I was a single parent of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always tight, but we had a roof overheads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and if not a lot, always enough. Not knowing we were poor, my kids just thought was serious. I have always been glad about it.
It was Christmastime, and although there wasn’t money for a lot of gifts, we planned to celebrate with a family party. But the big excitement for the kids was the fun of Christmas shopping.
They planned weeks ahead of time, asking each other what they wanted for Christmas. Fortunately. I had saved $120 for presents to share by all five of us.
The big day arrived. I gave each kid a twenty dollar bill and reminded them to look for gifts of about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered (散开). We had two hours to shop; then we would meet back at the gate,
On the way home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits, except my younger daughter Ginger who was unusually quiet. She had only one small, flat bag with a few candies—fifty-cent candies. I was so angry, but I controlled myself and didn’t say anything until we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door, ready to be angry again. This was what she told me:
“I was looking around thinking of what to buy, and l stopped to read the little cards on the ‘Giving Trees’. One was for a little girl, four years old, and all she wanted for Christmas was a doll. So I took the card off the tree and bought the doll for her. We have so much but she doesn’t have anything.” I felt so proud of my younger daughter.
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 gathered the other kids and shared with them what Ginger had done.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We walked excitedly to the nearby children’s hospital.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“The package is from Uncle Aaron in Scotland,” Rylee told her father. Her uncle travelled a lot on business, so Rylee seldom got to see him. Her father’s only response was to raise an eyebrow (眉毛).
Rylee opened the box. She pulled out a large necklace (项链). One side of the necklace had a symbol of circles. It looked like writing on the other side, but Rylee did not understand what the words meant.
The box also had a letter from her uncle. He explained how he had found the necklace at a curious little shop. He described how the elderly storekeeper had told him that the necklace had special powers and warned him to be careful with it.
Her uncle ended the letter with “BE CAREFUL!!!” in big letters and a “laughing” emoji (表情符号). He did not seem to take the storekeeper’s warnings seriously. “Let me wear it to school today, Dad,” Rylee said. “Maybe it will bring me luck on my history test.” “Good grades come from studying, not from luck,” Dad said. “I did study, but everyone thinks this will be a hard test.” Rylee put her fingers around the necklace she still held, “I wish you’d let me wear it.” “Yes, you can wear it today.” That made Rylee stop to wonder, because her dad had never given in that fast before.
At school, Rylee heard a group of kids talking. Some said her necklace looked ugly, while others thought it silly to believe in good luck necklaces. She wished her classmates thought the necklace was as cool as she did. Without warning, all eyes turned to Rylee and her necklace. Students began to push to get a closer look. Everyone seemed to talk at once, telling her how cool it looked. All Rylee’s friends wanted to borrow her lucky necklace. That made Rylee stop to wonder why everyone changed their minds so fast.
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。
Sitting at her desk, Rylee watched the teacher pass out their tests.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Rylee looked down at her test and found that her score was one hundred percent.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel with her mother that afternoon and ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help crying when she thought of the scolding (责骂) from her mother. Getting around aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a stand (货摊) for a while, watching the middle-aged man busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she had to leave. The man behind the stand noticed Jenny and asked, “Hey, do you want to have the noodles?” “Oh, yes, but I don’t have money,” she replied.
“I’ll treat you today,” said the man. He brought her a bowl of noodles, the smell so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently. “What is it?” asked the man kindly. “Actually I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears. “Even a stranger will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house.” Hearing the words, the man smiled, “I only gave you a bowl of noodles. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you number the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your thankfulness to her?”
Jenny sat there, speechless; she remembered her mother’s familiar face. “A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel grateful. Why haven’t I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?” On the way home, Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写两段，该段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1: Approaching the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath. ______________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2: A gentle touch on her head called her mind back._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There are lots of chances in front of us. Whether you can seize them or not depends on the choices you make. This reminds me of one choice I made during my childhood.
Two tickets. Only two tickets to the final basketball game.
Three pairs of eyes focused on the tickets in Dad’s out-stretched hand. Mike, the oldest, asked the question running through everyone’s mind, “Only one ticket for us three? But, Dad, which of us will go with you?” Avery, the youngest, repeated the question quietly. I asked Dad if there was any chance to get more tickets. I might be the middle sister, but I was just as eager as my basketball-crazy brothers for a night out with Dad. Dad said he’d got the tickets from a friend and there were only two available.
Seeing that none of us would give up the chance, Dad told us he would choose which of the three of us deserved to go by the following morning.
The next morning, we hurried into the kitchen and looked for Dad, only to find that he had gone out. We were told to get started on our Saturday cleanup as soon as we finished breakfast. Mike complained that he couldn’t concentrate on chores with the game a mere eleven hours away. He slurped the last of his milk, grabbed the basketball and headed towards the back door. Avery dashed after his brother. Before I realized it, the door snapped shut. I glanced out the window and saw Mike practicing his shot while Avery cheered him on.
Seeing the mess on the breakfast table—the leftovers on the sticky plates and dirty cups, I felt frustrated. I approached the window and knocked on it. When the boys looked at me, I held up a kitchen sponge and dishtowel. Mike casually nodded to me and held up five fingers. Sure, five more minutes! I didn’t believe they would return to do the cleanup in five minutes, especially in Dad’s absence. Apparently, they had made their choice.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 续写部分分两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
Anyway, I chose to do the Saturday morning chores on my own.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Dad was happy to know I found the ticket he had hidden in the cupboard.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
