Tionae Thomas couldn’t be prouder of her 14-year-old daughter. Plenty of people overlooked a boy sitting alone under a tree in a shopping center parking lot. But not Tionae’s daughter. The 14-year-old girl stepped in to help the stranded(滞留) boy. And the Internet is applauding this girl for her kindness!
Tionae and her daughter were on the way home. But as they passed a shopping center, Tionae’s daughter begged her to pull over. She’d noticed a boy who looked like he was most likely in elementary school. He sat all alone under a tree in a small island within the parking lot.
“It’s too hot, mama,” the girl told her mom.
So, Tionae pulled over and her daughter got out, asking the stranded boy where his parents were. But the boy didn’t know.
The kind girl let the stranded boy use her cell phone to give his dad a call. Then she suggested he move from his spot under the tree to the front of a nearby Rite Aid. She told him it would be safer. At the same time, the girl left him her phone number and told him that he could call her if necessary.
Getting back into the car with her mom, the girl asked to wait to make sure the stranded boy got picked up. She hated the idea of leaving him alone. And because of the warmer temperatures, she wanted to get him some water.
Plenty of others must have noticed the boy. Maybe they left him alone because they didn’t want to disturb or scare him. Maybe they just thought someone else would do something. But Tionae’s daughter was the only one to step in and help.Para 1: Two days later, the girl received the boy’s call.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para 2: And Tionae couldn’t help but brag(自夸) on her sweet girl, posting the whole story on Facebook.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Our animal rescue volunteers set up a shelter in a town in reaction to floods there. While out looking for animals left behind, we met a man who had a dog, which he had no intention (意图，打算) of taking with him when he finally left. When we offered to shelter his dog, he said, “Alright!”
Soon, he went into his tiny house’s backyard, returned with the dog and put it into our truck. Amy, one volunteer, asked what the dog’s name was. “He doesn’t have one,” the man said and left, without saying goodbye.
We returned to the shelter. After reaching there, the nameless dog sat still in the truck. When we put him on the ground, he just lay there, remaining still.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. Amy replied that maybe the dog was timid (胆怯的) because of his owner’s long-term neglect (疏于照管). She determined to help the dog and named him Albert.
After that day, Amy often carried the sixty-pound dog around the shelter, since he still refused to stand up or walk. At night, Albert lay next to Amy’s bed. Luckily, six days later, Albert never stopped moving, always keeping up with Amy. Wherever she went, Albert would be no more than two steps behind her.
I began to notice, though, that Albert still didn’t have the energy of an eighteen-month-old dog. Later, a doctor found he had heartworm disease (心丝虫病), a deadly disease.
I called Albert’s owner. When I told him that Albert had heartworm disease and that it would cost at least $300 to treat him, I expected he’d say, “I don’t have the money, so you keep the dog.” But I was wrong. He wanted Albert back.
“If he isn’t immediately treated, he’ll die,” I said. “Yeah. I understand. That’s what happened to all my dogs. Although I don’t have enough money to treat him, I can’t let you pay the fee. I’ll be out shortly to pick up (接) my dog,” the man replied coldly and hung up.
In the distance, I saw Amy and Albert playing games.
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2. 请按如下格式作答。
“How am I going to tell Amy we have to give Albert back?” I whispered.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________While he walked to Albert, I shouted, “Wait! Could I buy that dog from you?”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lily’s Gift
Lily loved her mom more than anything in the world. Her mom worked hard every day to provide for Lily and her little brother, Jake, She was a nurse at the local hospital, and she often had to work long hours and night shifts. Ella knew her mom was tired and stressed, but she always had a smile and a hug for her children.
Lily wanted to do something special for her mom this Christmas. She wanted to show her how much she appreciated her and how much she loved her. She decided to buy her a gift, something that would make her happy and beautiful. She had seen a necklace at the mall, a silver chain with a heart-shaped pendant that had the word “Mom” engraved on it. Lily thought it was perfect for her mom.
But the necklace was expensive. It cost $50, and Lily didn’t have that much money. She only got $5 every week as her pocket money, and she had to save some of it for school supplies and snacks. She also had to help Jake with his homework and chores, so she didn’t have time to get a part-time job. Lily decided to save as much as she could from her pocket money. She also looked for ways to earn extra money. She sold some of her old toys and books at a garage sale. She offered to walk her neighbors’ dogs and water their plants. She even gave up her birthday money and asked for no presents.
It took her months to save enough money for the necklace. She had to resist the temptation to spend it on candy, movies, or clothes. She kept her goal in mind and reminded herself of how happy her mom would be.
Finally, on Christmas Eve, she had enough money. She ran to the mall and bought the necklace. She wrapped it in a shiny red paper and put a bow on it. She wrote a card that said, “To Mom, with love from Lily.”
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2．请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
She hid the gift under her bed and waited for Christmas morning.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“I saved up for it, mom. I wanted to give you something special. I love you so much,” Lily said.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________There is a saying that we should all just mind our own business and let the chips fall where they may, because no good comes from doing good. This, of course, is not necessarily true.
In Hawaiian culture, aloha has many meanings. First, it is a greeting. However, it is also an expression of love and friendship. One man was a living example of “aloha”, for he had a story to unfold.
Amanda was shopping with her young son, and she was absorbed in picking up their groceries for their family reunion. She was in such a hurry that she even forgot her wallet in the shopping cart, which contained her driver license, credit cards, plenty of cash, and even a gift card that could easily be redeemed (兑换) by anyone . It was not until she arrived home that she found her wallet gone. The woman returned to the supermarket, and started her search for the lost wallet by watching hours and hours of security footage in the supermarket. After turning to several different cameras around the store, but in vain, she completely gave up hope.
Andy Jose was a security guard at the World supermarket. He moved to Maui 5 years ago, and worked as a security guard at the grocery store to support the family and put himself through college. He rode his bike to work and school every day because he didn’t have a car.
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。
Para .1: He was busy collecting the shopping carts when something caught his eyes.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para.2: Amanda and her husband decided to do something big to show their gratitude .
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was right after Thanksgiving that registered nurse Jennifer Smith got an early morning phone call from John Burley, one of her favorite patients. He was extremely worried about his beloved dog.
Smith came to work early the Monday after Thanksgiving. Burley, who struggles a bit with speech, was calling from his hospital room, “Boomer is in the pound (流浪狗收容所)! Boomer is in the pound! Boomer is my world.”
Smith, who has been a nurse for 12 years, has a 13-year-old dog herself she has had since a puppy, so she fully understood the panic. She told Burley that she could tell he was concerned and also scared about what would happen to Boomer.
Burley took a breath and asked Smith, “Will you take care of Boomer?” “Of course, John, I will find Boomer and take care of him for you,” Jennifer Smith became a nurse to help people: any way that she can help somebody.
Smith had met Burley at the Grand Rehabilitation (康复) and Nursing Center in Rome, New York, through its adult day health care program, which is for patients requiring supervision (监护), and which allows them to socialize with others while receiving medical care.
60-year-old Burley still had his own apartment where he lived alone with his dog Boomer. Burley had adopted the 12-year-old dog in Arkansas when he was a puppy and later moved to New York. Most of his family still lives in Arkansas, so when he was hospitalized for pneumonia (肺炎) and lung problems, he had no one to take care of Boomer. No one—except Smith.
Smith formed a friendship with Burley in the adult daycare program and he would often talk about Boomer, showing off pictures of his furry companion. “I couldn’t separate the two of them. I just couldn’t. It made my heart sad for him and Boomer,” thought Smith.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式作答。
Burley didn’t know which shelter Boomer was in.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With the permission (允许) of the nursing center, Smith was able to bring Boomer to work with her.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My name is Wen Yu, but you can call me “Fish”. I want to talk about the time I went to the US to meet my American pen pal Drew, but first I need to go back a little bit to explain things.
I was a second-year junior high schooler when my English teacher, Ms. Gao, had us experiment with a pen pal program set up through our school. This was an amazing opportunity at the time since it meant we could use our English skills to communicate with other teenagers the same age as us around the world through email! Still, I was a bit shy and nervous since I knew my English was pretty poor; but at the same time, I was excited to make a new friend and was determined to improve with this new opportunity presented to me.
Ms. Gao assigned me to write emails with a boy named Drew in the US. He was from a city called Cincinnati in Ohio. I knew a little about the biggest cities in the US— New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago— But Cincinnati? I had no idea where it was. Maybe it was somewhere near one of those cities?
As we continued to talk through email, I was surprised to find my English was slowly improving. I found my English going from stiff and formulaic (刻板的) to more natural and casual to match the way he wrote. I even picked up some slang (俚语) words along the way! We got to know each other’s hobbies and interests as well as our dreams and hopes for the future. Drew seemed so nice, and I found myself wanting to visit him someday and see what Cincinnati had to offer. He, too, wanted to visit Beijing and try out the local food I had told him so much about.
We continued our email conversations even after the program ended. Drew told me how long his summer break was going to be and said he’d show me around if I were to ever visit. To my surprise, that opportunity would come sooner than I thought.
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，每段的开头语已写好；
As it turned out, my parents were planning a surprise vacation to the US.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Entering the baggage claim area (行李领取处), I finally came face-to-face with Drew.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My younger sister and I loved to play the piano, so when the annual winter concert was canceled, we were disappointed. We had been looking forward to it for a long time and had already prepared two of our best pieces. “You and your sister can perform at Carriage House Senior Living (CHSL),” my mom suggested. “The seniors there would love your music and you could each play more than just two pieces.” It seemed like a win-win situation because I’d play more songs and also have the chance to cheer up the residents with some lively music.
My mom called CHSL and made arrangements for my sister and me to perform. We were told we could play the piano during the Sunday dinner hour in two weeks. In the coming days, I worked hard to polish up fifteen pieces that I thought the crowd would enjoy. My sister and I decided that first I would play three songs and then she would. We would take turns playing until the end of the hour.
When the day finally arrived, we reached CHSL, and stepped into an entryway that overlooked the big dining room. Right at the entrance to the room stood the piano. The dining area was filled with round tables. At nearly every table several gray-haired people were seated, enjoying an early dinner and the company that the crowded room provided. Regardless of the conversations going on at various tables, isolation (孤独) hung like a dark cloud in the room.
Almost immediately, we were greeted by an old woman who introduced herself as Phyllis. “You two must be here to play the piano,” she said smiling. When we nodded, she seemed pleased and told someone to get a microphone. “I’ll introduce you to the audience,” she said. She told us that she was always the one in charge of doing things like that. I asked her if I could introduce myself and she agreed. While we were waiting for the microphone, I pressed a key on the piano and it produced a beautiful sound.
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2.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
Soon a man returned with a microphone.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My nervousness disappeared as I began the song.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Last year, I started doing some volunteer work for a charity in my town that helps disabled children. I found out that the charity needed to buy some new wheelchairs, but that they really didn’t have the money. So, I started to think about what I could do to raise money.
When I mentioned this to my friends, they said, “Well, why don’t you run the London Marathon?!” They laughed and so did I — we all know that I’m not an athlete at all. I’d never done any running before. But later, I started to think that it might not be a bad idea.
I approached the charity and discussed the possibility of participating in the marathon on their behalf. They were excited with the idea and agreed to appoint me as their representative. With their support, I purchased the necessary running equipment and began my training journey.
Every night, I laced up my running shoes and hit the sidewalk, determined to build my endurance. After a month of consistent training, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could comfortably run nearly five kilometers. However, the reality remained: the marathon covered a challenging distance of 42 kilometers.
With the race only five months away, I intensified my training efforts. I pushed myself to the limits, knowing that completing the marathon was not only a personal achievement but also a means to secure funds for four much-needed wheelchairs. The thought of making a difference in the lives of disabled children motivated me to persevere.
As the race day approached, I filled my mind with determination and excitement. I knew that crossing the finish line would symbolize the end of my hard work and the success of a noble cause. With the support of my friends and the charity, I could run 25 kilometers during my training sessions.
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。
However, when the big day came, I was not at all sure that I was ready.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With every step, I fought against my physical limitations.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Every time I sat down with my family and looked through our photos — holidays, trips, or vacations, there was always something missing. It was me. It was not just because I was the one behind the camera, but because I avoided being photographed. I always felt I looked awful in photos.
There were a few photos of me on my birthday that always made me feel bad. Generally speaking, I didn’t hate my appearance; I just wasn’t very photogenic (上相的). Therefore, when it came to family photos, I was missing. Gradually, I didn’t feel and look confident, and seldom smiled.
Then I met Mary. I was attending a writers’ meeting in North Carolina and she was a photographer who was good at photo shooting for writers. As a new writer, I needed a good personal photo for business cards and social media. I decided to give Mary a try.
The day of my appointment (约定) arrived. I picked out clothes that were most suitable for me. I checked myself in the mirror and felt I looked okay, but I was not sure whether the photos would reflect that. By the time Mary was to take photos of me, it began to have a light rain. My hair had started out nicely, but I knew the rain would destroy it.
I unwillingly walked into the room. Mary greeted me with a sunny smile. I felt relaxed. I was sure that she could sense I was not confident about my appearance because she immediately began to comfort me. She promised my photos would be wonderful. And she said how sad it made her that so many women thought so little of their appearance and how much this would hurt their self-respect.
The light rain stopped. Mary led me outside onto the grass-covered grounds of the meeting center. With the bright new green of spring and flowers seen everywhere, it was the perfect place for photos, even on a cloudy day.
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2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mary first let me stand by a beautiful flower.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next day, I sat by Mary’s computer and looked through the photos.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was seven years old, my family moved from Mexico to America. In Mexico, I was a cheerful girl who loved making people laugh with my jokes and inventing fun games to play with my friends. However, when I arrived in America, I found it hard to fit in, and I became quieter.
We lived in a small house with a modest yard where we grew vegetables—my responsibility. While I took pride in watching them grow, there were times when I dreamed of having a beautiful garden like my schoolmate Luella’s, with its delicate tulips (郁金香). Although Luella lived in the same neighborhood as me, we barely knew each other.
It was after a tornado that Luella and I finally became close friends.
The tornado struck on a Sunday afternoon.The gentle breeze transformed into a strong wind, and thick gray clouds filled the sky. Gradually, the tornado took shape, starting as a thin rope and growing into a large black funnel (漏斗). My entire family gathered in the bathroom, seeking shelter from the storm. Terrified, I sat close to my mom, knees in my chest. After the storm had passed, our worries and fears were replaced by relief that we were unharmed and that our house had remained undamaged.
As I stepped outside, I witnessed the extent of the damage the tornado had caused to our neighborhood. Across the street, a tall tree had fallen, crushing Luella’s garden in front of her yellow house. We hurried over to check on it. Fortunately, her family seemed to be away at the time, and no one was injured. However, her once-beautiful garden was in ruins, with the fallen tree destroying the tulips and debris (碎片) spread everywhere. I could only imagine how heartbroken they must feel seeing this.
Then my mom’s usual words rang in my ear, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and my family started to think about how we could help.
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。
Just at that moment, Luella’s family returned in their car.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Even after the debris was cleared, I could still sense Luella’s sorrow for her lost garden.
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