I used to be very shy and often felt lonely. Although I did well in all academic subjects, I was afraid of physical education. Even kids in the neighborhood would laugh at me that my feet couldn’t leave the ground when I ran. Their words embarrassed me. At school, whenever the teacher organized some competitive games, no one in the class would choose me as their partner or teammate. As a result, I often ended up looking at others enjoy their games.
Things would go on like that if it was not for a sports meet in my middle school. By mistake, my name was put on the list of women’s 1,500 meters race. By the time I knew it, it was too late to change.
In despair, I asked Mary, my deskmate who just moved to our neighborhood with her parents and was assigned to our class, whether she could help me. She declined, “Sorry, I couldn’t run that race in your place. I have already signed up for the same event.”
I nearly broke down. 1,500 meters! Running against the best runners in front of the whole school! It would be the worst thing I’d ever dreamed of!
“Don’t worry,” Mary said, patting me on my shoulder. “You still have time to catch up because there is about one month before the sports meet starts. Besides, it is cool to run for our class!”
I knew this was not just for myself, but for my class. But to me, running 1,500 meters was like climbing Mount Everest for an inexperienced climber. I even had no idea how to start my preparation.
“I have an idea,” she said as if she could read my mind. “We can do training together each afternoon after class.”
During the training, whenever I wanted to give up, I would see Mary running right beside me or cheering for me by the tracks. Her kindness never failed to give me the strength to go ahead.
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。
Time flew by and the big day arrived.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Just then, I heard Mary calling my name.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On a sunny early spring morning, Anna, together with her grandchildren Julie, Fred and Erik, was playing happily in the backyard. While playing, Anna said to the kids, “I am going to plant something in the garden. Who would like to help me?”
“What are you going to plant, Grandma?” asked Julie. “I like pleasant, bright-colored roses.”
“But I like lively, big, yellow sunflowers!” said Fred.
“Well, I’m going to plant some vegetables so that we can have fresh vegetables to eat when they are ready,” said Anna.
“How long does that take?” asked Erik. He liked vegetables sometimes, especially tomatoes.
“It will take several months before anything is ready to eat,” answered Anna. The kids were surprised.
“Several months? Why would you do all that work and then have to wait so long?” asked Julie. “Why not just go to the store and buy them?”
“Patience, my sweeties! Don’t you know food always tastes best when you grow it yourself?” replied Anna. “And if all of you come to help, it won’t be too much work.”
“I’ll help you, Grandma,” offered Erik. He put down the basketball and went to look at the gardening tools Anna had laid out. “What should we do first?” Fred and Julie came over to have a look, too.
Firstly, Anna taught Erik how to use a travel (小铲子) to dig rows of small holes for the seeds. Next, she showed Julie how to pour the seeds into each hole carefully. And then it was Fred’s job to cover up the holes with soil little by little. Finally, Julie wrote the vegetable names on sticks that Erik pushed into the ground. “This way we can remember which vegetable seeds we have planted,” said Anna.
After planting everything, the kids took turns in filling up the watering pot so that Anna could make the soil nice and wet for the seeds to start to grow.
“From now on, we just water them a little each day, and with some time and sunshine, we’ll have some delicious things to eat in the summer,” said Anna.
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。
Every time the kids came to visit, they would rush into the garden as fast as possible.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Eventually, Anna said, “It was about time for the first harvest.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Austin Riley is a race car driver. He has been drawing crowds to the race track for years. But his rise to fame isn’t just being fast on the speedway. He’s breaking barriers on the track for those with disabilities. Riley has autism (自闭症). Simple tasks like tying his shoes are extremely complicated for him, but when you put him in a race car — a complex, delicate piece of machinery — he’ll blow your mind.
I first met Riley and his father Jason at the local karting (卡丁车运动) track in 2014. I still remember how excited Riley was to have me and my cameraman there filming his every move. He was a karting car racer back then. He could barely talk to me, let alone look at me. However, even though Riley was quiet and shy, I knew he was going to be something big.
The karting track is where Riley’s racing care er began. His dad just wanted to give him something to focus his energy on. Riley has always loved cars. He has been enthusiastic about them since he started to learn to walk. So why not try karting? The minute Riley hit the gas, he was attracted. Little did Riley and his father realize this was going to change their lives forever.
In Riley’s mind, everything moves fast. Slowing things down makes things difficult and frustrating. But the minute Riley slid into that karting car, everything went well. He’d found his calling and it put him on the podium (领奖台), so many times that he would need a separate room just for his trophies (奖杯).
Riley’s journey on the track soon took him from fast karting cars to really fast cars. He became the first person with autism in Canada to get his race car licence. It opened up the track for Riley to drive in the big leagues. Riley was now racing across North America, making the podium almost every time. He was an impressive force on the track, but an even more impressive person off the track.
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。
When Riley started winning race after race, people wanted to know who this kid was.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Riley’s story brought a ray of hope to families having children with autism.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I met Gunter on a cold, wet and unforgettable evening in September. I had planned to fly to Vienna and take a bus to Prague for a conference. Due to a big storm, my flight had been delayed by an hour and a half. I touched down in Vienna just 30 minutes before the departure of the last bus to Prague. The moment I got off the plane, I ran like crazy through the airport building and jumped into the first taxi on the rank without a second thought.
That was when I met Gunter. I told him where I was going, but he said he hadn't heard of the bus station. I thought my pronunciation was the problem, so I explained again more slowly, but he still looked confused. When I was about to give up, Gunter fished out his little phone and rang up a friend. After a heated discussion that lasted for what seemed like a century, Gunter put his phone down and started the car.
Finally, with just two minutes to spare we rolled into the bus station. Thankfully, there was a long queue (队列) still waiting to board the bus. Gunter parked the taxi behind the bus, turned around, and looked at me with a big smile on his face. "We made it," he said.
Just then I realised that I had zero cash in my wallet. I flashed him an apologetic smile as I pulled out my Portuguese bankcard. He tried it several times, but the card machine just did not play along. A feeling of helplessness washed over me as I saw the bus queue thinning out.
At this moment, Gunter pointed towards the waiting hall of the bus station. There, at the entrance, was a cash machine. I jumped out of the car, made a mad run for the machine, and popped my card in, only to read the message: "Out of order. Sorry."
注意：（1）续写词数应为150个左右；
（2）请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
I ran back to Gunter and told him the bad news.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Four days later, when I was back in Vienna, I called Gunter as promised.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Summer vacation was finally coming, and Rose couldn’t wait to have a trip with her parents. She recalled the joyful experiences they shared last summer, which filled her with excitement for the upcoming holiday.
“Girls!” Rose heard her father calling. She raced to her big sister’s room, telling her that Dad was calling them, and they rushed downstairs log either. Dad put his arm around Mom and told them that they were going on a trip to the Virunga Mountains of Africa. There were three national parks that they would visit.
Rose and Gina looked at each other. “What?” they said with one voice. Mom told them it would be really exciting to go there on a trip. At 12 years old, Rose would prefer going to an amusement park or a beach. She thought it important to let her parents know she didn’t want to go there but to the beach for a week or two.
“Well,” said Dad, “I have to go for an assignment for the paper. We’re covering the mountain gorillas (大猩猩) because they’re critically endangered these years. So, I thought it’d also be a great place to take a vacation. I’m sure it’ll be very educational for you girls.”
Gina let out a sigh, unable to contain her disappointment. She wanted to say something but Mom interrupted and announced that the trip was set on the next Monday.
“Sit down, both of you.” Dad had on his severe look. “Girls, it’s important for you to know about the world around you. This is a wonderful chance for you to experience and learn an amazing place. Do you know anything about the mountain gorillas?”
The sisters shook their heads.
“Well, get your laptop computer, Gina. I want you to look them up right now,” said Dad, “Rose, there is a book on the bookshelf about the cute mountain gorillas. Find it and read 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。
The girls dragged their feet upstairs.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next Monday came and the family set out excitedly.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mama was weaving a mat (织垫子) with wild-grass stalks (茎秆) when she called to Achenyo, “Will you do me a favor and fetch me some water for the paints, Achenyo?” In the corner were pots of coloring matter she’d use to paint the finished mats. “Of course, Mama!” Achenyo picked up a clay pot as she slipped outside.
She didn’t like mat-weaving, although it was a tradition for a mother to pass on the skills to her daughter. Achenyo would rather be playing outdoors with her friends. Outside, Achenyo called to Ajuma, whose house was across from hers.
Both girls, with clay pots balanced on their heads, made their way to the Niger River. When they arrived at the water’s edge, what they found was shocking. The river was gone! In its place was a blanket of dark green leaves dotted by colored flowers.
“Oh no!” Achenyo cried. “The river is gone! There’s no water for drinking, cooking, or bathing! Mama won’t have water to mix the paints for her mats.
Last year, the rainy season brought an invasion of water hyacinths (水葫芦).The plants covered the river and left no room to put in a pot to fetch water. There was no room to bathe or swim. Fishermen couldn’t cast their nets for fish. And now the water hyacinths were back
“How could such a pretty plant cause such harm?” Achenyo wondered
The adults jumped into the water among the broad, green leaves, They began throwing them onto the riverbank. Achenyo and Ajuma joined them. When they’d cleared enough plants, the girls filled their pots with water. A pile of water hyacinths lay on the riverbank What a pity to waste such pretty flowers, Achenyo thought. She picked some for Mama, and then the girls headed home.
Each day, they found the river covered by water hyacinths as if no one had cleared the waterfront the day before. One day, as Achenyo moved an armful of dried water hyacinths out of her way, she had an idea. Carrying the plants under her arm, she ran home. “Mama, will you teach me to weave?
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。
Mama was too glad to pass on the mat-weaving skills to her daughter.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mama and Achenyo then taught their neighbors.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Scanning the court, Luis pretended to pass the ball to another teammate but finally gave it to Nicholas. As Luis expected, Nicholas kicked hard and… GOAL! Just then, Devon walked up angrily. “What were you DOING there, Luis?!” he yelled. Luis rolled his eyes.
Devon started playing soccer with them weeks ago. He was nice when he felt like things in the game had gone his way. Otherwise, he would lose temper.
“Playing soccer.” Luis shrugged. “Why didn’t you pass to me? I was closer to the goal than Nicholas.” Devon yelled again.
As the group walked in, Devon continued. Luis ignored him to avoid arguing. Nicholas approached and began complaining about Devon’s yelling and disrespect. “What can you do about that?” Luis asked. Nicolas said he wanted to organize a new team without Devon. Luis was upset to hear that. Nicholas said, “It’s more fun before he started playing with us. I’ve told the other teammates. They agreed.”
Reaching home, Luis dragged his feet into his bedroom, which confused his mom. “What’s wrong?” She asked. Then, Luis told what happened to her. “Have any of you tried talking to Devon about this?” She asked. “I don’t know.” Luis scratched his head.
“Maybe a boundary could help. When playing soccer, how do you know whether someone is at the right position on the court? What’s that line called?” Mom reminded. “A boundary.” Luis murmured.
“Tell Devon whether he’s crossing a line with how he talks.” She suggested. Luis took the advice and decided to have a try.
The next day at school, Luis found Devon and told him all the teammates liked playing soccer with him but they didn’t like being yelled at by him.
“I don’t yell at people.” Devon immediately interrupted.
“You yelled at me the other day because I didn’t pass to you,” Luis reminded calmly. “And you are yelling now. If you keep yelling at your teammate, we won’t play with you anymore.”
Devon was too embarrassed to speak. “Being yelled at isn’t fun but playing soccer is supposed to be fun.” Luis said, patting Devon’s shoulder gently.
Later, during the training, Luis met Nicholas and told him what he’d told Devon.
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里作答。
“Just give him another chance, okay?” Luis whispered.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the training came to an end, Luis and Nicholas jogged towards Devon.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was our first day to explore the city of Jerusalem on our own, without a friend or tour guide leading the way. We had completed a week-long tour and felt confident that we could walk through the ancient streets by ourselves now. Then we suddenly realized that the sky had turned from clear blue to gray.
“It's time to head back!” we said at the same time. As we proceeded along the Hebron road to our apartment, the storm clouds covered the entire sky, and the first raindrops began to hit our heads. “Should we grab a taxi?” I shouted to my husband, the rain being so loud I had to raise my voice. “No, we can make it,” he replied loudly. “It's only a twenty-minute walk, and we will go fast.” As the rain and wind increased, so did our footsteps.
We marched ahead, but it wasn't long before we realized that we had been walking much longer than it should have taken us to arrive home. How in the world did we manage to take a wrong turn? We stopped a moment to say a prayer. It was simple and went something like this, “Please, God, lead us back to our apartment and send us your angels for protection.”
It was still pouring when my husband paused, detecting what appeared to be a pathway off the main road. “I think we should take this path,” he announced. “Here?” I was doubtful. I followed his lead as we made our way through overgrown brush until we entered a slight clearing. Looking out into the darkness from behind the bushes, we realized that we had come to a residential neighbourhood. “Let's just wait a minute,” he said. As we stood under the trees, some headlights appeared. A car pulled up to the roadside just below where we were huddled (挤在一起). Soon, a woman got out of the car.
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 approached her and the woman was noticeably shocked to see such a sight.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Noticing the confused looks on our faces, the woman suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In December, an unseen disease arrived in a village. Ally was one of the victims. She lay, barely moving, in her bed staring at a wall out of the window under her blanket.
The doctor took her father, who was a painter, aside and claimed, “She has one chance in—let us say, ten. And that chance is for her to want to live. Try to encourage her to think more hopeful thoughts, about the future, about living.”
Her father took some paper and a pen into Ally’s room and began a pen drawing, in an attempt to raise Ally’s spirits. Ally’s eyes were open, but they weren’t watching him. Instead, she stared out the window and counted backwards, “Ten, nine, eight, seven…”
“What are you counting, dear?” asked her father. “They’re falling faster now,” replied Ally.
“Three days ago there were almost a hundred. But now there are only five left now. Five leaves on the ivy vine (常春藤). When the last one falls, I must go, too.”
“Oh, I never heard of such nonsense,” quickly replied her father. But Ally’s mind was made up. “I want to see the last one fall. I want to go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves.”
“Try to sleep,” said her father. Ally closed her eyes quietly. Watching her daughter’s pale face, he was lost in deep thought. As a painter, he had never produced a masterpiece he longed to paint in 40 years. As a father, he even couldn’t help her daughter cheer up. Looking out of the window, he noticed that there was just one remaining leaf. What’s more, a cold rain was falling mixed with snow. “Are there people in the world that are foolish to think they’ll die because leaves drop off from an ivy vine? This is not a place in which Ally shall lie sick.” He made up his mind to do something.
The next morning, Ally woke and asked for the curtains to be opened. One leaf remained on the ivy vine, bravely holding on in the wind and rain. “It will fall today. And I will die with 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。
The following day, Ally asked again for the curtains to be opened.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A few weeks later, Ally recovered completely and the secret was revealed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This Friday brought a mix of emotions—both excitement and disappointment — all because of a flyer from school. When I got home, Mum saw the flyer in my hand and asked, “What’s this?”
“A flyer for a five-day art camp,” I explained. “But Emily can’t go.”
“Would you like to attend?”Mum asked. “You’ve always loved art.” Her words reminded me of what Emily had said earlier: “Tessa, you’re the real artist. My brother thought the roses I painted were rocket ships.” I sighed. Mum patted my back. She knew I had a hard time jumping into something with no familiar faces around. “Maybe next year.”
“Maybe,” I echoed. Then I told Mum I wanted to go outside to draw the Westons’ pine tree (松树). She nodded with an encouraging smile.
As I walked into the bright sunshine, I couldn’t help but think about the art camp. I wished I felt a little bit braver. Emily could make friends with a whole bus of kids in ten minutes, but my stomach felt like a little boat tossed in a heavy storm when I was surrounded by strangers... By the time I started drawing, I had made up my mind to forget about the art camp.
I began by drawing the pine tree’s strong and straight trunk, and then added the beautiful branches, making sure the upper ones lifted gently towards the sun. Lost in my work, I jumped when I heard Mr. Weston speak up, “You’ve done a great job showing the strength of that tree on paper.”
“Thanks,” I smiled, glancing up.
As I drew the needles to the branches, Mr. Weston told me something I never knew about pines: If you plant the root ball too deep, the tree dies. Their roots grow out, not down—to get enough water and grow tall.
“You have a good eye, Tessa.”With these words, Mr. Weston nodded goodbye.
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: His words made me pause and think.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: The next Monday, I signed up for the camp.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
