Freddie Forbes stared in awe (敬畏) at the platform in the packed school hall. The headmaster marched onto the stage, followed by the captains of the school soccer team and rugby side. Freddie watched enviously (羡慕地) as each was presented with an honors jacket for their contribution to the school’s sporting success over the previous year. When the next presentation of honors jacket would come around, Freddie knew there was little hope that he would be the receiver of one of these treasured items of clothing.
“I wish you all a happy summer holiday,” the headmaster announced. “Although most of you will be going away to sunnier parts, there are others who will be staying near their home. The local council has asked the school to undertake a project over the next six weeks to help clear up litter around the area and separate it for recycling. If anyone is interested, come to my office and you will be supplied with a litter picker, bags and heavy-duty gloves.”
Freddie knew he would be at a loose end over the holiday, so he went to the office along with four other boys to pick up the equipment needed to gather up the rubbish which littered the streets around the school. When he arrived home, his mother looked at him curiously as he placed the equipment on the kitchen table.
“What is this all about?” she asked with a smile on her face. “Mum, I’m an average pupil and I’m not very good at sports,” he replied. “This waste recycling is one way I can contribute to the good name of the school.”
“Just as long as you don’t get fed up and stop half way through,” said Mum.
“I have made up my mind to stick this out through thick and thin,” Freddie said confidently.
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。
Over the next few weeks, the other boys dropped out of the project.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hearing his name called by the headmaster, Freddie nervously made his way to the platform.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was time for the annual Potato-Salad Contest in Russet Park. After trying for the third time, Alexis shook her head sadly. There was no way she would win the Golden Potato again because Grandpa wasn’t here this year.
Memories of how Grandpa taught her to make potato rose in her mind. She sighed and missed Grandpa so much.
Alexis cut the potatoes and mixed the boiled potatoes, some sauces and a little salt and peppers in a bowl. But it didn’t taste right. Alexis tried a bite of the salad mixture, wondering what was missing. Seeing her frown, Mom suggested, “What about something spicy? Your Grandpa loved spicy things.”
“You’re right! Maybe he put a jalapeno pepper in it,” Alexis said, cutting up a bright green jalapeno and adding it to the bowl.
It was closer, but it still didn’t taste right. Alexis was drooping her head, disappointed. “Should we look in a cookbook?”
“Grandpa was never one to follow a recipe,” Dad entered the kitchen and said.
It was true. People loved Grandpa’s potato salad because it was one of a kind. Alexis remembered posing with Grandpa for a photo while they were making the salad.
Photo! That gave her an idea. Alexis hurried to the bookcase and found an old photo album. She immediately flipped it open, expecting to find clues in the photos there. Lots of photos showed Grandpa and Grandma cooking together. Dad laughed, “He and Grandma loved to tease each other but he always called her Honey.”
“Do you think he put honey in the potato salad?” Mum asked.
“It is worth a try,” said Alexis. She stirred some honey into the bowl.
But it still wasn’t quite right. Alexis’ heart sank, on the verge of giving up. Dad kept flipping the album. At the end of the album was the picture of Grandpa and Alexis making the salad together.
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。
It looked like Grandpa was crying in the photo.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With hesitation, the family tasted the potato salad with onions in it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I could hear one of my classmates expressing her impatience with my slow crawl up the ladder (梯子),“If she’s afraid of heights, why would she sign up for a Bungee Jumping (蹦极) class?” My friend was at the top of the ladder, trying to cheer me up. How did I wind up on a ladder hanging above the Hudson River?
It was my friend who invited me to the Bungee Jumping class. At first, I was doubtful, but her enthusiasm and guarantees of strict safety procedures won me over.
I had been fearful of heights since primary school. Avoiding my fear of heights became second nature. I tried not to look down at balconies or staircases. I avoided traveling by plane as much as possible. I declined invitations from friends to join them on roller coasters (过山车).
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 Bungee Jumping. I figured it wasn’t much different from swinging on the monkey bars as a kid. The one obstacle I didn’t expect was the ladder. In order to reach the Bungee Jumping, I had to climb up a twenty-two-foot ladder.
My friend’s distraction techniques helped to take my mind off my dangerous task. I found a rhythm and kept going. With a slow and steady (稳定的) pace, I made it to the top.
An instructor tied me to a safety belt and told me to step to the edge of the platform. I held the Bungee Jumping bar with sweaty hands, surprised that it was too thick to fix my hand around. Instead of a firm grasp, my hands were in a weak, bear-claw position.
The cheers from my classmates rang out below. An instructor reminded me of the safety rules, including the net below that would catch me at the bottom. He reminded me to listen to the directions while in the air, so I could perform well.
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 stood face to face with my fear of heights.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My second round of Bungee Jumping went a bit more smoothly.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We sometimes think we can take care of things on our own. However, sometimes we need to use the strength of our groups to get things done.
Ray Drake knew this better than anyone, because he was moved to tears when he understood how good it was to have good neighbors when he needed them.
In 1989, Drake lost the use of his legs. The Iowan man did have family, though. His two older sisters were there to help him get his life back on track and deal with his new situation. The plan worked for years, and their love helped him through hard times.
In August 2020, a strong windstorm stopped everything in Iowa. There was terrible damage, and 40% of the crops in the state were lost. People lost their electricity. Businesses were a mess and homes were all broken. So many people had a hard time.
The storm caused Drake to have a specific trouble. There were broken trees all over his yard, and he couldn’t move them. His sisters were also too small to clean up the trees. The three people really needed help.
After about a week, Drake’s sisters decided to ask for help because the power lines were still down and people were still trying to get their lives back together. They called some of their brother’s old high school friends to see if anyone had a chainsaw (链锯) they could bring over to start cutting up the fallen trees.
Doug Applegate, a friend, looked at the damage and realized that just a chainsaw wouldn’t be enough to clear the fallen trees from Drake’s yard and that the family would need more. He made a call for help in the area to see if anyone there could give a helping hand.
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。
Soon, the call for help was answered.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The collective effort turned a seemingly impossible task into a manageable one.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . CAIRO — 16-year-old Yang Shuncheng of China made a sparkling debut as he claimed victory in the men’s solo technical routine at the Artistic Swimming World Cup in Somabay, Egypt on Saturday.
With the theme of The Cello Song by The Piano Guys, Yang declared and executed a difficulty score of 27.0, higher than all other six participants, and received 232.5792 points to top the podium.
Colombian Gustavo Sanchez finished second with 209.1375 points with his routine The End of the World and Fernando Diaz del Rio Soto of Spain scored 208.0417 for the bronze medal.
“I thought about the victory but did not think much. It was my first international competition and I was very nervous before the race. I was lucky to win and feel the taste of gold medals. I expect a more challenging free routine tomorrow,” said Yang.
Mexico saw their first-ever champions at a world-level artistic swimming event crowned in the mixed team technical and Austrian Vasiliki Alexandri took the women’s solo technical crown.
Five events, including the women’s and men’s solo free, women’s duet technical, mixed duet technical and mixed team free will take place on Sunday.
假设你是李华，校英文报体育专栏的记者，看到中国队北京小将杨顺成在花样游泳世界杯埃及站中取得男子单人技术自选冠军，你给校报写了与此相关的英文报道，内容包括：
1.杨顺成取得冠军；
2.杨的夺冠感受；
3. 你的评价。
注意： 词数80左右；必须依据以上新闻报道来写。
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Though I was nine, Mama let me ride the bus alone because I was careful and I didn’t do silly things.
A boy got on the bus at the trailer park. He was older than me. He had long yellow hair and untidy clothes. Hands were put into his jean jacket pockets. He didn’t bring them out to pay for his ticket. He spoke to the driver so low that I couldn’t hear. But riders up front were frowning (皱眉). The driver didn’t seem to like the boy either and then put up a thumb (拇指) to show he should go to sit down quickly.
Right behind me, a man whispered (低语) loud enough to be heard by all our ears. “Trailer park’s people never have the money. They always expect a free ride. And they always get it.” I didn’t understand what they meant about “trailer park’s people”. I liked the trailer park. Some of the trailer homes had gardens with lively flowers. It looked like a fun place to live in. I didn’t know why these adults frowned at it or a boy who lived there. But I knew that feeling being hurt with unkind words.
So I stood out of my seat and put the money into the machine to pay for the boy’s ticket. The driver looked at me and his look told me to go back to my seat. I didn’t look at anybody. When I sat down, I heard a whisper from the seat behind me. “Don’t expect him to be thankful.” That’s not why I did it. I wasn’t even thinking that. Didn’t they know how it felt to have empty pockets? My family used to have no money all the time till my father got a new job.
Just then, a different voice came from behind me as well. “We shouldn’t stop kindness. We should look at those around us with kindness. I don’t think he’s such a person.” After a short silence, everyone whispered their agreement. After I got off at my stop, I didn’t think about it anymore.
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。
Two weeks later, I got on the same bus again, but I felt different from before.
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When I walked over to pay for my ticket, the driver looked at me with a kind smile.
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I was eating breakfast at home in Hampshire in March this year, scrolling through social media on my phone, when a story caught my eye. It was about a nine-year-old dog, Charlie, dubbed (称为) the loneliest in Britain. He had been in a rescue centre in Somerset for more than 500 days.
For some reason, nobody wanted to adopt him. I clicked on the link and straight away these huge, sad eyes stared back at me. I was emotional. I turned to my husband, Sam, and said: "We’ve got to have him.” He read the article over my shoulder and felt exactly the same way. We wanted to give Charlie a happy home and a new lease of life.
Over the past few years we have tried to adopt a few different dogs, but we haven’ had any luck — we were never top of the list. Sam and I got used to filling in forms and not hearing anything. We’d almost given up hope.
But Charlie is an older dog and we felt we’d be suited — even older dogs have a lot of love left to offer. So we took our time with the application, sent photographs of our house and garden. We explained why Charlie would be happy with us, and then forgot all about it.
A few days later we received an email from Brent Knoll animal centre, saying we’d been shortlisted. We were thrilled. They asked us to visit Charlie to be interviewed and to see if he liked us.
When we arrived we were taken to the staff room. We didn’t know what to expect. We hadn’t been told much about Charlie’s circumstances, but as he had been given up for adoption and hadn’t been placed with a new owner for so long, we thought there might be issues. But the dog that bounded (蹦跳) in was full of joy and charisma.
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。
He came straight over to us.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We feel proud that we’ve given Charlie a new home and a second chance.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mum was in a hurry as usual, but as she rushed them down the street, Magnus and Mina couldn’t resist peeking (偷看) through the window of the pet shop on the corner.
“Mum, are you SURE we can’t have a pet?” Mina asked. “NO! Daddy is allergic to cats and dogs!” said Mum.
Five minutes later, they were outside Magnus and Mina’s grandad’s place — an old repair garage on a road just off the high street. Grandad had retired, but he lived in the flat above and kept the workshop for his hobby: fixing up old cars!
Mum used her key to open the door and they went inside. An old car was in the middle of the floor. Then they heard a sound from somewhere under the car. “Who’s there? Is that you, M and M?” Grandad Eric’s head appeared from behind the car. He smiled when he saw them, and wiped his greasy (沾油污的) face with an old cloth. “Hello kids!”
Mum was moving towards the door of the garage. “Thank you for taking the kids for the weekend, Dad — something came up and I have to go away for work!” Grandad just smiled. “No problem at all, sweetie!”
Once Mum had left, Magnus and Mina had a good look around. Mina was excited. At school she had taken a technology and design course where they had learned how to design and build simple robots, and she wanted to make one of her own. She shouted over to Grandad, “Grandad, can we use some of these spare bits over here? I promise we won’t make a mess!” Grandad replied, “Of course, but be careful!”
“Do you have a plan, sister?” Magnus looked at his sister. “I sure do! Mum said we couldn’t get a pet, but she didn’t say that we couldn’t make one!” Magnus’s eyes widened. “A robot pet?” “Yeah, a dog-cat,” replied Mina. “Brilliant! You build it, and I can program it!” said Magnus.
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。
Before long, Mina finished and Magnus and Mina admired the work.
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Grandad Eric came over to see the dog-cat and collected the turned-off robot.
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The year 2013 marked a turning point in my life. In June, my husband was offered a new Job in Ghana. Feeling that I had hit a career bottleneck as a photographer and copywriter (广告文字撰写人), I, without any hesitation, made the decision to relocate with him.
While my husband engaged in work, my visa didn’t grant me the same privilege. But that’s okay. I didn’t know what to do anyway. I was left isolated, homesick and lacking purpose. Our new home was a bungalow near a river that cut across expansive grasslands. With few people around our home, I turned to nature, which had been a fondness of mine since childhood. Every day, I would take my camera and wander around, photographing aimlessly.
It wasn’t long before September arrived, bringing the full flow of the rainy season. After one particularly bad thunderstorm, I found a finch (雀) — a poor little thing barely a month old with one wing broken — on the ground. Evidently, he had been abandoned by his flock, his nest blown from a tree. The sight was heartbreaking. He was the size of my lite finger. His eyes were tightly shut and he was shuddering, too young to survive alone. I somehow felt a connection with it. Immediately I scooped him up and cautiously placed him in a cardboard box with towels, mimicking a nest, and stayed up all night researching how to care for him.
The next day, he seemed to regain some energy. He woke with his mouth open, though still too weak to let out a call. I fed him some food and chirped (叽喳) at him. To my amusement, he chirped back and even climbed into my hand. I affectionately gazed at this adorable creature, who was now boldly pecking (啄) my fingers now and then. A surge of warmth ran through me. Tenderly stroking his feathers, I chirped a lullaby, singing him to sleep. Gradually, his eyes drooped and he drifted off. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene — as far as he was concerned, I was his mother.
Para 1. “I will take care of you.” I murmured, making my promise to him.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para 2. At that moment I realized that as I dedicated myself to the finch’s care, something within me changed.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________FOR SOME, putting up Christmas lights is yet another holiday activity. But in the Pascucci household, it was always a big day of celebration and it was a family affair. Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, Anthony Pascucci and his older sister, Connie Pascucci, would visit local stores to check out new decorations. Anthony’s son, Anthony Jr., and daughter, Sara, shared the home, and helped with the decoration every year.
In 2020, as in every year, Anthony Sr. Strung(悬挂) colorful lights all around their roof until it looked as if sparkles(火花) were dripping(滴). The whole house twinkled with lights, and gifts were piled under the tree.
Anthony Sr., 60, had outdone himself, as if the brightness of the lights could counter(抵消) some of the darkness of the past year with COVID-19. On Christmas Eve, everyone was looking forward to enjoying another Christmas together as a family.
Then Connie got a call: Someone she worked with had tested positive. Though Connie didn’t have any symptoms, she decided to get tested right away. Her rapid test came back positive.
Anthony Sr., Anthony Jr., and Sara decided they should all get tested too. When their results came back, they all learned that they also had COVID-19. Sadly, everyone agreed their Christmas celebration would have to be canceled.
Right after the new year, Anthony Sr. started having trouble breathing and was admitted to the hospital. Five days later, Connie began feeling weak and wouldn’t eat. She died before getting to the hospital. Less than a week later, Anthony Sr. passed away.
It was the worst of Sara’s life. She felt as if she was in a fog. Grief left her doubled over in pain. Every day she went back after a long day, the twinkling Christmas lights brought her a spark of joy. “It made us happy to see them,” she says. “I couldn’t bring myself to put them away.” Taking the lights down felt like a final act of closure(结束), but she and her brother weren’t ready to take. So they just kept them up.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为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
One day in February, Sara received an annoying envelope in the mail.
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Paragraph 2
Days later she found her inbox quickly filled with messages showing support as well as criticizing the mean mail.
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