One day a friend invited me to join gymnastics class that she had belonged to for many years. My mom got the needed information and within a few days I was ready to start!
When I got there, I was extremely nervous. The group wasn’t very welcoming so I was regretting signing up. It seemed they were comfortable with the team they had, and they didn’t want anyone to be added to it. But after working together for a few days, we all soon became friends. A month passed and I learned to do many things. I was excited and ready to learn back handsprings(手翻). Back handsprings are one of the main things you need to know for gymnastics because they are done so often. In my opinion, they are the hardest to do, but I was ready to try.
My friend was the queen of back handsprings, so she helped me understand each and every step. Our coach pulled out a handspring machine to help the kids who were learning how to do them for the first time. This machine is a block that has cushion(垫子) all around it. You basically sit in the mouth of the machine and push off with your feet and go backwards until you land on your hands, then feet.
Even with the handspring machine, I couldn’t get my feet right, so I had to try again and again. Impatient, some of the girls seemed to get angry. I was feeling like the new kid in the group again. The new kid that didn’t know what she was doing but everyone else knew it!
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。
Luckily, my friend, the queen of back handsprings, kept encouraging me.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One day, I finally got it right.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Why did Dad’s job make us move to South America anyway?” I asked Mom. “The TV shows are in Spanish and I miss going to school. The worst part is that I don’t have any friends here. All of the kids speak Spanish.”
“I know it’s hard, sweetheart. I’m lonely here too,” Mom said. “It’s hard to make friends when I can’t talk to anybody.”
Mom hugged (拥抱) me. “We’ll only be living here for eight more months.”
At that moment, eight months sounded like forever. A few days later, Dad said that a man at his work had a daughter my age. “Would you like to invite her over to play?”
“Does she speak English?”
“No,” Dad said, “but I can teach you a few Spanish words so the two of you can talk a little bit.” I shrugged ( 耸 肩 ). “It’s hard to be friends with someone when you can’t really talk to them.” Dad nodded. “I understand, but you wished for a friend.”
“I mean a friend who speaks English.”
“I know, but this might be fun anyway. I’m going to ask her dad to bring her over to our house.”
The following afternoon, Maria and her dad came over. I felt funny because I didn’t know how we’d play together without being able to talk to one another.
“Hola,” I said quietly, which means “hi” in Spanish.
Maria smiled and said something I didn’t understand. I looked at Dad and whispered (低声说), “This isn’t going to work.”
“Give it a chance,” he said.
Then Maria showed me a cardboard box. She’d brought a game called Connect Four. Dad smiled. “You don’t need to speak the same language to play that game.”
Maria and I went to my bedroom and set up the game. We took turns putting the colored disks (圆片) into the board, trying to get four in a row. Suddenly Maria smiled and pointed at the four red pieces in a row.
I smiled and said, “You won. Good game.”
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。
Although I’m sure Maria didn’t understand my words, I could tell she understood my smile.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As we were both laughing, I realized that although we spoke different languages, I’d actually made a friend.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
One morning in spring four students were walking to school.
There had been a rain, and the ground was very soft. Water was dropping from the trees, and the grass was wet.
The four students walked along, one behind another, because the pathway was narrow (狭窄的) and the mud (泥) on either side of it was deep. They walked, talked and laughed.
As they were passing through some small trees, they heard a great fluttering (拍翅膀) over their heads and a weak chirping (鸣叫) in the grass by the roadside.
“Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!” came from the leafy branches above them.“Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!” came from the wet grass.
“What is the matter here? ” asked the first student, whose name was Speed. “Oh, there are two young birds. Maybe the storm has blown two of the little ones out of the nest. They are too young to fly, ” said the second student, whose name was Hardin.
“What a pity! They'll die down there in the grass,” said the third student Martin.
“Oh, well! We still need to hurry to school. We're going to be late,” said Speed. “Why should we bother? ” After Speed's words, the first three students walked on, talking and laughing as before.
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，
But the fourth student, whose name was David, stopped.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
All were surprised to find that David was not with them when the roll call (点名) was made.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A first haircut can often be scary for little kids. Seeing a stranger coming over you with a pair of scissors for the very first time can often leave children with a wrong first impression of something that most of us go through on a regular basis.
In a recent video shared by a barber (理发师), Jad Srour, attracted people’s special attention. In the video, Jude, a young boy of about four or five years old, could be seen experiencing his very first haircut. When the barber put the scissors to his hair, the boy couldn’t keep the tears any longer. As soon as Jude broke into tears, his mom, obviously feeling her son’s fear, was in tears as well. The barber stopped for a while so that the boy’s mom could try to calm him down. After the mom finally calmed her boy down, the barber continued though the boy still wasn’t entirely happy with his situation. Surprisingly, once the barber cut the boy long hair down, the young boy smiled, and the eyes focused on the hair and shone with tears.
The video of Jude’s haircut quickly spread. After seeing the boy’s reaction to having his long hair cut off, many social media users took to criticize (批评) the boy’s parents for putting him through something that obviously hurt him mentally.
Considering how upset the little boy seemed when the barber touched his hair, many users wondered whether the boy wanted to cut his hair. One person commented, “Why did he have to cut his hair when he was clearly in pain about it?” Other users even wondered why Jude’s parents let his hair get as long as it did. They even wrote, “Why let it get uncontrollably long?” “What a horrible thing to do to a child. Shameful.” Many comments seemed to be negative.
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。
Then Jad told the story behind online.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When Jude was just born, his parents happened to know on TV that many kids with cancer had lost their hair.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Once upon a time, there was a boy who always enjoyed listening to his mother’s story about the statue (雕像) standing beside their house.
The statue’s name was Miriad, who was the symbol of kindness. People who walked by the statue showed their respect through bowing (鞠躬) in front of Miriad’s statue. It became a tradition in their village that everyman who died due to helping others would be honored as Miriad, and would be remembered by all the people.
One night, the boy asked his mother how Miriad gained his respect from all the people in this village. “He was just a simple man,” his mother said. “He helped people selflessly, thinking others first.” “Well, I can also do that,” the boy proudly told his mother. His mother continued, “That is the reason why people made Miriad a statue, for you child to copy and not to forget.”
One morning, the boy saw a little girl crying under an apple tree. “Why do you cry?” the boy asked. “I was trying to get myself some fruit from this apple tree and suddenly I fell down from it,” the little girl explained. “Let me do it for you,” the boy said. He started to climb up the tree and picked as many apples a she could. After a while, the boy jumped down from the tree and gave all the apples to the little girl.
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。
The little girl thanked the boy for his kindness.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
One day, the boy met a homeless man who seemed hungry.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
注意：词数100左右，可适当发挥
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
December 16 was an old man's 75th birthday. His health had not been good over the past few years and it was hard for him to run his family business. So he had to decide which one of his sons would take his place.
As they gathered to celebrate their father's birthday, he announced his retirement.“Dad,I can't imagine a day without you as the head of the business,"one said.
There was a silence. Surely the question playing on their minds was “Who would take his place?"The old man turned and walked toward the corner of the room where there were three empty boxes.“Come and take one box each. They are of equal size. On the first day of the New Year when we return here to celebrate, I want you to bring your box filled with what you believe to be the most valuable of this business, then I'll decide who will be chairman,” the old man said.
During the next fifteen days,the families and workers could feel a strong competitive spirit between the three boys.
One carried the box nearly everywhere he went.Another ran department to department asking for records. The third man simply left the box empty at his desk.
On January 1,the family gathered to celebrate. Right after dinner, the old man said,“Well, please share with men what you have placed in your box.” The first son pulled the business ledger(分类账本）from his box. Saying nothing, the old man asked for the second son to share. The son showed him to the safe,where he could see a box full of jewels.
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。
Disappointed,he said to the third son,“What valuables do you have to share?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sitting on his chair, the old man waited for his third son's explanation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
