By the time 18-year-old Amy Waldroop returned to her grandmother’s tiny house, it was nearly midnight and she was exhausted. After a full day’s work at a flower shop, she had put in another six hours waiting tables before heading home. This was her typical weekends.
Pushing the key into the lock, she quietly opened the door so as not to wake her younger siblings. She stepped into the front room, and froze. The house was a mess: plates of half-eaten food were scattered in front of the TV; clothes, shoes and exercise books were everyone.
Amy’s eyes welled with tears. “This is just too much for me.” she thought. Terrible memories began to race through her mind. Two years before, her parents lost their lives in an accident, leaving Amy and her siblings for their grandma, Helen, who had spent half of her life in a wheelchair. The life burden fell on Amy’s shoulders, which was too much for a girl.
Life moved on. One day, walking across the school grounds, Amy found a table littered with university brochures. She browsed through pictures of spacious campuses and happy peers, all of it looking unachievable for her, given the current situation and financial conditions. But her teacher gave her unexpected hope, saying“ You could attend university for free. It would take a scholarship, though, and for that you’d need much better grades.”
During her final year of high school, Amy diligently attended classes, then went to work after school, returned to her grandmother’s house, cared for her sisters and brothers and went through homework till the early hours of the morning, struggling for her dream university.
One afternoon, she walked home from school, holding a sheet of paper tightly. It was a letter from the University of California, informing her that she would be offered a scholarship and was admitted to the university. It was what she’d been longing for, a place where she could study to become someone special-a nurse, perhaps, or maybe even a lawyer.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式作答。
Yet the letter only made Amy struggle inside.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next afternoon, Amy spotted the wrinkled letter she threw into the dustbin on the table when arriving home.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Be Like Dad
Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.
I was in my study on a cold Sunday in May 2020 when I glanced out the window and saw my dad’s car parked in our driveway. He was walking from my front door to his car, about to leave. Why would he drive all the way to my house, only to turn around and leave? Had the doorbell stopped working? I raced downstairs, opened the door and yelled “Dad! What are you doing?” I shouted.
My dad lives forty minutes away, and I hadn’t seen him since COVID-19 because we were following the health-department guidelines to self-isolate and not leave the house, so it’s strange that he would show up.
He smiled and pointed beside the door, where I could see a bright yellow begonia (秋海棠) plant.
“I know it is Mother’s Day, but... I’m not a mother,” I was puzzled.
My dad smiled. “But I think you should get flowers, too, my dear son.” With that, he winked and drove off.
That evening, I called to thank him and told him how touched I was that he had driven such a long round trip just to leave begonias on my doorstep.
That’s when he let me in on his little secret. It turns out I wasn’t the only receiver of an act of kindness from him. To keep away from the loneliness during epidemic he decided to do acts of kindness to remove the social isolation (隔离，孤立), and it made him so happy to see the smiles on people’s faces.
“But why?” I continued.
It just had started a couple of weeks before, when a friend of his was having a tough day and called him to talk about it. He knew she loved ice cream, so after ringing off, he went straight to the grocery store, bought a huge ice cream, drove to her house and left it on her doorstep. Then he called from the driveway to tell her to look outside.
“She just beamed when she saw it. I don’t think leaving her a million dollars would have made her happier.”
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数为100左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡上的相应位置作答。
After listening to story after story like this, I was inspired.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As I unzipped my lunchbox, the whole place was turned into a spicy curry (咖喱) dream. I immediately hid it under my seat, hoping no one would take notice.
Mom had really outdone herself with masala — our family’s all-time favorite dish back in India. But today, it wasn’t just about me and my lunch. A warm smile on his face, Ricky invited me, a new transfer student from India to New York city, for lunch.
“Ava, come sit here!” Ricky called out, gesturing towards a vacant seat.
As I made my way over, memories of those awkward lunchtimes when I studied in Kansas, one of the most conservative states, flooded back. I could still recall how everyone would wrinkle their noses and stare curiously when I unpacked my Indian food. It always made me feel like an outsider, like I didn’t belong.
Therefore, before my first day in this school, I had demanded my mom pack “normal” western-style food for me. I still remembered the look on her face upon hearing it, as she signed in disappointment and confusion, “Isn’t there a moment when you feel proud of your origin?” That was hurting, but not more hurting than others’ giggles and whispers. Honestly, long queues were common in Indian restaurants in New York city, a cultural melting pot, but I wouldn’t take that risk.
Unfortunately, this morning, Mom had forgotten to make sandwich or any “normal” food, so I had to bring leftovers from our dinner. At the thought of the possible oh-no-second (社死), I felt like being thrown into darkness.
However, before I came back to reality, Ricky noticed my sneaking (躲躲藏藏). “What do you have for lunch?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with interest. I tried to brush it off (搪塞), claiming I wasn’t hungry. But Ricky wouldn’t let it go, and before I could protest, he had the lid of my lunchbox open and I prepared myself for such familiar responses as “Ew” or “What is that?”
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。
However, I did not get what I was expecting.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After school, I found Mom preparing sandwich for tomorrow’s lunch.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was a twelve-year-old girl, I was so addicted to chatting online that some people even called me CyberSara. My mom, a lawyer, always complained that I spent too much time chatting with my Internet friends.
One day I got an instant message from a kid I didn’t know. His name was Bradley, who said he was twelve and lived in New York. He asked if he could be my secret friend, and I thought that seemed pretty cool. Within a few days’ chatting, I found that we both loved to play soccer, even though I didn’t play as much as I used to. To my great joy, we both loved playing computer games very much.
Every day, Bradley and I chatted and emailed each other. We became best friends. He was interesting and seemed kind of smart—actually, much smarter than the typical twelve-year-old boys I knew. I really liked chatting with him. He told me he really liked me. Bradley kept telling me New York was a cool place to live and emailed me amazing pictures of extremely tall skyscrapers (摩天大楼). He asked me where I lived. I told him I lived in Tampa. One day, Bradley shared good news with me that he was coming to Tampa with his parents. He invited me to have a secret meeting and go for ice cream with him in the ice-cream shop near my school. Eager to find what my secret Internet friend was like, I promised to keep it a secret, not telling my parents about our plan.
I was excited that I was finally going to meet Bradley after months of chatting. However, he refused to send me a picture of himself, saying he didn’t want to ruin the surprise. It made me quite confused. Was there something wrong with him? Was he a weird (奇怪的) guy who was not confident enough to show a picture of himself? But he said everyone in his school thought he was the cutest boy in his class, so I thought he had to be normal. The next day, I accidentally told Mom that I would meet my Internet friend alone. Upon hearing that, she began annoying me with a ton of questions, with her face full of anxiety. I eventually told her that Bradley was going to take me for ice cream near my school. “No. Never will you meet a stranger all alone. You are just a 12-year-old girl!”, mom was beside herself with rage when I showed my determination to go. So angry was she that I had no choice but to bring her together. We prepared and drove to the ice-cream shop.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卷的相应位置作答。
The moment we entered the ice-cream shop, there was no one but a weird adult (成年人). ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The bustling heart of Boston seemed to stretch on endlessly, much like the hardships that had befallen a woman named Ara Bolster. For two long years, Bolster had been homeless. Every day was a struggle for survival. Every night was a battle against hopelessness. Bolster would often find herself in tears, her gaze lost in the labyrinth (迷宫) of city streets. “I had been in tears, thinking to myself,” she recalled later, “‘God, when is the tide going to turn?’”
But little did she know that her tide was about to turn in the most unexpected way.
Despite her circumstances, Bolster had always loved to sing. On occasion, she would find comfort in her voice, using it to drown out the noise of the city and the clamor (喧闹)of her own troubles. One day, as she sang on a street corner, her voice caught the ear of a stranger.
Matt Shearer, a radio news reporter, had been out covering another story but found himself captivated by the woman’s song. There was something raw and real in her voice that touched him deeply. He approached Bolster and struck up a conversation, sensing that there was a greater story here than the one he had initially set out to find.
As they talked, Bolster shared with Shearer what mattered most to her — a song she had written during her darkest hours. The lyrics were scribbled (潦草地写) on a piece of cardboard that had once served as her mattress (床垫) at night. The melody existed only in her mind, but it was a tune that held great significance for her. This song was not just words; it was her life story, her pain, her joy, and her hope all rolled into one powerful anthem (赞歌).
Shearer was moved by Bolster’s passion for her music and her desire to share it with the world. He knew deep down that he could help make this dream a reality. With connections in the music industry and a strong sense of purpose, Shearer vowed to help Bolster record her song professionally.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 段落开头已给出。
Paragraph 1:
A few days later, Shearer drove her to a destination that would change her life forever — a recording studio.
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With Shearer’s backing, Bolster uploaded her creation to Bandcamp, a platform where independent artists can shine.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Farah was checking the party list with her mother. The exams were over and Farah wanted to invite her special friends for a party.
“Farah, aren’t you going to invite Hafsa?” her mother asked. Hafsa had been her best friend who lived across the street but now Farah had made new friends. “Mother, I am now a part of Purple Girls Club and we have rules about friends,” Farah answered hesitantly. “What rules?” her mother asked sarcastically (讽刺地).
“Only very pretty girls can be in our group. Hafsa is ... dark. I can’t be seen with her. It’s bad for my image.” “Farah, I can’t believe you base your friendship on appearance rather than character. I had expected better judgment from you than this nonsense,” her mother retorted (反驳) angrily.
Farah sank into silence. In her heart she knew her mother was right. Sometimes she too felt uncomfortable with her “cool” friends.
Just then, her father called, “Farah, come here.” Farah went and paled when she saw the report card in his hands.
“Farah, how come you failed each subject? You were my pride.” Her father questioned.
She hated to see such look of disappointment in his eyes. The truth was that the Club left her with little time for studies. The girls got together almost daily for movies, shopping, and partying. It had seemed like so much fun but now it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“Farah?” her father asked again , but Farah just hung her head in shame and did not answer.
“Farah, you shall take supplementary (补考) papers next month.”
Knowing how strict her father could be, Farah went to her room and opened her copies.
Seeing her homework filled with red crosses, Farah felt awfully terrible. How could she have neglected(忽视)her studies so much?
She called Gina, the leader of the Club. “Gina, can you lend me your copies? I need them to complete my notes for the exams.” Gina erupted into laughter. “Exams? Who cares? Farah. There are other ways of passing them.” Farah replaced the phone quickly. Even in desperation, she could never cheat.
One by one, she called her so-called friends but no one was willing to help.
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: Farah sat dejected on her bed, searching hard in her mind for other names she could turn to.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Next Monday, as the two old friends entered the school together, Gina saw them and called out haughtily (傲慢地),
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Every October, my neighborhood has a Halloween costume contest, And every time, my neighbor Ollie and I would race to the announcement board in the park to find out the theme.
One year, the theme was “Dress up as your favorite book character”. Another year, it was “Be something scary”. But this year, the theme was kind of, well, themeless. The board wrote “Be creative”. It was told that the judge would prefer something original. When I examined the paper on the announcement board, I was totally confused, since it was not really a theme. Ollie hopped off his skateboard to get a closer look. “You’re right,” he agreed.
“Since we don’t know exactly what we want to be yet, we should start by choosing some cool costume-making materials,” Ollie instantly scooped up a bunch of fallen leaves from the oak and proposed using leaves. It seemed impossible to make an entire costume out of leaves, Not to mention these terrible-looking yellow leaves. However, Ollie scooped up some more and try to persuade me, “They’re totally free and I can guarantee, no one will be a tree as great as me,” “Don’t you mean, a tree as great as we?” I grinned, We ended up filling two jumbo bags with different leaves. Ollie’s grandma, Abuela helped get us set up with tons of excellent costume-making supplies, We tried on part of our costumes, making the “branches” by gluing (粘) the leaves to our arms. We could tell the “trees” really would be tremendous, On the morning of the contest day, it took us hours to get ready, and we probably lost half our leaves shuffling over to the park. Still, when it was time for contestants (参赛者) to line up in the judging area, I felt pretty proud.
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。
Paragraph 1:
Except then, after a few minutes. I felt so itchy (发痒) that I just had to scratch.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Just at that time, the judge called for everyone’s attention.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally the big day came — the teacher was going to announce the winner!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Our school holds an annual book fair each January, where new and used books are available for students to purchase. Our librarian, Mr. Egan, is the school sponsor (主办者) for it. Traditionally, the tenth-grade students are responsible for the planning, set-up, and selling at the fair. I am sure that Mr. Egan consulted our teacher, Ms. Cates, for suggestions as to who would be the student directors, and I was pleasantly surprised when he approached me to be one of the students in charge. I was even more surprised when he told me that the student I would be working with was Charlie Lyons.
Charlie and I have known each other since kindergarten but have never been close. Ever since we were partners for the science project last year, there is very little we choose to say to each other. Needless to say, the science project fell short of our expectations. In light of that event, I was shocked that Mr. Egan and Ms. Cates found us a suitable match.
At the meeting with Mr. Egan, we divided the responsibilities between us. I would be in charge of setting up the room and getting the volunteers to work the sale for all three days. Charlie would be in charge of all the books. We were both quite satisfied with our jobs, and even more satisfied that there would be little contact between us.
With only two weeks to plan, I knew I could not waste time. I asked John and Rachel to help me with the set-up and twelve other classmates to work at the fair. I figured that, between Mr. Egan, the friends who volunteered to help, and me, we would be just fine.
Meanwhile, I tried on two separate occasions to start a conversation with Charlie about the progress he was making, but each time his response was, “Everything’s cool.”
On the day of the set-up, my friends and I arrived, only to find Charlie with his head in his hands, surrounded by a million boxes of books. I asked him, “Charlie, what’s wrong?”
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。
Paragraph 1: He responded in despair, “There are a lot more books here than I expected.”
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Paragraph 2: After the book fair was over, I couldn’t stop wondering why Mr. Egan put us together.
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For me, growth begins immediately after I am able to accept my mistakes and admit team efforts.
When I was elected president of student union, campus officials congratulated me saying I was quite adequate for the job. Before long, we had built a community of people who liked climbing the mountain near our campus. We started out with a small group of hikers, and then the number of participants increased.
One day on campus, I met a woman in a wheelchair called Grace. I asked her if she had ever been to the top of the mountain. She said she hadn’t and she would never. I told her to stay positive and not to give up admiring the beauty of the summit. Grace agreed to have a go. We all took turns grabbing a corner of her chair as we carried her 1. 7 miles to the top. This was probably one of the most magical and deeply meaningful things I did in college.
With the support of my community and hikers, no one was surprised that I had won the election. The first thing I did as president was hang a sign outside the Associated Students office that read, “Under New Management!” I was proud of my coming accomplishment.
Absolute power changed me absolutely. My ego, my arrogance and my pride were out of control. I began speaking down to people, demanding they listen to me because I thought I knew what was best. Seldom did I join the hikers to climb the mountain, arguing it was a waste of time. My friends and supporters tried to communicate to me that I had changed, that I was abusing my position, but I wasn’t listening.
A public conflict with the female vice president about where to build a coffeehouse opened the floodgates for others who were upset with me. They claimed that I had made wrong decisions and that I was unqualified for the job. “Resign! Resign!” the posters of their requests would soon be everywhere on campus. My whole world collapsed. I couldn’t figure out why a wonderfully enriching experience as president suddenly turned into one of my worst nightmares.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150 左右
2. 段落开头已给出。
Paragraph 1:
Several days later, I caught sight of a familiar figure in the wheelchair, peering at my poster.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
I went to the campus lawn, began to admit my mistakes in public and promised that I had learned my lesson.
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