When Rebecca got home, the first thing she had to do was her homework. She had to write a composition this time. While Rebecca was thinking about her teacher’s instruction that it was always the easiest to write about the most familiar things, she watched her cat slowly approach a fly that had flown to the edge of the bed. Just as a surprise attack was about to be carried out, the fly suddenly flew away. The cat fell off the bed, landed on the floor on her back and looked around as if to say “What happened?” Rebecca laughed hard. That was when she decided to write a piece about her cat.
Having finished her homework, Rebecca was staying inside and playing with her cat when her mum called her to dinner.
“What was the best thing that happened to you today?” asked her dad. It was always the first question he asked as they sat down to dinner. Rebecca wasted no time telling her parents about her cat.
After she told hers, Rebecca’s dad asked, “So,what was the worst?”
Rebecca wore a worried expression. “So what shall I do?” she asked. “There was a new girl whose name was Mary Brown in my class. I want to talk to Mary Brown but I don’t want to risk losing my old friends.
Her dad thought for a moment, and asked, “Rebecca, what do you think courage mean?”
“Isn’t that when soldiers go to war to fight?”
“Well, yes. That is one kind of courage,“ replied her dad. ”Mostly, people are afraid because they might get hurt, or they think people won’t like them. It’s a different kind of courage to do something when you are afraid. “That is called moral courage”, explained her dad.
Rebecca’s mum reached over, holding her daughter’s hands, and said,“Your friends will understand you and still be your friends. If they don’t, then they really aren’t your friends anyway. And you might end up with an even better friend with Mary Brown.”
"The next day at school, Rebecca’s classmates and she all had to read their compositions, and everyone liked Rebecca’s, especially Mary.
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。
By lunch time the next day, Rebecca knew exactly what she was going to do.
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Rebecca asked Mary if she would like to play football with them.
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Mr. Barnes was a very wealthy man who lived in the early days in the United States. It was one of his chief pleasures to walk through the countryside near his home, and as he walked, he often noticed a particularly fine group of cattle. One day he stopped to visit the rancher (牧场主) who owned the cattle and purchased a cow from him with the agreement that the cow would be delivered to his house the following day.
The next day as Mr. Barnes was out for his morning walk, he saw a young boy trying his hardest to lead the cow over to Mr. Barnes’ field. The boy, who did not know Mr. Barnes, called to him, “Please sir, would you come and help me with this cow? It is so stubborn!”
Mr. Barnes readily agreed and went over to help. As they walked along together, he asked the boy, “How much do you expect to get for delivering the cow?”
“I… I don’t know,” the boy said, “but I think I’ll get something because the people who are buying the cow live in that house, and those people are very kind to everyone.”
By now the stubborn cow was walking along nicely, so Mr. Barnes excused himself and took a path through a wooded area that led to his back door. As soon as he got into the house, he gave one of his trusted workers a fifty-dollar bill and told him to give it to the boy who was delivering the cow. After the cow had been left at the house and the boy was returning to the ranch, Mr. Barnes went out again and met the boy on the road.
“Well, how much did you get?” asked Mr. Barnes.
“Five dollars,” answered 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。
Mr. Barnes felt surprised when hearing the answer.
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The boy agreed, and they walked back to the house together.
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内容包括：
1.自己做饭的优点
2.自己做饭的缺点
3.重申自己立场
注意：1.写作词数 80 左右，可以适当增加细节，使行文流畅
2.开头已给出，不计入字数
3.参考词汇：点外卖 ordering delivered food，自己做饭cook by oneself，食材ingredient，住家饭菜homemade food
In my opinion, cooking by myself is preferable to ordering delivered food.
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After working many years in a large hospital, my work as head nurse in a small local hospital turned out frustrating. Occasionally we lacked supplies or equipment and sometimes the food was less than desirable. The biggest problem was the lack of qualified help. Still, everyone working there had a genuine love for the patients, and did their best to care for them.
Alice, a tiny, elderly lady with bright blue, twinkling eyes, was everyone’s favorite. Her only living relative was her son Jack, a large, tough man. Tattoos (纹身) covered his arms and an untidy beard grew wildly on his chin. No matter how cold the weather was, he always wore a tank top shirt so the snake artwork could be admired by all. He wore faded jeans, so stiff with thick dirt that they could have stood alone. His loud and rude manner frightened most of the staff.
But this large man loved his tiny mother. Every day, he roared up to the hospital entrance on his old motorcycle, pushed open the front door, and walked with heavy steps down the hall to her room, his loud boot heels announcing his arrival. He visited at unpredictable hours so he could surprise anyone who suspected him of not taking proper care of his mother. Yet, his gentleness with her amazed me.
I made friends with Jack, figuring I’d rather be a friend with a man like him, than an enemy. And I, like everyone else, truly loved his mother.
One particularly bad evening at the hospital, three nurses called in sick, the food carts came late and cold, and one of the patients fell and broke his hip. Jack came in at suppertime to help his mother with her meal. He stood and looked at me in surprise as I busily tried to do the work of three nurses. Exhausted, and near to tears, I avoided his stare.
After the patients were finally fed, bathed, and put to bed, I sat at the desk and put my head down on my arms for a few moments’ relaxation before the night shift arrived.
Paragraph 1:
Suddenly, the front door burst open.
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Paragraph 2:
Putting down the rose on my desk, he turned around and left.
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“Mom, tell me the story about the black bull (公牛), ” I said when we were driving to my grandparents’ farm.
“You know it better than I do. Besides, you can’t be too careful when driving,” she answered.
“Yeah, but it’s your story and I think that story can remind me to drive slowly.” When she didn’t respond, I touched her arm gently.
“I’ll start it for you: It was a late Friday afternoon, and you were rushing home from work because you, Dad, Shelby and I were going to Dad’s parents’ farm, and it was a four-hour drive.”
Mom carried on from there.
“Once I got home,” she began, “we loaded up and headed out. It took about a half hour to get through the rush-hour traffic, but finally we reached the interstate and headed east. Because I was tired and eager to get to the farm and sleep, I drove as fast as the speed limit allowed—70 miles an hour.”
I rolled my eyes. Mom never drove the posted speed limit; she always went at least five miles over. But if I reminded her of that story, time would come to a stop.
“Time passed, and it got dark. You girls fell asleep in the back, and Dad nodded off next to me. Seat belts weren’t mandatory (强制的) at the time, so no one tied the belts. Hours later, I exited the interstate onto the little state road. The speed limit was 50, but I kept going70. There was no traffic after all, and I knew your grandparents were waiting up for us.”
I’d spent summers with my grandparents as a kid, and they did indeed go to bed early, as farmers do.
“At last, I reached the turn that would take us to the farm. The road was a narrow, less maintained farm-to-market road that locals used. It was completely dark, and the only light was from my headlights. I pressed the pedal (踏板) harder and sped up.”
This was the point in the story that always turned my blood cold.
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, a large, black shape appeared in your headlights,” I cut in.
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“Luckily, the car stopped but the sudden action awoke all of you,” Mom smiled.
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When starting my sixth-grade year, I was nervous about many things. But nothing compared to the problem that I got to the age where my voice started changing. At first, the voice getting deep excited me. But then I learned before getting deeper, it can crack (变嘶哑).
The first time it happened I was so embarrassed. Surprisingly, my friends didn’t make fun of me. In fact, they didn’t even mention it. But in my self-conscious sixth-grade mind I was certain they made fun of me behind my back. They weren’t having the same problem.
After my first voice crack experience, I was determined to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. At least not in public. So, except for strategic times I said, “cool” and “yeah”, I didn’t talk. My logic was, “If I don’t use my voice, it cannot crack.” However, I couldn’t go without talking forever. I needed a new solution.
I began clearing my throat before speaking, which actually seemed to help. Limiting how much I spoke and clearing my voice made me much less stressful. This was great but there was a larger problem. I was much more scared about having a voice crack during class. My class had many new kids I’d never spoken with. I didn’t want their first impressions of me to be based on a voice crack.
Unfortunately, one day my concern came true. It was about two months after the beginning of the term. On the day it happened everything was the same as always until I got into the classroom. I noticed that we had a substitute teacher (代课老师) and immediately started thinking about how he would take attendance. My permanent teacher never had to, since he already knew each student, I panicked. So many thoughts rushed through my mind that I couldn’t think straight. I calmed myself down by telling myself that I only had to say one word “Here”. “Easy enough, right?” I thought so until my name was called. I did my routine — cleared my throat, took a breath, and said, “Here.” The only problem was that while saying this, I had the worst voice crack in the history of voice cracks.
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。
The whole class turned to look at me.
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“You know, the voice problem you met in class is normal,” a classmate came to me and said.
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It’s a great pity that I had not put forth the amount of effort required. I had spent too much time playing with my friends instead of improving myself. I had let down my teacher, who was the kindest, sweet, and prettiest one I had ever known. She laughed often, and never threatened any of us, yet she was able to “read” the children, control the class, and teach effectively. Miss Pratt put a lot of herself into her work. Every day near the close of school, she would read to us, or even better, tell us stories about when she was a little girl. Most importantly, she made us feel that she cared about us and that we were important.
Because of a serious car accident when I was three and a half years old, I had a scar below my nose that was the result of a torn upper lip. Everything else had healed up without any after effects physically, but my emotions remained scarred. Meanwhile, having been called “Chief Running Nose ”and “Scarface” by many insensitive children, my confidence had suffered. Although my parents and relatives referred to me as pretty, I did not see myself that way.
Focusing on my scar, I could not appreciate any redeeming features (可取之处). At the end of one school day, I remained in my classroom, waiting for the arrival of my mother, who was coming to take me to an appointment close to the school. Miss Pratt sat at her desk with a fellow teacher and chatted.
I glanced at the clock and realized it was time to get ready to leave. I put on my wool coat and hat. The teachers looked at my clothes and seemed to admire it. I was able to read their lips a little and my ears perked up to hear, “Who is she? She really is cute.” My teacher Miss Pratt answered, “I agree; Bernice is quite adorable.”
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。
“Adorable” was exactly what grabbed me since it was almost my favorite word.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________About two months later, Miss Pratt announced that I got first place in the final exam.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Hello, Mrs. Briggs. It’s so nice of you to speak to the juniors in my business class. I try to prepare them for the world outside of high school, which they’ll soon be entering,” Ms. Johnson said, eagerly shaking my hand.
A few weeks earlier, Ms. Johnson had reached me about speaking to her class. She’d read an article in the local paper about me. She was particularly interested in my story because I’m a female who started a business from the ground up. She was passionate about preparing her high-school students for the world lying ahead. She knew they’d go in many different directions after graduation. Her enthusiasm seemed to help build my own.
So I began my speech. “I’m here to speak to you today because I’m an entrepreneur. My company, Grime Fighters, was born three years ago out of a desire to work outside the home yet be home for my kids when they came home from school. It all began with a bag of cleaning rags, a pair of household gloves, and a long-time friend who asked me to start by cleaning her house. She was pleased with my work, dependability and trustworthiness. She then passed on the name of my company to her friends. Since then, Grime Fighters has grown steadily, relying strictly on word-of-mouth, which gives me a consistent and quality customers.” I said, smiling at the sea of teens.
“I started alone with just myself cleaning houses. I began hiring employees as the business grew. I now have seven women who work part-time five days a week with hours that perfectly align for them to meet their kids when the school bus drops them off in the afternoon. These hours work smoothly for my employees as well as my clients,” I explained.
Feeling that I’d talked long enough, I asked, “Are there any questions, boys and girls?” AI this point, a young man raised his hand and said, “I’d like to know if it’s a hard job to set up your own business.”
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。
Memories flooded into my mind at his question.
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After my presentation, Rebecca, one of the girl students, wrote me a letter.
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Jim stared at the ground and sighed in disappointment. Players from the opposing team raced past Jim, celebrating their shocking victory. They’d scored the game-winning goal just seconds before the end of the game.
“Just one word to describe a loss like that,” Jim mumbled to his teammate Devin.
“Terrible!” Devin sighed. “It was a tough one.” He trotted (小步快跑) toward the middle of the field to shake hands with the winning team. Jim walked slowly behind Devin. He unhappily slapped hands with the winners, then stopped to shut his eyes as the autumn air cooled his sweaty face.
“Terrible,” he repeated to himself as he sat on the bench and pulled his jacket on. “Let’s get some hot chocolate and watch the next game,” Devin said. There were eight teams in the YMCA league, so games would go on all morning. “Sorry. I’m heading home,” Jim said, “I’ve had enough soccer for today.”
As he reached the gate, Jim glanced back to see the next two teams take the field. They were jumping and shouting, excited to play. “That was us a little while ago, before we were discouraged.” Jim thought.
So why we lost the game at last? Jim asked himself. How did such a well-played game end up with such a terrible result? It was still clear in his head: Jim had the ball deep on the Jets’ side of the field, looking for Devin or another teammate to pass to. His team had outplayed the Jets for most of the game, but failed within the last seconds.
Jim let out a deep breath. The morning was growing warmer. Perfect for soccer. Jim looked back toward the field. He couldn’t see it, but he could hear the excited voices as the game continued.
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 a car’s horn beeping, Jim’s friends Tara and Bryan jumped out of the car.
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There came the turn for Tara and Bryan’s team to play the game.
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It was a bright and sunny day. Daniel woke up and jumped out of bed, ready for a full day outside. He ran down the stairs and sat down at the kitchen table. His mom was making pancakes: Daniel’s favorite. She made pancakes every Saturday morning.
“What do you want to do today?” she asked Daniel.
“I think I’m going to go exploring in our backyard,” he told her. “It’s so nice outside!” Daniel quickly ate up his pancakes and rushed upstairs to get dressed. He put on a red T-shirt and jeans.
“Alright, Mom, I’ll be back later!”
“Don’t go too far!” she told him.
When he opened the door, Daniel felt a rush of warm air. He smiled at the sun. Perfect hiking weather, he thought. Daniel loved his backyard. There were plenty of tall trees. If he walked far enough, he would reach a lake. When it was really warm outside, he could walk in the water to cool off. The water was always cold.
The leaves were just beginning to grow on the trees after the cold winter. Daniel wandered for a bit. He picked up a long stick and used it to clear a way through the forest.
Suddenly, Daniel saw something in the distance that wasn’t a rock or a leaf. When he got closer, he knelt down to investigate. He found a small injured bird between the fallen leaves. He looked around and saw a bird’s nest sitting on a branch. He carefully climbed up the trunk of the tree with the nest to get a closer look. The nest was empty, and he didn’t see any birds around. Then, he ran back to his house.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
“Mom, I found a bird that’s hurt!” He told her as he ran through the door.
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