One day, a woman gazed silently at a black and white photograph of a little girl kneeling in the snow.
“Her name is Tina,” said the man who had handed her the picture. “She’s seven years old. I love my daughter more than anything, but I can’t keep her. My wife…she isn’t Tina’s mother, you know? She hates having a reminder around of my other marriage. I had to send Tina back to my cx-wife. to keep her cafe”
“But Tina’s mother hasn’t had Tom with her for your; she’s married now with two kids and she... well. she’s mutationally manic in deal with another one. You see?” He swallowed hard before adding. “My daughter need a home.”
The woman handed the photograph to her husband, when look it and audited it for several minutes before giving it back with a small smile He said. “Well. honey, what do you think?”
The woman looked into the eyes of the little girl’s father “Yes,” she said “We’ll take her.”
The little girl in the photograph was me. And the common when degreed to open her heart and home to a child she’d never met was my new mother. My new father, of course, played an important, loving part in this decision. but it was my mother who was willing to take on the full-time, thankless, and often heartbreaking care of a previously abused child. Loving me would be a challenge for hot from the very beginning.
In the first place, I didn’t want to be there. I was heartbroken at being taken away from my father. Moreover, I had a natural distrust of women. The two in my life so far had either abandoned me or beaten me. In my mind, why should this new one be any different?
I bonded with my new father quickly. But my mother was the one to deal with a bitter. confused little girl. I tested my new mother’s love from time to time.
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, when we ate out, I made a noise on purpose.
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However, my mother didn’t give up.
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The first time I saw Jeff was when my best friend, Brian, and I were in the fourth grade. When our teacher introduced Jeff to the class, she explained that he was sick and that he might not be able to be in class all of the time.
Jeff was completely bald (秃顶的) from cancer treatments, and he wore a hat. That was one reason that he and I bonded right away. Being the tomboy that I was, I liked wearing a hat — only I wasn’t allowed to wear one in class. Jeff was allowed to wear his hat all of the time. Other than that, he was a normal friend to both Brian and me. Some things he couldn’t do as well as the other kids because he had tubes in his chest for his treatments, but we never thought of him as sick because he didn’t act that way.
The only time that we would realize that Jeff was sick was when he went for his chemotherapy treatments (化疗). We’d notice the difference, but we’d just sort of think, yeah, Jeff was not feeling really well, but then it would pass and things would be back to normal.
Jeff, Brian and I were really sports lovers, and we became best friends. We would swim, jump and run together. As fourth grade progressed, Jeff seemed to get worse. During the summer between fourth and fifth grades, we spent tons of time together outdoors, running everywhere, although it had been hard for him to finish the run. Still, he was really happy when he was able to cross the finish line, and so were we.
Before school started, Jeff told me that he would be away for a few weeks to have his operation.
“Bye, see you in a month or so,” I said to him as if nothing much was happening.
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。
Then came the night when the phone rang. It was Jeff’s mom.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Brian and I decided to do something to help everybody remember Jeff.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10-year-old Aiden went to the first door and knocked on it. An older woman answered the door.
“Good morning!” Aiden said. “My name is Aiden. My mom is sick, and I want to get food for her. Can I get some money, please?” But the woman suspected and refused. Aiden didn’t lose heart and knocked on the second door. “Can I please ask for some money, ma’am? My mom is very sick!” he begged sadly. The woman who answered the door gave him a concerned look. “Oh! Should I call the CPS (儿童保护署) or an ambulance? Do you want me to come with you?”
“Ugh, well,” Aiden hesitated. “It’s alright. I just remembered I had to go somewhere,” he ran away. That whole day, Aiden went from door to door asking for money, but sadly, he got none.
A couple of days later, Aiden returned to the neighborhood and saw a new couple had moved into what used to be an empty house. He decided to try his luck and knocked on the door, and a young woman answered.
Aiden told her his name and repeated what he said to the other residents. The woman smiled, “I’m Lauren. Just wait here. I’ll get you some money and food, okay?” Aiden nodded as Lauren went inside. She returned with two huge bags of groceries and a $100 bill. “I hope these can help your mother,” she said.
“Thank you!” he exclaimed happily as he carried the two bags over his shoulder and ran away.
Waving him goodbye, Lauren realized that Aiden was hiding something. She decided to drive after him secretly to find out more about his story. Soon, they came to an area without houses, and then Aiden disappeared under a bridge. Lauren pulled over and walked to the bridge. She spotted him and froze. Aiden was living with a little girl in a tent under the bridge. She heard Aiden saying to the girl, “Beth, we have food now. You won’t go hungry.”
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。
Lauren turned up suddenly in front of them.
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After listening to Aiden’s story, Lauren had an idea.
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Nuts was quite an adventurous and smart squirrel kitten. One day, without the notice of his parents, he slipped out of home and set off to Mr. Elk’s Candy Company to buy toffees. On the way, he met Robert the little deer, his best friend. He said, “Hello, Robert. Would you like to come with me to Mr. Elk’s Candy Company?”
Robert replied, “Sure. But it’s a long way from here. We may come across some fierce beasts (野兽) along the way and get ourselves in danger. I’ve got to ask my mother.”
To which Nuts replied, “Oh, don’t be such a coward (胆小鬼)! You’ll be back home in no time at all. I have been to the Candy Company alone several times and I have never met any beast at all.”
“Okay,” Robert replied nervously.
Soon they were both marching joyfully through the forest, although Robert did feel a bit uncertain about the idea. After half an hour, they stopped by at Mr. Cooper’s house. Mr. Cooper was the wise squirrel fond of inventing various mousetraps or fox traps to defeat predatory(捕食性的) opponents. Nuts and Robert had a brief chat with Mr. Cooper before they continued their journey to the Mr. Elk’s Candy Company.、
Several minutes later, as they were travelling on, a frightening beast appeared from behind the bushes. It was Mr. Gordon, the bad fox!
They both screamed at the very sight. Robert rushed away in panic but then he realised that he had left Nuts behind. When he went back, he found that Nuts was frozen still in front of the fox (a common squirrel instinct).
Mr. Gordon licked his lips and said, “I haven’t had squirrel for dinner for a long time.” He was about to grab Nuts when Robert screamed from behind the bushes. “Well, well. What do we have here, a live and healthy little deer. He would make an even better dinner,” said Gordon. He forgot all about Nuts and began chasing Robert.
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。
Nuts was alarmed by the scream and rushed to get help for Robert.
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Both the two headed home and told their parents the risky adventure.
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I could hear one of my classmates expressing her impatience with my slow crawl up the ladder (梯子),“If she’s afraid of heights, why would she sign up for a Bungee Jumping (蹦极) class?” My friend was at the top of the ladder, trying to cheer me up. How did I wind up on a ladder hanging above the Hudson River?
It was my friend who invited me to the Bungee Jumping class. At first, I was doubtful, but her enthusiasm and guarantees of strict safety procedures won me over.
I had been fearful of heights since primary school. Avoiding my fear of heights became second nature. I tried not to look down at balconies or staircases. I avoided traveling by plane as much as possible. I declined invitations from friends to join them on roller coasters (过山车).
But here I was, at age twenty-six, facing my fear of heights in a rather extreme way. I had come around to the idea of trying Bungee Jumping. I figured it wasn’t much different from swinging on the monkey bars as a kid. The one obstacle I didn’t expect was the ladder. In order to reach the Bungee Jumping, I had to climb up a twenty-two-foot ladder.
My friend’s distraction techniques helped to take my mind off my dangerous task. I found a rhythm and kept going. With a slow and steady (稳定的) pace, I made it to the top.
An instructor tied me to a safety belt and told me to step to the edge of the platform. I held the Bungee Jumping bar with sweaty hands, surprised that it was too thick to fix my hand around. Instead of a firm grasp, my hands were in a weak, bear-claw position.
The cheers from my classmates rang out below. An instructor reminded me of the safety rules, including the net below that would catch me at the bottom. He reminded me to listen to the directions while in the air, so I could perform well.
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 stood face to face with my fear of heights.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My second round of Bungee Jumping went a bit more smoothly.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It’s a rare thing, in this day and age, to move into a new neighborhood and find yourself welcomed by the local inhabitants. However, there are some places out there where the neighbors are as sincerely friendly and welcoming.
Lily and Jack Green met in 2011. It was very nearly “love at first sight” and they married in 2013 and moved to Auburndale three years later. The Greens had found themselves welcomed into the neighborhood with truly open arms. The happy residents had come over with plates of cookies, dishes, and the like. In short, the neighborhood they’d moved to was the type of place where you’d be happy to raise a family.
Lily was pregnant before the move and within three months, they gave birth to Sam. Unfortunately, something was wrong. A week or so of tests showed that little Sam had been born completely deaf. The Greens were completely shocked and they knew that raising Sam was going to take some serious work and commitment.
The neighborhood was still excited to welcome little Sam into their life, of course, but they were mindful of what a struggle the situation was for her parents. “You see Sam and it’s discouraging not to be able to say, ‘Oh, I love your pretty pink pants.’ We wanted to take that away. We didn’t want them to have that extra struggle if there was anything we could do about it.” one of the neighbors explained. So the neighbors wanted to do something to make things easier for the family. As Sam was only a week old at the time, they took some time to make a decision.
要求：
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。
They then decided to learn sign language as a group.
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Finally, the time had come to show the family what they had achieved.
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It was a painful time for me. At 42, I was slowly coming to terms with the idea that I might never be able to have a child due to my health condition. Up until that point, I never really gave much thought to being a mother and suddenly I could think of little else. My husband and I had been together for ten years before we decided to get married because neither of us was in a hurry to do so.
Motherhood just wasn’t part of the plan. As my 40th birthday approached, I began, for the first time, to notice babies and their happy, smiling mothers wherever I went. The voice inside me cried out, “It’s too late! You missed your chance to be a mother! You wanted an all-consuming career, and now you’ve got one.”
One day I headed to a café. An elegantly dressed, slightly older woman was seated a few stools (凳子) away at the half-empty counter.
“Would you like to see a picture of my daughter?” she asked me.
“Sure,” I said. She handed me a photo of a smiling Chinese girl. The child was about seven years old and was wearing a Snow White costume.
“That’s Melanie. She’s in the first grade,” she said, introducing herself as Jill. I could hear the motherly pride in her voice.
“She’s pretty,” I said.
“I love her costume.”
“What made you decide to adopt her?” I asked.
“I didn’t want work to be my whole life,” she said.
I’m not sure if she saw the tears welling up in my eyes as I replied, “I don’t either, but I’m afraid it’s too late.”
“I was 51 when I adopted Melanie,” she said with more than a hint of reassurance in her voice. “And it’s the most rewarding, exciting thing I’ve ever done.”
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, I told my husband that I wanted to look into adopting a girl from China.
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We recently reconnected on Facebook with Jill.
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The most unforgettable experience is always hard for me to forget, and stays fresh in my memory all the time. I think I remember the experience of being lost at night all my life.
It was a dark and a little bit cold night. One of my friends suggested that we go outside for star seeing. We started from the cabana (小木屋) we lived in with a torch in each one’s hand. At first we just wanted to go around and appreciated the beautiful sky decorated by many stars. But then we decided to go further in. All we thought about was walking and talking. We ignored the most important thing which is the big forest was beyond the cabana. It was unfortunate that we went into the forest and got lost.
When we found we were lost, it was too late to find the original way back to the cabana. I grasped my friends’ hands firmly. The cold and strong wind blew against my face all the time. It whispered through the trees. What’s more, the fog became thick quickly. Terrible fear came to my mind and made me tremble out of my control. I was scared to death. The only idea came into my brain was that it was the end of my life. It was impossible for me to get out of the forest. Even though my friends tried to convince me that nothing bad would happen to us and we were safe and sound. I still feared that we would come to a sticky end. It was hard to find the way clear because of the chick fog. It made us lose the sense of direction totally. We didn’t know which step to follow next.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, it seemed that a man with a torch stood in front of us.
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Finally, this kind man led us out.
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“I feel so alone. And cold. And tired,” I announced to the empty train platform. I glanced at my watch. It was midnight. Why had I decided to travel from Prague to Interlaken without staying somewhere along the way for a day or two? The chill in my bones on that March morning in Switzerland made me question the wisdom of making the eighteen-hour trip via three separate trains.
I was wrapping up a solo-backpacking trip across Europe during my three-week vacation. I wanted to get in as much sightseeing as possible since it was my first time in Europe. By the end of my journey, I was weary of hauling the souvenirs I had purchased and sleeping in large hostel dorm rooms.
“What I wouldn’t give for a hot bath, clean clothes, and a soft bed right now. Or even just someone to talk to.” It felt a little weird speaking to the vacant station, but doing so was preventing me from falling asleep, which was important for safety reasons.
Since I still had a couple of hours before my train arrived, I tried to think of something to fill the time. I was too exhausted to read or journal.
Looking around on the hard wooden bench I saw only vacant tracks, dark rail cars, and electronic signs with no incoming trains to announce. Most of the train cars were modern, but one series of cars caught my eye. It was the legendary Orient Express.
The dining car probably served phenomenal meals and had white tablecloths with cloth napkins. The sleepers were likely cozy and comfortable with private bathrooms that had lovely-scented soaps and shampoo.
A sigh escaped my lips. I returned my gaze to the empty tracks in front of me, daydreams of the Orient Express streaming through my mind.
One such dream was interrupted by a squeak and then a slam. I tensed and looked over my shoulder, wondering who else would be on the platform.
There stepping down from the Orient Express was a man wearing a blue uniform walking toward me. He held a single, blood red rose. I puzzled as to what a train conductor would do with a flower at that time of night.
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。
Yet he came to a stop beside the bench and handed me the flower.
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Words failed me when I reached out and accepted the flower.
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Jacob sat on the grass outside Grandma’s house. He held a piece of paper. He folded the paper this way and made a point. Then he folded it that way and this way and made wings. Jacob threw his paper airplane high into the air. It twisted (盘旋), turned and fell to the ground.
Grandma looked up from her gardening as Jacob folded another piece of paper. He threw the new plane into the air. It went up, came down and bounced off the ground.
“You know,” said Grandma, “there’s a secret airport just through those trees. Want to see?”
“An airport!” Jacob jumped up. “Near your house?” Jacob took Grandma’s hand, and they followed a path through the trees. They stopped when they reached a wide river.
Tik-tik-tik, tik-tik-tik, noises filled the air.
“The airport sounds busy today,” said Grandma. She pointed through the trees. “Watch carefully.”
Jacob looked across the river. He only saw trees, no airplanes. He looked into the sky. He only saw clouds and sunshine.
Raaaawnk!
A large gray-blue bird with wide wings and long legs swooped (猛冲) down. It landed in a tree, on some sticks and branches. A nest!
Jacob looked at the other trees. There were nests all around! Another large bird swooped out from the trees, just as a new arrival flew in and landed.
“It is an airport,” said Jacob. “A bird airport!” “Those are great blue herons (鹭),” said Grandma. “See the baby chicks?” Jacob saw three little chicks stick their heads out of a nest. They stretched out their necks to receive food from their parent.
“They might be having fish for lunch,” said Grandma. After the meal, the heron spread its wings and flew into the air. It flew slightly downward at first, and then flew away with large and slow beats of its wings.
“Those are huge wings,” said Jacob.
“They help the heron travel a long way to find food,” said Grandma.
Jacob watched a heron fly in, with long legs stretched toward a nest and wings open wide, acting as brakes (刹车) for a gentle touchdown.
“They’re good for landing, too,” said Jacob thoughtfully.
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。
Back at home, Jacob asked Grandma for help to find paper plane designs on the computer.
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“Ready?” Jacob held up his plane.
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