The classroom was so quiet that I only could hear their breath. I found that between classes, there were few students chatting or playing. It seemed that every student was buried in books and did exercises on and on. I knew the exam was drawing near and every student was preparing for it. Some of them even took books to the dining hall and there were others staying up studying. It was obvious that students took the exam seriously.
However, John, a top student in the class, wasn't among them. He used to work harder than anyone. Now, he was not only late for class but it was also typical of him to sleep in class. When I checked his exercise books, I found all blank（空白的）. I wondered what's wrong with him. So I called him out and asked him if he had trouble with his study. He bit his lip, lowered his head but explained nothing.
With puzzles increasing, I called his friend Mike into the office. Mike knew nothing about why his friend behaved so strangely. He also told me that John would be the first student to rush out of the classroom after school and refused to wait for him. And even when Mike invited John for their favorite football on weekend, John refused, saying he was busy, and hung off quickly. When I asked about John's family, Mike told me that John lived with his grandmother because his parents passed away many years ago. Though living a poor life, John's grandmother looked after him well. So John studied hard to live up to his grandmother's expectation.
Suddenly, I sensed maybe John was in need. So I asked Mike if he was willing to accompany me to John's house. To find out the truth, I decided to pay a visit to his family. Mike agreed and we set out without delay.
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。
When the door was open, John was surprised at our arrival.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the truth was discovered, we decided to take action.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mark Mancuso’s phone started ringing. He glanced at it. It was an alarm for the calendar, informing him that it was his mom’s birthday. His mom, Amelia, was two hundred miles from here, a bit of drive, but Mark had driven further to have dinner with a friend. It was just that he didn’t like his mom’s complaints. Then he went to a flower shop. With a smile, he had an idea.
Entering the flower shop, Mark said with a wide grin, “Can you arrange to have flowers delivered to Syracuse, N. Y.? It’s my mom’s 70th birthday, so I’d like to send her a bouquet.”
he flower shop owner replied, “Of course, I only need your mom’s name, phone number and address. Do you want me to help you write a birthday letter?”
“Yes,” Mike said as he read out those information. Then, he added, “Please write: Happy birthday to the most wonderful mom in the world. Your son, Mark.”
Mark went out with a sense of success, seeing a little girl in the corner, crying. Mike crouched (蹲) next to her. “Hi, honey, are you OK?”
“I’m Mandy, and I’d like to buy my mother a rose,” the little girl said as she sobbed.
“But I’m short of money! The flower shop owner told me that I could only get a daisy, but my mother loves red roses.”
“You just wait here,” Mark said and then went to the flower shop and bought Mandy a beautiful red rose. “This is for you,” he said, putting the rose into her hands. Mandy received the rose and looked up at Mike with a smile. “Thank you. But can you take me to my mother? It’s not too far, but I don’t suppose I can get there on my own.”
Mark nodded. Mandy led him along the road. A moment later Mandy took a left, and Mark saw with amazement that they were at the gate of a cemetery (墓地).
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。
The girl lightly placed the rose on a grave.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mark could feel his eyes filling with tears.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We met Max at the pickup area of Alaska Airlines. A standard poodle (鬈毛狗) born on Valentine’s Day in 2002, he came to us in a small blue box. We had adopted him from a friend, who raised many dogs.
We were a sweet little family—me, my husband, and our children, Sophie and Jake. But for years I’d felt as if we wouldn’t really be complete until we had a dog. Also, my husband travelled for some 200 days a year on business, and I knew I’d feel safer with a large animal sleeping by the door.
When we opened the box, we saw him. With his curly black hair and intelligent eyes, Max was beautiful. He was so small that he fit into the palm (手掌) of my hand, his big paws (爪子) lapping over the sides. He was also scared. As I pulled him close, I felt his heart pound and wondered if we’d done the right thing, taking him from his mother. But it was too late. Sophie and Jake were already fighting over who would hold him next.
Over the following months, we spent endless hours watching Max play with his toy or run around the living room. Like most poodles, he was smart. He mastered house-training quickly and never chewed on our furniture or shoes. He considered himself one of us.
Some days after school, I’d find Jake curled up with Max inside his box. When I suggested that my son get out of the dog box, Jake yelled, “Max wants me in here! We’re brothers!”
By his first birthday, Max had grown into a 50-pound guard dog. He manned the front door like a soldier, barking fiercely at other dogs walking by. I felt safe with him there, especially when my husband was away. Sometimes, when I was missing my husband a lot, I held Max close.
Many years later, my husband passed away. My kids grew up and went to university. They worked in other cities after graduation.
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:
And then, suddenly, I was alone.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
One Day, I found there was something wrong with Max’s back legs.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"What? I can't believe what you're telling me," my mother said when my sister Helentold her of the arrangement that she would invite two strangers to stay with her in her Califurnin home. Actually, our entire family tried to discourage Helen from this undertaking.
This story began with Helen on a flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix. Although the flight was short, it provided enough time for my sister to get to know the Morrisons, an Arizona couple seated in her row. The plane was only in the air for a couple of minutes when the wife, Marcie, fell asleep, leaving her husband Daniel and my sister sitting next to each other in silence. Maybe it was a feeling of awkwardness that sparked（触发） it, or maybe it was the need to unload. Whatever the case, within minutes Daniel began to relate the couple's story.
He told my sister how he and Marcie had flown to Los Angeles that morning to meet with a doctor of alternative medicine about treating Marcie for her stage 4 breast cancer. Although they both felt good about what had been described to them that day, they were also depressed to learn that the alternative treatment would cost $34,000 and not be covered by insurance. Additionally, they'd have to pay for a place to stay while Marcie accepted the treatment.
"The money's not even a consideration," Daniel explained. "What's debt compared to keeping my wife alive?" At this point tears coursed their way down Daniel's face and my sister joined right in. Marcie was only thirty-five years old and they had five children between ages two and twelve.
When it was time to get off the plane, Daniel woke Marcie, and since she was unable to walk, they requested a wheelchair. It was while my sister was waiting with them for the chair that she made the decision that had our family so concerned. Helen gave the Morrisons her business card and explained that they could stay with her during their trips to Los Angeles.
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。
Helen received a call from Daniel the following week.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My family's feelings of concern changed to feelings of admiration!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One summer vacation, I allowed my husband and our three sons to take me to go horse-riding. I’d never been on a horse in my life. Horses scare me. “It will be fun,” my kids said. “What if I fall off?” I wanted to add more, but I kept my mouth shut. I was trying to be a good sport.
When we arrived, the coach gave me his gentlest horse. “Nothing to worry about. And kick your feet on the horse’s side to make him go,” he said. I hoped the horse had heard that, too. The horse may look gentle, but he was very big and tall. How on earth was I going to get on this horse using only one little stirrup (马镫) on the side? Well, it took my husband and three sons to do it, but they got me on that horse!
Since the coach knew I had the gentlest horse, he placed me at the very end of the road. I was happy. If I looked silly sitting on this horse, everyone else would be in front of me and couldn’t watch me. We started out just fine. As we got into the woods, my horse was still very gentle. By the time all the other horses were out of the woods, my horse and I were still in the woods! I saw our youngest son waving to me in the distance. This seemed to be the longest ride with this boring horse and me.
Slowly, we got out of the woods and were in a bean field. Suddenly, my horse stopped. Then I remembered one important thing the coach had told me. He said, “Don’t let the horse stop to eat the beans, because then the horse won’t want to go back to the barn (畜棚).” I looked down, and the horse was eating the beans.
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。
I tried to stop him, but he kept on eating.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, the coach must have realized I was in trouble.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When You Snooze (贪睡), You Lose!
Last Wednesday, I set my alarm for seven o’clock in the morning, just like I always did. But I’d gone to bed a little later than usual, so when it went off, I rolled over and hit the snooze button, thinking I’d have five more minutes of sleep before I got up. For some reason, the snooze alarm didn’t go off. When I saw that it was 7:45, I couldn’t believe it!
Since I was late, I skipped breakfast, and I didn’t make the bed or straighten up my room even though it was part of the “house rules”.
I ran as fast as I could to catch the school bus, but even so, I missed it. Luckily for me, my father hadn’t left for work yet, so I asked him for a ride to school. He wasn’t too happy about it because it meant he would be late for an appointment he had set up. So he was annoyed with me, especially since it was the second time in two weeks that I had missed the school bus. We rode to school in total silence.
By the time I got to school, the bell had already rung, so I had to go to the office to get a “late pass” before I could be admitted to class. That’s when I remembered that I hadn’t asked my father to write a note for my being late. He’d been in such a bad mood, and I knew that this was especially directed at me, so I decided there was no way I could call him now. Besides, he was sure to be in his meeting.
So, there I was, sitting out the first hour in the principal’s office. Things were really starting to snowball but it was only the beginning. Since I was absent from my first-hour class, I missed my science test. My teacher said I couldn’t make up the test since I was absent without leave. But I really needed that test to improve my grade point average. My dad promised to give me half of the money for a car if my grades improved by the end of this semester. So I started thinking about not being able to buy a car, and I got even more upset.
续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。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:
Then I was preparing for my second-hour class when I discovered my math book was missing.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Knowing I would surely be scolded for my skipping class, I went home in fear.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was not sure why my dad and my uncle always disagreed with each other in the beginning. They spent many Sundays sitting at opposite ends of the table, arguing about everything. I didn’t think they got along well.
When I was eighteen, I got a call in my college dorm that my dad was having a health problem. My mom picked me up at midnight, so I could be there the next day when my dad was scheduled to transfer(转移) to a better hospital. I didn’t sleep that night, not a while. I was nervous and almost crazy when we arrived at the hospital early the next morning before the transfer.
That morning, as my mom and I walked down the hallway of the hospital, we could see straight into my dad’s room. A tall man wearing a stylish suit stood beside my father’s bed with his back to us. In surprise, my mom said to me, “How nice it is for a doctor to come by to see your dad so early in the morning.” The man was quiet and still, looking down, but he was holding both of my dad’s hands in his own. It seemed not to be a typical doctor’s behavior.
“It’s not a doctor,” I whispered softly to my mom. When the man turned around, we found that it was my uncle. However, little did I know I would continue to reflect on that quiet moment for decades. And it would be the beginning of something truly wonderful.
The hours that followed were some of the most hardest time of my youth. My dad had a serious stomach problem and had to be in hospital for quite a long time. My uncle stayed with us the entire time. For one thing, my uncle tried every way to get my dad to eat something. For another thing, he brought me healthy snacks and made sure I actually ate them even though I had no appetite. When my mother and I were scared that my dad’s illness would get worse, my uncle was always by our side.
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。
Throughout those difficult days in the hospital, I watched my uncle in a new light.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________From then on, the relationship between my dad and my uncle became closer.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One day, I was taking a summer class in American literature on the campus of The State University of New York at Oneonta. Professor James walked into the classroom and announced that he had invited a special guest to class, but his guest had been delayed. The class stirred with curiosity and anticipation.
“Who is coming?” someone asked. “All I will tell you is that he is the author of one of the books you have read for this class,” he said. “I need a volunteer to meet him and guide him here.”
To my amazement, my right hand shot up. I never volunteer for anything. I’m introverted(内向的), shy, and uncomfortable meeting new people. In fact, I’m absolutely the wrong person for the job. Realizing my mistake, I put my hand down quickly, but it was too late.
“Thank you, David,” said Professor James. “You’d better leave now. He will be arriving any minute.” Seeing no way to back out, I reluctantly got out of my seat and headed for the classroom door. When I reached it, I stopped. “Umm,” I said. “If I don’t know who this person is, how will I recognize him? I would hate to bring back the wrong guy.” Professor James laughed. “Good point,” he said. He pulled me aside and whispered a name in my ear. “Alex Haley,” he said. “Really?” I said.
I regretted for volunteering. Why me? Alex Haley is one of the authors of The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley. He is so famous. As I walked across the campus, my anxiety grew. I feared that I was about to embarrass myself in front of the famous gentleman by asking stupid questions, or worse, by guiding him in painful silence.
But at the moment I realized why I instinctively raised my hand to volunteer for this job. The man was what I wanted to be: a writer. I could learn from him.
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 paced back and forth until a man with a briefcase(公文包) entered the building.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Encouraged by Mr Haley, I stopped worrying whether I had the talent for writing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel (吵架) with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help weeping sorrowfully when she thought of the scolding from her mother. Having wandered 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 seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh and had to leave.
The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?”
“Oh, yes, but I don’t have money on me.” she replied.
“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man, “Come in.”
The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently.
“What is it?” asked the man kindly.
“Nothing. Actually, I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears. “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so merciless compared to a stranger!”
Hearing the words, the seller smiled, “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you remember the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude to her?”
Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock: she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? 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. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Nearing the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At that time, her mother came back and touched her hair gently, which called her mind back.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mary was fond of outdoor activities, especially the beauty of nature. She would often spend her weekends hiking, biking, or simply taking long walks in the countryside. She had a group of close friends who shared the same enthusiasm for the outdoors.
One day, while enjoying a cup of coffee at a local cafe, Mary’s friend Jenny approached her with an exciting idea. “Mary, have you ever thought about stargazing (观星) in the wilderness?” Jenny asked, her eyes shining with excitement. Mary’s eyes widened, and a smile spread across her face. “Stargazing? That sounds incredible! Count me in,” she exclaimed, her voice filled with expectation.
The plan was set for a cool evening when the sky would be at its clearest. As the day turned into night, the two friends gathered their warmest clothes, packed some snacks and hot chocolate, and set off on their adventure. They began their journey from Mary’s house.
As they walked hand in hand, their breath turned into misty clouds in the cool night air. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, casting a darkness on their path. But instead of feeling scared, they felt a rush of excitement washing over them. The stillness of the night, broken only by the soft whispers of the wind, brought a newfound peace to their mind.
They walked through the streets, little by little, the city lights faded, and the stars above became increasingly obvious. They couldn’t help but feel amazed by the countless stars that decorated the sky. They decided not to choose the well-known path and wandered deeper into the wilderness. Fireflies (萤火虫) danced gracefully, lighting up the night sky.
Mary’s eyes widened with childlike wonder as she watched the tiny creatures create their magical light show. Absorbed in chats and laughter, they failed to notice when the familiar sights started to disappear, slowly getting swallowed by the tall trees of the forest.
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。
Suddenly, Mary’s heart skipped a beat as she realized they had lost their way.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Determined, the two friends set off, guided by the light of the North Star.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
