second language. The culture, her school friends and the food they ate were different from hers. As such, she was set apart from her classmates.
One person made that year bearable for her, Mrs Collins. She was young and African American, so she understood how Gloria felt as she was the only non-white student in class. Mrs Collins never doubted that Gloria could catch up with the other students in time.
Still, the teasing continued. The boy who called her stupid would not stop laughing at her for her accent. He was a good student and the proud holder of the class’s reading award. It was an honour given periodically to a student, based on excellence in schoolwork, participation and homework. Gloria wanted that long-waited award.
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。
Mrs Collins encouraged her to compete for the reading award.
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The award ceremony was coming up.
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