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.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Music is my first love. I can sit down at my electronic keyboard and forget all about time and space, all about my problems. During the lowest moments in my life, music was my savior. Besides, I would like to thank two volunteer organizations — one is America’s Veterans Services and the other is The Paul Hazelton House for seniors and the disabled.
I was a veteran (老兵). After I got out of the service, I began a career in music, and then became an ironworker for higher pay. A few years ago, the one-bedroom house I rented in Massachusetts was sold. The developer planned to tear it down. The property manager gave me two months rent-free to find a new place to live. It didn’t help because I’d been disabled from an accident at work and was living on benefits. Nothing affordable turned up.
With the help of two friends, I silently and hopelessly packed up my belongings and moved everything — including my electronic keyboard — into storage. I slept in my car, thinking it wouldn’t last long. But weeks turned into months and the months into years. My car had become my home.
The one thing that kept me alive was music. I would lose myself in music. Although I had developed cataracts (白内障), nothing could keep my fingers from finding the right keys.
However, I hit my real low one Christmas Eve. I was driving down a narrow back road to where I would park my car and sleep at night. I turned right and accidentally ran into a wall. My car — my only home — lost its right front end.
At that point, I really had no place to live. Fortunately, Bruce Knight, a retired firefighter, heard about me. He drove me to a homeless shelter in York County where I stayed for 75 days. That’s where I met with case managers from Volunteers of America's Veterans Services. They helped me move into their housing, a place called Huot House. I was able to sign up for Veterans Administration benefits and get the cataract treatment I needed to recover my eyesight.
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。
Ken Darby, manager of Huot House, told me to move toward life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I went to volunteer for the “Day of Caring” held by The Paul Hazelton House.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As a substitute teacher, my daily routine involves driving to a new school almost every day so I’m usually unable to anticipate the day’s events, good or bad!
On one particular day, I was teaching in a very difficult classroom.I was managing behavior all morning and by lunch time, I knew I needed coffee to even consider surviving the afternoon.So on my lunch break, I drove to a nearby plaza (购物中心) to get a cup of coffee.Upon returning to the car I realized I had locked my keys and my phone inside! I had about 15 minutes to get back to the school which was a good 5minute drive away.I considered rushing back, but it was winter, and I thought a nasty fall on ice would only make the situation much worse.
So I ran into a McDonald’s which was in the same plaza and asked the man at the counter who happened to be the manager.I briefly explained my situation to him, and I could tell by the look in his eyes, that he empathized.He hurried to the back to use the phone while I paced in the restaurant.I had less than 10 minutes to get back to my school at this point.
The manager returned only to tell me that the cab company had put him on hold and then the line got disconnected, and that he was now on hold again, but had not yet been able to request the cab yet.My expression, I assume, began to resemble some combination of hopelessness and fear.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式作答。
Without a thought, he grabbed his coat and offered to drive me to the school.
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Upon arriving at the school, I thanked this man endlessly.
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Niesha could not forget the way she froze in front of the class today. Mr. Roberts had divided the class into groups to do presentations. Today was Niesha’s turn. However, her hands shook so violently that she couldn’t read her notes. Her voice became softer even to silence. Mr. Roberts kindly ended Niesha’s part of the presentation even though she did clearly not finish. He also asked Niesha to stay after class for a moment.
“Niesha, I know you’re shy, but you worked hard on this project. I’d hate to see you give up on yourself.” Then Mr. Roberts hesitated, “If I give you another chance until tomorrow, do you think you can find your courage?” Niesha nodded, grateful for the chance. She went as quickly as she could to her next class. She kept her head down and hoped the school day would end soon.
When she reached her back steps that afternoon, she could see an inviting light coming from the kitchen windows. Momma was baking. Momma studied Niesha’s face as she came into the kitchen. “What’s wrong, Niesha?”
Tears shone in Niesha’s brown eyes. She told her the whole story. Momma was silent for a moment, her hands still busy with the cake. “Why is it that you can talk to me about anything and everything, but you can’t talk to your class?” Momma asked. She set the timer (计时器) and then said, “Let me show you something.”
Niesha followed Momma to her bedroom. There Momma showed her a book filled with newspaper clippings (剪报) and pictures. In it there was a blue ribbon (丝带) that said “First Place” and a picture of herself when she was very young, standing with her parents.
“I won it for public speaking. I started the school year as the shyest girl on the speech team, but I ended the year as the blue ribbon winner. It wasn’t easy at first-- I was not sure of myself at all. I worked hard, and mostly I faced my fears. You just need to find your courage.”
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:
Hearing Momma’s words, Niesha stared at the precious blue ribbon, lost in thought.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
The next day Niesha again walked to the front of the classroom to give her presentation.
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A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.
Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”
“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”
“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”
The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.
It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!
Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.
Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.
She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”
Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.
注意：续写的词数应为150左右。Paragraph 1:
As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. 给妈妈准备惊喜的缘由；
2. 简述准备惊喜的过程；
3. 描述妈妈见到惊喜后的感受。
要求：
1.词数 100 左右；
2.不要出现真实姓名及个人信息，否则记0分；
3. 短文题目已为你写好。
A Surprise for Mum
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8 . 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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参考标题：A Scientist I Admire A Teacher I Admire
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 不得抄袭。
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Your school paper has established a new column called “ Poetry Changes Your Life”. Write a short passage about it to contribute to the paper. Any writing style is welcomed.
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