Due to my unhealthy eating habits, I became fatter and fatter after college. My good friend Anoush was a running enthusiast. So he advised me to lose weight by running. I didn’t agree at first until he promised to accompany me to run although he was busy with his work.
Seven years later, I got more serious about running. And I dreamed to participate in Boston Marathon. Anoush encouraged me to realize my dream. He also said he enjoyed running too and wanted to attend the same marathon with me. Every day we spared our time to practise hard and did about 2 marathons a year, during which time Anoush gave me much professional guidance and encouragement. And then one day, both of us qualified for the 2017 Boston Marathon. We were excited but unfortunately, several weeks before the marathon, we had a serious quarrel. Even I swore never to talk with him in the future.
The day came. Anoush and I stood at the starting line. He said, “Good luck! You will certainly finish the marathon.” Hearing his words, I looked at him, saying, “It’s none of your business.”
Then we started running. I had strong mental confidence by using positive self-talk when running distances, which has helped me finish 18 marathons. Soon, I passed Anoush.
But I struggled in the heat starting at mile 16. I felt most of my oxygen went to the muscle in my legs and less in my brain, which made me feel a bit lightheaded and fuzzy(迷迷糊糊的). I continually encouraged myself. “Just get to the finish, run bold, and you will win,” all phrases that I say to myself didn’t work any more.
Gradually I felt out of breath and had to slow down my pace. As I ran down the famous last stretch of the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street, I fell down on the ground with my legs moving like jello(果冻).
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。
Just then, I felt that someone picked me up.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Anoush and I crossed the finish line, the audience at present applauded.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Chester was born in a cardboard box with four other cats. He was in a smaller cardboard box marked “free kittens” when Sasha met him and took him home. From that moment on, he loved boxes.
In the mornings he sat, licking his paws and fur with his tongue in the rainbow-colored sunlight. Then he would look around for a box to sleep in.
He slept in hatboxes and shipping boxes, gift boxes and takeout food boxes. He slept in Sasha’s sock drawer, if she left it open. When he was a kitten, the size of a small load of bread, he had slept in shoeboxes. But he grew and grew, and now he was a lot bigger. When he tried to sleep in a shoebox, his furry tummy hung over the sides.
Chester didn’t just sit in boxes, though. Sometimes he sat in flowerpots, pans, or laundry baskets. Chester also liked to sit in the bedroom of Sasha’s dollhouse, her birthday gift, with the furniture in a mess. Sasha had to redecorate the dollhouse every day, but she didn’t mind as long as Chester was happy. Sasha’s mom suggested Chester need a fixed house of his own, but Sasha ignored.
One day Sasha came home from school, and she couldn’t find Chester. He wasn’t in the dollhouse, or her sock drawer. “Mom, Dad!” Sasha yelled. “Chester is gone!”
Sasha’s mom looked in the attic (阁楼). There were boxes and dust balls, and even a mouse that had escaped Chester’s notice, but no Chester. Sasha’s dad looked in the kitchen cabinets. There were pots and pans, and the old can of soup he thought he’d lost, but no Chester.
Suddenly, “I found him!” Sasha cried.
The big orange cat was inside her mom’s new glass vase, clear glass with blue and green lines. He curled up in it, his fatty body almost jamming the vase.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
He didn’t look happy at all.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Luckily, not only Chester, but the vase, was still in one piece.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mama’s Soup Pot
There are too many treasures in life we take for granted, the worth of which we don’t fully realize until they’re pointed out to us in some unexpected way. So it was with Mama’s soup pot.
Mama’s soup was special because there was no recipe for it. It had been so since her girlhood in Italy, where she learned its secret from her grandma, who had inherited (继承) it from generation to generation. Also, it was a symbol of security. For our large immigrant family, Mama’s soup guaranteed we would never go hungry. And we could judge our economic conditions by its contents.
At one time, however, Mama’s soup pot became a source of embarrassment to me, for I feared it would cost me a new friend I had made at school. Sol was an unusual pal for me because his father was a doctor and they lived in the best part of our town. Often Sol invited me to his home for dinner, where I found the food was good but tasteless, lacking the heartiness of the one served from my mom’s flame-blackened pots. Moreover, the atmosphere matched the food and everything was so formal. Sol’s mother and father were polite, but the conversation around the table was not natural, which made me a little depressed. And no one hugged!
In my family, warm hugs were a constant-men, women, boys and girls-and if you didn’t kiss your mother, she demanded: “What’s the matter? You sick?” But at that time in my life, all this was an embarrassment.
I had known Sol would like to eat dinner at my house, but that was the last thing I wanted. My family was so different. No other kids had such pots on their stoves, nor did they have a mama whose first action upon seeing you enter the house was to sit you down with a spoon and bowl.
One day, Sol pointedly asked if he could come to my house. I had to say yes.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
The day Sol came over I was nervous.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________But Sol quickly finished his bowl and asked for one more.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________George, owner of a popular restaurant, was known for his excellent food, which was much loved by his customers. Even though he was talented, successful, and wealthy, his employees feared him for his strictness.
Debbie, a new waitress at George’s restaurant, was hardworking, always serving customers with a smile. George was satisfied with her work. After about two months, George asked the night manager about Debbie, and the man had only good things to say about her. “She’s smart, quick, and efficient, and she deals with customers better than anyone! We are searching for an assistant manager, and she seems like a good candidate. She’s got great potential!”
However, one night, George caught Debbie in the act of stealing. Walking into the kitchen, he saw her putting a box carefully into her bag. “Debbie!” he called out. “Come to my office now!” He was seated behind his desk with a serious look as she entered. “Open your bag,” George ordered. Debbie’s face tuned red, and she opened her bag to take out two plastic boxes, shaking as she placed them on the desk. George opened them to find some leftover food and a piece of cake. “You’re fired,” he screamed out in anger. “Right now!”
“Please,” Debbie begged. “Please don’t! The food was just going to be thrown away…”
“It’s against the rules here,” George replied firmly.
“Please,” Debbie continued. “There’s something you don’t know…”
She said softly, “My son has leukemia (白血病) , and the treatments are more than I can afford. I’ve been taking the leftover food home to save money for his care.”
“Your son has leukemia…” George repeated. “Is this true?” Debbie showed him a photo of a young boy in a hospital bed, smiling bravely. George took a deep breath and looked at Debbie, and said more kindly, “The rules say you should be fired. I’ll talk it over with the night manager. Let’s discuss this tomorrow.”
1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式作答。
Debbie was very worried, but she had no choice.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________George said he made a decision after careful consideration.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In my childhood, under the influence of my el der brother and my peers in the neighborhood, I tried a number of outdoor activities. Of course, I was not so taken by all of them. whether I was doing them for the first time or continuously. However, fate had its own plans in store. You never know when an outdoor activity will change my life.
The name of this activity is “fishing”. About ten years ago, I didn't really like the idea of sitting on the bank of a lake or river, spending long hours under the sun's ultraviolet rays, which can cause sunburns and skin damage, and anxiously anticipating some fish to be kind to take my bait(诱饵). In fact, I used to think of this outdoor activity as some kind of “hide-and-seek-game” that is popular with most young kids, except that it was much harder because I could see my “prey (猎物)” only after catching it.
However, all that changed when I paid a visit to my aunt in the countryside during a summer holiday. I was finally convinced by one of my cousins to accompany him to a nearby lake in order to do some fishing practice with him. In fact, he even assured me that fish would eat my baits. So I agreed and went to the lake expecting to catch some fish. Before throwing my fishing line into the water, my cousin did some tricks attaching some sort of food to my fishing pole.
Learning to fish in a river or lake can be challenging for the beginners like me. The act of dropping a line is easy, but being a successful fisher is hard. That's why they call it fishing but not catching But with practice and patience, it can become easier over time. Patience is essential in lake fishing. It may take some time to find the right spot or lure (鱼饵) that will attract fish.
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。
My cousin had to repeatedly remind me to keep patient.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When we finally left the lake, I had caught three fish!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Crab Lessons
My son Geordi was a rather spirited boy. Very little held his attention for long. He spent most of his spare time thinking up new ways to scare me half to death. Like the time he decided to “surf” on a tiny plastic table that was meant to hold a few drinks rather than a six-year-old boy. Geordi had just begun learning about the ocean in school and was surprisingly fascinated by it. We lived in Delaware, so any discussion about the ocean usually included horseshoe crabs, which crowded our coasts to mate in the late spring.
As part of the lesson, Geordi’s teacher brought horseshoe crab shells (壳) to school for the children to touch and examine. Hearing that horseshoe crabs had been around for over 300 million years, even before the dinosaurs, Geordi thought that was officially the coolest thing he had ever heard. He could not stop talking about it for days, and I decided it was time for us to take a drive to the Delaware Bay.
As we stepped out from the car, strong wind nearly blew my poor forty-five-pound child to the ground. Being a six-year-old mischievous (调皮的) boy, Geordi saw this as an opportunity to showcase his amazing talents, which included falling down, getting up, falling down and, yes, getting up again. This, of course, was always complete with giggles (咯咯笑). The drama came to a sudden stop as Geordi spied the dozens of army-truck-looking creatures in the sand. The next sound effect was “Wow!” as his body froze and his eyes widened with wonder.
Geordi ran around excitedly, not knowing which one to check out first. He settled on a horseshoe crab that was on its back, legs waving wildly in the air, desperate for water. “Mom, look at this one!” he screamed. “He’s cool!” I pointed out the different body parts of the crab for him, and he listened quietly and absorbed the information. He said, “I really liked him. I think I will name him Spike because he had all those really cool, spiky (尖的) things on his back.” Then I picked up the crab, turned it over to its proper position and placed it at the edge of the water.
注意：1.续写词数应为150 左右;
2.请按如下格式作答。
Geordi asked what I was doing.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Geordi spotted many more horseshoe crabs on their backs.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Alice sat in the car while palm trees seemed to speed by the car window. Eight-year-old Alice began to get nervous, the way she always did in new surroundings. She felt a thin shine of sweat above her lip in spite of the car’s cool air. “The aquarium (水族馆) won’t be crowded, I bet, and people are going to notice me. I hate wearing this prosthesis leg (假肢).” She felt tears coming from behind her eyes. “Not being normal is the worst,” she thought to herself.
Entering the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, around a corner of a tank, she noticed an animal that looked unusual. “Is that a dolphin with a a prosthetic tail instead of a real tail?” she asked an aquarium staff member. He nodded and replied, “Yes, that’s Betty. She’s a very special dolphin.” “What happened to her?” “This girl dolphin was found off the coast of Florida, caught in a crab trap. The ropes from the trap cut off the blood circulation to her tail. So she lost her tail,” Alice caught her breath. “She’s just like me.” “But she struggled to survive. Now she wears a prosthetic tail to help her swim like a dolphin’s supposed to swim,” the staff member continued. “Every day, Betty shows us anything is possible if we believe.”
Alice felt her heart was touched. She waved at Betty. Looking at Alice, Betty raised her flippers(鰭), came to her and lifted her head. “She’s swimming right into my arms,” Alice said tearfully. They made eye contact. She seemed to be speaking to Alice: We’re the same.
Back home, all Alice talked about was Betty. For two weeks, she cried and begged her mother to take her back to Clearwater.
Unfortunately, another blow hit Alice. She fell on the hardwood floor at home and broke her other leg. Alice suffered the pain in her leg. After a through examination, the doctor explained bad news to them that she would need some surgery on her leg. Years of a living hell (地狱) came back to her.
She started fearing surgery again and refused to go to hospital for treatment.
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。
“How can I persuade Alice to undergo the surgery?” Alice’s mom said to herself.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Encouraged by Betty, Alice changed her mind and did what her mother and doctor had told her to.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a bright and sunny Saturday when Mr. Jones moved in next door. He is an old gentleman with thick-framed glasses and a wiry beard. I could see his many belongings: antique chests, a large and tattered (破败的) painting of a rainforest, and boxes and boxes of old books. The line of movers bringing items into the house was endless! However, there was one item that Mr. Jones refused to let the movers touch. It was covered in a red velvet cloth and he carefully carried it inside himself.
That night, I heard an odd noise coming from Mr. Jones’s house. It was such a strange noise that I could not sleep at all! To my astonishment and anxiety, every night the strange sound would come up. After much consideration, I decided to investigate this mystery. I wondered what on earth Mr. Jones was? What could this strange noise be? What could he be hiding? Many doubts always echoed in my mind.
The next day, to confirm my guess, I slid into his house. Mr. Jones had left the window of his basement unlocked and I crawled inside without permission. Making several attempts, I made it! I felt around the walls for a light switch and when I finally turned the light on, I was amazed!
The basement was like a museum. There were many exquisite jungles and animals’ models which were often seen in museums. On the bookshelf were some academic books about zoo animals. I also noticed some remaining corns in the corner. When I glanced at the table, there was a first-aid kit on it! Determined to find out the truth, I was making my way across the room when I heard that strange noise again, coming from upstairs! Nervously, I walked up the stairs as quietly as I could but then on the last step… the floor beneath my foot creaked (嘎吱作响)! I paused, hoping no one was home to hear me.
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。
Suddenly, the door opened and there stood Mr. Jones staring right at me.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________And then in the other room I saw it-a large cute parrot in a delicate gold cage!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When John was in Grade 9, his class went on a canoeing (划独木舟) trip. Canoeing is a water sport practiced in a light narrow boat with a paddle. It can be very dangerous, especially if the river has rapids, a fast-flowing part of a river. Since it requires strength, balance and a lot of skills, all the students are trained hard.
To qualify for the trip, the whole class had to be able to swim. However, John had a problem. He weighed over 180 pounds. He had never learned to swim before, so he took swimming lessons and worked hard for many weeks. He eventually graduated with a certificate saying that he could swim.
John’s classmates were all glad to have him along—all except one person, Nicky. She didn’t like him. In fact, she seemed not to like many. She was on the school water polo team. She was a swimming star and extremely proud of herself too.
The trip went well and everyone enjoyed the day. That is, until the end of the trip when they were heading down some rapids. Nicky had been warned over and over to wear her life jacket, but she did not listen to others.
When they arrived at a steep valley, the speed of the water picked up. They entered some dangerous rapids. All of a sudden, their canoes turned over. They were all thrown into the water—all except John! He was heavy enough and somehow was not thrown into the water.
They all swam back to the canoe where John quickly pulled them in. Then, they saw Nicky’s life jacket floating on the water. She was not wearing it when the accident happened. When they spotted her floating on the water, she was barely conscious. She was in serious danger. It seemed like she had hit her head on a rock. As they were approaching her, their canoes broke loose from the tree branches they were stuck to and sent them farther away from Nicky. Everyone in the canoes looked in horror as the current dragged Nicky away from them.
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。
Someone exclaimed, “we’ve got to help her!”
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Finding Nicky opening her eyes, everyone sighed with relief.
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In the bustling (繁忙的) schoolyard of a primary school, a volleyball team trial (选拔赛) was taking place. Kids of all sizes and shapes had come forward to show their skills, most of them towering over six feet tall, like young giants.
Suddenly, the gym door creaked open, and a small figure appeared. It was Joseph, a boy who barely reached five feet in height. His appearance caused a ripple of giggles. He seemed like a lost elf (精灵) in a world of giants.
“Is this the volleyball trial?” Joseph asked. Despite the laughter, he squared his shoulders and prepared to show his skills. He wasn’t bad at bumping the ball and passing it, but not good enough to make the team. The coach took him aside and told him so. Joseph’s eyes flashed with determination. “I’m not the best at bumping the ball,” he said confidently. “I’m a hitter.”
The coach raised an eyebrow, skeptical. Hitters were the tallest players on the volleyball team. They jumped high, slamming the ball down on the other side with force. Joseph’s small size seemed an impossibility.
But Joseph was serious. The coach finally agreed and handed him a ball. Standing by the net, he set the ball into the air. Joseph’s small frame seemed to explode with energy. He ran forward, leaped into the air, and hit the ball with such force that it whistled through the air.
Everyone was stunned. Joseph’s jump was so high, it seemed as if he were flying. His small size didn’t matter; his skill and determination were enough. The ball slammed into the court with a resounding thud (砰的一声), and the crowd erupted into applause. Of course, he made the team. All the team members took pains to drill for the coming volleyball match. Two months later, the big day came. The match was very fierce. The players were tall and strong except Joseph, who just ran on the court, not yet given a chance to touch the ball. At the sight of Joseph, the other team were laughing, which made us mad. But Joseph just shook off their laughter with a confident smile. As the game progressed, it turned out to be a tough game. After the four sets, the score was 2:2.
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。
During a timeout (暂停) in the final set, Joseph’s team gathered to discuss their plan.
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The whole audience cheered up.
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