Catherine had stayed at home all her life to look after her three children, but now, she, who lost her husband in a car accident, had to step out and earn money to make ends meet. With zero work experience and no professional degree, her chances of getting hired for a well-paid job were next to zero.
One day, after dropping her children at school, Catherine spotted a construction site. “I think I can work here,” she thought and approached the manager.
“Hi, are you hiring?” she asked. “Yes, we are,” the manager looked at Catherine from head to toe. “Are you sure you can work here? This job requires a lot of hard work.” “I’m ready for it,” she told the manager and signed a contract to work a 12-hour shift.
However, Catherine kept her new job a secret from her children. She thought they would feel embarrassed after learning their mother worked at a construction site.
Every morning, after dropping her children to school, she would go to the construction site and work until her shift ended. She would pick up heavy bricks on her shoulder to transport them from one part of the site to the other. One evening, Catherine’s son, Peter, told her about an upcoming contest in school that required mothers to participate. In the competition, students will wear blindfolds and have to recognize their mothers without looking at them. “That sounds like such a cool event, Peter!” Catherine said excitedly. “I can’t wait for it!” “I won’t go therewith you, mom,” Peter replied. “But why?” What her son said next was something Catherine wasn’t prepared to hear.
“Mom, I would have to touch your hands to recognize you, and everyone would look at them,” Peter explained. “Your hands are so ugly. They’re so hard and rough,” he added. “I will feel so embarrassed when my classmates look at your hands,” the boy said. “I won’t attend the event.” Catherine felt terrible but couldn’t say anything in her defense.
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:
A few weeks later, Peter was walking home when something unexpected caught his attention.
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On his way back home, he kept thinking about how he would apologize to his mother:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finding happiness in life
When John walked into the dining room in the morning, his wife Jenny and his two children, Kevin and Sophie, were sitting at the table. The atmosphere was frosty as John sat down. Sophie, who was only five years old, gave her father a weak smile. Kevin, his teenage son, didn’t look up from his food. Jenny looked at him silently with her arms folded across her chest.
“OK,” John began, “I’m sorry. I know I let everyone down yesterday.”
Kevin looked accusingly at his father. “You missed my music performance at school again! You’ve never come to see me do anything,” he said angrily.
Jenny placed a hand on John’s shoulder. “That’s true! John, you always miss family activities. The last time we had a family outing was five months ago! And I’m exhausted from all the housework.”
As he drank his coffee, John reflected on his life. He had so much to be thankful for: a successful business, a harmonious family and a lovely home. In fact, he had everything he had ever wanted, but he knew something was wrong. He had always believed that with hard work, he could make his family happy. But he realized he was failing. He was spending more time at work and less time at home. He was working in the office until late in the evening and even during weekends. When at home, he was talking on the phone with his clients or sitting in front of the computer reading or writing emails. He was neglecting his family. He hadn’t taken his wife to a nice restaurant for months. Kevin was passionate about music, but John couldn’t remember the last time he saw Kevin perform at a school concert. Sophie was growing up so fast and John had even missed her last birthday party. John realized he had become an absent husband and an absent father.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Later that day, John went to work, determined to make some changes.
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Soon, John felt a big improvement in his life and work.
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Vicky was a first-grade student in a primary school, but she did not feel happy there. Her parents wanted to cheer her up, so they sent her to start her second grade in a primary school nearby. She felt quite happy and wanted to make some new friends. However, she made a mistake. She wanted to become so popular that she ioined a group of students at school, but not in the right way.
Jenny, who was very nice at the beginning, became Vicky’s best friend. But Vicky did not realize that by joining up with her, she would suffer a lot later.
Jenny always acted in a proud and unpleasant wav. showing little thought for others. She did not want Vicky to have other friends. Jenny also enjoyed talking about others’ private lives. Vicky started to change as soon as she met Jenny. Her personality was not as sweet as before any more.
Time went by slowly. Vicky’s marks began to go down. Things got even worse. She hardly had any friends and she didn’t care about her friends at all. either. She always talked to her classmates in an impolite way instead of being nice.
After all that suffering, the day at last arrived when one of her classmates told her that Jenny was not going to be in the school next year as she was moving. Vicky said nothing but in fact did not believe it.
However, on the last day at school Jenny told Vicky that she was leaving. Instead of having a happy parting(分手) , Jenny told her that she never felt that Vicky was her true friend.
Vicky was quite surprised when she heard the news and started crying. When holiday was over, Vicky went back to school. telling herself that all the bad times she had suffered last year with Jenny were over, too. But she found out that her classmates had not forgotten her bad acts.
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。
Vicky couldn’t change this until Lily came to her.
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Finally, Vicky was accepted as a member of the class.
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Among the decorative things in a fifteen-year-old girl’s room, one stood out—a bright blue vase (花瓶). Not a perfect or beautiful vase, it’s broken in several places. The owner of the vase has carefully repaired it, but cracks remain. If this vase could talk, it would tell the story of two girls and a friendship.
Amy and June met on an airplane on their way home from Bangkok where their fathers, who were business partners, were attending meetings. June sat behind Amy. Halfway toward home. Amy turned around and gave June a bright blue vase. June accepted it. They smiled shyly at each other. On that day, a simple friendship between two four-year-old girls was built.
Years flew by. Amy and June grew up together, played together, studied together and, naturally, became closest friends. They supported and comforted each other whenever the other faced sadness, embarrassment, etc.
However, life isn’t a bed of roses. People change as they grow up. Sometimes these changes are hard to accept. And even the friendship can be destroyed. When Amy was 14, she admired a group of very popular girls in her and June’s school. Thus. Amy began hanging out with them and regarded them as her good friends.
Although June was hurt, she tried to be understanding. She was still there for Amy each time Amy found the popular girls didn’t seem to like her and needed a shoulder to cry on. But Amy wasn’t there when June needed her.
Upset about the state of their friendship, June finally invited Amy to her house to talk. When June tried to talk about her difficulties and her problems, Amy turned her back on her by saying. “Later.” Instead, Amy asked June for ideas for what she could do to be accepted by the group of girls. June became angry.
She shouted, “What am I to you, Amy? Your friend or just your little dog?” Amy was annoyed and shouted back. “That is it. June! I hate you!”
Amy rushed out of June’s room, shutting the door hard behind her.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
A blue vase on the shelf jumped and fell onto the floor, breaking into pieces.
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When June opened the door, Amy handed her a gift, saying. “Hap, happy birthday. June!”
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A few weeks after the start of the school year, Mello noticed that his friend Melvin was being laughed at by other classmates for the fact that his shoes were worn out (破旧的). Mello couldn’t stand seeing his friend being bullied (欺凌). He really didn’t appreciate other people talking about him that way. In fact, he had been bullied because he was short, so he decided to call his mother immediately after school. He told her that he was tired of this bad situation and that he couldn’t stand anyone laughing at his friend. So, in an act of generosity, Mello suggested that he use his pocket money to buy Melvin a new pair of shoes. He also said that he could do without a New Year gift. Seeing the little boy acted as an adult, the mother was deeply touched and agreed to his request.
After buying them, Mello went to bed earlier than usual, so he could wake up early the next day and go to school a little earlier. This way he could deliver the shoes to his friend without being noticed by other classmates. However, shortly after he gave the shoes to his friend, the headmaster, Bryant Brown, called him into his office.
Mr. Brown told him that he had seen Melvin with a shoebox around the school. When he asked Melvin what was in the box, Melvin showed him that it was a new pair of shoes. Melvin explained that it was his friend Mello who had bought them for him. Mello explained to Mr. Brown that he bought them with his pocket money. Mr. Brown wanted to share this touching moment with more people, and then he took a picture of the shoes.
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。
Mr. Brown asked the children’s parents for. permission (许可) to share the story online.
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Mr. Brown was amazed to see. his post get so many likes
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“Daddy, I want to ask your permission to study in America,” I said to my father a few months before my graduation from high school. But hardly before I finished, he shouted, “No!”
“But why?” I replied. “If you are worried about money, it will be OK since I have got a scholarship…”
But he refused to give in. At the moment, I didn’t know what to say. For more than two years, I had been working very hard to pass all the necessary examinations. I had not told my father because I wanted to give him a pleasant surprise. I thought he would be very proud of me because it was many of my classmates’ parents’ dream to send their children to study abroad.
“Why do I have to get your permission? I am already 18 and I’m not a kid anymore.” I said angrily and rushed to my bedroom, shutting the door violently. Blinded by anger, I found that I could not stay at my hometown any longer. Late that night, I slipped out of the house and decided to take the bus to the railway station to start my own life as far away from my home as possible.
The bus stop was just two blocks away from my home. When I got there, I found that I forgot to take any money with me and missed the last bus. I did not want to go back home, so I sat down on the bench and closed my eyes to have a break.
Suddenly, I was woken up by my phone. I looked around and found the road was deserted and the street was so quiet that I regretted that I had left home in such a hurry. I picked up the phone and answered the phone even without checking the number.
“Have you had a good sleep? It’s going to rain. Shall we go home now?”
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。
It was my father’s voice!
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I grabbed my bag and hurried to ward him.
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Philip, Samantha and Sabrina had a happy family five years ago. The daughter, Sabrina, was a good student and was very good at painting. But everything changed when the mother, Samantha, was diagnosed with cancer. Philip borrowed money, sold his farmhouse, and did everything to save his wife’s life and he was working hard every day for huge medical costs.
One day, Philip got a call from his 14-year-old daughter’s teacher. “Mrs Anderson?” Philip was worried as he answered the call. “Why is she calling me? I hope Sabrina is okay,” he thought.
“Good day, Mrs Anderson! How may I help you?”
Mrs Anderson told Philip that his daughter had not been attending school for the past two days. Philip was shocked because his daughter told him she was going to school that morning. But she had lied to him. After hanging up, Philip immediately called Sabrina to find out.
“Hey, sweetie, where are you?” he asked Sabrina.
“I’m at school,” she told him.
Philip knew Sabrina would probably lie to him again if he asked her where she was and told her he knew she was not in school.
When he got home after work, he saw Sabrina’s school bag on the table and realized Sabrina had already returned home. “Sweetie, I’m home,” he shouted but there was no answer.
Sabrina was not at home. When Philip took her school bag to her room, he found the bag opened a little bit and Philip saw some money in it. Philip feared his daughter could fall into some bad habits. He knew it was silly to doubt his child, but he was troubled by the fear any father would have in raising a teen daughter. Philip just wanted to be sure Sabrina was not doing something wrong and he opened the bag. Besides the money, there were also some paintings.
“Where did she get so much money from?” he said to himself. Philip put the money back into Sabrina’s school bag and kept it as it was. He was more worried about what his teen daughter could be doing.
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 Sabrina came home, Philip decided to ask her about the truth.
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After knowing everything, the teacher advised Sabrina to sell her paintings online.
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During my school years, I had only close friend. We spent years together, and we were inseparable, in or out of school. But the Greg moved away, and I never thought it would take more than 40 years to bring us together again.
As children, Greg and I dove into everything with passion. At that time, we were pure (纯真的) and kind, full of curiosity and expectation for life. We raced our bikes and illustrated (给书加插图) our own comic books. We even became attracted to the same girl from around the corner, a sixth -grader named Joanne who barely (几乎不) knew we existed.
The last times a Greg was sometime in 1966. It was so short a meeting that I couldn’t recall saying goodbye before he moved. Since then, we lost touch.
But then, a few summers ago, I saw a familiar woman. “Excuse me. Would your name happen to be Joanne?”
“Uh, yes...” She didn’t recognise me until I explained who I was. We hadn’t exchanged more than a few dozen words in our entire lifetime. “Have you stayed in touch with Greg?” she asked. I was surprised she even knew of our friendship.
“No. I haven’t,” I admitted. “I wish I had.”
Back at the office I checked my messages. I received one email, and then read it from start to finish. The email was from Greg.
Greg had tracked me down through social media. He was now married, had two children and had become a musician and entrepreneur (企业家) . We exchanged several emails before connecting by phone. A month later, my wife and I drove to meet Greg and his family in person.
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。
Standing in front of his house, I began to get nervous.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing the photo, Greg handed me a small, old card.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________John and Nancy were left with their grandmother Linda after their mom was hospitalized for illness. They were curious about when they could finally see their mom.
“The hospital won’t allow her to leave until all of her medical bills are settled. I have given your mom all I could, but there’s still a large amount that we need to pay off,” Linda explained. John and Nancy missed their mom a lot and wanted her to come back home as soon as possible.
“What if we put up a lemonade stand (摊位), John?” Nancy asked her older brother.
“We can pick the lemons from the garden and make fresh juice out of them,” she suggested. Her brother smiled, “That’s a great idea, Nancy!” From then on, John and Nancy stayed outside the entire afternoon after school selling lemonade. A week went by, they only managed to earn ten dollars.
On Saturday morning, they sat on the side of the yard, looking worried. After a couple of seconds, their silent pondering (沉思) was interrupted by loud police sirens. “Hey, fellas!” one of the policemen greeted. “My colleague Jacob said that his neighbor had a lemonade stand in front of their yard.” The two children nodded. “I’m sorry, officer. But I didn’t think there would be anything wrong with that. Besides, we didn’t earn a lot,” John tried to explain.
“Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble. I bought a cup of it from you two the other day, remember? I asked why you were selling lemonade, and you told me it was to raise funds to get your mom out of the hospital,” Jacob interrupted upon seeing John and Nancy looked nervous.
“I told my friends over here, and we decided we wanted to help. Come to the back of the police car, and we have something to show you,” Jacob told the kids. They slowly made their way to the back of one of the police cars and saw a nicely-painted wooden lemonade stand. “That’s beautiful!” Nancy said in surprise.
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。
“There’s a big food festival downtown today, and we got you a stand.” Jacob said. “Why not go there and give it a shot?”
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There was a large crowd eager to buy lemonade.
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As a young boy, I was carefree. Every vacation I looked forward to two things—seeing my grandpa and hearing his wonderful stories. My grandpa was a very good storyteller. He had worked various odd jobs when he was young and wove his adventures and misadventures into fantastic tales. These wonderful tales colored my childhood.
As I grew up, I had to admit that Grandpa’s stories went on a little long, even a little boring and gradually lost their magic. However, not wanting to upset him, my brother and I would sometimes take turns sitting in the living room, listening to grandpa tell his stories.
When my grandpa was approaching 91, he suffered from serious memory-loss. It was kind of what doctors called dementia (痴呆), probably the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Following the doctor’s directions, we moved him into a Sunrise Assisted Living Community, where he could get a better care. After that, grandpa hardly came to our house.
One weekend before my grandpa’s birthday, I came to visit him. Seeing grandpa sitting in his armchair, dull-looking, I was consumed with mixed feelings. I wheeled grandpa to the sunshine in the courtyard, talking to him. He couldn’t express himself clearly and spoke in short bursts, but I listened to him patiently and carefully just as I used to be a little boy.
It was then that I noticed a shadow box with some old and yellowish photos in it. I picked one up, in which my brother, several boys in our neighborhood, and I were playing basketball with grandpa cheering us on twenty years before. My mind flashed back to those beautiful memories. Back then, Grandpa was in good physical condition and we were all wearing basketball jerseys, playing and laughing with abandon. I presented the photo to my grandpa, pointing at each member and reminding him of their names. Incredibly, grandpa could speak out the name of every player. I even caught a soft light in grandpa’s eyes and a smile on his lips.
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。
A bright idea for grandpa’s birthday came to my mind.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing “the same players” playing there, grandpa seemed to have thought of something.
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