1 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。

Miguel opened the door to his grandpa’s shoe shop. Grandpa was drawing a customer’s foot onto a piece of paper. He didn’t look up. Miguel sat down. He looked at the cut leather, hammer (锤子) and pliers (钳子).

The tools reminded Miguel of something else he loved. Grandpa always gave him a piece of candy whenever Miguel helped clean up. Miguel knew he wasn’t supposed to take candy without asking. But he was hungry then. It looked like Grandpa would be busy for a while. “Maybe I don’t need to wait,” Miguel thought.

Miguel reached secretly for the candy box. He hurried and put it in his mouth. Pretty soon the customer left. Grandpa was busy picking up a piece of leather and putting it in some water. Miguel ate the rest of the candy as fast as he could. Then he walked over to Grandpa.

Grandpa looked up from his work. “Hello!” he said with a smile. Miguel hugged Grandpa. He hoped Grandpa couldn’t tell he’d eaten a piece of candy. “It looks like you’re busy today,” Miguel said. “Do you need any help?” “Sure! Could you pass me that thread (线)?” Miguel nodded. He pulled it between his hands. “Wow, that’s strong.” Miguel said. Grandpa laughed, “It has to be, to last through the wear and tear of life.” Grandpa pulled the thread through the leather.

“You know, we need to be more like this shoe,” Grandpa said. Miguel looked at the leather, “Um. We do?” “Yes, indeed. We need to stay strong. That way temptations (诱惑) won’t make us fall apart,” Grandpa said with a nod.

Miguel suddenly thought of the candy. He knew he should tell Grandpa about it. Grandpa took an old shoe off the shelf, “See this big hole?” Miguel nodded. “This was once a small hole that could have been fixed easily. But the owner waited, and now it’s going to be much harder to fix. Bad habits and bad choices are like that hole. It is best to fix them early.”

2 . Maria’s Plans

Maria stared thoughtfully at the tree fort. It was the first thing her grandpa had built for her. She had been little — it was before her younger brothers had been born.

Of all her brothers, Maria felt that she was most like her grandpa. Grandpa had been a carpenter. Maria had always loved visiting him in his workshop. Only she had been allowed because she was the oldest. He could do anything with his own two hands, she thought________.

Recently, Maria had decided that she was going to build a tree swing. Now she was standing________the tree, with her rope, seat, and tools, thinking about the best way to________the swing. She could throw the ropes________the branch. But then how would she tie the knot? She would probably need to________a ladder.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” called a voice from a little distance away. Maria turned and saw her little brother Ricardo ran up to her. “None of your business,” she replied. Then, thinking better of it, she said, “________ a swing.”

“Really? Can I help?” Ricardo asked. Maria thought it over — it would be nice to have some help. But she was the builder in the family now, so she would have to solve her own problems. “No,” Maria said. “I don’t need any help.”

Suddenly, her other brother, Emil, came running towards them. “Hey, what’re you guys doing?”

“We’re building a swing,” Ricardo said.

“No, we’re not,” Maria said. “I am!”

“Can I help?” Emil asked. “No!” Maria was turning red. “This is my project. Not yours. You________even knew Grandpa.” She ran into the house, leaving Ricardo, Emil, and her materials beneath the tree.

“What’s wrong, Maria?” Grandma asked.

“Ricardo and Emil are bothering me,” Maria explained the situation.

“They’re just trying to help. And how are you going to do it all by yourself?”

“Grandpa didn’t need anyone’s help,” Maria said.

“Who do you think helped him cut the boards for your tree fort?”

Grandma asked. Maria was________. “But I don’t remember...”

“Maria, Grandpa was a great carpenter, but even great carpenters need help sometimes.________ he needed a second pair of hands, he’d ask me to help.” Grandma glanced out the window. “And it looked like you need help, too.”

Maria hurried outside. Ricardo and Emil were carrying the ladder in the yard, waving at Maria. Smiling, she began to wonder if she might not be the only one to________Grandpa.

4 . “How does the yard look?” my father asked, with his eys shining. I could tell he was eagerly waiting for my ______. “Wonderful!” I replied after I gave it a thorough inspection. Then I recited all the change I had ______ in his yard and he smiled contentedly.

When I was young, my mother ______ in a car accident, leaving my father alone to ______ their three young daughters. At the beginning, life was not always ______ and my younger sisters usually complained. However, Dad always ______ us to believe that life was good. Meanwhile, he tried his best to prove that belief.

In 1972, my dad developed a piece of waste land that had been ______ on Okaloosa Island. Every year at the first sign of ______, he would begin spending countless hours working there to make it be bursting with colours. Through his continuous hard work, the land ______ turned into a beautiful garden with different types of flowers and other unique plants. Dad made his yard very ______ so that it became our vacation paradise during our childhood.

For so many years, when we were ______, we liked to visit Dad’s yard, because it could ______ us of Dad’s belief. It was Dad and his yard that gave us ______ that enabled us to survive and ______ major challenges in life. One day, it shocked us that Dad said he would not ______ managing the yard. Then he explained, “Twenty years ago I decided to start my work in that yard to tell you life is good. Now my work is done.” We were sitting in silence, recalling what we had experienced. Life was good. Dad was right.

9 . I was an angry adolescent in my first year of college. One day I had a serious fight with my father.

I saw him as_________. I exploded in shouts and_________out. Running towards the classroom, I suddenly realized I didn’t have the assignment that was_________: a thought card. Professor Simon had explained every Tuesday we must_________ an index card, on which we wrote a thought or a question, and every Wednesday he’d return it with his_________ or answer on it. The card was our_________to class on Tuesdays.

So, outside the classroom, I took an index card and wrote “I’m the son of an idiot!”, as I could only think about the _________ I’d just had with my dad. I handed in the card, but soon_________ telling him about my dad, because I didn’t want to _________myself to him.

Wednesday, I got to class early and__________in the back. Dr. Simon began returning thought cards. On my card was written, “What does the ‘son of an idiot’ do with the rest of his life?” His question got right to the__________of the issue: Whose responsibility was it?

Dr. Simon’s comment kept emerging in my mind. Slowly, my thinking began to__________. People began to notice I was taking__________for my doings. My grades gradually improved. My relationship with my father also improved__________. Now I saw him as caring, instead of controlling. And it all__________with an innocent-seeming question.

Yours,

Li Hua