I tried not to be biased(有偏见的),but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie because I had never had a mentally challenged employee. He was short, a little fat with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Down’s Syndrome(唐氏综合征).
I shouldn’t have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his fat little finger, and within a month my regular truck customers had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot(吉祥物). He was eager to laugh and to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished.
Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home.
One morning last August, Stevie missed work for the first time in three years. He was at a clinic getting a heart surgery. People with Down’s Syndrome often have heart problems at an early age so this wasn’t unexpected.
Later that morning, Frannie, the head waitress, did a little dance when she heard the good news that Stevie had come through the surgery in good shape and would be back at work in a few months. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at her and asked, “Frannie, what was that all about?”
Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers about Stevie’s surgery and the trouble his mother had handling all the bills. Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully.
After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins(餐巾纸)in her hand.
“What’s up?”I asked.
“I cleared off that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting, and I found this was folded and put under a coffee cup.”
She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed “Something For Stevie.”
That was three months ago. Then came Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie was supposed to be back, and I had arranged to have his mother bring him to work. Leading them toward a large corner booth(包间),I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150词左右;
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
We stopped in front of the big table covered with coffee cups, all sitting on dozens of folded paper napkins.
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I turned to Stevie and his mother, saying ”Happy Thanksgiving!“
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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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One particularly cold Saturday in January, I was supposed to take our dog out for a walk, but it was so cold that I didn’t want to go outside. Instead, I just opened the door and let the dog out by himself. I kept an eye on him to make sure he would come back inside.
However, another neighborhood dog quickly ran past our house, and our dog sped after to catch him. I hurriedly went to grab my coat so I could follow my dog, and then I rushed outside. Unfortunately, I was already too late, and my dog was nowhere in sight. I walked a few blocks, but I was unable to find him.
Depressed, I returned home. My mother was standing at the door waiting, and she asked me what had happened. “I know I was supposed to walk our dog,” I admitted, “but I thought he would be able to go outside and come back by himself. Now he’s gone and I can’t find him anywhere.”
My mother was very angry with me; she said I should have been more responsible. She decided to help by making some signs. The signs read, “Lost: A big black dog. Please call us right away” and she printed our phone number on the bottom. “Okay, Darrell,” she said, as she handed over those signs, “now go post these on all the street posts.”
My sister and I grabbed the signs and we posted them along our street as well as along the surrounding streets. The whole time, I was incredibly sad and worried about our dog. All I could think about was how cold it was and how cold our dog must be. My sister wanted to go home, so I told her I’d walk her home, but then keep looking for the dog myself.
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 took my sister home and continued my search alone.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I returned, my mother was waiting for me, smiling broadly.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Here is a secret that everyone knows: I don’t like to ask for help. Of course, my disability means that I need assistance when I get dressed and have to be driven everywhere, but that is precisely my point.
One night a few years ago, after my caregiver helped me to bed, I enjoyed my favorite part of my routine — playing with my service dog Marshall. When the rest of the world made me feel “lacking”, Marshall made me feel like “enough” .
As usual, he jumped off the bed after a few minutes, but the pain in his eyes told me something was wrong. A few days later, a trip to the vet confirmed my worst fears. Dr Tom said, “I must perform an operation to treat him.”“Is he in pain?”I held my breath. Then I got the answer “Yes.”
I felt heartbroken. I couldn’t remember talking about the details. I had one huge question:“How much would the operation cost?”“About$2, 500. It might as well have been a million.” I couldn’t afford it. Each day, I searched for ways to raise money for this operation.
A beautiful bike trail was close to the apartment where we lived. On most of the days of our eight years together, Marshall and I used it. I loved the trees, the fresh air and being outside. Over the years, many of the neighbors got familiar with us. Everyone loved Marshall.
Then one day, an idea occurred to me. Could I ask these people to contribute to the cost of Marshall’s operation? If I could push my wheelchair a certain number of laps (圈) and get money for every lap that I completed, might I raise enough money for Marshall to have his operation? Our regular route was a mile and a half long. My goal was to push my wheelchair ten laps, a total of fifteen miles. Next, feeling very bold and a little nervous, I set a date. Then I made posters and posted them around my apartment and all over the bike trail. My neighbors were concerned for Marshall.
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。
With hope, I started to train myself.
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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Debbie, a 10-year-old boy, was living in North River Heights in upper Manhattan, New York. He had a rare medical facial deformity(畸形). Due to several surgeries, Debbie had been home-schooled by his mother, but as Debbie was approaching the fifth grade, his mother decided to send him to Beecher Prep, a mainstream private school.
In order to protect his face skin, Debbie had to apply ointment (药膏)to his face, which made him look like wearing a special face mask.
At the beginning of the schooldays, he was rejected by nearly the entire student body for his strange look, which was a difficult period for him. Luckily, a girl named Summer, who offered to sit with him on his first day of school, helped him get through the tough time. They often played together and chatted about their favourite subject—science. And they became good friends.
Gradually, Debbie’s outstanding learning ability and kind behaviour made him popular among students. Since Debbie was expert in science, his classmates would turn to him whenever they had problems in learning. Debbie was always more than willing to help them. Naturally his kindness and warm heart won him a group of good friends and Debbie’s classmates got used to the way his face looked as well.
On Halloween, Debbie’s school held varieties of festival activities, every classroom decorated with flowers and toys. All classmates were dressing up. Debbie joined in it and wore a Ghost Face mask and costume. They all had fun pretending to be their favorite characters. Unrecognized, he was walking through the door to his classroom when he overheard his classmate Jack telling his roommates: “I have never seen an uglier face than Debbie’s.” On hearing this, Debbie felt sad and disappointed, leaving secretly. Summer happened to stand behind Debbie and meet the incident, but it was too late to stop it. As Debbie’s best friend at school, Summer thought Debbie was a nice boy and deserved to be treated kindly.
After a second thought, Summer went to Jack’s room.
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Jack decided to say sorry to Debbie.
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On my seventh birthday, I got a gift from my father, which was a book titled Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians. It was my favorite. I kept it under my pillow and read every page over and over every night enjoying the pictures of colorful animals. Some of the snakes were the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen.
Little did I know that my book would end up saving a life.
Years ago, my family moved into a new house near the woods. My father built a sandbox in our yard. The cat sometimes used the sandbox for a litter box, so my father had to put a plastic cover over it .When I wanted to build sand castles, I had to pull the cover off.
One day before dinner, I ran to the sandbox to build a miniature city. I pulled off the plastic cover, and there in the sandbox was a snake. It was lying very sill, all coiled up, and it was beautiful. The snake had rings of color around it. I had seen a picture just like it in my guidebook, and I remembered that it was one of the prettiest snakes in it. It said in the book that the poisonous coral snake looked very much like the harmless king snake, the only difference was in the order of the colors. 1 ran inside to get the guidebook.
“Mom! Mom! There’s a snake in the sandbox!” I yelled. “I have to find out what kind it is!”
Mom came running. “Don’t touch it, Chris! It might be poisonous!”
Dad was at work, so my mother went to get our neighbor, Mr. Cook.
“Mr. Cook!” my mother yelled across the fence, “We have a snake in the sandbox, and it might be poisonous!”
Mr. Cook was retired and lived with his wife in the house on the other side of our back fence. He came running toward the gale with a shovel and tried to kill the snake.
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。
“Wait!” I shouted, waving the guidebook in my hand.
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“So what to do now?” Mr. Cook put down the shovel.
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1.要求：热爱演讲，年龄和性别不限。
2.报名方式：学术报告厅填表。
3.截止时间：6月1日
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
参考词汇：性别：gender 学术报告厅：lecture hall
Members Wanted
The newly-founded English Speech Association is in great need of members.
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Student Union
I sat in the chair in our living room, staring at my parents, who had just given me the news that my hero, best friend and grandpa, had Alzheimer’s (阿尔茨海默病). I did not want to believe it. Alzheimer’s would slowly rob my grandpa of his intellect and his social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning. It has no known cure.
The thought of that happening to my grandpa scared me. How could someone who I love so much and who lived such a great life slowly lose his memories of everything around him? All I could do was cry and think of all the sweet times we used to have.
“Grandpa! I call, as I run at full speed into his arms just like every Sunday afternoon before. He opens his arms and braces for the leap. He is a strong man with welcoming eyes and never ending love. I am about six years old, and we have carried on this tradition every Sunday since I could walk. It is something I look forward to when Mom says “Get ready we are going to Grandpa’s.”
As we head inside the house, I smell the sweet smell of Grandma’s cooking. Grandpa puts his arms around me and gives me a tight squeeze that is all too familiar. Since my dad works a second shift job and someone needs to watch me, Grandpa is like a second father and we have a deep connection. “I love you, Grandpa,” I say. “I love you too, my pretty Morgan,” he replies.
The dinner table is not just a place where we eat a good meal but also a place where we laugh together. We talk about the things that have happened since our last encounter and share stories of the past. Then comes my favorite part of any meal---dessert which Grandpa and I share an equal love. As always, Grandpa heads to the kitchen and I close my eyes, put my arms across my chest and wait. Being the curious kid that I am, I ask when he is coming back at least five times. He uses that to teach me patience. We share a moment no one else would understand.
Memories washed over me. As I came back to the present and reality, my eyes were watery. I rushed to his home to see him.
注意:1.续写的词数应为150 左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I am sitting across from him at the table.
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The role of grandchild and grandparent has switched.
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One windy day in March, Kitty Miller was on her way to school when she glanced into a store window and saw a great pile of lovely red apples. “Oh,” She exclaimed (惊呼). “How lovely! If only Mamma could have one!” Immediately, the store owner recognized the familiar girl and asked her to pick one. Kitty just shook her head and ran away shyly.
Kitty’s mother was extremely poor. She had been a dressmaker ever since Kitty’s father died, and had to work hard to earn a living for herself and Kitty. Unfortunately, she had recently become very sick and had to lie in bed all day long. When Kitty was away at school, the house was incredibly cold and cheerless. She missed her little angel — that is what she called Kitty. Kitty took great care of her mother. She cooked her food, mostly soup. They could not afford fresh fruit. Kitty would even sing to her mother at night.
When Kitty reached the school that day, her thoughts were full of her sick mother and the lovely red apples. She was usually an excellent student, but that day she made so many mistakes that the teacher looked at her in surprise. The little girl could only sit at her desk, with her book before her, and dream of those red apples.
When school was dismissed, Kitty started slowly homeward. She had walked only a short distance when she saw a man in front of her drop his wallet. Running quickly forward, she picked it up. The wallet felt quite heavy in Kitty’s little hand.
“There must be a good deal of money in it,” thought Kitty. “How I wish I could keep it, so that I would then be able to purchase a red apple for Mamma, and so many other things she needs.”
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。
Kitty knew this would not be right, so she hurried after the man.
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jack went to the swimming pool quite early this morning. He was hoping that there would be another swimmer, but not his tiresome neighbor Mrs. Wilson, who was not popular among teenagers like him. However, when he got to the pool, Mrs. Wilson was the only swimmer there, floating on her back in the deep end.
He waved at her half-heartedly before diving in and doing a few freestyle laps. When he stopped, Mrs. Wilson said, “Great job if you were doing the breaststroke (蛙泳). You have to keep your hands cupped the whole time for the freestyle stroke. And you’re not dropping your head enough to breathe properly. You should see how my grandson Little Tommy swims…”
“Grrr…!” Jack thought. He dived underwater and swam away. After a few strokes, just out of curiosity, he cupped his hands the way Mrs. Wilson had advised. His stroke did seem smoother. He tried lowering his head a bit, which seemed to make him faster.
He swam to the shallow end of the pool. Maybe having Mrs. Wilson around wasn’t so bad. He wondered how she knew so much about swimming techniques. He glanced at where she’d been floating, but she was no longer there. Suddenly he noticed a large, bright mass on the bottom of the pool. He stared at it. Not it—her—Mrs. Wilson. She wasn’t moving! “Oh no!” Jack cried. Mrs. Wilson looked like she was unconscious…or dead!
“Help! Help! A drowning woman!” Jack yelled. He didn’t know whether anyone heard him. It was only a few minutes past six o'clock. Nobody seemed to be awake or outside.
He’d have to rescue Mrs. Wilson himself. Luckily, he’d learned a little about first aid and CPR (心肺复苏术) from a class in Oklahoma. He dived under the water and swam toward her as fast as he could. But when he got closer to her still body, he wasn’t sure what to do. Mrs. Wilson was so large. How could he possibly lift her? Jack wrapped one arm around her neck, paddling up through the water and kicking with all his strength to the top.
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 he spotted a man in a business suit passing by.
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Mrs. Wilson lay still, and Jack kept pressing.
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