A little bird landed on the tree branch outside Lisa’s bedroom window. It sang energetically as the first pale yellow rays of sunshine appeared.
“Oh, my god, what is that noise?” Lisa complained to herself, pulling her bed sheets over her head to ignore the sound. It was no use, and she knew it. The loud sound showed the coming of the day. Lisa’s mom knocked twice on her door, and then came in with a smile. “Time to get up, Sleepyhead,” She whispered. “The early bird catches the worm, you know.”
“Ugh,” mumbled (含含糊糊地说) Lisa into her pillow. “What does that even mean?”
“It’s just an expression, Honey”, her mom replied. She gave Lisa a kiss on the cheek and urged her to get out of bed. Lisa rolled over and slept for a few more minutes.
With her mom’s repeated urging, Lisa had no choice but to get herself dressed. She went unwillingly downstairs for breakfast, ate slowly, and missed her bus. When she finally got to school, she failed to get a place in the Chess Club. She also missed the first part of math class, so she didn’t understand the lesson and had to get extra help at lunchtime. Her teacher gave her extra homework to make sure she knew it. As a result, she missed her favourite library time. This day was no fun.
The next morning, Lisa was woken up by the same loud noisy song. Instead of ignoring it, today Lisa walked over to the window and opened the curtains. “Well, hello there, little fellow,” she said when she saw the pretty bird outside, still singing happily. As she watched, the bird stuck its beak (喙) into the wet ground, and pulled out a wiggling (不停摇摆) worm for breakfast.
“Today I am going to be the early bird,” thought Lisa.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At lunchtime, Lisa finished her lunch early and had time to go to the library.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A cactus (仙人掌) stood all alone in the desert, wondering why it was stuck in the middle of the desert. “I do nothing but stand here all day,” it sighed. “What use do I have? I am the ugliest plant in the desert. My spines (刺) are thick, my leaves are tough, and my skin is uneven. I can’t offer shade or juice to the passing travellers. I don’t see that I am of any use at all.” All it did was stand in the sun day after day, growing taller and fatter. Its spines grew longer and its leaves grew tougher. It truly was strange-looking.
“I wish I could do something useful,” it signed. By day, hawks (鹰) circled high overhead, and the cactus called, “What can I do with my life?” Whether they heard or not, the hawks flew away. At night the moon floated into the sky and cast its pale light on the desert floor. “What can I do with my life?” the cactus called. The moon only stared coldly as it continued its course.
A lizard (蜥蜴) passed by, leaving a little trail in the sand with its tail. “What worthy deed can I do?” the cactus called. “You?” the lizard smiled, pausing a moment. “You can do something. Just wait for the right moment. The hawks circle their ways overhead, making beautiful patterns for us all to admire. The moon hangs high like a lantern at night, so we can see our ways home to our loved ones. Even I, the lowly lizard, have something to do. I decorate the sands with these beautiful trails as I pull my tail along. And you, you will show us your beauty some day.”
Paragraph 1:
It went on year after year, and the cactus grew old.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The desert hadn’t known such a flower of it.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I was invited to a cookout on an old friend’s farm in western Washington. I parked my car outside the farm and walked past a milking house which had apparently not been used in many years. A noise at a window caught my attention, so I entered it. It was a hummingbird (蜂鸟), desperately trying to escape. She was covered in spider-webs (蛛网) and was barely able to move her wings. She ceased her struggle the instant I picked her up.
With the bird in my cupped hand, I looked around to see how she had gotten in. The broken window glass was the likely answer. I stuffed a piece of cloth into the hole and took her outside, closing the door securely behind me.
When I opened my hand, the bird did not fly away; she sat looking at me with her bright eyes. I removed the sticky spider-webs that covered her head and wings. Still, she made no attempt to fly. Perhaps she had been struggling against the window too long and was too tired? Or too thirsty?
As I carried her up the blackberry-lined path toward my car where I kept a water bottle, she began to move. I stopped, and she soon took wing but did not immediately fly away.
Hovering (悬停), she approached within six inches of my face. For a very long moment, this tiny creature looked into my eyes, turning her head from side to side. Then she flew quickly out of sight.
During the cookout, I told my hosts about the hummingbird incident. They promised to fix the window. As I was departing, my friends walked me to my car. I was standing by the car when a hummingbird flew to the center of our group and began hovering. She turned from person to person until she came to me. She again looked directly into my eyes, then let out a squeaking call and was gone. For a moment, all were speechless. Then someone said, “She must have come to say goodbye.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
A few weeks later, I went to the farm again.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was just about to leave when the hummingbird appeared.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mary Lee seemed to have everything. She was very beautiful with a wonderful figure and an attractive face. She was very rich. Her clothes were better than anyone else’s and she had more of them. Her books were always new and expensive as were her pens, school bags and bicycle. She was very clever too and without appearing to do very much work. She was always the first in all the examinations and always answered all the questions, while the rest of the class were still thinking.
With all this, or really because of all this, no one liked Mary Lee. She was too good, too clever and she was also very proud. No one was quite good enough to talk to her or to be seen with her or to be her friend. And so, with all her proud ways and riches and brains, she was lonely but she did not care because she was always the best in everything. She was like a princess in the class. She always thought that the other students kept their distance from her because she was too excellent. “Lions and tigers are always lonely, and only the weak get together,” she told herself.
As the end of term drew near, the pupils including Mary Lee began to think about the most important prize of all. This was the prize, offered by the principal, for the best essay to be written on one of two subjects: Happiness and Friendship. All the teachers and pupils paid close attention to the prize, for it was really a great honor. “I needn’t worry about that,” thought Mary Lee, as the others began to read and to think about the essay. “I shall easily win. After all, my compositions are always better than the other students’.”
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。
“Pride goes before a fall,” they say and it certainly did in the case of poor Mary Lee.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mary Lee suddenly realized that how silly she had been.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.焦虑的危害；
2.应对焦虑的建议（至少两条）。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
How to Deal with Anxiety
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When the tragedy struck me during the Depression (大萧条), my father did the only thing he could.
The tragedy happened in the year 1933. I was only 6 years old when I was rushed to the hospital with two crushed feet. My parents were told I might never walk again.
The accident happened when I was sitting in front of our house in Lowell, Massachusetts. I was playing in a puddle (水坑) after a rainstorm when I felt a huge weight on my feet. When I looked up, there was a car tire on my feet. I cried out, but the motor was running and no one could hear me over the engine.
The driver had run across the street for a newspaper. When he got back to his car, he drove away — never knowing he had parked on my feet.
Just about then, our neighbor’s son came home and saw me bent over my feet in pain. He immediately carried me home, and I remember thinking how tall and strong he was.
An ambulance came, and I remained in the hospital for 3 weeks while my feet were “repaired”. When I returned home, I could hardly walk.
I sat in our bay window and watched the children play on the street and longed to join them...but I couldn’t. I felt so left out despite my parents’ company.
My parents were told that if I was ever to walk again, I’d need treatment, which in those days meant riding a tricycle (三轮车) to strengthen the muscle and eventually get my feet back into condition for walking.
Our family couldn’t afford such an expensive thing. Times were tough during the Depression, and there were five mouths to feed, besides buying coal and wood for the stove.
Dad couldn’t afford the bus fare and on cold winter days he walked 7 miles every day in his only winter coat to get to work. No, there was no money for a tricycle. I would be a disabled person all my life.
Paragraph 1:Then one day, while sitting at my usual place in the window, I saw my father walking up the street carrying a tricycle on his shoulder.
Paragraph 2:
It was many years later before I learned where and how Dad had got the tricycle.
My parents and I had been planning my brother's birthday party since the beginning of March. Johnny would be six years old in two days. My mom was going to bake her special chocolate cake with white icing. As I watched her, I thought, Gee, I wondered what I can do to make my brother's birthday special.
I knew my parents had already bought a present for me to give to Johnny, but I wanted to buy him something I had chosen myself and with the money I had saved. After giving it some thought, I wanted to buy him the paintbynumberkit (数字涂色小套装) I had seen at the store around the corner, which I hope must make him delighted.
I decided to empty my coin jar and see how much money I had saved. However, I was disappointed to find there was much less than I had imagined. “Oh, no, I only have about three dollars,” I muttered to myself. The set cost more than I have saved.
Suddenly a “great” idea occurred to me. I slid into my parents' bedroom where my dad kept loose change (零钱) on top of the dresser. I stood on my tiptoes and saw some dime, nickels, and a few quarters. I carefully counted out what I needed to make up the difference. I'm sure Dad won't mind just this once, I thought.
However, I was soon overcome by guilt. Even though there was no one else in the bedroom, I felt like I was being watched. Mom was always telling us about the importance of honesty. Maybe my plan wasn't such a great idea after all, I thought. I jingled the change around in my pocket while wondering what to do.
I grabbed my jacket from the closet and headed toward the door. “Where are you going, honey?” Mom asked, “Oh, just up to the corner store,” I replied. “Well, don't stay out too long. Daddy will be home soon.” “Okay, Mom.” I ran out of our house.
Once I got to the store, I took the paintbynumber kit from the shelf.
“Can I help you, young lady?” the salesclerk asked.
“No. I'm just looking, thank you,” I said.
“That's a really nice paint kit. We sell a lot of them and, as you can see, that's the last one.” she said.
Paragraph 1：I nodded my head in agreement, with my mind racing.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2：
I would just have to wait until I saved the extra money I needed.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The streams were long gone back into the earth. If we didn't see some rain soon we would lose everything. It was on this day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the best miracle I have ever seen in my life.
I was in the kitchen making lunch for the family when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. I could only see his back. He wasn't walking with his usual steps. He was obviously walking with great effort... trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. I went back to make sandwiches, thinking that whatever he had been doing was completed. Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful long step toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey.
He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill (溅出) the water he held in them. I stepped close as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He might have a much greater purpose, I thought. As I came closer, I saw the most amazing sight. Several large deer stood in front of him. Billy walked right up to them, at the sight of which I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck (雄鹿) was dangerously close. But the buck neither threatened him nor even moved as Billy knelt down. And I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water and heat exhaustion, lifting its head with great effort to lap (舔) up the water cupped in my boy's hands.
注意：
1．所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答．
Paragraph 1:
When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run back to the house. I followed him back to the tap.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
This time I joined him, with a small pot of water from the kitchen.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
