With cold winter setting in, sometimes people need a small act of kindness to stay warm. That’s where Sharie Monsam and her niece come in. The pair are leaving scarves and hats on statues in downtown Mesa, Arizona for people who need them to keep warm.
Helping people who are homeless or down on their luck comes naturally for Monsam. “If you’re cold, take one,” she said. “This is the fourth winter that we have collected hats and scarves from family, friends, and neighbors. And also, we bought them at second-hand stores. And then we put them on the statues downtown, probably 15 to 18 statues.”
The hats and scarves are quickly taken from the statues, showing that there is a need for the winter equipment. Monsam hopes that other people will follow her lead and help the unhoused.
“I hope more people do it. They can donate food to the food kitchens as well,” Monsam added. “Every single person would make a difference. Find something that you can do to help other people. I personally think that’s what we're here on earth for.”
Happily, there are people doing the same thing. In Morristown, New Jersey, the fiber fairies are spreading warmth by decorating statues with gloves, hats, and scarves.
The founders who want to remain nameless established the group in 2014 to help the homeless stay warm. They began by asking for donations of winter hats and scarves on Facebook. The group placed the winter items on statues in the city’s green spaces.
One day, a boy named Peter went to the city center with his mother. Peter wore few clothes and felt very cold. The clothes on the statues became timely rain. The incident left a deep impression on the boy.
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。
Peter went home and began to look for clothes.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Peter wasn’t about to stop the good behavior.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Near the end of August, I got a piece of terrible news from the doctor. “Linda, you have a brain tumor (肿瘤) on the underside of your brain. This is the worst place you could have possibly gotten a tumor. It’s growing very quickly. I’m sorry. It’s inoperable.”
I walked out of her office and went through the large medical building, not daring to glance at anyone. By the time I met my husband in the parking lot, my chest hurt. “It’s inoperable!” As I repeated the doctor’s words, I began to cry. My dream of becoming a licensed psychotherapist (心理治疗师) and helping others dissolved into my tears.
I had waited until my children were grown, with families of their own, before starting my own work on a college degree. By then I was 51. Through the years I dreamed of going back to school and becoming a psychotherapist. It had been a dream of mine for almost as long as I could remember. But so many things had gotten in my way.
Several days went by as I realized that I shouldn’t give up without a fight. So I began to do online research to see if someone else could help me. I was afraid to hope, but within a week I received a call from a doctor in Los Angeles. “I can help you,” he began. Those were the words I needed to hear.
I underwent a very risky brain surgery on a sunny fall day in October 2006. Dr. Shahinian told my husband, “It’s much larger than I thought. If I take it all, there is a possibility that she will not be able to walk or smile. She may not hear and perhaps she will be blind. If I leave half of it, she’ll be back here in five years to do this all again.”
My husband and my daughter made the hard decision to allow Dr. Shahinian to attempt to remove the entire tumor in this operation.
The recovery was horrible. My optic (视觉的) nerve was damaged. I completely lost the hearing in my left ear. I heard what sounded like the roaring (呼啸) of a waterfall in my head. My balance was terrible, and it seemed as if the floor wanted to come up. But I didn’t want to live just for the sake of remaining alive. I still wanted to help other people.
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。
So after six months of lying in bed, I decided to take action.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, my dream came true.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The basketball court was filled with eager students and cheerleaders were waving their pompoms at the stands. Excited cheers could be heard from all sides of the court. My teammates and I got fully prepared for our basketball competition. Our hearts were pounding in expectation of the competition ahead.
“And let’s all welcome the Blue Team!” the emcee (主持人) announced through the microphone. All of us marched in proudly as everyone cheered at the top of their lungs. “And welcome the Red Team!” the emcee announced, and the Red Team came in. We were astonished to see that the Red Team was filled with tall and strong members! We were trembling with fear as we walked slowly towards the centre of the court. As we were short of teammates, our confidence in winning wavered (减弱).
The judge threw the ball and the other team quickly caught it! The ball danced between their hands. Our defence seemed to be in slow motion compared to the Red Team’s swiftness. Soon, the other team scored!
We were losing the match as time passed. To make matters worse, our star player, Tom, even tripped and fell, hurting his ankle! We were losing hope as our best player was gone. Just then, our captain called for a time-out. On the bench, our captain announced that this would be his last match. “Come on! Don’t give up! I want to win one last trophy (奖杯) before I quit. Let’s do it!” he insisted, giving us a wide smile. Hearing this, our team held our fists tightly. We were focused on winning this match and making our captain proud! The judge threw the ball once more. I jumped as high as I could and caught the ball. I ran as fast as lightning and scored. Our opponents were nervous but they still scored a few goals to catch up. A few minutes later, we were neck to neck, locked in a tie.
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。
Whoever scored this one goal would win the competition!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The crowd erupted into deafening applause.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A boy called Jamy always arrived home hungry every day and his parents couldn’t figure out why, despite making meals for him. When Jamy wouldn’t share what was going on, his parents decided to visit the school principal (校长), hoping the principal could offer some insight.
After talking with Jamy’s classmates, the principal and his parents heard a story they weren’t expecting. Although Jamy never talked about it, his classmates told them that he always came to school without food. The principal and his parents were shocked. No wonder Jamy was always so hungry after school! Was there something happening on the way to school that Jamy didn’t tell them?
To make the situation clear, the principal asked Jamy’s teacher, Callum to talk to Jamy in private. During the conversation with the teacher, Jamy refused to say any further details about the situation, leaving everyone frustrated and helpless. And despite multiple questioning, Jamy still refused to say any knowledge of the situation. This left the principal with no evidence to take any action regarding the missing lunch of Jamy.
Jamy’s parents were becoming increasingly concerned as their child continued to come home from school without saying a word. Despite their meeting in the school, they thought that they hadn’t gotten any closer to uncovering the truth about why Jamy was always so hungry. The lack of communication from their child only added to their frustration and helplessness. They knew they needed to take action, but they had no idea where to start.
Determined to get to the bottom of the problem, Jamy’s father decided to take action again. The next day, Jamy’s father went to school and requested to speak with Jamy’s teacher Callum.
When Jamy’s father reached the school, Callum spoke with him and patiently answered all of his questions. However, despite a deep conversation between them, no conclusion could be reached, which still puzzled Jamy’s parents.
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。
One day, by accident, Jamy’s father found a thank-you note from his study (书房).
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Jamy’s parents were touched by Jamy’s act of kindness.
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Fifteen years ago, Mark moved out of his mother’s house upon landing a well-paying job in another city. He planned to visit her monthly and he had stuck to his visiting schedule during the first three years. However, with the increasing workload, he couldn’t find time to visit her monthly. He only spoke to her on the phone, updating her about his life. Soon, his relationship with her came to a point where he rarely called her.
It was ten years since Mark has last seen his mother, and he didn’t remember the last timethey spoke on the phone. One day, the reminder on his phone read, “Mom’s 80th birthday!”
“Oh, God! How can I forget her birthday again?” Mark shook his head as he turned the reminder alarm off. “I can’t keep disappointing her like this. Let me see how quickly I can get to her place.” After looking at his work schedule, Mark realized he could make it to his mother’s house by the evening if he left the office in an hour. He quickly finished his work and left the office without wasting even a minute.
On his way, he stopped at a bakery and bought his mother’s favorite cheesecake. “My mother turned 80 today!” he cheered, telling the shop keep er how happy he was. He also bought her balloons and a few gifts.
Excited to see her after a decade, Mark drove towards his mother’s house. Although he wanted to call her, he thought it would be better to surprise her because he was sure she wasn’t expecting him to visit her. After all, this was the first time he had done something like this in years.
Mark finally arrived at his mother’s house after driving for hours across the country, but it did not look the same anymore. The lights inside were all off and the fence was covered in wild vines (藤). It seemed like no one had been living in the house.
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。
Mark realized the house was abandoned.
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Finally, Mark found his mother in a local retirement community.
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Sam was a junior high school student. He lived in a community in Charlotte and usually had little exposure to country life. So much of what he knew about plants came from text-books. Sam was a kind-hearted person. He longed for a chance to explore nature and he wanted to do his part to beautify the world.
Finally, the opportunity came. On Arbor Day (植树节), his class organized a trip to a local village to plant trees. Sam was excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell his mom the good news. So the next day, Sam and his mom went to buy some tools for planting trees, including a shovel(铲), a bucket, gloves and so on.
On the day of the event, Sam and his classmates arrived early at the starting point. It was a beautiful day and everyone looked particularly happy. With the tools in hand, Sam got into the bus with everyone else and headed off to their destination.
As soon as they reached the village, all the students were divided into three teams by their teacher. One team was responsible for planting the trees, one team for shovelling the soil and one team for watering the trees. At the teacher’s command, everyone started to do their job.
However, it was the first time that many of the students had taken part in planting trees, so they had no idea about how to start. Of course, Sam was one of them. Fortunately, their teacher was a middle-aged man from the countryside who had some knowledge of planting trees. In order to set an example to the students, the teacher started to plant trees himself. After watching the teacher plant the trees, everyone also became busy. Before long, they planted hundreds of trees. Sam watched very carefully, not wanting to miss any of the details. Finally, Sam learned how to plant trees by himself and felt happy.
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。
A few days later, a storm damaged some young trees in the community.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The neighbours praised Sam for what he had done.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sandy and Jane came to see the jobo tree on the hilltop again. Jobos were their favorite fruit, but the tree belonged to a lady who lived in the house by the hill. They heard she was difficult, but that sometimes she would give fruit in return for an errand(差使)
The girls finally gathered their courage to knock on her door. An elderly woman with a fierce look answered, staring down at the girls. “We heard …”said Sandy, her voice shaky, “that you give jobos in payment for running an errand.”
The lady raised one eyebrow, then went into the kitchen and took two baskets. She pushed them into the girls’ hands.“Go fill these with jobos, and come right back.”
The girls raced up the hill to the tree and filled the baskets with the ripest jobos. Back at the house, the lady filled a bag with rice and handed it to Sandy. “Take this bag and one basket of jobos to the Brown family. And ask them for the payment,” the lady added with a tight smile.“If you return without the payment, you won’t get the fruit.”
The girls struggled all the way with the bag and the basket. When they were there, Mrs. Brown answered the door. Inside on the floor were three little children, each painting something on papers.
Mr. Brown was lying sick in bed.Times were hard.
The girls handed her the food.“This is from the lady with the jobo tree, ” said Sandy.
“She asked for the payment, too.”Jane said awkwardly.
“The payment! The payment!” The children repeated, waving the paper in their hands happily.
Sandy and Jane looked at each other strangely. With a smile, Mrs. Brown handed Sandy a large sealed(密封的)envelope so full that it was almost starting to break open. The girls said goodbye and left quickly. “I wonder,” Sandy murmured, “whether Mrs. Brown can afford to pay for that food.”
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。
Worried, the two girls discussed what was in the envelope as they walked back.
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The lady opened the envelope, took out a pile of papers, and smiled.
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One day, Dad took Tim and Lily to the supermarket. “Now where has Tim gone? ” asked Dad. Lily shrugged. Keeping track of Tim was not on her agenda today. She’d been trying to decide on the perfect gift for Dad’s upcoming birthday. This year, she was determined to prepare a present that couldn’t be bought at a store or ordered online.
“Daddy!” Tim appeared out of nowhere, disturbing Lily’s thoughts. He yelled, holding a cereal (麦片) box in the air, “Let’s get it! It’s nutritious and delicious! And it has a dragon inside! ” Tim remembered Dad saying that when he was a kid, almost every box of cereal came with a toy. Ever since, Tim was certain that he, too, would find a toy in the next box.
When they got home, Dad and Lily began putting away the groceries. Tim couldn’t wait to take the box of cereal upstairs to his room. By the time they finished, Lily could hear Tim shouting. “No! No!” Tim’s voice kept getting louder and louder. Lily imagined each word as the sound of a hammer striking metal. Then she raced towards her brother’s room. The moment she stepped inside, she felt a crunch (嘎吱声) beneath her feet. It was obvious that Tim dumped all that cereal looking for a toy dragon. “They lied! No dragon. Just a picture on the box.” Tim sounded close to tears. Annoyed as Lily was, she said quietly, “Let’s see what the box says.” “I don’t know how to read.” her brother said in a low voice.
It reminded Lily that last school year, Tim’s teacher who sent home easy-to-read books and worksheets insisted that he was ready to learn to read and just needed some extra help, but Tim complained about books “for babies” and “boring” homework assignments. It was really a headache for Dad to teach Tim to read! At the thought of these, it seemed that Tim’s dragon issue had swept away her concern for a present for Dad.
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：
Lily decided to cooperate with Tim, making up a dragon story and having Tim read for Dad.
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Paragraph 2：
After what seemed to be a century, Dad’s birthday finally came.
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Melissa was a single parent of three small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always tight and she had to work hard to make ends meet. But they still felt blessed with a roof over their heads, food on the plate, clothes on their backs, and even if not a lot, always enough. Not knowing they were poor, the kids just thought their mother was strict in money management. Melissa was really glad about that.
Christmas was just around the corner. Although there wasn't budget for a lot of gifts, Melissa planned to please the kids with a family party. She prepared weeks ahead of time, asking one by one what the kids wanted for Christmas. Fortunately, Melissa managed to spare $ 80 dollars for the whole family to enjoy the fun of Christmas shopping.
The big day arrived. Mellissa drove the kids to a nearby Walmart and gave each kid a twenty-dollar bill. “Now, my children,” she announced, “you have two hours to pick a gift in the supermarket. Then we will meet back at the gate.” Excited, the children scattered (四散) and rushed into the supermarket.
Melissa smiled. She looked at her own note and put it back into her pocket. Well, the Melissa smiled. She looked at her own note and put it back into her pocket. Well, the children's shining faces were the most precious Christmas gift for her, weren't they? Sitting in the car, she waiting patiently, imagining what gifts the kids would choose. She couldn't wait to share their joy.
Two hours later, the kids came back one by one. Tom and Tick rushed to their mother, eyes twinkling with excitement. They showed their gifts to Melissa and jumped with joy. The third child, Ginger, was obviously left behind, who dragged her feet to the car. To everyone's surprise, Ginger was empty-handed. Melissa said nothing, asked the kids to get into the car and headed home:
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。
Driving home, everyone was talking about their gifts in high spirits except the youngest daughter, Ginger.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“We have so much, but the homeless man doesn't have anything,” Ginger explained.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As a single mother, I’ve never doubted my daughter Jane’s dream to be a singer on the stage. At an early age, she was crazy about singing. Whenever she had a chance, she would sing to her heart’s content. Her sweet and charming voice tended to get people around attracted to her songs.
Living in a small city, I took several odd jobs, determined to do everything in my power to support her. Soon after Jane attended school, her music teacher Mary noticed her talent by chance and volunteered to give her some guidance on how to sing. Jane practiced so hard that before long she made great progress in singing.
Unfortunately, one noon a year later, Jane was crossing the street when a careless driver knocked her down. She was rushed to hospital. When I hurried there, the doctor told me that my daughter would probably not stand on her own feet. I froze with shock, feeling as if I had been thrown into a dark world. Weak and dizzy, I was about to fall to the ground when someone took hold of me.
It was Mary, who got the news and raced here. She comforted me, saying firmly, “Grace, Jane needs you. You must stay calm and strong.” I nodded. Having calmed down, I entered the ward with Mary.
That night, Jane recovered her consciousness (知觉) and opened her eyes. Holding her hand, I said, “My dear, everything would be fine.” Mary comforted her gently, “I know you are a strong girl, Jane. Don’t worry. We’ll be standing by you.” I was heartbroken to see tears streaming down Jane’s cheeks.
After two months, we returned home from hospital. Her teachers and friends frequently visited her. Jane eventually accepted the fact that she would have to get around in a wheelchair. Never did she refer to the subject of singing again. I knew she was a nice and understanding girl, who was afraid that talking about her original dream would upset the two of us.
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。
One day, however, Mary came with good news.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the host announced it was Jane’s turn, she was wheeled onto the stage.
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