It was eight o'clock on a May morning, and Micah, my 17-year-old daughter, was already in our spare room upstairs. It had been her temporary eleventh-grade classroom ever since schools had moved to remote learning due to the pandemic.
From the kitchen, I listened for the sound of her tapping on her laptop or her talking with her classmates in their discussion sessions. We’d barely left the house for 10 weeks straight.
“Mom, everyone is hanging out today!” Micah’s voice echoed from upstairs. “Why can’t I?” I stepped up the stairs. Micah was lying on the floor wearing her pajamas, her laptop, school iPad and cellphone in front of her.
“It’s not fair,” she said.“ I have no one I can be with. I can ‘t wait until I’m 18 and can do what I want.”
We’d had this conversation before. Still, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. I was sick of being alone too. Even though Micah and I were home together more than we had been in years, we might as well have been living in separate worlds.
“Wanna watch videos later?” I asked. “Bake some cookies?”
“No, thanks.” Micah shook her head, as if the idea of doing something together was impossible.
I closed the door. I was used to Micah’s rejection, but it still made me upset. Teenage independence is healthy, but I worried if I didn’t find a way to bond with my girl soon, I might never be close to her again. She’d be 18 in the fall and had already convinced herself she didn’t need me anymore. Maybe she was right. No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to reach her.
That evening, I logged onto a social app and saw a friend’s children playing with their new kitten. My mind went back to when I was in high school and our family moved. It was hard making friends. Mom surprised me with an eight-week-old gray kitten that I named Miss Muffet. Having a kitten to love and train brightened my days and got me through that difficult, lonely time. Maybe Micah would like a kitten.
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。
I asked if she wanted a kitten.
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In the car, Micah put the kitten under her chin.
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One fall evening, 13-year-old Briar Omar agreed to look after his four younger sisters when his parents went to the grocery store to pick up the family dinner. The parents were confident that responsible big brother Briar with their protective dog called Mandy, was capable of managing the family in their absence. During that brief time, an unexpected thing happened: The home suddenly went up in flames(火焰). It was up to Briar and Mandy to save his family.
The children smelled smoke soon after their parents left for the store. They turned around to search for where the fire came from and were shocked and frightened to find their baby sister’s playpen(玩耍护栏) on fire.
The first thought that came to Briar’s mind was to rescue his little sisters. The family had previously discussed what to do in the face of danger, so he was prepared to act.
In a few minutes, flames were climbing the ceiling(天花板). Smoke was filling up the hallways. The horrible fire quickly spread throughout the home.
Briar remained calm and focused on the urgent task of saving his four younger sisters: Peyton, 12, Jocelyn, 3, Willow, 1, and 6-month-old baby Sawyer. He quickly picked up the two babies and rushed the older sisters out of the door to safety. After making sure his sisters were far away from the danger and breathing in fresh air, he ran back to save their home despite the flames surrounding him.
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 quickly held the fire extinguisher(灭火器) from the kitchen and tried to put out the flames.
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Briar cheered up immediately and managed to escape from the fire to safety with the dog following the way.
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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.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Mother’s Love
My mom only had one eye. I hated her. She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family.
There was one day during elementary school (小学) when my mom came over to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.
How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, “Your mom only has one eye!”
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted (面对) her that day and said, “If you’re only going to make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?”
My mom did not respond. I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I took no notice of her feelings at all.
I wanted to be out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied really hard, and got a chance to go abroad for further education.
Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I shouted at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!”
And to this, my mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address.” and she was soon out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion (同学聚会) came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old house just out of curiosity.
My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
注意:
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
My dearest son,
I think of you all the time and I’m sorry that
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Paragraph 2:
You see, when you were very little,
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With all my love to you.
Your mother
①Who is he/she?
②What is he/she?
③When was he/she born?
④Something interesting you know about him/her.
⑤What do you learn from him/her?
字数要求：100词左右。
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