When the tragedy struck me during the Depression (大萧条), my father did the only thing he could.
The tragedy happened in the year 1933. I was only 6 years old when I was rushed to the hospital with two crushed feet. My parents were told I might never walk again.
The accident happened when I was sitting in front of our house in Lowell, Massachusetts. I was playing in a puddle (水坑) after a rainstorm when I felt a huge weight on my feet. When I looked up, there was a car tire on my feet. I cried out, but the motor was running and no one could hear me over the engine.
The driver had run across the street for a newspaper. When he got back to his car, he drove away — never knowing he had parked on my feet.
Just about then, our neighbor’s son came home and saw me bent over my feet in pain. He immediately carried me home, and I remember thinking how tall and strong he was.
An ambulance came, and I remained in the hospital for 3 weeks while my feet were “repaired”. When I returned home, I could hardly walk.
I sat in our bay window and watched the children play on the street and longed to join them...but I couldn’t. I felt so left out despite my parents’ company.
My parents were told that if I was ever to walk again, I’d need treatment, which in those days meant riding a tricycle (三轮车) to strengthen the muscle and eventually get my feet back into condition for walking.
Our family couldn’t afford such an expensive thing. Times were tough during the Depression, and there were five mouths to feed, besides buying coal and wood for the stove.
Dad couldn’t afford the bus fare and on cold winter days he walked 7 miles every day in his only winter coat to get to work. No, there was no money for a tricycle. I would be a disabled person all my life.
Paragraph 1:Then one day, while sitting at my usual place in the window, I saw my father walking up the street carrying a tricycle on his shoulder.
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It was many years later before I learned where and how Dad had got the tricycle.
My parents and I had been planning my brother's birthday party since the beginning of March. Johnny would be six years old in two days. My mom was going to bake her special chocolate cake with white icing. As I watched her, I thought, Gee, I wondered what I can do to make my brother's birthday special.
I knew my parents had already bought a present for me to give to Johnny, but I wanted to buy him something I had chosen myself and with the money I had saved. After giving it some thought, I wanted to buy him the paintbynumberkit (数字涂色小套装) I had seen at the store around the corner, which I hope must make him delighted.
I decided to empty my coin jar and see how much money I had saved. However, I was disappointed to find there was much less than I had imagined. “Oh, no, I only have about three dollars,” I muttered to myself. The set cost more than I have saved.
Suddenly a “great” idea occurred to me. I slid into my parents' bedroom where my dad kept loose change (零钱) on top of the dresser. I stood on my tiptoes and saw some dime, nickels, and a few quarters. I carefully counted out what I needed to make up the difference. I'm sure Dad won't mind just this once, I thought.
However, I was soon overcome by guilt. Even though there was no one else in the bedroom, I felt like I was being watched. Mom was always telling us about the importance of honesty. Maybe my plan wasn't such a great idea after all, I thought. I jingled the change around in my pocket while wondering what to do.
I grabbed my jacket from the closet and headed toward the door. “Where are you going, honey?” Mom asked, “Oh, just up to the corner store,” I replied. “Well, don't stay out too long. Daddy will be home soon.” “Okay, Mom.” I ran out of our house.
Once I got to the store, I took the paintbynumber kit from the shelf.
“Can I help you, young lady?” the salesclerk asked.
“No. I'm just looking, thank you,” I said.
“That's a really nice paint kit. We sell a lot of them and, as you can see, that's the last one.” she said.
Paragraph 1：I nodded my head in agreement, with my mind racing.
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I would just have to wait until I saved the extra money I needed.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Ruth was sixty-eight years old, she visited her daughter Judy and teenage granddaughter Marcy in California. They headed for their cabin, moving forty miles up and down the mountains in their car,along a narrow one-lane road that wound terrifyingly close to cliffs (悬崖).
After dinner, Marcy announced the water tank was low and that she would drive the car down to the pump and get water. Ruth was nervous about her young granddaughter driving down the narrow road by herself, but Judy reminded her that Marcy had been driving vehicles up there roads for many years
“Just be careful, Marcy”, her mother warned. “They’ve had a drought up here and the road along the cliff is pretty shaky. Be sure to hug the mountain side.”
Ruth and Judy watched Marcy from the big window where they could see the road winding down the mountainside. Fifteen minutes later, Judy was still watching when suddenly she screamed,”Oh no! She went over the cliff, Momma! The car and Marcy--they went over! We have to help her!Come on!”
Judy took off running desperately. Grabbing a three-foot-long walking stick against the cabin door, Ruth ran behind her, but Judy was quickly out of sight after the first turn in the road. Breathing hard, Ruth ran on and on, trying to catch up with her daughter. It was getting harder and harder to see anything at dusk.
Suddenly she stopped, not knowing where she was.”Marcy!Judy!”she shouted.
A faint voice .”Momma!”It was Judy.
Ruth screamed into the darkness “Judy,where are you?” Off to her right and down the cliff she heard, “Down here,Mother!Don’t come near the edge! I slipped on loose rocks and fell over. I’m down about ten feet.”
“Oh dear! Judy, what can I do?”
“Just stay back, Momma!”
Facing the situation, Ruth felt her heart was pounding, and chest pains almost took her breath away. She started to sob, totally at a loss what to do.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右：
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At that moment, Ruth glimpsed at the walking stick, an idea striking her.
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Ruth held her close and said anxiously. “Judy. We have to get help for Marcy!”
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After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. It’s hard to imagine that the other woman was my mother, who has been living alone for 19 years, but I am too busy to visit her often. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.
“What’s wrong? Are you well?” she asked. My mother always doubts that a late night call is a sign of bad news.
“It would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded.
As I drove over to pick her up, I noticed that she seemed to be nervous about our date. But she smiled from a face that was as beautiful as an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed,” she said.
We went to a restaurant that was very nice and comfortable. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. I saw mom sitting there looking at me with a smile on her lips.
“I used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time to let me return the favour,” I responded.
During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation-nothing special but catching up on recent events. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
When I got home, my wife shared her story about her mom who passed away years ago.
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Several days later, I received my mother’s invitation.
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About a half-mile behind our Minnesota farm lay a pond. In summer, my brother Harry and I would run through a stand of oak trees to skip stones there. The pond wore a collar of black mud. It was not a place for swimming.
In late summer, the pond would be covered by a green and bubbly scum(起泡的浮渣). Sometimes a strong, unpleasant smell rose from it. We stayed away.
When winter came, the pond was once again an inviting place. One day when ice covered it, Harry said to me, “Try walking across.”
The ice looked solid. No water showed through it, but I hesitated. “Go ahead.” Harry urged. “Try it. You’re lighter than I am. If the ice holds, we can run and slide carefully on it. It’ll be fun.” I wanted to please Harry, and I thought about the fun of a long slide on the ice. I began to slide across the pond.
In the middle of the pond, the ice gave way with a sudden crack(裂缝)! I stretched out(伸展) my arms. The next thing I knew I was hanging on to the edge of a hole in the ice by arms outstretched on the ice. From my shoulders down I hung in icy water. I thought of the bottom of the pond. I knew it would be black and awful down there, full of mud and maybe rotting creatures.
I tried to climb out of the hole, but when I got a knee on the ice, it broke like window glass. Again and again I tried to get out. Again and again the ice broke into pieces. The hole widened. I was wearing a coat of heavy material. As it became completely wet, it dragged me down. I was tired of the struggle and rested with my arms stretched out on the ice.
I looked at Harry on shore. He seemed rooted to the spot. “I can’t get out!” I screamed when I caught some breath.
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。
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Harry turned and ran from the pond.
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The moment I crashed through the kitchen door, sobbing, mum rushed over.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Desiree, a 4-year-old girl, was sobbing quietly over her father, Ken, who had died nine months earlier. She was hugging a photograph of her father with her fingers running around his face. “Daddy”, she said softly, “Why won't you come back?”
Instead of gradually adjusting to her father's death, Desiree refused to accept it “Daddy will be home soon,” she'd tell her mother. “He's at work.” When she played with her toy telephone, she pretended she was chatting with her father “I miss you, Daddy,” she'd say. “When will you come back?” Desiree's situation made her mother worried.
Days later, it was Ken's birthday. “How will I send him a card?” Desiree asked her mother “How about if we tie a litter to a balloon.” her mother said, “and send it up to heaven?” Desiree's eyes immediately lit up.
Her mother took her to a store and Desiree picked out a balloon with HAPPY BIRTHDAY above a drawing of The Little Mermaid (美人鱼). Desire and her father had often watched it.
The child's eyes shone as they were on the way to Ken's grave. Then Desiree dictated (口述) a letter to her Dad. “Daddy, Happy birthday, I love you and miss you,” she rattled off (快速说). “I hope you get this and can write to me on my birthday in January.”
Her mother wrote the message and their address on a small piece of paper, which was then wrapped in plastic and tied to the end of the string on the balloon. Finally, Desiree let fly the balloon. For almost an hour, they watched the shining spot of silver grow smaller and smaller till disappear. “Now Dad's going to write back to me,” Desiree said confidently.
Every day since they'd flew the balloon, Desiree had asked her mother, “Do you think Daddy has my balloon yet?” Several weeks passed, and she stopped asking.
Paragraph 1One day, 3,000 miles away, Wade was on a duck hunt when suddenly something in the bush caught his eyes. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2
Desire's fifth birthday came and later on the afternoon, a package arrived.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
A Vacation with My Mother
I had an interesting childhood. It was filled with surprises and amusements, all because of my mother---loving, sweet, yet absent-minded and forgetful. One strange family trip we took when I was eleven tells a lot about her.
My two sets of grandparents lived in Colorado and North Dakota, and my parents decided to spend a few weeks driving to those states and seeing all the sights along the way. As the first day of our trip approached, David, my eight-year-old brother, and I unwillingly said good-bye to all of our friends. Who knew if we’d ever see them again? Finally, the moment of our departure arrived, and we loaded suitcases, books, games, camping equipment, and a tent into the car and bravely drove off. We bravely drove off again two hours later after we’d returned home to get the purse and traveler’s checks Mom had forgotten.
David and I were always a little nervous when using gas station bathrooms if Mom was driving while Dad slept: “You stand outside the door and play lookout(放哨) while I go, and I’ll stand outside the door and play lookout while you go.” I had terrible pictures in my mind: “Honey, where are the kids?” “What?! Oh, Gosh…I thought they were being awfully quiet.” We were never actually left behind in a strange city, but we weren’t about to take any chances.
On the fourth or fifth night, we had trouble finding a hotel with a vacancy. After driving in vain for some time, Mom suddenly got a great idea: Why didn’t we find a house with a likely-looking backyard and ask if we could set up tent there? David and I became nervous. To our great relief, Dad turned down the idea. Mom never could understand our objections(反对). If a strange family showed up on her front doorstep, Mom would have been delighted. She thinks everyone in the world is as nice as she is. We finally found a vacancy in the next town.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:The next day we remembered the brand-new tent we had brought with us. ______________
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We drove through several states and saw lots of great sights along the way. ______________
