36-year-old Mary was a single mother living in a small town in Cleveland, Ohio with her 3-year-old twin sons, Jack and James. She worked hard to provide for her children, doing a few part-time jobs to make ends meet. In spite of the challenges, Mary managed to give them a happy and stable childhood.
One Saturday morning, Mary was at home with her children, preparing breakfast for them. Jack was beside her while James was playing alone in the bedroom next to the kitchen. It was a typical weekend, filled with laughter and warmth. Little did they know something unexpected was just around the corner.
As Mary was busy with the food, a fire broke out in the kitchen. Panicked, Mary took hold of Jack and rushed towards the front door. They made it to safety only to find James remained stuck inside. Mary put Jack down and turned back to get James out, but in such a hurry and panic, she missed a step and fell on the ground. Her right ankle got sprained so seriously that she couldn`t stand up. Mary sat on the ground helplessly, her tears mixed with screams, “My kid is still in the house. Somebody, help me!”
At that very moment, Simon, 52, a former army soldier in the same community as Mary, happened to pass her house and saw the terrible scene. He immediately ran across the yard to ask the crying mother where her kid exactly was. In a shaking voice, Mary responded, “In the bedroom next to the kitchen.” The fire spread quickly and the house was filled with thick smoke. Simon looked around and saw a blanket hanging beside a pool full of water in the middle of the yard.
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。
Without hesitation, Simon took action.
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Simon rushed out of the burning house with James in his arms.
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As I opened my birthday present, my grandpa Nick, watched gently. “Do you like it?” he asked, smiling. Inside was a little wooden fairy (仙女), sitting in the center of a flower that he’d lovingly carved and painted. On the fairy’s outstretched (张开的) hand was a tiny orange butterfly-“a special visitor from heaven", said my grandpa. “I love it,” I excitedly and happily answered.
As a cabinetmaker (木工), my grandpa loved making us gifts, and my sixth birthday was no exception. After he retired at 60, he spent his time making small wooden items, such as souvenir boxes, garden decorations and kids’ toys. They were so popular that my grandpa would even sell them at the markets. But his favourite things to make were more complex designs for my brother and me. Walking us through his working room in the back yard, he let us pick out paint colors for his sculptures. “What would I do without my little helpers?” he’d always smile.
When my grandpa sadly passed away in 2020, I was heartbroken. By then I’d grow n up, married my husband Tim, and was pregnant with my first child. “Our baby will never know how great Nick was,” I cried to Tim. But he comforted me that as long as we talked about my grandpa often, he would live on in our hearts forever. So after our daughter Mia was born later that year, I’d tell her stories about her great- grandpa Nick as often as I could.
When we moved to a new house earlier this year, I discovered a box full of all the toys he’d made for me when I was a young girl, including the little wooden fairy. Mia would love these. I smiled, thinking how happy my grandpa had been watching me play with his creations. Placing the toys on Mia’s bookshelf in her new room, I smiled at how she loved them as much as I had. In memory of my grandpa, I decided to give the toys a careful cleaning.
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:
When I accidentally knocked the wooden fairy off the shelf, I was heartbroken to see the tiny butterfly bad broken off.
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When I intended to put Mia into bed that evening, something caught my eye.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A new study has found that traffic noise pollution holds back growth in baby birds, even while inside the egg. Unhatched (未孵化的) birds and newborn chicks that are exposed (暴露) to noise from city traffic suffer from long-term negative effects on their health, growth and reproduction (繁殖).
“Sound has a much stronger and more direct impact on bird development than we knew before,” said Dr Mylene Mariette, a bird communication expert and a co-author of the study. “It would be wise to work more to reduce noise pollution.”
Previous research has suggested that noise pollution causes stress to birds and makes communication harder for them. However, it is still unclear whether birds are stressed by noise at a young age or even before hatched.
Mariette’s team exposed bird eggs for five days to either silence, calming recordings of bird songs, or recordings of city traffic noises such as loud motors and cars driving past. They did the same with newborn chicks for about four hours a night for up to 13 nights.
They noticed that the bird eggs were almost 20% less likely to hatch if exposed to traffic noise. The chicks that did hatch were more than 10% smaller and almost 15% lighter than the others.
When the team examined their red blood cells and their telomeres — a piece of DNA that shortens with stress and age — they were more weakened and shorter than birds that were not exposed to noise.
The effects continued even after the chicks were no longer exposed to noise pollution, and carried over into their reproductive age four years later. The birds disturbed by noise during the early stages of their lives produced fewer than half as many offspring (后代) as those that were not exposed to noise.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On 5 July this year, I was at home alone in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, playing an online game. I didn’t think a rainy Monday night would ever go wrong. Thunder (雷声) crashed in the distance as I sat on my sofa. Rain was dropping on the window and a cool wind blew on to my shoulders from the open window behind me.
At 10 p.m., I heard a thunder which was so loud that l thought it was an explosion (爆炸). Then it was as if something extremely heavy suddenly dropped on my body. I couldn’t move a little; then I felt hot and cold at the same time. Worse still, I felt heavy and faint. Next came the smell of burnt meat- I looked down at my right arm and saw that it was burning. I cried at once and rushed upstairs in shock and sharp pain to look for my neighbour, Aron, to get help.
He was frightened when seeing me and came to my rescue immediately, catching a wet towel (毛巾) over my arm and trying to judge what had happened. He ran to the living room, thinking the TV might have exploded, and was puzzled when everything seemed to be fine. He rang his doctor friends hurriedly, and they advised him to take me to the hospital in no time. I, too, was trying to find out what had happened, holding my arm in great pain as it continued burning. I couldn’t think straight and clearly because I felt at a loss totally till we got to the hospital. When we entered the emergency room, Aron said, “I think she might have been struck by lightning.”
Everyone in the room looked at me with concern and the room went quiet.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was so lucky and grateful to survive the lightning strike.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sumiko worked with her mother in their vegetable garden every day. They made their living by selling the produce from their garden at the market. Each day, Sumiko carefully watered plants and pretended they were beautiful chrysanthemums (菊花), like Mrs. Higaki’s prize flowers. In her heart, she wanted to grow chrysanthemums.
“Foolish girl!” her mother lectured. “Flowers can’t be eaten!”
“But Mum, people buy flowers.”
“City people. No one in our poor village wastes money.”
Sumiko knew her mother was right. The only person in the village who made money selling flowers was Mrs. Higaki. Every year she won first prize at the Kyoto Chrysanthemum Festival. Many people whispered that Mrs. Higaki used magic to grow her chrysanthemums. How else could she win first prize twenty years in a row?
Sumiko admired Mrs. Higaki. If she could sell flowers like Mrs. Higaki, she would be able to buy things for her mother. But chrysanthemums were expensive to start, and Sumiko could only dream about growing them.
One day, Sumiko visited Mrs. Higaki’s garden.“Mrs. Higaki, I wish I could grow beautiful chrysanthemums and win a prize like you,” said Sumiko.
“You! Win a prize growing flowers?”Mrs. Higaki laughed. “Do you know what’s required to grow such flowers? The secret to growing them has been passed down to me from past generations of my family. And you-a child-believe you can compete against me? Stick to vegetables, child. Leave flowers to those who know the secret of flowers.”
Mrs. Higaki returned to her gardening, ignoring the sad look on Sumiko’s face. Then she pulled up a plant.
“What’s that?” Sumiko asked.
“A plant in poor condition -a waste of my time,”Mrs. Higaki said, throwing the plant into the field beside the garden.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为 150 左右;
2.开头已给出。
Sumiko smiled before she had an idea.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sumiko got up early on the morning of the Kyoto Chrysanthemum Festival.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the morning, I got up early and prepared for the everyday jogging. The sun was just beginning to peek through the curtains, casting a warm glow over my bedroom. The air was fresh and crisp, filled with the promise of a new day.
I quickly dressed in my running gear, grabbed my water bottle, and stepped out into the quiet street. The neighborhood was still mostly asleep, except for a few early birds like me. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the invigorating air, and began my usual route.
The jogging path was familiar to me, and I knew every curve and bump in the road. As I ran, I let my mind wander, thinking about the day ahead and the tasks that awaited me. My steps were steady and rhythmic, like a metronome (节拍器) keeping time with my thoughts.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, the neighborhood began to wake up. I could hear the sounds of morning routines starting up—the squeak of a door hinge, the clang of a pot on a stove, the cheerful chatter of neighbors greeting each other. These sounds were a comforting backdrop to my jog, adding a sense of normality and routine to the start of my day.
After about thirty minutes, I reached the end of my route and turned back towards home. My legs were starting to feel the burn when a lovely puppy suddenly came into my sight. The puppy was nobody but my neighbor grandma’s little dog. It seemed to have escaped from its yard. Its big, brown eyes sparkled with curiosity as it approached me, sniffing at my shoes and licking my hand, as if to say “jogging is fun, isn’t it?”. I couldn’t help but smile at the little bundle of joy, and I knelt down to pet it. “Who’s a good boy?” I asked, scratching behind its ears. The puppy responded with a happy yip and a lick to my cheek.
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 knew I couldn’t leave it alone on the street.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Eventually, we arrived at the yard.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It’s the first time for Kiley and I to do something for Tag Day(募捐日). We were not sure if we could really raise money by going up to some strangers' houses and asking to make a donation. We sat down on the blue carpeted floor of the band room where everyone was waiting for their name to be called to see which group they were in. Kiley and I looked at each other nervously.
Luckily, Mrs Rupert, our orchestra(管弦乐队) teacher, called both of our names and some other girls’ names to bunch us together. Our group stepped out of the band room with an adult who would drive us around the neighborhood. But as another adult handed us sweaters to wear for the day, I didn't want to do that anymore.
“Ewww... it’s so ugly!” Kiley commented. “It's huge! Even a dinosaur could fit into this.” Indeed, it was a misty gray color with oversized sleeves and a small logo at the top corner for our Robinson Marching Band.
Even so, we forced ourselves into those ugly sweaters and went out to the car. At least we weren’t the only ones that looked funny. All of us in the band had to wear our uniforms which looked really uncomfortable.
“OK, girls, here is the neighborhood. You guys will start here and...” I wasn’t paying any attention to what the driver was saying and I could tell Kiley was either. We were just looking out to the houses soon we would have to knock on. Butterflies were flying around in my stomach and I wished that they would be gone. Kiley and I got out of the car and took one side of the neighborhood while the other girls took the other. As Kiley and I approached our first house, we were quickly rehearsing(排练) our speech before we knocked.
“OK, you say this and I say that,” Kiley said.
“Do you want to start?” I asked. But I could tell Kiley wanted me to start.
I was nervous enough already and Kiley had to literally push me to the doorstep. As my hand reached out, I put a big smile on my face hoping that they would make a donation.
注意：1.续写词数应为 100左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
A woman with black hair came to the door.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Keeping Hope Alive in the Storm
One day, my parents took my younger brother, Kaleb and me to visit my aunt’s family, who lived on a beautiful lake. We planned to have a family dinner together.
While parents made dinner, my cousin Jerel showed us around. Seeing the yellow rubber boat near the bank, I excitedly urged for a boat ride. Jerel agreed. He grew up on this lake. Though he was 16, it didn’t seem to bother him that I was 12 and Kaleb was 7.
We couldn’t wait to jump into the rubber boat, took up the paddles (浆) and set out. Our destination was the small rocky island in the middle of the lake. We laughed and chatted as we paddled along. The sky was blue with piles of white clouds. It was a bit cold, but our life jackets kept us warm.
After half an hour, we reached the island. We jumped off and tied the boat to a huge rock. We started to explore the desert island. We were having so much fun that we didn’t notice the weather had changed. Dark clouds gathered and the wind picked up. Then thunder rolled across the sky. Jerel looked worried and nudged me, “A storm is on the way. We need to rush back!”
Jerel led us back to the shore. The calm water had turned into a mess. The boat bounced up and down in the waves. Jerel yelled, “Jump into the boat! Hurry!” We held onto the side of the boat and managed to climb into it. Surprisingly, we found our boat stuck firmly in the rocks. What’s worse, there was a big hole at the bottom. Maybe it was torn open by the sharp rock.
Suddenly, the rain poured down upon us, beating against our faces and pounding our life jackets. Kaleb was terrified and started crying. We decided to seek shelter from the rain. Before we headed back, Jerel shouted, “Wait! Let’s get the boat out onto the shore! It will help us build a shelter.”
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。
“No problem. Let’s get started!” I said.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now under the shelter we could do nothing but wait.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________注意：
(1)写作词数应为100个左右；
(2)请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Suggestions on Memorizing Chinese Characters
—based on the principles of memory
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Cross-country(越野) race is not a usual sport. Its training takes a lot of hard work, and when the race day comes, runners push themselves to their bodies’ limits. Most races are about 5 kilometers. The course(比赛场地) is over rough ground, grass, dirt or mud. Keeping pace can be challenging. The first race of the season is the most difficult. Runners who are not quite race-ready often push themselves too hard. It is, after all, a competition.
On a bright fall day, Cooper Erickson and Ethan Olds were running toward the finish line. The crowd cheered wildly as they neared the end of the race. Cooper, with sweat pouring down his face, pushed himself forward with every stride(步幅), his eyes fixed on the prize. Ethan, a few strides behind, quickly moved his arms and legs, and decided not to let his friend get too far ahead.
A runner from a different team had passed Ethan earlier in the race, also rushing toward the finish line. But about 10 meters from the line, the runner fell over. Cooper, who was in front of the fallen runner, didn’t know the accident behind him. He focused on finishing the race in fourth place. At the scene, Ethan, hesitated. He saw the struggling runner with an expression of pain appearing on his face, and Ethan’s competitive character was covered by a feeling of pity.
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。
Ethan stopped, ignoring the shouts from the crowd asking him to keep going.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________By now, Cooper had finished the race and returned to see what was happening.
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