Laura Mulvihill felt the ride was probably very unusual when she picked up 89-year-old Ronald Dembner from the Veteran’s Hospital in Henry County, Georgia. It was obvious that he was struggling and in bad shape. But it wasn’t until they arrived at his home that her worst doubts were confirmed. Expecting to be greeted by family members, she was greeted by something out of a nightmare (噩梦) episode of Hoarders instead.
Mr. Ronald’s home was covered with rubbish. The counters, carpets, and walls looked dirty. The room smelt absolutely terrible. Because all of Ronald’s family members had passed away, he had no one to assist him. Even the home care nurses had stopped coming to visit as a result of the extremely awful living conditions. He was completely alone, except for his dog, Homer, who had taken to pooping in the house. Unable to clean up after himself or Homer but terrified of losing his home and his dog, Mr. Ronald was too afraid to reach out for help.
Mulvihill, however, was not. Horrified by what she witnessed, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She spent hours on the phone, contacting the fire department, adult services, the Chamber of Commerce and Habitat for Humanity. No one could offer any help. “Everyone said, mentally he’s fine, he’s just older. So nobody will help,” she said.
Finally, with all other resources running out, she posted a call to arms on social media, creating the group. Helping Mr. Ronald. She explained the situation. She wrote in part, “I drove him home and he asked me to help him inside. He lives alone and cannot keep up with his pet. The house is terrible.” She went on to explain that “the main issues are dog poop (1 dog) and general disrepair (no railing on the stairs, soiled carpet and furniture, etc)”. She knew it would take an army to make things right. Luckily, she had found one,2000 strong. The army was formed.
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。
Dozens of volunteers came forward to help, with a desire to make a difference.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mr. Ronald was deeply moved by what Mulvihill and the volunteers had done
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My dream comes true
The rain had started to fall gently through the evening air as darkness fell over Sydney. The noise was deafening. As I walked towards the track, I glanced around me at the sea of faces in the stands, but mind was focused. The Olympic gold medal was just minutes away, hanging tantalizingly (引诱人地) in the distance.
My heart was beating loudly. I was so close to the realization of my childhood dream and the feeling was fantastic. I knew I would have to push myself beyond my known limits to ensure that my dream came true.
I tried to keep my head, telling myself not to panic, to stick to the plan and run my own race. I knew the Russian girls would set off quickly-and I had to finish this race fewer than ten seconds behind the Russian athlete Yelena Prokhorova. If I could do that, the title would be mine. I looked out along the first stretch of the 400 m track and caught my breath.
My ankle was bandaged against an injury in the long jump just a couple of hours earlier, but I shut out all thoughts of pain.
The starting gun was fired, and the race began. The first lap was good, and I managed to keep up with the group, but I was feeling much more tired than I usually did, and much more than I’d imagined. Both the long, hard weeks of training that had led up to this championship, and the exhaustion from two days of fierce competition were showing in my performance. Mental and physical tiredness were starting to over- come me, and I had to fight back.
Prokhorova had set the pace from the start. It was important that I didn’t let her get too far in front. I had to stay with her. At the bell I was 2.3 seconds behind her. Just one lap to go. One lap. I could do it. I had to keep going. I could see the gap opening between me and the Russian. Thankfully, my foot was holding out, so now it was all down to mental stamina (耐力).
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。
Prokhorova was pulling away.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then, the moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life—my name in lights.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Five years ago, a homeless kitten wandered in a park, its fur matted and eyes wide with fear. Hunger bit its tiny body. Accidentally, a kind-hearted woman Shelley Hall spotted the trembling ball of fur and felt a tug at her heartstrings. Approaching slowly, she extended a gentle hand, offering food and warmth. Feeling Shelley’s kindness, the kitten accepted her food and home offer. At home, Shelley named the kitten Sophie. In the warmth of Shelley’s care, Sophie transformed from a scared wanderer to a beloved companion, seeking out affection and purring contentedly in her arms.
For the past two years, Shelley would go for daily walks in the woods with a cat carrier attached to her back and Sophie would peer out. “I tell her that her job is to bring joy - and she does,” Shelley said, recalling how her cat would greet the people they passed. “She’s very sweet and social.”
Sophie was also very confident, until that day last summer when the cat jumped out of her carrier and an energetic dog chased her away. Shelley searched for Sophie all day, but the cat didn’t come back.
“It was the worst day of my life,” Shelley said. She found herself experiencing the worst weeks of her life. After putting up posters, posting on social media, and searching the 565 acres of forest surrounding Royal Roads University every day from dusk until dawn, there was no sign of Sophie. “It is like she vanished into thin air,” Shelley said. “It does get harder and harder to believe that you are going to find her.” But then a former neighbour, Marilyn Hanner, stepped up to help. “There’s nothing to think about,” Marilyn said after being asked why she joined the daily search for Sophie. “You have an animal in danger, you jump in.” Marilyn and her husband also bought four trail cameras to set up around the forest. “If you have the means, why wouldn’t you?” Marilyn said.
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。
As weeks turned to months, the cameras captured countless other creatures—from slugs(鼻涕虫)to a cougar(美洲狮).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sophie and Shelley were reunited after being apart for more than three months.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Shelley was a city girl. Her dad would never take his car off a paved road, and her mom would never stay anywhere except in a luxury hotel. Then her class teacher, Ms. McKay, announced they were going on a hiking trip. When they finally got to their campsite, Ms. McKay called the students together. “When you have set up your tents, I want you to explore the woods near camp. Don’t wander too far away. I want you to look closely at what you see. Let yourselves discover the colors, the shapes, the shades, the tones, and the movements.”
Shelley looked up at the trees. Hey, the leaves weren’t all green. Each one was a different shade of green — light green, dark green, yellow-green, blue-green — and they were different sizes and shapes, and moved differently in the breeze (微风). The tree trunks weren’t brown. They were gray and brown, and black and green. Some had smooth bar k over which you could run your hand, while others were too rough or cracked. One tall tree had a hollow (中空) trunk just big enough for a teenage girl to hide in. So she slipped inside. There was something peaceful about her tree-trunk hideaway and she didn’t want to leave her beetle.
Later, Ms. McKay asked them to be aware of the smells around them. The wood s smelled... damp, fresh, clean, fragrant... and definitely green. She would crush some different leaves between her fingers as she walked, letting the pleasant smell toward her nose.
After supper, Ms. McKay asked everyone to quietly sit around the campfire, close their eyes if they wished, and listen to the sounds of the forest. The crackle (噼噼啪啪声) of the fire sounded friendly and warming. The breeze blew the leaves of the trees. Strange, thought Shelley, how she had not noticed it before. Now it seemed overwhelmingly present. Several sort of birds were calling. Despite all the sounds she still thought of it as silence... and it felt good to listen.
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。
“Let us also be aware of our sense of touch,” said Ms. McKay.
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Being a city girl, Shelley surprised herself when she got back home.
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It was a week before Christmas. Despite all the encouraging words I had given myself, I was having a really hard time staying positive. In a few days I would be facing the wedding anniversary (纪念日) on December 23rd. I had always looked forward to this time of year.
I was wandering about in the street, looking for a gift for my husband. The clock read 4: 00p. m. I still didn't find anything satisfying. I decided to head to a neighboring town to find the perfect gift for my dear Joey. I made it into town and stopped by a few local shops, festive with holiday music and bright Christmas light. Shoppers hurried from one place to another, eagerly picking out the perfect gift for their loved ones. I left empty-handed but not completely discouraged. I still had two more stops and I was determined to find something before I headed home.
I wondered that the local trading post would have a few good “gifts.” I headed that way and arrived at 6: 04 p. m. The sign on the locked gate showed I had missed it by four minutes. I took a deep breath. The thought of having to go out another day and do this all over again was unbearable. I shook my head. It wouldn't come to that because my next stop was a huge, multi-level store where I knew I would find the perfect gift for my husband.
I arrived at the huge store and was surprised that the parking lot wasn't all that crowded. Great! I started walking toward the front door when I saw a lady coming out of the building. She was wearing the blue uniform, looking at me with that “look”.You know, the “I know something you don't know look.” I recognized it and stopped. “Are they closed?” I asked her. “Yes ma’am. We close at 6: 00,” she pleasantly answered. My head fell forward and my feet were painful. I felt upset. This was a huge store. It was the holidays. How could they be closed? I couldn't help crying in the parking lot.
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 lady walked toward me and asked: “Are you ohey?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hearing what I said, the lady thought of a good idea.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Javon was the shortest kid in the class. Since the third grade, he had been smaller than every boy and all of the girls. He’d had to ask Ms. Haygood to get his gym locker changed so that he didn’t have to stretch so much to reach it. For most kids, being short would be a problem, but Javon just never let it bother him. Whether he would grow or not, there was nothing he could do. Javon held a similar attitude to most things.
The one exception was school work. Right before the first day of middle school, his dad had a serious talk with him about college. More precisely, his dad told him that college was expensive. College cost more money than a year’s rent on their apartment and the yearly income of either his dad or his mom. Given that, Javon didn’t understand why anyone would want to go to college. His dad explained some people who worked really hard and got good grades paid less or nothing at all for college. It was called a scholarship. Javon nodded, promising his dad that he would work hard and get a scholarship.
And Javon had worked hard. By middle of seventh grade, Javon was one of the top kids in the class. He was still the shortest, but now he also got called one of the smartest. So, he hadn’t been too concerned when Mr. T announced they were starting a new unit in math. The class started normally enough. But then Mr. T threw a letter into his math problem. He smiled at the class like using letters in math was perfectly normal.
For Javon, math used to be easy. But he could not wrap his mind around using these letters. He couldn’t remember the rules Mr. T had given and he didn’t even understood the ones he did remember. Whenever Mr. T tried to explain, Javon seemed to focus so hard on wanting to understand that he didn’t actually hear what Mr. T said. Before he knew it, he was hopelessly lost in math class. Soon the chapter test came.
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 test was cruelly challenging for Javon.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Following his parents’ advice, Javon knocked on the door of Mr. T’s office.
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Lilly was on her way to meet friends when she noticed an older woman struggling to navigate the railroad tracks in a wheelchair. Her efforts were clearly hindered by the uneven surface and the weight of the chair, and she appeared to be making little progress. Without hesitation, Lilly jumped out of her car and rushed over to assist. However, their attempts failed as both Lilly and the elderly woman fell twice, struggling to get out of harm’s way.
As they scrambled (爬) to their feet, a deafening horn (喇叭) blast rent the air, followed by the blinding flash of lights. A train was barreling down the tracks, its approach growing ever more urgent.
“He was honking his horn and the lights started flashing,” Lilly recalled, her voice trembling as she spoke. “I was like, ‘Oh no, we gotta go now!’”
With adrenaline (肾上腺素) pumping through her veins, Lilly summoned all her strength and managed to pull both herself and the elderly woman to safety just second s before the train thundered past. The narrow escape left her shaken to the core, her heart pounding in her chest.
“It’s a near-death experience,” she said, her voice breaking. “And I’ve never really been that close to death before.” The railroad company later informed her that they had been mere inches away from being struck by the train, a revelation that sent shivers down her spine.
Ardmore Police Chief Jereme Robison, who was called to the scene, recounted the incident to WKRN with a mixture of amazement and relief. “She barely gets herself out of the way, and the train actually still clips the lady’s leg and spins her around,” he said. “I mean, it was like a split second. They almost died.”
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 elderly woman, though injured, was quickly transported to the hospital for treatment.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________News of the incident spread quickly through the community, and Lilly’s actions were praised by all.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I flipped through an online bidding (拍卖) site one evening: fun containers for houseplants, old maps original artwork, Santas... “Oh my gosh, Cody! Look!”
My husband looked over my shoulder, “That’s a lot of Santas!” he was surprised,
I found a huge fortune and it was only March! But these Santas came in three plastic bins. “I don’t know where we could store them all,” I said. “You’d have to go with me to pick them up—those bins look heavy.” I tried to talk myself out of bidding, but it wasn’t working. “I really want them,” I admitted.
“You should do what makes you happy,” Cody said.
For years I’d bought at least one Santa figure every year for Christmas. Cody knew that Santa was a special character for me. When I was growing up, my father played the community Santa. He was a fireman, and the department sponsored Santa visits at school. My father would get down from the flashing fire truck with a big “Ho! Ho! Ho!” He’d sit each child on his lap. “What your Christmas wish?” he’d ask, as joyous a she could be. He handed out bags of peanuts, candy and oranges. Nobody knew the man behind the beard was my father. It was magical!
After the school party, mom would carefully wash dad’s costume. The red and white coat, hat, white beard and black belt went back into the box. Santa was gone when Christmas night fell.
My father died when I was 19. Since then, I’d bought Santa figures to feel the joy Santa represented. Maybe that why I kept searching for more of them. By the time our three daughters were born, we had enough Santas to decorate a whole tree.
I typed in my bid on the site as memories of those Santa visits at school rushed in. I then imagined how my daughters would react to those bins of Santas.
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 computer flashed with a message.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Santas? In March?” my daughters appeared confused.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the busy city where doctor Matthew’s clinic stood, his reputation as a skilled healer and compassionate soul spread far and wide. Tall and lean, Matthew was a familiar sight in his neat white coat, always ready to offer comfort and care to his young patients. Behind the scenes of the operating room, Matthew’s professional skills and thoughtful nature brought hope to both patients and their families. His soft-spoken words and reassuring smile were like a soothing balm, easing the fears and worries that often accompanied medical procedures. Besides these, Matthew possessed a hidden talent—a talent to cure little patients physically and mentally. It originated from his observation that after surgery, young patients often found it difficult to be comforted and cooperate with treatment due to pain and discomfort, leading to ineffective treatment outcomes and causing distress to their parents. This realization inspired him to adopt the practice of drawing on bandages for his young patients after surgery.
Each day, after surgeries, he transformed dull bandages into enchanting canvases, decorating them with vivid characters and inspiring landscapes that brought bright smiles to his young patients’ faces. During quiet evenings, he practised his artistic abilities, crafting creative illustrations that ignited joy and hope. Every stroke of his pen served as a lighthouse of comfort in the depressing hospital setting.
Once, timid Alex arrived at Matthew’s clinic, his gaze reflecting uncertainty. But after surgery, Alex was greeted by a magnificent dragon gracing his bandage, a creation of Matthew. The sight of the beautiful dragon lighted up Alex’s face, driving away his fears and replacing them with wonder. Through Matthew’s drawings, he devoted to mending not just bodies but spirits, transforming dull hospital rooms into havens of imagination and bravery. However, fate dealt a harsh blow one rainy night. In a tragic car accident, Matthew sustained injuries that made his hands unable to grasp neither a scalpel(手术刀)nor a pen.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;2. 请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
As news of Matthew’s accident spread, his young patients came around him.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With the inspiration, Matthew’s spirit soared on the wings of the dragon he once drew.
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One night, I stayed up late partying with my friends Jacob, James and Benjamin, even though we were conscious internally that we had an important test the next day. On the way back, when James was driving absent-mindedly, Benjamin was very anxious about the exam; I felt uneasy and worried about being scolded by Mr. Smith when Jacob came up with a plan to get out of having to take our test. “Can we escape punishment? Can it really work?” Benjamin questioned with doubt. However, we didn’t get a better solution and couldn’t bear being a failure. So we followed suit as we had no alternative.
We four rolled around in dirt and then went to Mr. Smith office with anxiety. We told him that we had gotten a flat tire the night before, and unfortunately we spent the entire night pushing our car back to campus. As a consequence, we were exhausted and couldn’t attend the exam. We asked for Mr. Smith’s forgiveness and ensured to make up for it.
With the blank expression, Mr. Smith listened quietly and patted our shoulders. Benjamin gazed at me in discomfort while I secretly looked at the other two. Three seconds appeared to be a lifelong time. To our delight, he offered a retest three days later. We were okay with that because we had been given a chance to catch up.
I relieved and worked day and night to prepare for the exam with a sense of guilt welling up in my chest. So did my three friends in the hope of getting away with punishment.
On the day of the test, we went to Mr. Smith’s office. Unexpectedly, he put all four of us in separate rooms to take the test. I unfolded my paper and stared at the questions which I was requested to accomplish. Completely puzzled, I froze. There were only two questions:
(1)Your Name ______(1 Points)
(2)Which tire was flat? ______(99 Points)
Front Right Front Left Back Right Back Left
Palm wetting, hands trembling and almost out of breath, I was overwhelmed with a mix of fear, terror and guilt.
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。
I was completely lost at these questions, struggling with how to face Mr. Smith.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When receiving the report card, we four flushed with shame.
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