Doris was a 68-year-old woman who lived alone. Her children lived in a different city and her husband had passed away. In order not to feel lonely, she would take daily walks at the nearby park. One afternoon she saw her neighbor’s son, Martin. He sat alone on a park bench (长椅). Concerned, Doris approached him and asked where his mother Lucy was. “She’s still at work,” Martin answered.
“She left you here so she could work? Have you been here the entire day?” Doris asked. Martin nodded, explaining his mom had just got a new job that required her to be out from 9 am to 5 pm. Doris checked her watch, seeing it was 2:30 pm. “Have you eaten?” she asked. Martin replied he had eaten some bread.
Doris felt bad for the poor boy. Not wanting to leave him alone, she sat with him and waited for Lucy to pick him up. Later Martin felt his feet were so cold. Doris found his socks were thin and worn out. She took out a shawl (披肩) from her bag and put it around Martin’s legs.
Finally, Lucy appeared. “Lucy, it’s dangerous for Martin to be out here alone the entire day, Doris said. Ashamed, Lucy said that she wanted to take care of Martin, but she had to get a job because of their increasing bills to pay.
“It’s my first day at my new job. I can’t leave Martin at home alone. If social services (社会服务机构) find it, they won’t allow me to raise him anymore. I have no choice but to leave him in the park in order to work,” she added. Doris knew Lucy was trying her best but also felt bad that Martin would have to stay out in the cold every day. After all, winter was coming.
The following morning, when Lucy went to work, Doris met her outside her home. Lucy said that Martin wasn’t feeling well and was still sleeping. He had to stay home for the day. Doris understood Lucy was risking being caught by social services leaving Martin alone at home. So, she offered, “I’d be happy to take care of Martin at your home or mine.”
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。
Lucy cried tears of joy upon hearing it.
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When Doris left, Martin said, “Mom, can I ask Doris to be my grandmother?”
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I live on the west coast of Canada and my older son lives on its east coast. He has visited his mother and me a number of times and we have visited him there with some frequency. We also talk with each other using a computer communications programme. However, because of Covid-19 travel restrictions and the extremely long distance between us, we hadn’t seen him in person for more than two years. His mother is ill and can’t travel any more so we had talked about a possible future visit with him coming but nothing had been decided, or so I thought.
Then, one day, there was a knock on the door and when I opened it, my son walked in, carrying a pot of flowers. For a moment, I didn’t know who he was and then, suddenly, he was there. He hadn’t told us he was coming and seeing him was a shock and a wonderful surprise. It had been years since I last cried. But when he walked in, I was in tears.
I think that as parents, we tend to think of our children as being young and being in need of our help even when they have reached adulthood. We have two sons, both of them grown, and we love them both but they are still, to us, our kids. Somehow, though, the sudden appearance of my older son and his month-long visit that followed let me see him in a whole new light.
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。
My wife needs a lot of support these days and our son stepped up to help.
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My son left recently for his home and again I was in tears but it was different somehow.
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Bruce had a sweet tooth during his childhood, but it was not just sugary snacks that he desired. Being raised in a poor family was a bittersweet experience, but it gave him adaptability and ambition.
When Bruce was young, his mother would tell him that the candies in the store’s checkout line belonged to the cashier. She said that because she could not afford a 50-cent chocolate bar. Nevertheless, he saw through her trick and made a promise that he would grow up to be wealthy enough to buy what his family needed.
Bruce’s father worked hard to make money outside, so he spent less time at home. Instead of focusing on their economic instability, Bruce’s mother selflessly pushed her children to strive for success so that they could lead a more comfortable life later. She worked for long hours every night and struggled to pay the minimum due on her bills. Still, she would find time to read with Bruce and his sister, Alice. Their mother taught them the value of perseverance, education, and moral fibre. Despite lack of their father’s company, they were loved and nurtured just as much.
However, not all of life’s milestones were easy. Some, like moving and being helpless, left Bruce with an endless bitter taste. He had to deal with many problems when they moved into Maryland, several states away from their roots in Georgia, to make a living. The first few months were great: baseball games, family trips to the mall, dinners, movies, etc. It felt like they were the perfect family. Then things changed. Baseball games were too expensive, and trips to the mall were replaced with days Bruce and Alice spent isolated in the study.
As the brother and sister grew up, money was even tighter. They spent many years living in a very poor family setting. Even so, their mother inspired them to keep trying and working academically. They even cooperated with each other and developed a computer system. Alice was joking about patenting it someday. But as the saying goes, “Good things never come easy”, and success requires setbacks.
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。
One day, Bruce’s mother opened their study door and told them to pack.
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They eventually settled in Texas, and Bruce and Alice continued their academic efforts.
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Owing to the spread of COVID-19, visiting loved ones has become something seemingly impossible.
Even so, when 9-year-old Romeo Cox decided what he wanted more than anything else was a hug from his 77-year-old grandmother, he didn’t let any small things, like separation, or that she was 1,700 miles away and there were no flights from his new home in Sicily to his native UK, stop him from making the trip.
“I hadn’t seen Granny for ages, so I planned secretly to go see her,” Romeo said in an interview with the Times. His parents disagreed at first, but Romeo finally talked them into letting him make the trip.
With his folks’ blessing, Romeo turned his plans into action. “I drew a map. I would walk and take boats,” he told the Times. “And I’d take Dad. It would be handy to have an adult.”
Handy indeed, since Romeo’s father, 46-year-old Phil Cox, is a retired journalist and filmmaker whose rich experiences gave him invaluable knowledge about making the way in less than ideal conditions.
Romeo and Phil set off on their journey on June 20. The pair trekked (跋涉) across Italy, Switzerland, and France.
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:
While travelling, the two did meet some hardships or danger.
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Paragraph 2:
On September 21, father and son finally made it to Grandma Rosemary’s home in London.
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Jackson’s family hired a driver. The driver’s family came to stay with them in a small house in their backyard. That’s how Jackson met the driver’s eight-year-old son Tom. From the day he met Jackson, Tom became his fan. For Tom, 11-year-old Jackson seemed to be a big boy. He would always follow Jackson around.
Tom didn’t go to school. He was admitted to a local government school, but he refused to go. He told Jackson shyly that the teachers only made them copy words from the blackboard. Since he hadn’t learned how to read, he could not understand anything that was written on the blackboard. Jackson felt sorry for him. On Sunday, Jackson saw Tom sitting under a tree holding an alphabet (字母表) book in his hands. Jackson walked quietly towards him and discovered that Tom was holding the book upside down.
Jackson took the book out of Tom’s hands and turned the right side up. “This is how you should read,” he told Tom. Two big tears rolled down Tom’s cheeks. Tom told Jackson, “I want to be like you, but I can’t do anything.” That evening, Jackson told his parents they had to help Tom get into a better school. It was not easy to make Tom admitted to a new school, because the time for admission was over.
Luckily, one principal (校长) looked at Tom kindly and admitted him to her school. The next day Tom went to his new school wearing a new shirt. But when Tom returned from school, he was a bit sad. The other children in his class had laughed at him. He told Jackson, “They all said I am much older than them but in a smaller class. I don’t want to go to school.”
注意:
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph l:
Jackson said, “Don’t worry, Tom, I will teach you to read."
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Paragraph 2:
Two months later, Tom returned from school with a bright smile.
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My father is a practical man. He can’t explain calculus (微积分) , but he can tell you how much pressure boiler needs. He put himself through night school to become an engineer, but that was only after he worked as an electrician and a mechanic.
One day we walked by a toy store window. Sitting in the corner was the most unusual dollhouse (玩具屋) I’d ever seen. It was shaped like an upturned log.
“Oh, Daddy,” I said, “isn’t it beautiful? Do you think Santa Claus will bring it to me?”
Dad looked at the $100 price tag—an exorbitant (过高的) figure in those days. “I think even Santa couldn’t afford this house,” he joked, hiking up his belt as he often does when he’s nervous. “Maybe one day, sweetheart.”
On Christmas morning, I awoke early and raced downstairs. In the dim (昏暗的) light, I made out some wrapped boxes under the tree—but none large enough to contain my dollhouse. Dad could see my disappointment. He pulled me onto his lap and gently told me how, as a boy, he had wanted a red wagon, but his father couldn’t afford one. He said he made his own from wood and old wheels he found. “I’ll make one for you,” Dad promised me.
And right after Christmas, despite all the unfinished projects at home, he started it. I had thought it was an easy toy to make, but every step of the long process was more complex (复杂的) than I had expected. Night after night, Dad would come home from his job dead tired, yet he’d always find time to work on the log house. In the dim light, dad was always busy creating my dollhouse.
注意:
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡上的相应位置作答。
I hesitated (犹豫) , wondering if I should help mу father.
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In all, it took one month of hard work by us.
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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.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was eight o'clock on a cold spring night. I was so tired. I had depended on a walking stick to go anywhere for seven weeks, recovering from surgery, and I couldn’t find a way to cheer myself up.
The phone rang for the sixth time in less than an hour. We knew who it was. My mother had been suffering from dementia and mental distress. There was little we could do to help her.
As her eldest daughter, I tried my best to help her. Though we visited every few days, she believed that her daughters had not visited in months. She thought that her friend Jimmy never wanted to see her again, even though he called her and visited weekly. She had no idea that she had repeated the things she was about to say a hundred times today and a hundred times the day before. She had no idea that I had undergone surgery, nor could she remember her own granddaughter’s name. She forgot most of her own past.
This time, I got angry with my mother. “Mom!” I shouted. “We care about you. We visited two days ago! Mom, you have to believe me, and if you don’t, I cannot talk to you anymore!”
Silence. Then she said, “I am only calling to say hello. Why are you shouting?”
“I’m shouting because you keep calling me a hundred times every single day! I’m shouting because you are asking me the same question a thousand times every time you call me! I’m shouting because I have repeated the answer ten thousand times! I’m shouting because I don’t know what to say!”
I sat on the sofa, realizing that my daughter was watching me. She heard me blame my mother, heard me lose my patience and say that someone I loved was a burden. I curled up on the sofa, upset.
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。
My five-year-old daughter asked to speak to her grandmother on the phone.
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I watched my daughter care about her weak grandmother with such deftness.
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I remember the first time I met Roy. He was telling a joke. When he reached the final line, everyone burst out laughing. “A popular boy,” I thought to myself. My name is Daniel. I was the new boy in the class. There were 33 students in my new class, and most people weren’t very interested in a shy new boy. Roy was kind to me. He often invited me to join his particular group and we became good friends. We trusted each other and we could talk about personal matters.
Five years later, Roy and I were still in the same class. But just a year ago Roy’s father was knocked over by a car. He died a few days later. The family had difficulty with finance. Roy changed completely. He started losing friends, including me.
About three months ago, a group of us were playing football together after school. Having left something in the classroom, I went inside to get it and found Roy going through the pockets of people’s coats. In his hand he had a wallet and I knew it wasn’t his. Roy went bright red. “I will put it back right now,” he said, and he did so. I turned round and walked out without saying a word. I really hoped that Roy would explain why he had been stealing, but instead he started avoiding me.
Last week, our school had a big fair in order to raise money for a charity and we made about ￡500. But to our surprise, the next morning, we were told that the money had been stolen. This morning I decided to ask Roy about the theft so I went to see him. Roy was out. I put his jacket on and put my hands in the pockets. I could feel a lot of notes and I pulled them out. It looked as if there were about ￡500 there. I was so surprised that I just stood there, holding the notes in my hand. And that moment, Roy walked in.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
Seeing me standing there with money in my hand, Roy felt panicked (恐慌的).
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Paragraph 2:
We went to the head teacher Mrs Smith, together.
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