A GIFT FOR GRANDPA
Summer vacation was coming. Jack and his brother Berlin were filled with excitement as they thought of visiting their grandparents again.
The big day came at last. After the happy family got ready, they set out for the grandparents’ eagerly. On the way, the brothers were excitedly talking about the fun they had with grandparents.
A little blue house with a tall white chimney finally appeared. Behind the property was the forest carrying their good memories with Grandpa. They arrived at the driveway, at the end of which Grandma was waiting for them joyfully.
Jack and Berlin each gave Grandma a big hug and then swept to the living room, shouting excitedly “Grandpa, we are back!”
Seeing his grandsons, Grandpa was wild with joy and tried to get up with all his strength from the chair but in vain. A helpless expression flashed on his face. Grandma explained that his health was declining rapidly and maybe couldn’t stand up on his own forever. But Grandpa declared stubbornly (倔强地), “I can!” Certainly, he was stuck in his boyish way. Mum and grandparents were happy to meet again after a long time. They sat together and chatted about what happened recently.
The brothers were soon bored with adult conversation, went out and wandered into the forest. Tall trees stretched up to the heavens with large branches crossing each other, while young ones rose straight like soldiers. Grandpa was once a great explorer full of wisdom. He could tell where the birds came from only by their calls and songs. The trees, birds, lizards, lots of bugs...How many merry moments they spent with Grandpa in the kingdom!
But now Grandpa couldn't get up. This made them worried. “We’d think out a way to cheer him up.” Jack said. “Grandpa is a bird lover, and we can catch him a bird.” Berlin suggested. “But he hates birds being caged!” Jack shook his head.
Then a bright idea came to Jack’s mind. “Why not make a cane (拐杖) out of a young tree!”
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。
Berlin thought it was a good idea.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jack and Berlin handed the cane to Grandpa.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As a young boy, I was carefree. Every vacation I looked forward to two things—seeing my grandpa and hearing his wonderful stories. My grandpa was a very good storyteller. He had worked various odd jobs when he was young and wove his adventures and misadventures into fantastic tales. These wonderful tales colored my childhood.
As I grew up, I had to admit that Grandpa’s stories went on a little long, even a little boring and gradually lost their magic. However, not wanting to upset him, my brother and I would sometimes take turns sitting in the living room, listening to grandpa tell his stories.
When my grandpa was approaching 91, he suffered from serious memory-loss. It was kind of what doctors called dementia (痴呆), probably the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Following the doctor’s directions, we moved him into a Sunrise Assisted Living Community, where he could get a better care. After that, grandpa hardly came to our house.
One weekend before my grandpa’s birthday, I came to visit him. Seeing grandpa sitting in his armchair, dull-looking, I was consumed with mixed feelings. I wheeled grandpa to the sunshine in the courtyard, talking to him. He couldn’t express himself clearly and spoke in short bursts, but I listened to him patiently and carefully just as I used to be a little boy.
It was then that I noticed a shadow box with some old and yellowish photos in it. I picked one up, in which my brother, several boys in our neighborhood, and I were playing basketball with grandpa cheering us on twenty years before. My mind flashed back to those beautiful memories. Back then, Grandpa was in good physical condition and we were all wearing basketball jerseys, playing and laughing with abandon. I presented the photo to my grandpa, pointing at each member and reminding him of their names. Incredibly, grandpa could speak out the name of every player. I even caught a soft light in grandpa’s eyes and a smile on his lips.
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。
A bright idea for grandpa’s birthday came to my mind.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing “the same players” playing there, grandpa seemed to have thought of something.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I begged my mom to let me make cookies by myself. Even though I had never attempted baking before, I was nine years old and my friend Emmie had been baking cupcakes by herself for a year. I was determined to prove that I could make it.
My brother, Caleb, laughed at the idea of me cooking alone, calling it a disaster. Having a big brother can be annoying. Despite his laughing, my mom agreed to let me try. She reminded me to take my time and be careful because I’d had some messy spills before I was nine.
I raced to the kitchen and went to work. I cracked eggs and put a cold stick of butter into the bowl. I turned on the mixer at medium speed—and whoa. Whoa. Whoa! What a disaster! I had to wipe butter off my face, then off the table and floor.
Caleb made fun of me again, calling me a mess. I chased him away with a spoon and turned back to the mixing bowl. I started again with softer butter. Referring to the recipe, I poured everything needed into the bowl and mixed it. After that, I put round batter (面糊) onto the cookie sheet and put it into the oven (烤箱). Within a minute, a fantastic smell filled the kitchen—the smell of cookie success!
I was going to prove that I was responsible. No more eye-rolling from my brother. No more “You’re too young” from my parents. I was grown up and in control.
I stared into the oven, and my heart sank. The neat, little balls had melted (融化) and overflowed to the edges of the cookie sheet. I pulled the pan out just as Caleb wandered back into the kitchen.
“What in the world?” He started to laugh. “Cookie soup?”
“You just be quiet,” I whispered, trying not to cry. “Just leave me alone.”
“How’s it going in there?” Dad called from the living room.
Caleb raised his eyebrows and bit his lip. I responded that everything was fine, pouring the melted batter into the bowl quickly.
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。
Paragraph 1: I picked up the directions, wondering what had gone wrong．
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Paragraph 2: I brought a plate of cookies into the living room for my parents．
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During the summer before Patty entered fifth grade, she decided to try a new sport. Swim training was nearly over and Patty was the fastest swimmer in her age group. She had always been the best. The neighborhood was offering a one-week tennis training course. Patty and her friend Darla got permission from their parents to join.
On Saturday morning, Darla’s mom took the girls to a store and bought them each a good, used tennis racket. “If you girls stick to tennis, then we’ll talk about a new racket. These will do for now.” The girls were excited about their new purchases. On Monday morning, at 7:00 a.m., Patty’s mom woke her up. “It’s time for tennis!” Patty covered her face. “Mom, it’s too early!” She made great effort to get out of bed and down to the breakfast table. Patty finished breakfast and ran to Darla’s house, then they walked to the court.
Mrs. Cane, the tennis coach, lined everyone up and started with the basics. After that, Mrs. Cane tirelessly taught them to practice their forehand and backhand. By the end of the week, Patty had made impressive progress. Mrs. Cane commented that Patty had lots of potential. Darla, on the other hand, was struggling. The other teenagers were having a tough time of it, too. Patty was the only one who seemed to get somewhere.
Since then, Darla had always been out in the August heat, practicing her serves or hitting the ball. Patty wasn’t really interested. She felt she was such a “natural” for tennis that she really didn’t need to practice. By the end of the summer, Darla began to get the hang of it. She joined a neighborhood junior tennis team. There would be matches every Thursday. Patty wanted to join as well, but she didn’t want to miss her favorite TV show. She told herself that she would join it when she got some free time. If Darla had fun, she would join the team in the spring.
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 week before school started, Mrs. Cane held another training course.
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Patty couldn’t stop thinking of her poor performance on the way home.
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I was a shy 13-year-old boy that year, afraid to speak before people and poor at communicating with others. My parents were worried so they introduced a part-time job in a restaurant tome during the summer vacation, hoping it would make a difference to me. Although I hated it and didn’t believe it would bring any change to me, I had to accept it. The part-time job fell on Monday of each week.
On the first Monday, I simply dared not look at people in the restaurant. And when I was speaking with them, my face turned red and my voice was low. On my way back home, I felt so bad. But when I reached home, my bad feelings disappeared. I found my parents had brought home a pet cat, which I had expected to get for a long period of time. The cat was so lovely.
However, one Thursday, he secretly ran out and disappeared. We looked for him everywhere the whole day but found nothing. We lived in the city, close to a high-traffic road, and this cat didn’t have “street smarts”. I guessed he would probably die and wouldn’t be home again. And after three days of looking for the cat with no sign of him, I quite believed he wouldn’t be home again. My parents told me “A miracle (奇迹) may happen as long as you don’t give up.” However, I quite doubted it.
On the morning of the following Monday, I left for work 45 minutes earlier and started walking to the bus stop a block away. While waiting for the bus there, I thought about the work and felt upset. It wouldn’t be helpful to me and it was tiring! How much I wanted to quit the job! And thinking of the cat, I felt even worse.
Since it was still early, I suddenly wanted to spare some time to look for the cat again though I had little hope. I told myself, “If I still fail to find him this time, I won’t look for him again.” Then, I decided to walk to the next bus stop to look for him around. Minutes later, suddenly, a dirty and weak cat sitting by a tree caught my eye.
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。
My eyes widened, and I was surprised to find it was just our cat.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Encouraged, I rushed to the bus stop and decided not to give up the part-time job.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Everything about moving day was a puzzle. I didn't know anything about our new building on a new street. Our old life was broken into pieces and packed up in piled boxes. I wondered if it would ever fit back together again.
Mom introduced me to our new neighbours, the Chens. Mrs Chen worked with Mom at the job she'd just started. Mr Chen was a famous craftsman(匠人) from China.
Mom said it was a fresh start, but it felt broken to me. I just wanted things to go back to how they had been before.
After the first day at my new school, I walked home alone. Mom had told me she had to work. I was still hoping she'd meet me after the bell. I had to open the door myself with the new key. I felt a bit hungry and went straight into the kitchen, ripping tape from the packed boxes while I searched for a clean plate. My fingers slipped, and something went crashing to the ground.
“Benjamin” cried Mom from the doorway. I didn't hear her come in. “What just broke?” she asked, kneeling to pick up the pieces. In her hands, I recognized the shattered pieces. It was Grandma's bowl. “I can't believe you broke this,” she said.
“Well, I can't believe we have to live here now! I can't believe I have to switch schools, and I can't believe you didn't even meet me after my first day” I ran into my room, slamming the door behind me.
The broom swept across the kitchen floor. Then the click of Mom's bedroom door closed behind her. I sneaked out into the kitchen and found the fragments in the dustbin. There were so many pieces in here, but maybe I could put them back together. Turning the pieces, I tried to match them,but this bowl would never look the same again.
“I'm sorry I yelled,” said Mom, as she opened her door. “Please just throw out the pieces. We can't make a fresh start with broken things.”
As I wandered down the hall, Mr Chen was emptying his garbage.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1：
“Are you sure you want to throw that out?” he asked.
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Paragraph 2：
I brought the repaired bowl into her room.
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John Brown is a college student, who is performing well in all aspects. But when he was two years old, he suffered from autism (孤独症) that delayed his brain’s growth. The basic symptoms included inability to pick up social cues, a refusal to interact with friends or family, and a lack of skills in processing speech, thinking and learning.
John’s parents, who were teachers, were initially shocked at the revelation. What’s worse, they learned the bad news that John was going to become blind when he grew up. Even so, they kept his illness as a secret under medical advice, and were always there for their son.
As little John was at school, he began to notice how other kids were able to answer questions in class a lot faster than he did. Because of his significantly slow thinking, it took him many minutes to come up with an answer to the best of his abilities. But he worked harder than other classmates for his coursework, such as sitting in front of the class to read the words on the blackboard better, and spending longer time studying to pass tests.
John’s parents still stood by him, encouraging him and saying, “You are the best!” They recorded every detail of his growth in a notebook. But they were not prepared for how the following events positively changed their son’s life forever. Through primary and secondary schools, John began to change from keeping to himself to interacting with his classmates.
When he entered the college, he joined the marching band, something he never had any interest in, but his mom convinced him that it was a great way to not only make friends, but also help gain more confidence in himself. Later, he played the trumpet (小号) well and got along well with the band members.
At the same time, he showed his talent for creative writing and wrote his first essay about a brave man. His thinking ability and imagination made leaps. As he got even older, he taught his fellow classmates how to write essays well, and even shared what original pieces he wrote with them, despite the fact he was still unaware about his illness.
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。
However, one day when John came home from college, he accidentally found a medical chart in his parents’ room.
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Now, as an excellent college student, John is full of confidence and hope.
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It was four weeks before New Year, and our youth group wanted to do something together as a New Year project for our community. The concept was great, but none of us seventeen-year-olds had any idea what to do.
“Maybe we could have a food drive to help the homeless,” John suggested at our Sunday night meeting. “But we have done that many times”, answered Brian with a frown.
Ten minutes passed without any proposal good enough to win our hearts. Finally I decided to speak. “Why don’t we think about our project for a few days and then come back with three or four suggestions we can vote on?” Everyone agreed to wait a week before deciding.
I knew time was running out to get something going before New Year, but I had no clue what we should do. During the following week, one idea after another ran through my mind, but I was still indecisive.
Thursday after school, I wandered into the kitchen as my dad prepared for dinner. Sensing my uneasiness, he asked what troubled me without even looking up. “Well... it...” I let out a long breath. “Our youth group wants to do something for New Year, but we don’t know what to do...”
“Hmm.” My dad thought out loud. “There’s a seniors’ home I’ve worked with close to St. Joseph’s Hospital. The residents don’t get out much around New Year with the snow and ice. It might be an idea to take them out to see the New Year lights around here.”
I stood still for a few moments thinking of all the spectacular（绚丽的）New Year light displays in our neighborhood. To be honest, I never thought about that, but it might just work.
注意：1. 续写词数应为130左右：
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Next Sunday evening, our youth group met.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On New Year’s Day, the bus we rented arrived at the seniors’ home in the snow.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My children were sitting at the kitchen table, playing a game. They had taken some cards and written a secret word on each one. Without looking at the word on the card, they had to put the card on their foreheads. Then they took turns asking yes-or-no questions until they were able to guess the secret word on their card. “In my secret word ‘fork’!” Jordan asked.
“Yes! You got it! You won!” both of his sisters yelled.
Minutes later, my youngest daughter Julia said, “Mommy, mine in really hard.” I nodded sympathetically (同情地). The poor girl didn’t stand a chance. The card on her forehead read “love”.
She’d already asked more than a dozen questions, and each answer seemed to confuse her even more. Then, she asked, “Is it invisible (看不见的)?”
Lea and Jordan looked at one another, unsure of how to answer. They asked me, “Mom, what do you think? Is the word on Julia’s card invisible?”
I paused. Is love invisible? In the game, it obviously was. “Well, yes, the word on Julia’s card is invisible,” I said. “We can’t see it in the same way we can see an object like a fork or a bird.”
Poor Julia shook her head. “I still don’t get it.”
I said, “Julia, when I want to show you your word, I make your favorite dinner.”
Julia thought for a minute, “Is my word ‘hungry’?”
I smiled. “No, but that was a good try. If you wanted to show me your word, you would give me a hug or a kiss.”
Julia’s eyes lit up. “Mom, my word is ‘love’!”
I nodded, and the kids clapped. Then, they chose new cards.
But later, when the kids finished playing the game, Julia came to me and said, “Mom, I think love should never be invisible.” I smiled and nodded my head. Then I thought about my day and how I spent my time. I had to admit that I was too busy cooking and cleaning to show actual love. But young children didn’t appreciate clean floors. They even didn’t notice those things, let alone feel loved by them. I decided to change.
Paragraph 1:
I gathered the kids together and asked what visible love they wanted.
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Paragraph 2:
Over the next few weeks, I picked several suggestions from the list and had a try.
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Nupur walked along the road with a sad look on her face. Tomorrow was her friend Neeta’s birthday but she did not have anything nice to wear to the party. Her father’s small factory had closed down and there was hardly any money left at home to buy a new dress.
Nupur decided to wear an old dress that had been her favourite for many years but was a little too short for her now. “I will ask the tailor to lengthen it,” Nupur said to herself. The tailor however refused to do so. “I don’t take such work right now since the orders have started pouring in and my hands are full.”
Nupur left holding the bag with the dress in it and thought, “What am I to do?” Suddenly she saw a lady get out of the car and walk towards the bank. The lady opened her handbag to take out some papers but her wallet fell to the ground. Unaware of it, the lady went into the bank. Nupur ran and picked up the wallet. There were so many people in the bank that she decided to wait on the steps.
After a long time the lady came out. Nupur handed her the wallet that she had dropped. The lady could not believe it. The little girl had been waiting for her for so long, just to give back the wallet. The lady looked at the contents and everything was just the way she had left it. She looked at the girl’s old and dirty clothes. “What is your name and where are you going? Can I drop you home?” The lady asked. Nupur told the lady that she was going home. She also said that she had been to the tailor to get a dress tailored to wear for her friend’s birthday party but the tailor had refused to do so and that her father was jobless.
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 lady looked at the dress with visible dirty spots.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the evening, Nupur went to the lady’s home to get her old dress back.
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