Mo and Terry were best friends. Whether they were walking to school, doing homework or just hanging out at the weekend, they were hardly out of each other’s sight. But several weeks ago, Terry started to stay away from Mo, which confused Mo.
This day, they had a physics exam, so Mo was waiting outside her class. She hated physics, because it was her worst subject. Terry looked back at her from the front, then looked away quickly. Mo thought she looked guilty. Terry didn’t have a problem with physics.
“Hi, Mo. What’s wrong with Terry? I thought you were friends,” said one of her classmates, as Mo arrived.
“Yes, so did I,” said Mo, “but she hasn’t spoken to me for two weeks. She promised to help me revise for the physics exam, but then she ignored all my calls and texts. And when I rang her house, her mum told me she was busy. She doesn’t remember who her friends are!” said Mo angrily.
The other students were going into the exam room. The exam started. Mo couldn’t answer question number five. She looked up and saw Terry sitting in the next row. Mo was surprised. Terry was holding her phone under the table and she was reading from it. Is that how Terry always got good grades? She felt really angry at Terry but didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t fair! Mo never cheated and she failed lots of exams.
Terry had already put her phone away when Mo looked up again. She looked back at Mo and smiled sadly. Actually, Terry’s family were having a terrible time: her father was in the hospital because of a heart attack. Her father had a big operation today, and Terry was very worried. She couldn’t wait to check her mother’s message on the phone. But Mo knew nothing about it.
The bell rang. “Stop writing and put your pens down,” said Mr. Reed, a caring and easygoing teacher who was popular among students. Oh no, Mo hadn’t answered two of the questions. She was going to fail again!
After the test, Mo wanted to talk to Terry, but she couldn’t find her. She was angry with Terry but she didn’t know what to do about Terry. Then, Mo decided to go to the office.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150字左右；
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
“Mr. Reed, I have something to tell you.” Mo whispered.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Knowing the truth, Mo felt guilty.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Beautiful Birthmarks: The Power of Acceptance
Whenever you hear the word “birthmark (胎记)”, you probably think of one of those black or brown spots you have somewhere on your body. However, for me, it’s completely different — I have them both on my lips and inside my mouth, which make them quite visible and, to me, ugly. When
I was young, these birthmarks kept making me feel extremely awkward and self-conscious (难为情的). As these birthmarks always drew a lot of attention, people often asked me, “What are those black marks on your lips?” When I told people that they were birthmarks, they usually said, “How strange！”
In pictures, I used to hide my birthmarks by pursing (噘起) my lips, so I would not have to deal with people’s questions. As I was growing up, the situation didn’t get any better. In the school, my classmates would always tease me, making me feel hurt and helpless. In society, I often encountered individuals who would inquire about my birthmarks even before they knew my name.
Such experiences left me feeling disheartened. I felt like people judged me by my appearance without considering my personality.
My birthmarks are caused by a genetic condition from my mom’s side of the family. My mom’s mom has birthmarks on her lips, and my mom’s uncle and my uncle have some on their bodies. I used to try to cover them up with makeup, but it never looked good. I even consulted a doctor, wanting to have surgery to remove them. But when imagining the process, I would get nervous and eventually give up.
Whenever I cried to my mom about them, she would always comfort me and say, “Learn to accept them and see them as beautiful birthmarks.” However, it wasn’t easy for me to accept my own birthmarks. Every time I showed my birthmarks, people would look at me with strange eyes. I began to regret why I had given up on the surgery and chosen to accept my birthmarks.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 词左右。2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
One day, I met my cousin, who also had a large birthmark on his arm._
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
From then on, when I met people, I began to change myself.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A woman remarried a man from Mexico. She already had a 16-year-old daughter named Bethany, while her husband had a 14-year-old daughter named Maria. Maria and Bethany had been in each other’s lives since they were children. Their relationship as stepsisters was good until recently.
The entire family was busy planning Maria’s Quinceanera (成人礼). The woman’s husband and his ex-wife joined forces to get her a beautiful dress to celebrate the occasion. In total, the dress cost $3,000.
Bethany made it clear that she was jealous (嫉妒的) of the party. Her mom had to make her understand that in Mexican culture, a Quinceanera was a great deal, just like how she had a sweet sixteen party. However, Bethany kept comparing her party to that of Maria’s. It was a massive issue for her, and it reflected in the way she behaved around everyone at home.
Knowing how it made Bethany feel, the mom tried to spend more time with her daughter to assure her that she wasn’t being disregarded. They even got her a lovely dress for the Quinceanera, but much cheaper than Maria’s dress.
Two weeks before the big day, Maria and Bethany got into an argument regarding the TV. Bethany retaliated (报复) against her stepsister by tearing off the back part of her Quinceanera dress. After finding out what Bethany did, everyone was angry. The mom couldn’t believe what her daughter did and quickly gave her husband and his ex-wife money to get a new dress.
The mom told Bethany that she needed to get a job to pay back the total price of the dress. It was her punishment for such an unreasonable act against her stepsister. However, Bethany claimed her mom was unfair by choosing Maria over her. This made the mom question whether she was in the wrong for giving her daughter no choice but to find a job. She wrote about the story online, hoping to get opinions from others on whether what she did was wrong.
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。
To her surprise, she got everybody’s support.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, the mom was determined to teach her 16-year-old a lesson.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After little Julie lost her parents, she lived with Aunt Clara, who worked day and night to support her and her own daughter Mira. As the school prom (舞会) approached, both Julie and Mira dreamed of buying beautiful dresses for the occasion. However, Clara’s limited budget posed a challenge, as she could only afford one dress.
To determine who would receive the dress, Clara suggested the girls draw lots (抽签). Unfortunately, luck was not on Julie’s side, but she remained optimistic. “Don’t worry about me,” Julie smiled. “I’ll figure something out.”
Julie reached under her bed and pulled out a box containing money from Grandma. Grandma loved Julie and Mira very much. Every year, Grandma would send cash gifts to both of them. Julie had carefully saved her money and now had enough to buy a prom dress. With excitement and anticipation, she purchased a beautiful black dress, imagining being the prom queen at the prom.
The following Sunday morning, Aunt Clara left for work early. When Julie woke up, she was shocked that the dress she had hung over the nearby chair was gone! She looked out of the window and froze in horror at the sight of the family dog tearing it to pieces.
She screamed as she ran toward the dog. “What have you done to my dress?” Mira soon learned of the situation and rushed to help Julie to remove her dress caught between the dog’s teeth. However, it was already completely ruined and unable to be repaired. Julie felt heartbroken at the thought of not being able to afford another dress.
Lost and unsure of what to do, Julie went to her grandma’s house with the remains of her dress, seeking comfort and advice. When Grandma answered the door, Julie cried and said what had happened. Grandma comforted her and offered a glimmer of hope. “I can help you with your dress,” she smiled. “Follow me."
Grandma, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease (帕金森病),walked slowly and led Julie into the dining room. There, she removed the cover from her old sewing machine and instructed Julie to open the top drawer of the dresser, where an abundance of colorful cloth was stored.
Paragraph 1:Julie said, “But I’m afraid that you couldn’t sew anymore. You know, your hands.”
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Eventually, their joint efforts bore fruit, and they completed a new prom dress.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My father and I disagreed about my curfew (晚间在家的时间). He would say I had to be in by 9:30 on weekdays, and 11:00 on weekends, and there was no exception. One day, I took courage to first show my opinion on my curfew. I told him it made me feel like a junior high school kid. He explained that though a curfew might sound like a restriction, it was really about people looking out for one another.
The very next Friday after that exchange, my dad and I had tickets to see our own town’s professional football game. On that day he was driving his car to a nearby city to meet some major clients and told me that his getting home and our leaving for the game would be tight.
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。
I was beside myself with extreme anxieties, assuming the worst had happened.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The heavy stone in my heart finally fell to the ground.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A boy named Stevens was addicted to the Internet at a secondary boarding school. The online games were so interesting and attracted him so much that he had no interest in his study and life. He even often slipped out of the school dormitory in the middle of the night to go online.
After slipping out at midnight several times, he was caught by the school guards who were on duty. So his problem was exposed to the school and his parents. He was called to the head teacher’s office for a serious face-to-face chat. He surely knew as a student, he should give priority to learning, but he just couldn’t control himself. After several attempts, the teacher shook his head in disappointment. His father, a construction worker, had to leave work and took several buses to the school and had several chats with him. But the attraction of the games was still there, making him hard to sleep at night, so he just kept slipping out of the school as before. His classmates who knew this would always shook their heads and sighed (叹气).
One cold day, Stevens’ father came to the school again to pay his school fees. The father tried to find some words with the son, but only “Take care of yourself”. On the same night, Stevens still couldn’t resist the games and slipped out of the dormitory secretly. He climbed over the wall as usual, but rushed to climb back immediately. He looked frightened when he came back, but he didn’t say anything.
After that, he studied hard and stopped leaving school to go online. There was even a rumor (传闻) at the time that he saw a ghost. Everyone was curious to know what had happened that night, but Stevens always kept silent. He simply devoted himself to his study. Surely, hard work paid off. Later, he was admitted to a key university.
At the farewell(告别) party, his former classmates kept asking him about that night. He kept silent for a long time and eventually told everyone what had happened.
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。
He said there was a man sleeping at the foot of the wall.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________He felt deeply sorry and guilty, and made up his mind to study hard.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In a small town, Greenfield, lived Alex, a high school student. Alex’s sanctuary (庇护所) was a mix of video games and late-night snacking, a habit that not only distanced him from the world but also gradually ruined his health.
“Hey, Alex, need a wider door to walk through?” taunted (嘲笑) Mike, a classmate whose words were as sharp as knives, under the watchful eyes of their classmates. The laughter that followed was a familiar sting, one that Alex had grown accustomed to, yet it hurt deeper each time.
At home, Alex’s escape into virtual realities became his feeling of emotional comfort, until one evening, his father, Bryan, decided it was time for a change.
“Alex, we need to talk,” Bryan said, his tone soft yet firm. “I’ve seen how hard things have been for you... and I think it’s time we make a change.”
“It’s just how things are, Dad. I can’t change how people see me,”Alex responded. “Maybe you can’t change how others see you, Alex, ”Bryan added gently, “but we can change how you see yourself, maybe, how you feel. Let’s try to adopt a healthier lifestyle, together. What do you say?”
Doubtful but inspired by his father’s suggestion, Alex agreed. They started a journey that introduced morning jogs, replaced chips and sodas with fruits and water, and most importantly, opened a channel of communication that had long been inactive.
The road was not without its obstacles. Mike’s taunts continued. ”Planning to run a marathon, Alex?“ Mike laughed loudly. “Maybe I am,”Alex replied, his voice steadier than he felt.
As time flew, the transformation within Alex became obvious. Not just in his physical appearance, but in his behaviors. He found himself slowly stepping out of the shadow of his insecurities.
Then came the annual school 2-mile run, an activity Alex had never dreamed of participating in. Yet, this year was different.
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。
With confidence and physical strength, Alex decided to sign up.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the race, as the crowd’s cheers continued, Bryan approached Alex.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On rainy days, Juanita liked to climb the attic (阁楼) stairs and play with her stuffed animals (毛绒玩具) under the roof. Here she could hear the drumming sound of the rain. The attic was dark on stormy days, but Juanita thought it was comfortable to have only one light bulb (灯泡) on.
Today, Juanita was pretending that her stuffed animals were Olympic athletes. The event was the high jump, so Juanita threw them into the air to see how high they could fly. Tom, her stuffed monkey, flew so high that he hit the ceiling and went over into a dark corner.
When Juanita went to find Tom, she saw a box on the floor in the corner. It was dusty (布满灰尘的), with gold corners and a metal lock that held it shut. Its key was lying just beside it. She had never noticed this box before. What could be inside?
Juanita brought the box and the key over to the middle of the attic, under the light bulb where she could see better. She opened it carefully and looked inside. Inside the box were a lot of black and white photos. Most of them were of a small girl with her hair braided (编辫子).
The girl looked just like Juanita! This was confusing. “I’ve never been to that house,” she thought as she looked through the photos. There was a gray farmhouse in the background of each picture. How could Juanita be in pictures of a place she had never been to?
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。
Juanita ran downstairs with the photos to show her mom.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Juanita asked her mom to take some photos for her and hang them up with Grandma’s.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My childhood is magical and full of adventure. I have so many childhood memories, and I would like to share one that still stimulates me. This unforgettable childhood event was about the first day when I learned how to swim. It happened so unexpectedly and quickly that not only I but my parents were surprised. Of course, we were proud as well. I was barely seven years old back then, and my parents thought that it was time for me to learn how to swim. One summer morning, they took me to a swimming pool in the City Swimming Complex which was just a 35-minute drive from our house. It was a weekend and both my parents accompanied me. After we reached the Swimming Complex, we found many people were learning how to swim. My mother said she would watch me learn this important skill with the help of my father. Then she cheered me on and took a seat.
I had no idea how to swim but I was excited to try this new adventure. However, when my father got into the swimming pool with me, I became a bit nervous. It seemed that things were not quite as easy for me.
Looking around, I noticed that many other children of all ages were also trying to grasp this skill and some of them had pretty much learned the art and science of this skill. Influenced by others, I was determined to focus on my training and swim as well as them. Under the guidance of my father, I learned with all my effort and devotion, and I made rapid progress. After teaching me for 30 minutes or so, my father went to buy some snacks for us and my mother came to talk to me for a while near the pool. She asked me if I had learned anything at all. To prove my progress, I jumped into the water and started swimming.
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 mother was frightened by my action at first.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Eating the snacks bought by my father, we were all thrilled and excited.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was not sure why my dad and my uncle always disagreed with each other in the beginning. They spent many Sundays sitting at opposite ends of the table, arguing about everything. I didn’t think they got along well.
When I was eighteen, I got a call in my college dorm that my dad was having a health problem. My mom picked me up at midnight, so I could be there the next day when my dad was scheduled to transfer(转移) to a better hospital. I didn’t sleep that night, not a while. I was nervous and almost crazy when we arrived at the hospital early the next morning before the transfer.
That morning, as my mom and I walked down the hallway of the hospital, we could see straight into my dad’s room. A tall man wearing a stylish suit stood beside my father’s bed with his back to us. In surprise, my mom said to me, “How nice it is for a doctor to come by to see your dad so early in the morning.” The man was quiet and still, looking down, but he was holding both of my dad’s hands in his own. It seemed not to be a typical doctor’s behavior.
“It’s not a doctor,” I whispered softly to my mom. When the man turned around, we found that it was my uncle. However, little did I know I would continue to reflect on that quiet moment for decades. And it would be the beginning of something truly wonderful.
The hours that followed were some of the most hardest time of my youth. My dad had a serious stomach problem and had to be in hospital for quite a long time. My uncle stayed with us the entire time. For one thing, my uncle tried every way to get my dad to eat something. For another thing, he brought me healthy snacks and made sure I actually ate them even though I had no appetite. When my mother and I were scared that my dad’s illness would get worse, my uncle was always by our side.
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。
Throughout those difficult days in the hospital, I watched my uncle in a new light.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________From then on, the relationship between my dad and my uncle became closer.
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