The Birthday Cake
Josie was a girl who loved to bake. She always helped her uncle at his bakery. Mostly she carried ingredients from the refrigerator to the large work table. Sometimes Uncle Dave let Josie stir (搅拌) the cake batter (面糊) with a wooden spoon.
Josie wanted to learn to bake a cake on her own. She asked if Uncle Dave would show her how Her mother’s birthday was only two days away. If Josie made a cake all by herself, it would be a wonderful surprise.
On Saturday morning, Josie arrived at the bakery just as it was closing. The bakery always closed early on the weekend so Uncle Dave could walk his dogs. “Ready, Josie?” Uncle Dave asked “Ready!” Josie answered.
First, Uncle Dave had Josie get all the ingredients (原料) and line them up on the work table. Then he showed her how to measure flour and sugar so that she had the exact right amount. She added these ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Next, Uncle Dave tapped an egg on the side of the bowl to crack it. “Be careful not to get any bits of shell in the bowl,” he said.
Josie tapped her egg very gently on the bowl. It didn’t crack. She tried again, and this time the shell came apart. She pulled the egg apart over the bowl and watched the yellow egg yolk drop into the flour.
Now it was time to stir. “This is fun!” said Josie.
When the batter was ready, Uncle Dave helped Josie pour it into the cake pan. He gave Josie oven mitts (烤箱手套) and showed her how to put the pan in the oven without burning her hands.
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。
While the cake baked, Josie and Uncle Dave wiped off the table and washed all the dishes.
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On her mother’s birthday, Josie put the cake before her mom secretly.
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I remember the hot summer when my friends and I discovered ice cream sandwiches at the corner store. They were ten cents apiece, a lot of money back then. I don’t remember how we came to buy one and taste it, but we were mad after that. Of course, none of us had any money. Whether we rode our bikes, or played ball, or sat and played cards, we talked and dreamed about those soft, creamy sandwiches.
My dad worked nights, coming home to join us for breakfast, and then sleeping till late afternoon. When he came home one morning, I heard the jingle (叮当声) of change in his pants and something ugly slowly came into my mind. That change was just what we needed, what I had to have. All day long I kept coming into the house and listening at his door. When I heard his sleeping sounds, I cracked the door. And there hanging at the foot of the bed were those pants. I slipped in and took a handful of change. It was enough for my friends and me to buy an ice cream sandwich, which we ate like greedy pigs. And I became a hero to my band of friends.
That went on every day for about two weeks. I had gotten good at slipping in and slipping out, and then ran to my friends and we headed to the store.
One day there was no change in dad’s pocket so I felt for his wallet, hesitated a moment, and then took out two whole dollars. I had been okay with taking the change, but those dollars made my face hot. Even before we began enjoying sandwiches, my stomach felt sick. The importance and joy I had felt buying for my friends was gone. If dad knew what I had done, he’d kill me.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.开头已给出。
Paragraph 1:
Early that afternoon, I hid myself in our basement, crying.
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Paragraph 2:
In a moment I would never forget, he said, “Son, I’ve known since the first day you took the money.”
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When I was in the third grade, I was picked to be the princess in the school play,and for weeks my mother helped practice my lines. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped onstage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s part to the play, and asked me to switch roles. Her words, kindly delivered, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl. I didn't tell my mother what had ha ppened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my unease, and instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard.
It was a lovely spring day and under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions (蒲公英) popping through the grass in bunches. I watched my mother bend down and pull a blossom up by its roots. She turned to me and said: “I think I’m going to dig up all these wee ds. Then we’ll have only roses in this garden.” “But I like dandelions,” I protested. “All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions.”
My mother looked at me seriously. “Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn’t it?” She asked thoughtfully. “And that i s true of people too,” she added, “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that. Now, let’s go inside and talk about the lines.”
注意:1.所续写短文的词数应为150词左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Para 1:
Just a few minutes before the play, my teao her came over to me.______________________________________________
Para 2:
After the play, I took the flower home.___________________________________________________________________
As the late afternoon sun beat down on his farm last May, Brandon Leseberg finished feeding his cows and decided to go back home. As they often did, his two sons, Louie, 6 and Everett, 3, had followed along. To have a drink, Louie stepped on a well with a covering which is easily broken.
Brandon had just finished locking the gate when he turned around and saw only his youngest son.
“Where’s Louie?” he shouted.
“He fell in the hole!” Everett said.
Brandon quickly realized what had happened. Noooo! He thought. Louie can not swim! He ran to the well and without thinking, jumped in.
As he fell some 70 feet down the well, Brandon hit the ice-cold water. He grabbed Louie, who was frightened, trying to stay afloat in water that was too deep for either of them to stand.
“All right, Dad, you can pull us out now,"Louie said.
If only it were that easy. Each second in the well meant a greater risk of hypothermia (低温症).
Looking up to see Everett’s face above the well, Brandon shouted, “Everett, you’re going to have to be a big boy and save us. Run to the road and get someone to help!”
About 15 minutes later, their neighbors, Christi and Mark Mackenny, were driving by when they noticed Everett alone by the side of the road, waving. They pulled over and asked if he was OK. “My daddy and Louie are in a hole.” he told them.
The couple drove onto the farm, and the boy pointed them to the well. Mark dialed 911 while Christi called another neighbor, Dan Athen.
After hearing from Christi, Dan ran to his barn (谷仓), grabbed a thick 85-foot rope and then with his son Ryan, 13, sped to Lesebergs’ farm. Eric Duncan, who works on Brandon’s farm, and his friend Jocob MaKenny also arrived to help.
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: They decided to work together to get them out.
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Paragraph 2: Forty minutes after he’d jumped into the well to save his son, Brandon came out of the well, cold and wet.
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1. Why did the speaker’s parents say “one rotten apple could ruin a whole basket of apples”?
| A．They worried that his son was influenced by his friends. |
| B．They worried that his son may have a bad effect on his friends. |
| C．They wanted his son to keep away from his friends. |
| A．He followed his order. |
| B．He kept silent. |
| C．He refused firmly. |
| A．Parents and Grandson. | B．The Generation Gap. | C．Misunderstanding. |
I was moving as fast as I could, stepping cautiously from rock to rock along the uneven jetty(栈桥). Far ahead, I could see the back of my brother’s sandy hair and the bright orange of his shorts.
“Too slow, sister!” I heard Sam yell as he hopped with ease.
“I’ll show him,” I thought, and attempted a double jump. What a mistake! My left foot came down hard between the edges of two gray rocks. scraping my ankle. “Ouch!” I yelled. I tried to wiggle(扭动) my foot out, but my shoe was stuck. I bent closer to the rock and that’ s when I saw it: a shiny, square shaped stone the color of water, attached to a glittery gold chain. It was just lying there on the wet sand, and a few seconds later it was in my pocket.
Sam squinted(眯着眼睛看) in the sun. Could he tell I was hiding the most perfect discovery of the summer? I kept turning the treasure around in my pocket, pushing each corner of the square stone into my finger. I was dizzy, but I didn’t want Sam to notice. He liked to tell everybody my business.
“Ryan saved the mini cola bottle from the carnival! It happened to be perfect for sand art!
“Ryan wasted her allowance on salt and pepper shakers from the yard sale!” They were antique little pig and cost only 50 cents.
My family calls me their “little collector. Some mean kids at school call me “trash girl”.
Sam and I walked along the main street, the small buildings giving us a break from the sun. Through the window of the candy shop, I could see tubes of colorful jelly beans. A sign on the window’s glass read LOST: Gold and blue necklace. Very special. If found, call Chrissy at 555-9924.
Chrissy had drawn a crayon version of the necklace at the bottom of the poster. The necklace looked different from the one I clutched in my pocket, I decided. Rounder, bluer. The poster appeared old and weathered. It must have been put up months ago. We continued to walk, and I noticed four more posters. Someone must have returned that necklace by now, I thought.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1: Once home, I placed the necklace in my special spot for special things, lost in thought.
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Paragraph 2: Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting across from Chrissy in the candy shop.
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Curious About Everything
Jackson did not feel good so he stayed at home from school today. He did not like to be sick. It was no fun at all. He got out of his bed and walked into his brother’s bedroom. Carter, his brother, loved cars. He had them all over his room. Jackson touched one of the black tires. He wished Carter was home. Carter liked to talk about the model cars as he was putting them together.
Jackson left Carter’s room and walked down the hall to the room his twin sisters shared. Ella liked wearing pretty clothes and Madison liked riding her horse. Ella decorated the wall behind her bed with pictures of girls in fancy clothes. A big poster of a horse was on the wall behind Madison’s bed. Jackson turned and walked back out of the room.
He walked back down the hall and into his little sister’s room. Sophie was the youngest kid in the family. She loved to dance and you could sure tell that from looking at her room. A big poster of a ballerina (芭蕾舞女演员) was over the dresser. She was wearing a funny pink outfit with a special skirt. Sophie told him what the dress was called, but he couldn’t remember right now.
As he stood there, trying to remember what it was called, he realized all of his brother and sisters’ rooms looked like the things they loved. Carter had cars in his room, Ella fashion, Madison horses, and Sophie ballet. Jackson wondered what his room said about him. He walked back down the hall and stood in the doorway of his room.
His bed was a mess. There was a racetrack on his floor, a plastic hat that was part of a magic trick set he got for his birthday, and a couple of plastic dinosaurs lying on their sides. Some clean clothes were stacked (堆放) on his dresser. His walls were bare. No posters of any kind.
“Are you feeling better?” his mom asked as she walked into the room.
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。
Jackson asked his mom why his room looked different from the others’.
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“A person doesn’t have to like just one thing. Some people, like you, are just curious about everything.” the mom said.
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Sometimes I just felt like there were two of me. On the night of our school science fair, Mum and Dad both came because I was getting an award (奖励). They didn’t sit together but they each told me how proud they were of me. It was the first time in a long time that I’d seen them in the same room.
When I went back to Mum’s the next day, I was feeling sad and wasn’t paying attention as I rode my bike down the street. My bike hit a rock, and I fell down hard into the street, twisting (扭伤) my leg.
Mum rushed me to the emergency room calling Dad on the way. Someone put me on a bed and took an X-ray of my leg. My leg really hurt, but I almost forgot about it when I saw Mum and Dad both standing next to me. When the doctor said my leg wasn’t broken and I could go home, I went back to being the same old rubber band (橡皮筋).
At least at school nothing had changed, and I could be just me. My best friend, Trish, was in my class and we told each other everything, our deepest, darkest secrets. But one day Trish decided to pick Lisa instead of me to be on her softball team. I was so mad! So I hid her lunchbox. No one could find it. Later that day the teacher asked the kids again if anyone knew what had happened to the lunchbox. When she got to me, I couldn’t lie. I was sent to the principal’s (校长) office, and the principal called my parents. We had a meeting. Mum gave me her disappointed look that said, “How could you embarrass (使难堪) me like this?”
Tears filled my eyes. “I know. I feel terrible. ” Then the words kept coming out of my mouth like rocks rolling down a hill. “I hate that you get divorced (离婚)! You don’t even talk to each other unless I’m having a problem. My whole life has changed. I have two different homes, and two different sets of rules. And Tm always afraid that if you get mad at me, you’ll divorce me, too. ‘‘I froze. Did I just say all those things out loud?
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。
Mum and Dad stared at each other, speechless for a moment.
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Anyway, after that day things seemed different.
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A Change of Heart
It was a cold December and things were tough for my family. Mum had a hard time raising us kids on her own in our small community of New Westminster as dad passed away five years earlier. We relied on social assistance.
Looking back, I realize what Mum went through sending us kids to school. Every morning she would place a new piece of cardboard in our shoes because our soles (鞋底) were worn out. When we got home, Mum would have French toast ready for us. Constant moving was typical for my family in those days, and it didn’t look like we’d be in our current house much longer. Rent was $25 a month, but Mum couldn’t pay it, and we knew we would be forced to leave right after Christmas on the first of January.
The holidays were fast approaching, and we were entitled to $25 for Christmas from social services. Mum said that instead of buying food, she was going to use the money to pay our rent. That way we’d have a roof over our heads for a little while longer. Then she told us that there would be no Christmas gifts.
Unknown to Mum, I had been selling Christmas trees, shoveling (铲) snow and doing odd jobs to earn enough money to buy a new pair of boots. I knew exactly which boots I wanted. They were ten-inch, Top-Genuine, Pierre Paris boots, and they cost $23.
The big day for getting my boots came on Christmas Eve afternoon. I was very excited as I hurried up the road to catch the bus into town. It was only a half-mile walk, but on the way I noticed a house with Christmas lights and decorations. It was then I realized that at our house, we had no lights, no decorations and no turkey or ham for Christmas dinner.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150词左右;2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
As I continued walking, I began to feel a strange sense of guilt.
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Paragraph 2:
The bus drove off without me, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
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Emily came from a musical family. Her father was a famous pianist in his early years and later was a music instructor. Her mother, however, was a performer and composer. Emily’s older brother was a Cello and part of the church’s choir. However, Emily wasn’t like her brother. She was unable to play any instrument.
“You have to be an instrument that you’re playing. Why aren’t you able to do it?” Emily’s father said to her, advising her to learn to play the piano. From time to time, her mother would show the wish that Emily could develop her ability to perform on the stage. It seemed that the whole family was pushing her to play music. Every time this happened, it was a massive pain for her. Emily felt that she wasn’t part of her family. It was her dream to become just like the rest of them. However, no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to.
“Being different doesn’t mean that you aren’t blessed with any potential or talent,” said Sarah, a teacher of Emily. “Maybe there is something interesting that I can do,” Emily thought. Every evening, Emily spent time sketching or drawing and painting in her bedroom. Her paintings showed her father on the piano and her brother on the Cello as well as her mother performing on the stage. Her paintings were vivid and the emotions were real. The paintings revealed how much her family was devoted to music. The paintings also revealed the things Emily was skilled at.
But her family did not even know. The only thing they knew was that Emily was unable to sing and play one musical instrument. And they weren’t happy with her at all. Emily was a lover of her loved ones, and she loved them dearly. She wanted to be the pride of the family someday. How could this happen when she wasn’t able to do what they asked her to accomplish?
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 answer was found when Sarah saw her gift for arts.
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When her parents saw her artwork, they were moved deeply.
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