A Sweet Song
"Nothing will ever be the same again," Ally whispered. She sank slowly into her father's favorite chair and stared at the small American flag on his desk. It was the flag which Chief Russell had given to her after the funeral last summer, when he hugged her and told her how proud the Police Department was of her dad's work for them. His tears had warmed Ally's cheeks; her own tears were still frozen inside her heart.
Ally looked at her father's picture on the bookcase. Dad was sitting in the middle of a stream, wet through but grinning proudly. "I miss you, Dad," she said softly. By this time last year she had already taken dozens of pictures. Ever since she could remember, she and Dad had been a team, searching the woods behind the house each weekend for a glimpse of the special wood warbler（林中莺）.
Ally reached for the first photo album she and Dad had put together. On the cover a tiny orange bird with blue-gray wings and sharp black eyes peered out of the photo her father had clipped from a local newspaper. Ally smiled, remembering the excited look on his face when he first showed her the pretty bird. "Ally, I bet if we search real hard, we'll see this little guy together some day."
They'd never spotted the warbler, but her father had an amazing way of making each outing seem special. Staying with Dad, Ally felt comfortable. "If only I could get that good feeling back," she thought, sighing.
Staring at the bird, suddenly, she knew exactly what she had to do. Grabbing the-little flag, she placed her camera around her neck and hurried outside. Ally stuck the flag among the flowers in the garden. "Please let me see the warbler," she murmured to herself. She gave her worried Mom a kiss and then set off into the woods.
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。
Familiar smells of the earth rose up to greet her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Determined to start out the next morning, she was about to head home when a ringing birdsong floated down to her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Every previous year on Thanksgiving Day I’d woken up early, filled with excitement, unable to wait for the turkey, pumpkin pie with pecans, and my grandma’s famous cheesecake. But I would never forget the lesson that my mother taught me when I was 14 years old. That Thanksgiving, I couldn’t find the magic anymore. For some reason the holiday seemed fake (假的). I suddenly felt like Thanksgiving was a big lie. I saw no reason to celebrate.
As my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma started to arrive carrying plates of food, baskets of bread, and pitchers of egg nog, I grew more and more angry and frustrated. None of them were really thankful, I realized. The whole thing was a lie!
When my mom called for everyone to take their seats for dinner, I left. I ran into the guest room where no one would look, crying. I was defiant (反抗的) because I wanted to be an honest person but 1 was realizing that Thanksgiving was fake. It didn’t feel right to join in the tradition---say something beautiful one by one around the table.
My mom, worried that 1 was absent from the table, came to see what was wrong, “No one is really thankful!” I sobbed, “They just pretend for one day because that’s what you’re supposed to do!"
My mom sat down next to me and listened wisely. Then she nodded. “You’re right,” she told me, “it’s fake until you find the truth for yourself.” She said Thanksgiving was a time to reflect because we don’t always get a chance to see loved ones and eat a good meal. Then she left. I didn’t listen to her. I was convinced that I could never find joy celebrating again.
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。
But I was also starving and I had to eat something.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At her words, I realized they wanted me to be a part of the tradition.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A pleasant surprise
For a long time, I had been looking for a piano of my own to practise on. There was a piano shop on the street along which I walked every day to school. Whenever I passed the shop, I would stop, looking at the beautiful piano standing in the comer of the shop window. How I had been dreaming, day and night to possess a piano like that!
Unfortunately, my father was just a clerk. Times were tough during the Depression, and there were five mouths to feed, besides buying coal and wood for the stove. In order to save money, even on cold winter days, my father would walk the seven miles every day to get to work. No he could never afford to buy me an expensive piano. Though he knew I wanted to play that piano so much» buying it was an extravagance (奢侈品) well beyond our family’s income.
One day after school, I went as usual to the shop window to look at the piano. However, to my surprise and disappointment, the piano had gone. I should not have been surprised as others had the right to buy it, if they could afford to. Tears filled my eyes when I thought of not being able to sec that piano any more.
Disappointed, helpless and sad, I wandered aimlessly up and down the street. After about an hour. I returned home. I had just entered into our house, when I heard my mother calling me. I brushed away my tears and followed the sound of her voice into the dining-room.
Paragraph 1:I could not believe my eyes.
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As soon as my father appeared, I hugged him tightly.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Everyone likes the beautiful Cinderella, but I like the ugly stepsister. The sidewalk was filled with shoppers as my mother and I hurried to the department store. I raised my neck for a look at the holiday window display, but at the age of six I was too small to see around the grown-ups with their winter coats and packages. When at last we reached the store, I stood with my eyes widened. “Look, Mother,” I shouted, pressing my hands against the glass, “Cinderella.” Before my eyes was the most beautiful doll I had ever seen! She wore a fairy princess suit made of shining red silk. I knew if I lifted her skirt I would find her crystal(水晶) shoes. The tiny tiara (冠状头饰) fastened to her silky golden hair shone.
“If only she were mine,” I dreamed. “We’d have tea parties, share secrets and dance with a handsome prince.” But to my disappointment, my mother guided me away from the window, explaining that she and my father could not afford such an expensive doll. “But there will be a very special gift under the tree for you on Christmas morning, Madge,” she said. “I promise.” Later that week I leaned against Mother’s sewing machine, watching the needle flash up and down. “Bet you don’t know what this is!” she joked, holding up the cloth for me to see. “My Christmas doll!” I yelled. It was still in the early stages but I could make out the head, neck and body. “So much to my surprise!” Mother laughed as I danced around the room, already pretending Cinderella and I were at the ball. It wouldn’t be long now.
My excitement grew with each passing day. Mother continued to work on the doll, and whenever I walked into the room she would hide it under a pillow. I could tell by her smile she was pleased with her progress. On Christmas morning I jumped out of bed, ran down the hall and quickly arrived at the living room where the Christmas tree was placed.
注意：1.续写的词数应为150左右；2.请按下列格式作答。
There, underneath the tree, was a beautifully packed gift box.
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But I could see Mother watching me, waiting for my response.
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5 . It was 1939, and the Great Depression had made all our lives much harder. But we didn’t know how poor we were until our father sat my brother and me down on the couch in our living room to have a talk.
I will always remember the sad look in Father’s eyes as he stared down at his hands, rubbing them back and forth, while he searched for the words to tell us that our family wasn’t going to be celebrating Christmas this year.
A month later, on Christmas Eve, I lay awake in bed late into the night, trying to talk myself out of sneaking into our living room to see if Santa had come. I gathered my courage, then tiptoed down the hallway, hoping I would see the bright sparkling lights of our Christmas tree standing proudly in the corner of our living room, like it did every year.
Instead, I was greeted by my seventeen-year-old brother, Frank, who slept on our living room couch. “Hey, little one, what are you doing up?” he whispered.
I started to cry. “There’s no Christmas tree.”
There would be no presents, no singing, no Christmas dinner. It felt like we were the saddest family in the world. My disappointment overwhelmed me. I looked forward to Christmas each year. It wasn’t only the presents. It was that special feeling I got from seeing my family happy. We hadn’t been happy in such a long time.
On Christmas morning, the sun shone into our chilly bedroom, waking me up. “Maybe Santa came! Maybe he came!” I suddenly insisted. My eyes searched the living room, but there was no Christmas tree. I broke into uncontrollable tears.
I ran to Father in tears and threw my arms around him. “ We aren’t going to have Christmas this year.”
“Now, now, now, calm down. Go on in and see your mother. She will comfort you.” Dad slowly pushed the bedroom door open, leading me 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。
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something different in the bedroom.
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With my question answered, everything dawned on me.
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One day, six-year-old Pete stepped out of his house to buy a lollipop(棒棒糖). It had rained all night long. But now the sun was shining, and the wind was blowing all over the pavements， blowing the rain away. Pete got on his tricycle(三轮脚踏车) and rode away. He felt excited since this was the first time he had gone to a shop on his tricycle. “I’ll ride through every puddle(水坑),” he said to himself.
He rode right through the first puddle, and splashes of water flew up in the air. But when he looked around, the puddle was still there. Behind his tricycle was a long black line. His front wheel had made it when it came out of the puddle. Pete noticed it and he was pleased. “I meant to do that,” he laughed. (But he hadn’t really.) So he rode right through the next puddle, and his black line shone behind him. But now, when he looked around, instead of one black line there were three, because this puddle was a very big one, and all three of the wheels had gone right into it. “I’m an engine-driver,” cried Pete. “And those are my railway lines. Oooo! Ooooooo!”
And he pedaled through every puddle he could see. Sometimes it was a small puddle, and then there was only one railway line. And sometimes it was a middle-sized puddle, and then there were two railway lines. And sometimes it was a very big puddle, with a lot of sky in it, and then the whole tricycle went through it, and there were three railway lines.
Suddenly Pete remembered that he was going to the shop on the corner to buy a lollipop. He put his hand in his pocket to make sure his two pennies were still there. One of them, two of them… Pete felt each of them with his fingers. “It was good of me to remember,” he told himself. “I’m a very good rememberer.”
Paragraph 1:
As he stopped for a break, a little cat came out of a house.
Paragraph 2:
Just then a lady ran out of the house.
The Meredith family lived in a small community. As the economy was in decline, some people in the town had lost their jobs. Many of their families were struggling to make ends meet. People were trying to help each other meet the challenges.
Mrs. Meredith was a most kind and thoughtful woman. She spent a great deal of time visiting the poor. She knew they had problems, and they needed all kinds of help. When she had time, she would bring food and medicine to them.
One morning she told her children about a family she had visited the day before. There was a man sick in bed, his wife, who took care of him and could not go out to work, and their little boy. The little boy -his name was Bernard-had interested her very much.
“I wish you could see him,” she said to her own children, John, Harry, and Clara. “He is such a help to his mother. He wants very much to earn some money, but I don't see what he can do.”
After their mother left the room, the children sat thinking about Bernard. “I wish we could help him to earn money,” said Clara. “His family is suffering so much.”
“So do I,” said Harry. “We really should do something to assist them.”
For some moments, John said nothing, but, suddenly, he sprang to his feet and cried, “I have a great idea! I have a solution that we can all help accomplish(完成).”
The other children also jumped up all attention. When John had an idea, it was sure to be a good one. “I tell you what we can do,” said John. “You know that big box of corn Uncle John sent us? Well, we can make popcorn(爆米花), and put it into paper bags, and Bernard can take it around to the houses and sell it.”
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 Mrs. Meredith heard of John's idea, she thought it was a good one, too.
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With everything ready, Bernard started out on his new business.
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8 . A Great Way to Teach Children to Take Responsibility
As parents, one of the most important things to teach children to take responsibility is to include chores as a part of their daily routine. In order to make a family function smoothly, every member must contribute. Teaching your children to take responsibility at an early age makes it easier for them to shoulder greater responsibilities as they grow older.
Make rewards and punishments a part of the lesson. Together decide whether they will be rewarded or not.
Children need to be taught that there are punishments for their actions in case of not doing their assigned chores. Decide and agree from the start what the punishment will be.
Teaching your children the importance of contributing to the family is of great importance.
| A．A chore is a specific task a child has been assigned which helps improve the life of the entire family. |
| B．And what punishment they will receive if a chore isn’t done. |
| C．Actually you are taking a critical step in empowering them for their future. |
| D．Start by teaching children the difference between a chore and cleaning up after themselves. |
| E．Teach children the importance of each assignment, and why it matters. |
| F．Children will not be rewarded at all for merely cleaning up. |
| G．And if so, what the reward will be for a job well done. |
My crippled(瘸腿) grandmother was dancing. I stood in the living room doorway, absolutely shocked. I heard her sing when I opened the door but did not want to interrupt her by shouting I had arrived. She was wearing beautiful dancing shoes and her legs obeyed her perfectly. As long as I could remember, she was once the pet of the dancing world. But it was all over after a sudden accident. She had always limped(一瘸一拐地走)，helped with a cane(拐杖).
She turned around and saw me standing in the doorway. Her song ended, and her beautiful movements with it. Grandma turned towards the kitchen. She was walking with no difficulties in her beautiful shoes. I followed her, not believing my eyes.
“So…” I asked surprisedly but happily, “How did your leg heal（康复）?”
“To tell you the truth—my legs have been well all my life,” she said.
“But I don’t understand!” I said, “ I mean… You pretended all these years?
“Very much so,” Grandmother closed her eyes, “And for a very good reason.”
“What reason?”
“Your grandfather.”
“You mean he told you not to dance?”
“No, this was my choice. I am sure I would have lost him if I had continued dancing. I weighed fame（名声）and love against each other and love won.”
“We were talking about engagement（订婚）when your grandfather had to go to war. It was the most terrible day of my life when he left. I was so afraid of losing him, the only way I could stay peaceful was to dance. And then one day a letter came. There were only three sentences:‘I have lost my leg. I am no longer a whole man and now give you back your freedom. It is best you forget about me.’”
Grandma continued to tell me that Grandfather was in hospital and she made her decision not to give him up. She took her leave, and traveled away from the city.
Several weeks later, she returned.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________She took a deep breath, leaned on her cane and limped to Grandfather.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I looked forward to a visit with my mom, who lived 2,000 miles from my home in California. Since Mom was 80 and suffered from Alzheimer’s (阿兹海默症), I realized how important it was to see her again soon.
Mom received loving care from the Sister Servants of Christ the King at a 40-bed, basic-care facility (场所) in Edgeley, North Dakota. She lived in a simple room, spent most of her day doing simple things, and seemed to be “all right, “considering that dementia (痴呆) had set in.
When Mom came in, I smiled, hugged and kissed her, and said, “Nice to see you, Mom.” She didn’t recognize who I was! I was shocked.
Stressed out, I spent several hours trying to connect with my mother—talking with her, walking around the grounds, looking at family pictures in her room, chatting with the nuns (修女) —doing whatever I could think of to help Mom recognize her son. I hoped for a recognition “wonder”. But nothing I said or did worked, I was very annoyed.
The next morning, I suddenly had an idea. I thought of something that might stir her memory (记忆).I thought of strawberry milkshake (草莓奶昔). Yes, strawberry milkshake in Edgeley, North Dakota. So I took Mom to the Edgeley Coffee Shop. I wanted to treat her here. While Mom was looking at the menu, I took Sandy, the waitress, aside, quietly told her of Mom’s dementia condition and my plan to recall her long-term memory, and ordered two strawberry milkshakes.
The first paragraph: When Sandy delivered the milkshakes, I was too nervous to say a word.
The second paragraph: There’s a simple explanation for Mom’s memory.
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。
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