Undoubtedly, Mother Nature is always attractive to kids. In our childhood, how often did we turn a deaf ear to our parents’ advice? Very often! Thus, we landed ourselves in a situation where we greatly regretted our act of not having listened to the advice of the wise.
Such an unforgettable experience I had at the age of 7 gave me an invaluable lesson, after which I deeply understood why my gentle mother was repeating the boring suggestions and I would try to take her suggestions seriously.
In my childhood, I was so crazy about nature that even playing among the colorful flowers in our garden could make my day. Our house was next to the woods which had always stirred up(激起) great curiosity in me in wanting to find out what was within. Every time I saw fascinating butterflies dancing from the woods, my curiosity grew.
But my mother didn’t like me wandering off on my own and always ensured that I was within her sight. Even if she allowed me to explore the surrounding area on my own, it was only to be somewhere near the house. Being as curious as the cat, I always desired to explore the woods. It seemed as if my mother had understood my desire, so she had warmed me on lots of occasions never to enter the woods alone.
“Mom, can I go out and play in the garden?” I asked.
“Sure,” she would reply each time. “Kate, you can play in the garden but you must promise me one thing—only when I’m with you can you go into the woods. There are no cases of animal attacks on humans, but it’s still dangerous for a little kid like you. It’s too easy to get lost in the woods.”
“Sure, you’ve said that many times!” I answered without patience at her repeated reminders.
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。
However, curiosity got the better of me one morning.
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“Kate?” Behind the trees covered by the rays of the setting sun came my mother’s voice.
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2 . My parents ran the Pagonis restaurant, a small eatery in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, and my first real job, when I was six years old, was shining diners’ shoes. My duties increased as I grew older. By the age of ten I was clearing tables and working as the janitor(清洁工). Dad beamed when he told me that I was the best “mop guy” he’d ever had.
Working in the restaurant was a source of great pride because I was pitching in for the good of the whole family. But my father made it clear. I had to meet certain standards to be part of the team. I had to be responsible, hard-working and polite to the customers.
Except for the shoeshine job, I was never paid for any work I did at the restaurant. One day I made the mistake of telling Dad I thought he ‘should give me $10 a week. He said, “Okay, then how about you paying me for the three meals a day you eat here? And for the times you bring in your buddies for free sodas?” He figured I owed him about $40 a week. This taught me that when you negotiate, you’d better know the other side’s arguments as well as your own.
I remember coming home to Charleroi after being away in the Army about two years. I had just been promoted to captain and was full of pride as I walked into my parents’ restaurant. The first thing Dad said was, “It’s the janitor’s day off. How about you cleaning up tonight?”“I can’t believe this!” I thought. “I’m an officer in the United States Army!” But it didn’t matter. As far as Dad was concerned, I was just another member of the team. I reached for the mop.
Working for Dad had taught me that loyalty to a team comes first. It doesn’t matter whether that team is involved in a family restaurant or in the Army.
1. How was the author’s work at the restaurant?| A．It was unpaid. |
| B．It was beyond his power. |
| C．It was negotiable. |
| D．It was thought highly of by his father. |
| A．Doing my bit. |
| B．Swallowing my pride. |
| C．Making a sacrifice. |
| D．Earning a living. |
| A．He got annoyed at his father’s words. |
| B．He hadn’t expected to be treated as before. |
| C．His father didn’t realize he was an honored captain. |
| D．His father fully understood his son’s pride as an officer. |
| A．Responsibility and generosity. |
| B．Politeness and kindness. |
| C．Diligence and faithfulness. |
| D．Devotion and ambition. |
When my husband Randy died in late fall, deciding what to do with his garden was way down on the list of necessary tasks. During the first few months, I cried with our daughters, planned a memorial, cried with my family, celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving, and panicked over not having bought Christmas presents.
As the calendar turned to a new year, the often rainy days and long nights deepened my sorrow. I found myself exhausted at the end of February, both physically and mentally.
Then the daffodils bloomed (开花) in the garden.
Years before, Randy had planted dozens of these lemon-yellow flowers. To him, they served as a reminder of hope, a promise that light and warmth would soon replace cold and dark. Looking at those dauffodils, I thought about how Randy had considered our garden a living work of art, carefully choosing plants so we’d see new blooms every month.
Then I noticed all the weeds that had taken root and spread everywhere. The neglect (疏于打理) showed, for Randy’s illness had lasted a couple of years, a time when he didn’t have energy for yard work the way he had before.
Faced with the neglected garden, I felt overwhelmed in the beginning. My daughters suggested I hire a service to clean everything up. I didn’t respond.
Every time I sat in the garden alone, the memories of the lively garden came flooding, like the numerous scenes in an unforgettable film. Many days Randy came home from work, changed into old clothes, and headed out the door to mow or prune (修剪). Orange dragonflies followed him around the yard as he worked. Honeybees buzzed among the flowers, birds sang beautiful songs, and gentle breezes carried the sweet smell of dirt. No matter how cold or wet it was, the fresh air and physical activity made him energized and refreshed. For Randy, the work was quiet and comforting, which was a relief, as well as a pleasure.
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。
The days grew warmer and lighter, and I started the work myself.
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Weeks later, my daughters returned to visit me.
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Jeff and I had many conversations during the year, but I will always remember the time he told me about his family. His father, a successful physician, was cold and strict in Jeffs words. His father had even paved the way for Jeff to attend the same college from which he had graduated.
Jeff was twenty-seven and a successful business planner at a company — without a degree. His passion was skiing. When he graduated from high school, he decided to decline his father’s offer and, instead, to work with a ski patrol (滑雪巡逻队). With pain in his eyes, Jeff told me he still remembered the day when he told his father he was going to give up college and take a job at a ski resort.
Hearing Jeffs decision, his father looked off into the distance. Then came the words that still echoed in Jeff’s mind: “You lazy kid. No son of mine is going to work with a ski patrol and does not attend college. I should have known you’d never amount to anything!” The two had not spoken since that conversation.
Later, he was back in the area near where he grew up and he certainly did not want his father to know he was attending college. He was doing this for himself, not for his father. He said it over and over again. Jeff’s sister had always remained supportive of Jeffs decisions. She stayed in contact with their father, but Jeff had made her promise that she would not share any information about his life with him.
The day when the graduation ceremony came, I walked around talking to people before it started. I noticed a man with a confused expression.
“Excuse me,” he said as he politely approached me. “What is happening here today?”
“It’s graduation day,” I replied, smiling. “Well, that’s odd,” he said, “my daughter asked me to meet her at this address.” His eyes sparkled and he smiled. “Maybe she completed her associate’s degree and wanted to surprise me!”
I helped him find a seat.
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: As I left him, he said, “Thank you. By the way, my name’s Dr. Holstrom.”
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Paragraph 2: Jeff was the last person to cross the stage.
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As the afternoon sun bathed the local beach with its warm, golden rays, four-year-old William sat on the beach with a mix of expectation and confusion. His dad, Steven, sat by his side. They were waiting for William’s friends to arrive and celebrate his long-awaited birthday party. William’s wide eyes, filled with hope and happiness, stared at the shoreline, looking for familiar faces.
He kept asking his dad where everyone was, and Steven just told him “they’re coming soon, ”trying to ease his son’s growing impatience. But the longer they waited, the more hopeless William became. He was extremely disappointed when the two invited families called and said they couldn’t make it to the celebration because of unexpected situations.
Steven watched his son, who had been eagerly expecting his special day for what seemed like ages. This year, William had been more aware than ever of his upcoming birthday, asking throughout the month when his birthday was, eagerly expecting a good time.
Feeling a sense of guilt for his son’s disappointment, Steven decided to turn to social media for help. He posted a lovely picture of him and William on the beach. Their faces were filled with a mix of hope and disappointment. The sincere words with the picture read, “William would love some friends to play with on the beach. To celebrate his fourth birthday, he has Hot Wheels, sand toys, dinosaurs, and we have some snacks and drinks. Any and all welcome. ”
William’s wish for companionship produced a strong response from the local people. They flooded the post with messages of support, birthday wishes, and offers to join the celebration. They were determined to make William’s day special.
“Going there. See you soon, ”one warm-hearted local commented on the post, promising to bring her family along. The message aroused the same feeling from many others, who were quick to follow suit.
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。
Soon, the beach was filled with scenes of joy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After hours of laughter and games, the sun began to set.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Within two years of first showing signs of memory loss, Peter Marshall had to give up work as early onset Alzheimer’s began to take hold.
His wife Lisa started a blog called “Oh Hello Alzheimer’s” to help her cope with the progressive
As the disease
The next day,
When Lisa joined her husband to
The music
“There wasn’t a dry eye, and I was
| A．dilemma | B．problem | C．challenge | D．trouble |
| A．messages | B．letters | C．mails | D．comments |
| A．appeared | B．worsened | C．emerged | D．strengthened |
| A．formally | B．eventually | C．desperately | D．instantly |
| A．scene | B．event | C．situation | D．spot |
| A．but | B．instead | C．however | D．therefore |
| A．year | B．ceremony | C．celebration | D．anniversary |
| A．decline | B．reduction | C．drop | D．disappearance |
| A．happiest | B．saddest | C．toughest | D．brightest |
| A．speak | B．exchange | C．swear | D．express |
| A．fairytale | B．story | C．drama | D．show |
| A．played | B．reflected | C．equaled | D．matched |
| A．in the sky | B．over the moon | C．over the sky | D．in the air |
| A．looked at | B．moved around | C．looked on | D．cheered up |
| A．told | B．uttered | C．conveyed | D．whispered |
Crash! The old black pickup truck in front of me stopped. I didn’t. I crashed into its back breaking the fender (挡泥板) and bending the driver’s door of my car. To make matters worse, it wasn’t my car. It was my father’s. I shouldn’t have been driving it, and now I had destroyed it.
A farmer jumped out of the truck, slowly and carefully, and looked at the damage. I sat sobbing (抽噎), my lip bleeding where I’d bitten it. He was in a hurry to leave, but we managed to exchange names and phone numbers before he pulled out onto the highway again. I followed, knowing I dared not go home. I’d be in big trouble.
It was my high school graduation day. I drove to school and climbed out through the passenger door. Surveying the broken fender and the door, tears flowed down my face, which was rapidly becoming swollen. I walked into the gym and joined my classmates to prepare for the graduation party. Bad news traveled fast, and soon a teacher came to me
“You’ll have to go home to get dressed for the graduation sooner or later,” she said. “Sooner would be much better and you have to tell your parents.”
I finally agreed and slowly drove home. The Death March sounded in my ears.
My mother took one look at my face when I got home and screamed, “What on earth happened?”
I hung my head and tears rolled down my face again. “I crashed Daddy’s car.”
She threw up her hands in panic and rushed to the backyard where Dad was making burgers. “Stop cooking, Ted. We’re not going to eat. Jean has destroyed your car.”
Dad looked at her and said quietly, “Is she hurt?”
“No, except for biting her lip.”
“Well, then, what does that have to do with eating dinner?” He put a burger on a plate with the others, then walked across the yard and put his arm around me. “Let’s go inside and hear all about this if you’re sure you’re all right.” I sobbed and nodded.
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 phone was ringing when we got to the back door.
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I graduated that evening with my family in attendance.
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An Act of Neighborliness
The skies were dark. A strong wind was blowing hard, cutting my face like a sharp knife. Rain fell in big drops and thunder and lightning flashed across the skies. I shook with cold and fear as I walked home, through the streams of muddy water. Some people were rushing by, completely wet in the heavy rain.
Along the way, I saw some schoolchildren holding their heavy schoolbags tightly and rushing home, I also saw that some road repair work had been abandoned by workers. Obviously, the workers had left in a hurry because of the storm. There were few signs and it was hard to see what was on the road. There were pieces of wood and metal and it looked like a hole had been dug and hurriedly covered with boards.
I moved on but suddenly stopped as I heard some sounds. It sounded like children crying. I quickly turned back and went back to the place from where the sounds came. I was frightened! To my sadness, I found that two small children had fallen into the hole on the road. The boards had moved away with the force of the rushing water. I could hardly see the children as it was dark all around me. I told them that I was going to look for help. I knew the neighbors well, and they all shared a sense of neighborliness, willing to give a hand.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为100左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I rushed to the nearest house, Mr. Lee’s, and told him about the problem.
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Hearing of what had happened, the children’s parents were in relief.
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9 . When Schauna Austin was 20 years old, she lost her husband in a car crash. Unable to raise a baby alone, she made a difficult decision during pregnancy — to place her baby for adoption. She gave birth to a child she named Riley, and held him for 72 hours straight. “It was perfect,” Austin said, holding her new baby. “I knew I would have him for a short time, so I made every minute count. I didn’t sleep for three days until the time came to let him go.”
Her Riley became another family’s Steven. Like most closed adoptions, a firewall went up between Austin and Steven’s new parents — no communication whatsoever. But that only lasted about a week. Adoptive mother Jennifer Schoebinger and her husband, Chris Schoebinger, said they had no interest in excluding the birth mother. “You know, you can’t have too many people loving you, right? Why couldn’t he be both of ours?” Chris Schoebinger said.
So, year after year, they sent Austin piles of pictures and bound books detailing Steven’s every major and minor milestones. The Schoebingers said they did this so that when Austin and their son were ready, they could pick up right where they left off. The two reunited when Steven was 7 years old. Austin taught him how to fish, and they have kept in contact ever since. Austin felt blessed beyond words, and Steven felt he got the best of both worlds.
Steven is now 26, married, and with a baby boy of his own. Much to the delight of Austin, he named the child Riley. “I think the lesson we learned is that sometimes we create barriers where barriers don’t need to be. And when we pull down those barriers, we really find love on the other side,” Chris Schorbinger said.
That love on the other side has continued to grow. The families spend Thanksgiving as one, and will of course be getting together again in the days ahead.
1. What does the underlined sentence in the second paragraph mean?| A．The less people love you, the better. |
| B．There are too many people who care about you. |
| C．Being loved by many people is desirable. |
| D．It’s a burden to be cared about by too many people. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Grateful. | C．Uneasy. | D．Angry. |
| A．They did not give birth to any children. |
| B．They contacted Austin as soon as they took Steven in. |
| C．They felt blessed beyond words when Austin taught Steven how to fish. |
| D．They believed it better to get the biological mother involved. |
| A．Biological parents are crucial to a child’s growth. |
| B．People create barriers where barriers don’t need to be. |
| C．Adoptive parents and biological parents should raise children together. |
| D．Love is found when we pull down unnecessary barriers. |
It was a hot day in Florida. The school year had just ended and it was time for summer vacation. We had just gotten a little black dog who we named One-Eyed. We chose that name because he could only see out of one eye.
Everybody wanted to do something for the dog: feed him, teach him tricks and take long walks with him. Everybody was so happy to have this active, playful and shaggy new addition to our family. Everybody, that is, except my mom and me.
All my mom saw when she looked at the dog was someone else to clean up after. Shedding, messy, muddy, he pounced all over the house. All Mom seemed to care about was getting the house cleaned. My mom began to put Clorox (高乐氏漂白水) in the bathtub. There was no messing with Mom when she started cleaning, so I decided to move out of the way. Actually, getting out of the way is a move I’d been practicing for a long time.
Being the youngest in my family has had its advantages, of course. More than a few times I was spoiled or everyone said I was the cutest. But being the youngest also came with its fair share of troubles. “You’re too young!” “You’ll mess this up!” they’d often say. I knew that my family loved me but I couldn’t wait to show them I could do things by myself.
Every time I asked my brother or my sister if I could pet One-Eyed, they would shout, “No!” or tell me that I had germs and if I touched One-Eyed he would die!I really believed them. Once I even confessed to my mom that I touched the dog when no one noticed. At first,my mom seemed very confused about what I was telling her, but then she realized. My mom scolded my brother and sister, “You better stop teasing your little brother!” Little brother! That’s exactly what I was. That really got my blood boiling! Secretly, I decided, “Ill show them what a little kid can do!”
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。
Paragraph1:That afternoon, I took the dog and sneaked into the bathroom.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:I thought my mom would punish me, but she was just standing there and laughing.
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