As I approached my fortieth birthday, I realized that my life was quite meaningless in the larger scheme of things. I had friends and a loving husband and yet something was missing. With no children, I felt that I hadn’t done anything that would help mankind or change the world. I would have no legacy to leave.
One day I was watching TV and I thought of my desire. It was to be someone who mattered. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of people and in the lives of animals. After all, dogs had always been a large part of my life, from the time when I was a little girl growing up in central Oklahoma. I thought that my “purpose” would somehow include my love of singing, writing, travel, and of course, working with animals.
Then, something happened that shook my entire core. The “love of my life” dog, my Nicholas, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died thirteen months later. I became quite concerned for Bear, our remaining dog, who was six years old. Bear had been Nicholas’s shadow and now that Nicholas was gone, Bear wouldn’t even eat. Our vet suggested that we get another dog to see if that would encourage Bear to eat.
I found an online advertisement for a Bichon Frise （卷毛比熊犬） and when we arrived at the place, it was a nightmare, like one of those puppy mills （工厂） you read about or see on the television news. I decided to delay my search for my “purpose” as I needed to tell the world about the horror I had discovered right in my own backyard.
I had even a bigger fight ahead of me than Nicholas’s cancer. This was a fight that would take years. I did research and then I spread the word on the Internet. People began to listen and we formed a small group of Bichon Frise lovers called Small Paws Rescue.
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 started out sending the latest news on our rescue efforts to about twenty-five people.\
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My achievement made me reflect on the past.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Grace was 8 years old when she heard her mom and dad talking about her little brother Jack, only a baby. He was very sick and they were struggling to make their ends meet. Only a very costly operation could save Jack, but there was no one to lend them the money. She heard her dad say to her tearful mom, “Only a miracle can save him now.”
Hearing the word, Grace went to her bedroom, took all the coins from her little money box and counted it carefully. After counting the coins three times, She slipped out of the room and made her way to the drug store.
She wanted for a long time before the female pharmacist (药剂师) turned around and asked her, “What do you want?”
“Well, it’s about my brother,” Grace answered, “He’s really sick. And I want to buy a miracle.”
“I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist.
“His name is Jack. And he has something very bad growing inside his body. And my dad says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”
“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I am sorry. I can’t help you.” the pharmacist said
“I have the money to pay for it.” With these words, Grace poured out all the coins from her pocket.
At this time, a well-dressed man in uniform from Chicago hospital asked the little girl. “I am selling the miracle you want. Tell me how much money you have.”
“47 cents.” Grace answered in a low voice. “That’s all the money I have. But I can get some more if I need to.”
“Well.” smiled the man, “47 cents is the exact price of a miracle for your little brother. Show me the place where you live.”
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。
Holding the man’s hand firmly, Grace took him home.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The operation was completed successfully.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In Mr. Russo’s classroom, excitement filled the air as he announced, “We’re down to our final two spellers!” Jasmine couldn’t hide her joy, confident she was going to win. Finn, her competitor, reached out for a handshake, wishing her good luck. But Jasmine replied with a smile, “Luck has nothing to do with it,” leaving Finn embarrassed.
Then, it was Finn’s turn to spell his word. “Apology,” Finn took a deep breath and spelled, but he got it wrong. Jasmine watched closely, waiting for her turn. When she spelled “apology”, she stressed the letters Finn missed. After spelling the final word “Arrogant” (傲慢), Jasmine was announced the winner.
At lunch, Jasmine couldn’t stop herself from showing off as she walked by Finn and his friends. “How hard can it be to spell a few words?” she bragged (吹牛). Before they could answer, she walked away with pride.
The big day of the spelling bee showed Jasmine a different picture. Surrounded by older students, she started to doubt herself for the first time. She hadn’t thought about the tougher words she might face. A comment from Josh, a fourth grader, that “apology” was an “easy” word, made her worry. “Maybe I should have studied the list of words Mr. Russo gave the class,” Jasmine thought to herself.
As Principal Lopez introduced each of the spellers, cheers from each student’s classmates came from different areas of the hall. When Jasmine’s name was announced, most of Mr. Russo’s class clapped for her except Finn, who seemed to be looking at her angrily.
As the bee went on, Jasmine felt increasingly nervous with each word spelled right by others. Finally, it was her turn. Jasmine walked slowly to the front of the stage, her earlier confidence now mixed with caution. The audience watched, waiting. “Please spell ‘caterpillar’,” Principal Lopez asked.
Jasmine’s heart sank as she didn’t know the word.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the competition, Jasmine opened the classroom door.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Edward and Stephen were both eighteen years old. They were so together in friendship that they felt themselves to be brothers. They had known each other since childhood, growing up in the same block in Liverpool.
Edward was fair and lean, while Stephen was dark and short. Edward’s brown hair was always falling over his eyes, while Stephen wore his black hair in a natural style.
Each youngster had a dream of someday becoming champion of the world. Whenever they had time, the boys worked out at the Fencing (击剑) Club. Early morning sunrises would find them running along the Mersey River, wrapped in sweatshirts, with short towels around their necks.
Edward and Stephen studied hard and dreamt positively. Between them, they had a notebook filled with torn tickets of every fencing match they had ever attended. They each had taken part in many elimination bouts (淘汰赛) and had won many gold medals. The difference was in their style.
As fencers, Edward’s lean form and long reach made him better in attack, while Stephen’s short and muscular frame made him speed y in movement. Whenever they had met in the piste (击剑台), it had always been intense and competitive.
After a series of elimination bouts, they were informed that they were to meet each other in the finals next month —the winner to represent the Club in the Championship Tournament.
Fencing was like any other profession. The two boys knew friendship had nothing to do with it. But how would the competition affect their relationship? Everyday they continued to run together along the Mersey River. However, while joking with each other, they both sensed an invisible wall rising between them.
The day before the finals, they met as usual for their daily workout. After a mile or so, Stephen stopped.
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 think we both got something to say to each other.” Stephen said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the two went onto the piste, the audience held their breath.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Birthday Surprise
I stood at the kitchen window watching Papa as he sat in the old, wooden lawn chair staring out at the lake. Ralph, his old black dog, lay on the ground at his side. Papa’s hand absently stroked (抚摩) the head of his old companion as they dreamed the dreams of old men and old dogs in the evening sun. “He does this day after day?” I asked Mama.
She nodded, sadness filling her eyes. “I don’t know what to do for him. There is a strong desire in his eyes that I can’t satisfy -a desire for the past. The past can’t be brought back to the present. Once days are gone, they are gone forever,” Mama sighed.
“I’m going down to talk to him,” I said.
I called out to Papa and handed him a cup of coffee. “What are you and Ralph thinking about all these hours you spend out here?” I asked,
“We’re not thinking,” he said softly. “We’re wishing.” I sat on the grass beside his chair. “Wishing for what?” “For the impossible, I suppose,” he sighed. “You always told me that nothing was impossible if you wanted it badly enough and were willing to work hard for it,” I reminded him.
He laughed softly, but there was no amusement in the sound. “But Ralph and I have come to learn that when you reach our age, some things are actually impossible.” “Maybe I can help you. What do you want so badly?” I asked.
Papa grinned (咧嘴大笑), and his eyes shone brightly at the thought of his dream becoming a reality. “Ralph and I want to fix up the old boat and go out on the lake again. We used to spend all day out on the lake, fishing, drinking beer and eating sandwiches,” Papa said.
Yes, I remember. When I was young, Papa and Ralph often enjoyed themselves on the lake on weekends. They’d start for home when the sun went down, totally satisfied with themselves and with life. Now, Papa was almost eighty-five years old and had a heart condition, so Mama was horrified by the idea of him going out on the lake again at first. But eventually I managed to convince her.
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。
After Mama agreed, I persuaded my friends to join in my secret plan.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On the day of Papa’s birthday, we were all eager to give him a surprise.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This Friday brought a mix of emotions—both excitement and disappointment — all because of a flyer from school. When I got home, Mum saw the flyer in my hand and asked, “What’s this?”
“A flyer for a five-day art camp,” I explained. “But Emily can’t go.”
“Would you like to attend?”Mum asked. “You’ve always loved art.” Her words reminded me of what Emily had said earlier: “Tessa, you’re the real artist. My brother thought the roses I painted were rocket ships.” I sighed. Mum patted my back. She knew I had a hard time jumping into something with no familiar faces around. “Maybe next year.”
“Maybe,” I echoed. Then I told Mum I wanted to go outside to draw the Westons’ pine tree (松树). She nodded with an encouraging smile.
As I walked into the bright sunshine, I couldn’t help but think about the art camp. I wished I felt a little bit braver. Emily could make friends with a whole bus of kids in ten minutes, but my stomach felt like a little boat tossed in a heavy storm when I was surrounded by strangers... By the time I started drawing, I had made up my mind to forget about the art camp.
I began by drawing the pine tree’s strong and straight trunk, and then added the beautiful branches, making sure the upper ones lifted gently towards the sun. Lost in my work, I jumped when I heard Mr. Weston speak up, “You’ve done a great job showing the strength of that tree on paper.”
“Thanks,” I smiled, glancing up.
As I drew the needles to the branches, Mr. Weston told me something I never knew about pines: If you plant the root ball too deep, the tree dies. Their roots grow out, not down—to get enough water and grow tall.
“You have a good eye, Tessa.”With these words, Mr. Weston nodded goodbye.
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: His words made me pause and think.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: The next Monday, I signed up for the camp.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________For more than 20 years I have been traveling the world, preferring often to spend a year or two in different countries rather than to just visit as a tourist. It has become an important part of my personality as I grew older and shaped the way I saw the world and myself.
My little taste of this amazing life was when I was 19 years old. I was selected among a small group of college classmates to spend a year abroad. This was long before people could travel the world through social media like Facebook and Twitter. In order to see a place, you had to go there and experienced it.
I was raised in a middle-class family and couldn’t afford to travel around the world the way I wished I could. The only way I knew about the world outside was through letters I wrote to pen pals from over a dozen countries as a kid, and from television. Growing up, I always loved the very funny British comedies that were shown on local public television every Saturday night. So when I got the chance to apply for a study abroad program, I chose London.
Living abroad can be exciting, scary and challenging. I thought it would be easier because I spoke the same language as the local people did. But I also like to relish (享受) the little differences between the British and American culture and language. I also learned that in England, they spell words differently than in the U. S. In British spelling, they put a “u” in words like favor to make it “favour” and an “s” in words like analyze to make it “analyse”. I was able to adapt quickly to this new way of writing since I was submitting papers all the time for my classes.
Academically, I got to take classes that weren’t offered at my college back home. For example, I had a course in sociology and learned about the native people of Papua New Guinea.
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: But there were also challenges that year too.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Sometimes the difficult times made me sad and homesick.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After a busy week, Emily and her parents decided to go on a mountain picnic. They longed to fully experience nature’s beauty and enjoy quality family time. Little did they know, this outing would be filled with unexpected twists and turns (波折).
Arriving at the mountain’s base, they discovered a house, in front of which Mike and his father had just finished loading a boat onto Mike’s truck. Emily approached them and asked for the best picnic spot in the area. Knowing the mountain well, Mike suggested a location about two hours’ walk away. “It’s worth the effort,” he assured them.
Parking their car next to Mike’s truck and carrying their picnic supplies, Emily and her parents set off on the winding road. Tall green trees on one side, a flowing stream on the other, the road eventually led them to a breathtaking clearing dotted with colorful wildflowers. They enjoyed their delicious sandwiches, fruits, and snacks, engaging in pleasant conversations.
Just as they finished their meal and settled down to relax, dark clouds unexpectedly rolled in. It looked like rain. Panicked, they hurriedly set up the tent they had brought. No sooner had they entered than raindrops began pouring on the roof. Heavy rain enveloped the surroundings, making it impossible to see anything. They had no choice but to patiently wait it out.
After what felt like a century, the rain ceased. Emily and her parents wasted no time packing up their belongings, ready to get downhill. However, their excitement turned to worry when they discovered that the small stream they had previously crossed had turned into a wide and impassable river. With no cellphone signal, they were trapped without a means of seeking help. To make matters worse, darkness was approaching.
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, they heard the sound of a vehicle from across the river.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Emily and her parents boarded the boat.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1、简要描述两幅图的内容；
2、概述你对两幅图中不同做法的理解；
3、举例说明两幅图对你的启示。
参考词汇：banner (横幅) stump (树桩)
注意：
1、词数100词左右；
2、可以适当发挥，以使行文连贯；
3、作文中不得提及有关考生个人身份的任何信息，如校名、人名等。
Sophie had to move to a new school in the town from her own village with her family because her father got a new job in a company. At the beginning, she used to sit alone in the class and then one day a girl, Nia, from her class talked to her, hoping that they could be friends. Nia was a modern girl born and brought up in the town. She was kind and a loving girl.
Nia never really had many friends because she used to choose her friends very wisely. When Nia came to Sophie with the hand of friendship, Sophie did not think even for a second and accepted her friendship as she needed friends. As the days passed by, Nia and Sophie had already developed a good friendship. They then promised that they would focus on the better things they would do for each other if they made mistakes.
Soon Sophie made many friends like Stephen, George, Josh and Ernie. She spent a lot of time with most of them as close friends and almost forgot about Nia. One day Sophie along with all her friends decided to do something adventurous: to light up firecrackers (鞭炮) behind the office building.
As word spread very fast among teenagers, Nia heard about it and told her to be aware of her real friends but Sophie paid no attention to it. Nia then knew that Sophie would not be so careful so she decided to look out for Sophie without her knowledge.
When they were pushing Sophie out to light up the crackers with a candle, Stephen saw a teacher coming out of the office room. He waved to the others to run away but left Sophie alone there.
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 teacher noticed Sophie and shouted, “Stop!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the headmaster’s room, Nia pulled out her phone.
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