Taimur and Daniyal were twins and had been my next door neighbors since I was five years old. Not only did we go to the same school, but our evenings and weekends were spent together too. It was like we were inseparable. I never felt that I needed any friends other than them. Unexpectedly, one evening their parents shared the news of them moving to another country-Australia.

I was shocked to realize that we would never be together, started recalling all the good times we had spent together, such as playing in the school breaks, the play dates, and all the fun things we did. Was it all going to end?

When we had been through so many highs and lows together, shared secrets and supported each other through thick and thin, their moving away felt like my heart was being taken away. The news of their departure left me feeling empty and lost.

I was thinking about the biggest change that I was going to face in a few days, it was a difficult pill to swallow, but I knew I must move on. Though it wasn’t easy at first, I was trying my level best to beat the mental pain I was in.

After hearing the news, every day felt like a struggle. The school didn’t feel the same; the lunchbreaks had no purpose. Soon there would be no one to compare the test marks with, homework remarks would not excite me like before, and so on. I couldn’t help but feel lost and alone already.

Seeing my condition, my family advised me to make the most of the time that was left before they moved.

Saying goodbye wasn’t easy, but it set my heart at ease to realize that we could still be the closest friends.

I wanted to go to a party. It was a beach party. It had been almost the only thing my friends had been talking about for the last couple of weeks. But my mom had said no. “You are not allowed to go,” replied my mother. I was disappointed. This was my best friend’s party.

Sunday dinner came around and my granny joined the family for the meal. Granny noticed how upset I had been looking during the meal but didn’t say a thing. It was my turn to wash up and Granny said, “Let me help you”, while the rest of the family shifted into the living room to watch TV.

“What’s up?” asked Granny as I dumped the dishes into the foaming (起泡的) water. Granny wiped a plate with a tea towel. “Mom won’t let me go to my best friend’s party,” I said sadly. “Has Mom explained why she doesn’t want you to go?” asked Granny. “No,” I replied. “Then for a moment, put yourself in her position,” said Granny. “If you were Mom, what would your objections be?

I hadn’t stopped to think about my mom’s side. All I had seen was what I wanted. “Well,” I answered after thinking for a moment or two, “It’s a beach party. Maybe she doesn’t trust us or thinks we’ll get into trouble. Maybe she thinks we’ll drown or something, but we all know how to swim and look after ourselves.”

“Are there going to be any adults there?” asked Granny. “No,” I said, “Who wants parents hanging around when you’re trying to have fun?” “Might it just be,” said Granny, “that your mother is concerned and doesn’t want anything to happen to you?” “Nothing will happen,” I objected. “Maybe you’re right,” said Granny, “but maybe Mom’s worried in case it could.”

Upon hearing what she said, I began to reflect.

I suddenly had a good idea after thinking for a moment.

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

When I was little, I lived in a house with a beautiful garden full of all kinds of flowers, and roses were the most beautiful of them. There was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting in the garden with my mother as she read stories to me. When I was in primary school and old enough to read, I enjoyed reading stories aloud to her.

I will never forget one day when I was in the third grade. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had rehearsed (排练) my lines so hard with me. But no matter how easily I acted 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 (旁白、解说员) part to the play, and asked me to change roles. Her word, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.

I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home after school that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to take a walk in the garden.

It was May and roses were blossoming and, under the trees, we could also see yellow dandelions (蒲公英) in the grass, as if a painter had painted our garden with red, yellow and green. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion. “I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling it up by its roots. “From now on, 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 is beautiful in its own way, isn’t it?” She asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. “And that is true of people too,” she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.” Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened. She listened and smiled, patting me gently.

“But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said.

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。

“But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said,

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After the play, I took home the dandelions.

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It was a Saturday. Whether it was sunny or cloudy, hot or cold, I cannot remember, but I do remember it was a Saturday because the shopping mall was packed with people. I was with my mom. Mom is short and skinny. It is easy to overlook her in a crowd simply because she is nothing extraordinary to see.

On that day we walked down the road, taking quick looks at window boutiques (精品店) because we both knew we wouldn’t be buying much, like always. I remember I was looking up at the people we passed as we walked. Ladies wore five-inch heels (高跟鞋) that clicked importantly on the floor and bright, luxury clothing. An uneasy feeling started to settle in my chest. I tried to push it out, but once it took root it refused to go. It got more unbearable with every second until I could deny it no longer; I was ashamed of my mother.

We were in a high-class neighborhood, I knew that. We lived in a small, overpriced apartment building that hung on to the edge of our county that Mom chose to move to because she knew the schools were good. As I looked at the passers-by and then turned accusing eyes on Mom. I realized for the first time that we didn’t belong there. I could see the deep wrinkles around Mom’s eyes and mouth. She wore cheap, old clothes, and shoes with the soles (鞋底) worn down. Her eyes were tired from working long hours to make ends meet and her hair was too gray for her age. I looked at her, and I was ashamed.

My mom is nothing extraordinary, yet at that moment she stood out because she was just so plain. Saying I’d meet her at the clothes store around the corner, I hurried away to the bathroom. I didn’t want to be seen with her, although there was no one important around to see me anyway. When I finally made my way to the store with hesitant steps, I found that Mom wasn’t there.

With no other options, I had to search the other stores in the area for her.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I felt ashamed of myself, facing Mom’s offer.

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8 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Two tickets.Only two tickets to the big basketball game.

Three pairs of eyes all focused on (关注) the tickets in Dad’s hand. Marcus, the oldest, spoke the question running through everyone’s mind, “Only two tickets? But, Dad, which of us gets to go with you?”

“Yeah, Daddy, who gets to go?” reported Caleb the youngest.

“Dad, can’t you get any more tickets?” I asked. I might be the in-between sister, but I was just as eager as my basketball-crazy brothers were for a night out with Dad.

“I’m afraid not,” Dad answered. “Mr. Williams only has two season tickets. He gave them to me.”

But each of us wanted to get the ticket.

“I guess I’ll have to figure out a fair way of choosing between the three of you by tomorrow morning. I’ll have to decide who deserves it. Let me sleep on it — okay, guys and girls?” he added quickly before Mom and I could correct him.

The next morning, Dad and Mom went shopping early and said we should all get started on our Saturday chores (家务活) as soon as we finished breakfast.

“I’m going for the morning newspaper.” Marcus announced.

“Wait for me!” Caleb added.

The back door snapped shut as the two boys rushed down the driveway. I looked at the breakfast table in front of me. Well, I thought to myself as I pushed my chair away from the table, looks like Saturday morning chores start right here.

A few minutes later, as I was washing offthe kitchen countertops (操作台), I heard the familiar “thump… thump…thump” of the basketball. I glanced out of the kitchen window and saw Marcis practicing his hook shot while Caleb cheered him on.

“You guys, Mom and dad will be back any minute. Remember the chores.” I reminded them as I lifted the lid (盖子) on the garbage container and placed the full plastic bag inside.

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 began to replace the lid on the garbage container, then an envelope on the inside of the lid caught my attention.

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Paragraph 2

By now, Marcus and Caleb had worn themselves out and shuffled (拖着脚走) back.

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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.

A few weeks later, Peter was walking home when something unexpected caught his attention.

On his way back home, he kept thinking about how he would apologize to his mother:

When Dr. Gullikson was assigning project mates for his introduction to experimental psychology class, I secretly hoped he would pair me with my best friend or at least a classmate I could have some fun with. Above all, I hoped he wouldn’t assign me to work with the fiercely competitive, extremely serious fellow who always wore dark clothes and apparently had a personality to match. As fate would have it, Dr. Gullikson very deliberately matched everyone in class and announced that I would be working with the one person in class I wanted to avoid.

I went up to my new lab mate and introduced myself. He looked at me as if I weren’t there. I felt he treated me as if I would hold him back and probably make him fail to get an A in the course. He wasn’t mean or abusive (恶语相向的). He just gave me the impression he could do whatever project better if he did it alone.

Needles to say, I didn’t look forward to an entire term of being brushed off (冷落), but I tried to make the best of it and didn’t say anything for fear that I would make things worse.

The project required each lab team to develop a hypothesis (假说), set up an experiment to test the hypothesis, do the statistical analysis and present the findings. Whatever grade the team received would be shared by both students. When my teammate and I met to discuss our project, I was uneasy. Here was this challenging student who had a reputation for single-mindedness and good grades—the exact opposite of me. I was outmatched. I actually wanted to drop the class at one point, but stopped short because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of my chickening out.

After long discussions, we somehow agreed to do a study on the psychological well-being of teenagers. I wasn’t sure what it meant exactly, but at least we had a topic.

We started to meet regularly to draw up our plans.

One day in the middle of our project, I got word that he was admitted to hospital for a serious disease.