3 . On a freezing morning of December, two police officers were patrolling（巡逻） the streets. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie (对讲机) on Alan, one of the officers, rang. “The cake shop near the City Museum has reported a burglary (窃案). Please rush to the scene immediately”, said the electronic voice.

The two policemen quickly arrived at the shop, only to find that the scene showed no sign of crimes at all. Curiously, they checked the monitor (监控器) and found that a thin woman broke open the window and climbed into the store at 5:20 a.m. Instead of searching around, she walked straight into the storage room, stole cheese, chocolate, butter and other ingredients for a cake, and then ran away down the road.

Both policemen felt quite confused about her behavior. One of the shop assistants identified the thief as Clara, a single mother who lived nearby. She had an eight-year-old boy to take care of and lived in poverty.

Moments later, the two officers arrived at Clara’s house. Bob, the other officer, pulled out a gun and was about to break in. But Alan told him to put the gun away and knocked gently.

The door opened and out came a very thin woman. From the outline of her figure, Alan recognized that she was exactly the thief. The woman, Clara, immediately understood the situation when she saw the two policemen. She buried her face in her hands and sat down on the floor.

At that very moment, a child’s voice broke the silence, “Mom, is anyone coming for my birthday? Invite them in, please.”

After hearing the boy’s words, Clara stood up and begged in a low voice, “Officer, I did steal those things, but there’s nothing else I could do. It’s my baby’s birthday, and I’ve got neither job nor money. Please don’t take those things away. I’ve just used them to make him a cake.”

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。

Para1:

Looking into the woman’s teary eyes, Alan understood and walked into the house.

Para 2:

Bob nodded thoughtfully and asked, “What about the things she stole?”

A Four-legged Guardian Angel

Snow had just melted off the ground that April day at our house in Regina Beach, Saskatchewan. I had just cleaned up the pool in preparation for selling the house. The year before, I had lost my job with the provincial government, and now our financial situation was grim. In despair, I had finally put the home on the market, and a real estate agent was due to show up later that day. Even worse, I would have to give up my beloved Great Dane (大丹犬) Brigitte, because I could no longer afford the cost of feeding it. The thought of losing the dog and our beautiful home was almost more than I could bear.

Deep in despair, I sat typing up resumes and cover letters. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my thirteen-month-old son, Forrest, as he lay on the carpet, playing near our big, gentle nanny-dog, Brigitte. It seemed as if Brigitte was always meant to be in this family and she turned out to be a perfect companion.

Brigitte came to our house on Christmas eve when the doorbell rang and I was sure some of my Christmas packages had arrived. I ran to the door and swung it open, but no one was there. I sensed something and looked down, only to find a beautiful Great Dane sitting there, looking up at me with big, intelligent eyes. There was no way that she could have rung the doorbell by herself, was there? Perhaps, someone had found the puppy somewhere and left her there, and then rang the doorbell and ran away. They accurately guessed I would welcome an additional family member and take care of her.

Thinking of these, I couldn’t help heaving a sigh and went straight back to work. However, I hadn’t typed more than two sentences when Brigitte began barking furiously and running back and forth to the sliding glass door overlooking our pool.

I raced to see what was happening and noticed that the sliding door was slightly open. Suddenly, I realized Forrest was nowhere to be seen. In panic, I opened the door and ran outside.

There I was surprised to see Brigitte, who was terrified of water, dive into the pool.

Finally, the doctor said Forrest was all right and could be released from hospital.

It was time to go home. “Remember to work on your class speeches for homework,” Miss Walker called, as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone got really bored listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.

Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.

Jenny knew she should just pick it up and return it to him, but she didn’t want to run after him. Jenny bent down quickly, picked up the watch and ran home. On arriving home, Jenny put it on almost without thinking. She was surprised it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her. “I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water...”Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the mirror, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really DID have something magic.

The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker asked who was going to be brave and go first. No-body moved. Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say anything, there was a shout from behind. “She’s stolen my watch!” Lee said angrily, “It went missing at school yesterday.”

Paragraph 1: Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation.

Paragraph2: At that moment, Miss Walker smiled and asked the class to listen to Jenny’s speech first.

When I was in middle school, my family moved to Seattle, where my parents started their new business — a small grocery store downstairs my house. As a girl of shy and reserved nature, I had to take a fresh start to fit into the sophisticated city life.

One sunny day, my school announced an exciting event, a talent show for the local food bank. Students were encouraged to showcase their unique talents in front of the public in the city hall on National Day. A buzz of excitement fed the school as everyone began preparing for the big day. Deep down, I felt a spark of curiosity and a desire to participate. However, my self-doubt held me back, “I don’t have any special skills to share.”

Days turned into weeks, and the talent show drew closer. I couldn’t shake the upsetting feeling until one day, Emma, one of the most popular girls in my class, came to me while I was helping in the grocery store after class. “How about singing together in the talent show?” She grinned, “I heard you singing a tune, along the way back home. I can’t help following you here.” Gosh, I couldn’t believe my ears. Emma, with personality and popularity, acknowledged my little talent. Since Emma had the world’s prettiest voice, I felt like being favoured by fortune.

“You two? The talent show for the food bank?” My mum bent towards us and her face lit up. “A big occasion.” Then a light bulb seemed to go in her head. “Why not practise right now upstairs? I bet you’ll be a perfect match.” Winking at us, she seemed to know we were thinking alike.

Emma and I embarked on rehearsing almost every single day after school. We brainstormed, exchanged ideas and rehearsed the scene. As the days rolled by, I was feeling pretty good about our act. But the day before the performance, Emma called that she had an acute stomachache and was not in any shape to perform.

I was completely knocked out by the news.

Finally came the big moment.

It was in the afternoon before the end of the Second World War that Antonio Black, who was twelve, caught sight of a beautiful brooch (胸针) in a shop window. The brooch is so beautiful that he was unwilling to leave the store until he had purchased it. But it was too expensive — $5. His family was very poor and his parents struggled to make ends meet. Five dollars would buy almost a week’s food for his family.

Antonio couldn’t ask his father for the money. Everything his father made through fishing went to his mother, Susan. Slim and beautiful, his mother was the center of the home and the glue that held it together. The housework was never-ending, and she struggled to feed and clothe their five children, but she was happy as her family and their well-being were all she cared about.

Nevertheless, he opened the shop’s door and went inside. Standing proudly and straight in his flour-sack (面粉袋改做的) shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, “But I don’t have the money right now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?”

“I’ll try,” the shopkeeper smiled. “People around here don’t usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while.”

Antonio respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out. He would raise the money and not tell anybody, for he thought Mum would be surprised when she saw that brooch. On hearing the sound of hammering (锤打) from a side street, Antonio suddenly had an idea that he could raise money by selling the used nail bags. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails bought in bags from a local factory. Sometimes the used bags were thrown away at the construction site, and Antonio knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece. That day he sold two nail bags and hid the money in a rusty soda tin.

Every day after school, Antonio started his plan.

The day finally came!

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 them 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 and the table from around the corner.

This kid was in bad shape. His clothes were too big and looked like they’d seen better days. His hair was all over the place, and there was dirt on his face. He had that look of someone who hadn’t had a good meal for way too long. When the lady left, he saw his chance. He quickly sat down and started scarfing down (狼吞虎咽) the leftovers like they were 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 watching the kid for a second. The boy got scared and stopped eating, and tears started to well up in 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.

Then all people in the canteen started clapping.