My fear of performing started early on in my life. I was a shy child who preferred staying in the background and avoiding attention. However, as I grew older, I realized that I had a hidden desire to express myself creatively and share my talents with others. This desire led me to find out various art forms, including music, dance, and theater.
But I used to struggle with stage fright. Whenever I was asked to perform in front of others, I would feel a sense of dread (惧怕) and anxiety, and my body would tense up. I would worry about making mistakes, forgetting my lines, or embarrassing (使尴尬、难堪) myself in front of others.
I remember very well my first audition (试演) for a school play. The play was a musical adaptation (改编) of a classic fairy tale, and I was excited about the chance to be a part of it. However, as the audition day approached, my excitement turned into anxiety. I started to doubt myself, and I started to question whether I was ready to take on such a demanding (要求高的) role. Despite my doubts, I decided to go through with the audition, hoping to overcome my fear and prove to myself that I could perform.
The day of the audition arrived, and I stood nervously in front of the audiences. I could feel my heart racing and my palms sweating as I prepared to sing my song and deliver my lines.
However, as I started to perform, something excellent and unusual happened. I fully put myself in the role I was playing and felt a sense of freedom and joy that I had never experienced before. I began to lose myself in the moment, and didn’t feel nervous and anxious. When the audition was over, I was surprised to learn I had been chosen to play a leading role. I was both excited and worried at the same time, but I knew I had to push through my fear and give it my all.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为90左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Since then, performing became an important part of my life.
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Mr Swales was talking about what people do, and wanted to find out what his students wanted to be when they grew up. Mr Swales was about to call on Jodie when the girls in the back row burst out laughing.
Shirley yelled, “Jodie’s daddy is a garbageman! Pee-yoo!” Everybody in the class laughed out loud except Jodie. She felt her face turn bright red. She looked around the whole classroom. Everyone was laughing. Some kids were even holding their noses. Mr Swales was angry. He almost never raised his voice, but now he did.
“Silence! I want everybody quiet this instant.”
The laughter stopped immediately. “You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Mr Swales said. “Being a garbageman, I mean, a sanitation engineer, is a difficult and extremely useful job. We should all be grateful to Mr Harris. Where would we be without him? Up to our ears in garbage, that’s where. How would you like that?”
“Pee-yoo!” somebody said. A few kids started laughing again.
“It’s not funny,” Mr Swales went on. “Garbage is a serious matter. I think you all owe Jodie an apology. And after that, you’re all going to write Jodie’s father, Mr Harris, a nice letter to tell him how much you appreciate what he does for all of us.” Everybody moaned (抱怨). Everyone said sorry to Jodie, but Jodie could tell they didn’t really mean it.
Her face was burning red and she felt like crying.
Mr Swales came to her and said, “Let’s go out in the hall, so we can have a private talk.” Jodie couldn’t hold back any more. She started crying out in the hall. “I’m sorry this happened,” he said. “But remember, hard work done well is something to be proud of. There’s nothing wrong with being a garbageman… a sanitation engineer, absolutely not.”
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。
Jodie’s father came to walk her home from school as usual, but she didn’t run up to him the way she always did.
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Next day, Jodie went to work with her father.
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I live on a farm where dogs are part of the landscape. Yet the dog I spotted didn’t quite fit in, as I moved down my driveway that chilly late February day. At first glance I thought it was my brother’s Chihuahua. But a second glance raised doubts, for I knew my brother’s little house dog was no candidate for a swift run across a yard. So I figured this unknown dog would soon find its way home, and I had tasks to do.
A few days later, while walking past the door to the back of my house, I saw the deck swing moving. Clearly, someone or something had set that swing in motion. Being home and alone that evening, the thought of an unknown presence wandering about set me on edge.
Next morning, standing directly in my front yard, biting on grass, was that tiny dog I had spotted earlier. I called my husband to take a look. But when the dog heard the front door open, she ran away for the safety of the nearby woods.
It was just a matter of time before the bad weather or the wolves would be the death of such a small and defenseless dog. We realized the poor thing must have been waiting secretly around our house for weeks. My husband and I formulated a rescue plan. We placed food and water near the deck swing. The next morning, the food and water had been consumed, so we put out more. It took several days of putting out food and water before we caught the dog in the act, and another two weeks after that before the dog felt comfortable enough to approach one of us.
One afternoon, I came home and found my husband holding out his hand while leaning forward in the deck swing. I witnessed a happy dog, tail wagging furiously and eating hot-dog pieces from my husband’s hand. The stage was set for the final part of our plan: to persuade the dog inside.
注意：
l.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:
A few nights afterward, when it was pouring, I opened the door and the dog was there.
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Moments later, holding the hot dog, my husband announced, “The dog is back.”
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I had a secret. I had been considering the decision for some time, but hadn’t discussed it with anyone. As an English Language Arts teacher in my fourth year, I had to leave my beloved profession.
I kept praying for a sign to stay, but my father was very ill and needed someone to take care of him. Although many students liked my class and I had received hundreds of letters from former students appreciating my influence on their lives, I still made this difficult decision.
It was nearing the end of what I had come to think of as my last year. A senior named Lyric, who was my assistant, asked if I could meet him and another student named Ari for dinner to discuss how to prepare for college. I agreed but didn’t think anything of it.
It was on a Saturday evening and my schedule for that day was already packed. I attended an academic conference that morning and then spent the next four hours at the boys’ basketball game where I was the assistant coach of the school team. By the time the game ended, I had about an hour to get to the dinner. I was so tired that I almost called Lyric to re-schedule. But I had promised, so I got in my car and headed to the restaurant.
As I was walking up to the restaurant, I saw Lyric, Ari, and Sal, another former student, all dressed up. I asked Lyric, “Why are you guys so dressed up?” He responded, “Follow us and you’ll see. “The three of them led me to the outside patio (露台) where there was a long table full of some forty students. They had decorated the patio with fairy lights and flowers, and the table was adorned (装饰) with a beautiful tablecloth and candles. They had even prepared my favorite dishes and drinks!
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。
Paragraph1
When they saw me, they all stood up and started clapping.
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Paragraph2
A week later, I was voted Teacher of the Year.
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I’ve forgotten almost everything about my early childhood except the concert, and my mother also remembers it.
When I was a five-year-old boy, I was learning to play the piano in a musical school. One day, a famous piano master was said to hold a piano concert in our city. Wishing to encourage my progress on the piano, my mother took me to the concert. After we were seated, my mother spotted a friend in the audience, who she hadn’t met for a long time. So she told me to stay in my position and then walked down the passage to greet her friend. My mother and her friend stood chatting happily for a while before the performance. Meanwhile, I was so excited to see the concert stage that I stood up and eventually made my way through a door marked “No Admittance” to explore the wonders of the concert hall.
When the house lights became dim and the concert was about to begin, my mother returned to her seat. And she discovered that I was missing. My mother said she felt really guilty at that time and that she said to herself, “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left my little son alone in his place.” Confused and anxious, she looked around, but I was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the curtain parted and spotlights focused on the impressive piano on the stage.To her surprise, she saw me sitting by the keyboard innocently playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the piano.
At that moment, the piano master made his entrance. Seeing me, a little boy, sitting at the center of the stage and playing the piano, he seemed to be completely at a loss. But then he quickly moved to the piano and whispered in my ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Leaning over, he reached around to the other side of me and soon added a running obbligato (伴奏). Together, we transformed a frightening situation into a creative experience. The audience had never seen such a performance form. They listened curiously and attentively, lost in the wonderful music world.
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。
When the piece came to an end, the piano master breathed a sigh of relief.
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After the concert, my mother and I waited for the piano master backstage.
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I was in 6th grade, and I had a good friend named Stacey. We were not only in the same class but also shared a common love for learning and exploring. What’s more, Stacey and I even carried our own backpacks of the same style to spend our leisure time together, reading in the school library, singing under the tree and enjoying the beautiful sunshine in autumn.
One day, Stacey came to school with a new backpack, and I noticed three letters embroidered (刺绣) on it: SEK. I asked her what they meant.
“They are, of course, the first letters of my first name, my middle name, and my last name,” she explained proudly, “when I grow up, I might use my middle name instead of ‘Stacey’ and become ‘Elizabeth,’ or ‘Liz,’ or ‘Betsy’. The possibilities (可能性) made me very excited and each name seemed like a gateway to a different world.” I was a little jealous to hear that. Why didn’t I have a middle name.
For the first time, I thought about my own name: Claudine Gay. I thought about it for the rest of the day， and my confusion and resentment (怨恨) grew as I thought of the space between Claudine and Gay-the space where my parents had failed to give me a middle name. And I imagined all of the futures that were now out of reach as a consequence. I couldn’t see any possibility of myself.
Although I was just 11 years old at that time, I suddenly felt very painful that I was insufficient (缺失的). I felt as if everyone around me knew exactly what was going on.
I was not happy with my parents. When I faced them directly that evening, demanding to know why I did not have a middle name, they explained that each of them had given me half of my name. My mother, Claudette, gave me Claudine. My father, Sony, gave me Gay. They said calmly, “you are Claudine Gay. Your name is enough!”
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。
Hearing what they said, I still thought it unacceptable.
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“Claudine, why are there only two letters CG?” asked Stacey, pointing at the embroidery on my backpack the next day.
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We sat on the bus waiting while other passengers piled on. A blond-haired girl, about nineteen years old, took the seat in front of us. The bus driver followed behind her. He demanded her fare.
“You pay $40 or get off the bus!” the driver said.
“I paid already. Yesterday, online,” the girl insisted.
“No, no record of it!” the bus driver pointed to the paper in his hand and waved it in her face. “See. No pay! You pay, or you must get off.” He angrily pointed to the exit door.
“But I don’t have money. And I paid already. Please.”
The bus driver picked up his mobile phone and made a call to find out if there had been an error with the paperwork. After failing to get through, he was getting angrier with the girl. So he cut the call and didn’t try.
“No, you have not paid. You must pay.”
“But please, I don’t have any money on me. I must get to LA today. Please.”
Tears streamed down her face.
I had boarded a bus headed to Los Angeles. I was very excited about experiencing LA. My dream of visiting Disney Land was about to come true. But while I sat there comfortably in my seat, thinking about my next adventure, this young girl was in tears, with a man standing over her, demanding money.
I wasn’t sure what I should do. Was she telling the truth? It wouldn’t be the first time someone had extracted money by telling a sad story that turned out untrue. Did she really not have any money? Maybe the bus driver would show some sympathy and allow her to sort the payment out later?
But no, the bus driver continued to demand she pay $40 or get off the bus. The young girl insisted that she didn’t have enough money for the fare and had no one she could contact for help. It seemed the driver would throw her off the bus.
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。
Suddenly, a messy grey-haired woman with a weathered face stood up.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At the next rest stop, I noticed that woman had no money for food.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________High-school sports were about the biggest thing that happened in the town of Verden. And sports were important in Lauren Wray’s family. Both of Lauren’s brothers were high-school athletes. Like others, she longed to be on the basketball team too. But the special point was, she had Down syndrome (唐氏综合症).
Mr. Wray and his wife never told Lauren that she was different. They treated her like their other children. They didn’t want her to feel disabled or different.
One day, for the extreme love of playing basketball, Lauren ran to her father and announced with great excitement. “I’m gonna play basketball. Daddy. I am joining the girls’ high-school basketball team.” Hearing that, Mrs. Wray and Mr. Wray were too surprised to believe what their daughter said. Lauren’s reflexes (反应能力) were slow. They knew how hard and unbelievable it would be for her to play basketball, let alone to be on the basketball team. But they decided to stand by her.
The next afternoon. Mr. Wray parked in front of the school gym. Inside, Coach Forsythe saw Mr. Wray, and he said, “I am glad Lauren came out for the team.” Lauren stood alone at the other end of the basketball court, shooting free throws. Other girls played together on the other side. After every shot, Lauren excitedly shouted, “Woo hoo !” At first, Lauren was in high spirits and so energetic. But things didn’t go smoothly. Her disability made her so clumsy (笨拙的) in the field. Having not made the basket for a long time, she was so discouraged. She gained nothing from the first training.
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: Later that night, Mr. Wray found Lauren lay on the couch, downhearted.
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Paragraph 2: Mid November, the season’s first basketball game arrived.
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April 28, 2015. That was the day it started, the start of my new life. I woke up in ICU in the hospital, not knowing the extent of my injuries or what had happened fully. My parents came in to see me. They saw me awake for the first time. I started trying to move but failed.
My dad bent down and said, “Jim, you lost your legs in the motorcycle accident.”
My dad, growing up, was always very stoical (坚忍的). He raised me and my brother in the tough love style and showed very little emotion. So when I saw the pain and emotion in his face, I knew I had to be strong for not just myself but my entire family.
I immediately told my parents, “I’d rather be here without them than not be here at all.” They smiled. First time I’d seen them smile since they walked in the room.
The next month and a half of recovery was long and difficult. I was unable to sleep at night. Thoughts began to run through my mind. Would I have a normal life? Would I enjoy the things that I used to enjoy? All I could do was look forward to the morning when my family and friends came back.
I got released from the hospital on June 3, 2015, the day after my 27th birthday. I got home, finally, ready to start my new life. But I still had to figure out what I was going to do next. So as I was trying to figure it out, I had a couple of friends that were trying to help me out and get my life started. They were members of the Pip e Hitters Union Motorcycle Club.
One day, they gave me a text message that said, “Give this guy a call. His name is David. He can help you.” I called David and soon we met. I had a meeting with him and his staff. He told me about his gym called ATF-the Adaptive Training Foundation. It was a non-profit organization aimed at helping people with disabilities come back to normal life through physical training.
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:
I filled out an application, almost immediately accepted into class.
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Paragraph 2:
At this time, David advised me to find a job.
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When Cassandra Ridder picked up her son Brody from school, the boy wasn’t his usual happy-go-lucky self.
Cassandra said that the sixth graders didn’t want to talk about his day and only wanted to listen to music. To lighten his mood, she asked him about his yearbook (毕业纪念册). Earlier that day, the mom had received an email, informing parents that students would be bringing their class yearbooks home. She was curious if Brody got lots of signatures.
But when she brought it up, her son got really sad. He said, “No, Mom, no one really signed my yearbook. I asked people and they either told me no or that they would do it later, and that they were too busy for me.”
When Brody handed over his yearbook, Cassandra’s heart sank. The page was almost empty, except for a couple of messages from his teachers and two students’ names. To fill in the space, Brody had written a note to himself that read “Hope you make some more friends”, and had signed his own name.
“I tried to make him feel better,” said Cassandra. “I told him that it might have just been a busy day, and to give people the benefit of the doubt. I told him that things will get better and to stay positive, and that no matter what, I would always be his friend.”
Upon discovering what happened with Brody’s yearbook, Cassandra decided to do something. That night, she wrote a post on the Internet for parents. She wanted to let the other parents know this was happening at the school and remind them they should talk to their kids about being kind to one another.
“My poor son feel sad. Despite Brody’s asking all kinds of kids to sign it, two teachers and a total of two students wrote in his yearbook, her post read.” So Brody took it upon himself to write to himself. My heart is broken.
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。
Cassandra didn’t expect too much from the post.
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The headmaster Mr Rudd also knew of Brody’s story.
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