When I was seventy-one, my granddaughter Crystal’s husband Peter lost his job. Despite his efforts, he struggled to find a new job. He seemed to lose confidence in himself.
When I visited Australia, I aimed to support them through this challenging time, but Crystal wanted me to have some fun. She suggested snorkeling (用通气管潜泳)along the coral reef, convincing me that I would love the experience.
I had swum only in pools where my feet could touch the bottom. Previously in Hawaii, I had tried snorkeling and panicked in the deep water, but this time, I wanted to try again. My dream of exploring the coral reef and the desire to boost Peter’s spirits motivated me.
Crystal patiently taught me snorkeling in a pool. With great efforts, I finally mastered the skills, which excited me and amazed Peter. “We can overcome our challenges,” I smiled. Seeming to know I was encouraging him, Peter smiled back and said, “I guess so, Grandma.”
The big day came when I had to snorkel in the sea. Crystal and Peter both decided to come for security reasons. “You’ll be fine,” Crystal told me. “I’ll stay right by you. Even if you’re in trouble, I can help you out of it.”
On a sunny afternoon, we set off from the shore. When Peter stopped the boat, Crystal and I put on our equipment.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
My heart raced as I stared at the deep sea water.
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The man was kind of small, but to a five-year-old, he was a giant. Cherry-scented smoke from Grandpa’s pipe kept the hungry mosquitoes at bay. Now and again, he blew a smoke ring and laughed as I tried to target the hole with my finger.
We sat side by side on the old wooden stairs that hot summer evening, watching the traffic, counting cars and trying to guess the color of the next one to turn the corner. We watched the sun go down behind the old Texaco service station across the busy street, which I was never allowed to cross unless accompanied by an adult.
My grandfather was baby-sitting while my mother, father and grandmother went out. While my two baby brothers slept inside the house, my three older siblings (兄弟姐妹) played with friends around the corner, where I was not allowed to go. I stayed with Grandpa, and that was okay with me. “Thirsty?” Grandpa asked, never removing the pipe from his mouth. “Yes,” was my reply. “How would you like to run over to the gas station there and get yourself a bottle of Coke?” I couldn’t believe my ears. On my family’s modest income, Coke was not a part of our budget or diet. “Okay,” I replied shyly, already wondering how I would get across the street.
He stretched his long leg out straight and reached his huge hand deep into the pocket. Opening his fist, he exposed several silver coins. He instructed me to pick out one. After he deposited the rest of the change back into his pocket, he stood up. “Okay,” he said, helping me down the stairs and to the curb (马路沿儿).
“I’m going to stay here and keep an ear out for the babies. I’ll tell you when it’s safe to cross. You go over to the Coke machine, get your Coke out and come back. Wait for me to tell you when it’s safe to cross back.” My heart pounded. Excitement took my breath away.
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。
Grandpa held my hand tightly.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My heart pounded wildly as I approached the Coke machine.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________There was a boy who was sent to a boarding school. He used to be the brightest student in his class. He was at the top in every competition. But things changed after that. His grades started dropping. He hated being in a group. He was lonely all the time. He felt worthless and that no one loved him.
His parents began to worry. But even they did not know what was wrong. So his dad decided to visit the school and talk with him.
They sat on the bank of the lake near the school. The father started asking him casual questions about his classes, teachers and sports. Then he asked, “Do you know, son, why I am here today?” The boy said, “To check my grades?”
“No, no, ” his dad replied. “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me. I want to see you happy. I don’t care about grades. I care about you. I care about your happiness. YOU ARE MY LIFE.”
Now the boy had everything he wanted.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Alessandro Vitale was born in Verona, Italy. As his parents were busy working, they were unable to care for his sister and him at the same time. Therefore, Alessandro grew up with his grandparents.
Alessandro’s grandmother was good at cooking. His grandfather used to take him out for fishing or to his garden in the town. Alessandro’s grandparents greatly influenced him, and he learned many things from them. At a young age, he was introduced to gardening, especially grow-ng fruit and vegetables by his grandfather, and he learned great recipes from his grandmother.
Even though Alessandro got into gardening at a young age, he had to focus on school later. In 2015, he moved to London to work there and left gardening aside. Alessandro did several different jobs after getting there, but he liked none of them really.
One day after working in London for a few months, Alessandro and his roommate went to a supermarket and bought some vegetables. After returning home, they started cooking together. When cutting a red chilli (辣椒). Alessandro saw its seeds. An idea occurred to him that he could grow food himself. He had little connection with nature then and thought the food grown by him-self was much healthier. Moreover, he wanted to take up gardening in memory of his grandfather. But he had never expected his future gardening journey would greatly influence his life and career.
Alessandro planted these seeds in pots on his small balcony. In just a few weeks, Alessandro scaled up his garden and grew more plants. His whole space was filled with plants. He fell in love with gardening and did anything he could to make his garden thrive (旺盛), such as reading various farming books to learn new technologies and skills. Besides gardening, he was also into zero-waste cooking. Thanks to his grandmother’s recipes, he could cook his garden produce in creative ways.
注意：续写词数应为150个左右。Gradually, Alessandro turned his garden into a much bigger one.
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Inspired by the popularity of his videos online, Alessandro began to write books on gardening.
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My Amazing Brother
Mark was the most popular boy in his class. He had top grades, was a star athlete and was everyone's friend. He was so perfect. He also happened to be my little brother.
My brother and I had always been close, yet I had long felt inferior(自惭形秽) to him. He just seemed to have everything, I, on the other hand, was shy with relatively few close friends, I was sure 95 percent of the class had no idea I even existed,
High school started. Mark and I were at the same school; he was a freshman, and I was a senior, We got closer than ever that year, I didn't know whether it was the rides to school when we sang along to the songs on the radio, or the fact that we were both on the swim team,
I helped him with his math problems, and he read my papers and made sure that they were A+ quality, We listened to CDs every night and danced on the floor. We joked about our parents. We even hung out with each other at the movies.
One night, my brother and I were discussing the upcoming semi-formal dance, Mark, of course, would attend it, I hadn't even planned on going. I never had a friend for anything and I accepted that nothing was likely to change that. When Mark asked who I wanted to go with, I was shocked.
"What do you mean you're not going? You have to go, It's your senior year!" Mark didn't understand why I wasn't going.
"Well, there's not one person who would want to go with me, " I told him, using the reasoning I'd repeated to myself over and over.
"You're joking, Care.There isn't anyone in the whole school that would turn you down. ""How do you know?" I asked, wondering where my brother got such silly ideas.
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。
"Because you're the coolest girl in the world, " Mark answered.
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The rest of the year went by in excitement.
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“Where is it? We’re going to be late!” Janice searched the house crazily for her wallet. “Josh! Did you hide my wallet? We have to be at Grandpa’s for his birthday party!” Josh, Janice’s four-year-old younger brother, smiled innocently at her, but his cunning (狡黠的) eyes gave himself away. She tried her best not to shout. Grinning (咧嘴笑) like a cat, Josh reached under the sofa, pulled out her wallet and held it over his head. Janice grabbed it.
Ten minutes later, they hurried to the train station. Red-faced and sweating, Janice let go of Josh’s wrist and removed the sweat from her forehead. The train arrived. Her smile froze when she realized that the train was packed with passengers. Grabbing Josh’s hand, Janice boarded the train. She commanded, “The train’s really crowded, Josh. Behave yourself, stick close to me, and no monkey business!” Josh nodded, holding tightly to a rail. Janice smiled.
When it was time to get off the train, Janice quickly pushed her way through the crowd to get onto the platform. “We made it!” Janice said, turning around. Josh was nowhere to be seen. The crowd was flooding out, but Josh was not among them. “The train doors are closing,” then came the electronic voice. Soon, the crowd on the platform died down. The last thing Janice saw was Josh’s little anxious face at the train window: Just as Janice was about to call out Josh’s name, the train disappeared from view. “Josh!” Janice screamed.
Janice’s mind was transported back to when she was lost at the zoo. She could still vividly remember the towering figures surrounding her and none of them were’ familiar. “I don’t want Josh to go through that same bitter experience,” Janice let out a sigh.
Janice took out her mobile phone, ready to call her mother. However, midway, she decided against it. Her mother, who was far away in France on business, could do nothing but get restless. Janice paced up and down the platform anxiously.
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。
Just then, Janice received a call from an unknown number.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Having waved goodbye to the lady, they headed for their destination.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In July, my dad, mom and I flew to Whitehorse to care for my sick old grandfather. We planned to spend two months in the town of my youth.
A few days before we arrived, my grandfather called to say he was being flow n to Vancouver for another operation. My dad and mom had already booked the air tickets and their leave from work, so even though my grandfather wouldn’t be there, we made the trip north anyway.
Grandfather kept a puppy. It was the only companion of my grandfather while we were not in Whitehorse. He had adopted it from a local shelter(two years earlier and renamed him “Scruffy” because it looked untidy. Its fur was messy. Its ears were like two wings when it ran. While we were alone in my grandfather’s house with nothing to do, Scruffy saved us. The dog needed to be walked. Those walks were chances to re-visit where I’d grown up. I had left that small town behind as soon as I finished high school and had rarely visited home. Scruffy and I took my family to the school, where my picture still hung. We walked through the forest where I once rode my bike. With no one to talk to when my parents were occupied with their own business. I found myself chatting with Scruffy. He was too excited to see me. I gave him many nicknames: Scruffster, Scruff-man, Scruffmaster. He would happily respond to them all.
By the fall, we were back in Toronto and my grandfather was back in Whitehorse. My mom and her brothers took turns flying up to take care of him.
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。
We visited my grandfather again in November.
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After Grandfather’s death, we had to rehome Scruffy.
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When I was 11, I quite wanted a bicycle-not any bicycle, but a blue bicycle from Jihnston’s store on the Hill, a smal shopping area that was six blocks away from the our house.
The Monday before Christmas, my 9-yea r old Steve and I ran to the Hill to do our Christmas shopping. Past the ice- cream shop and the pet store, we entered the five-and dime store. My brother had his savings (65cents) held in his hand, and I had four dollars, some of which I had got by cleaning the neighbor’s yard. At the store, I picked out writing paper for our sister, a pair of earrings for our mom, and notebook for our 45-year-old since he would be going to college to get a Ph, D. I had enough money left to buy basball cards for Steve.
We went home by way of the bike store, so I could look at my bike. It wasn’t my bike actually, but I was saving money to buy it. I wanted it more than anything else in the world. It was a blue Italian model; I had never seen another one like it. I planned to ride it to school. However, to my shock, the blue bike had been sold. It seemed like my heart stopped and time stood still. For three months,ever since the first day I saw it, I had been saving money to buy it. I ran from the store,fighting back tears.
On the way home, I thought I no longer needed the 12 dollars I had saved. I started to think what I should buy with it.
Back home, when I put my package presents under the tree, I noticed other packages which had been palced by Steve, my sister and my parents.
After dinner, Dad told us that he would go to college and that our family would have a tight (紧的) budget. And he felt sorry for that. Suddenly, I knwe what I would use my 12 dollars for. I ran to my room, and wrote on a card, “Dear Dad, this is for your education.”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右，2.请按如下格线作答。
And I put the paper and the money into a shoesbox.
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When I thought about that blue bike, Mom suddenly said, “Terry, could you go to the kitchen to see if the coffee is ready?”
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The Words of Kindness
Last week, I was shopping in the local supermarket. My 24-year-old daughter happened to be with me as she had just arrived home for a much-needed visit because she was going to work abroad for six months. As we were walking through the aisles (走道) and picking things she needed, we heard a child’s crying that would last more than fifteen minutes. I wanted to walk over to investigate the situation, already picturing the scene in my mind. No doubt, the cries of the young boy could be heard clearly across the store.
My daughter came up to me and said, “Mom! Is that what I sounded like when I was little?”
“Yes, Rach, you sounded just like that,” I replied.
We tried to continue our shopping, but the loud cries made by the boy who was asking his mom for something continued for what felt like no ending. Several more minutes went by, and the boy just wouldn’t stop. I felt it necessary to follow the cries. As I approached the aisle, I could see several people watching us at the other end of the aisle, talking to each other and shaking their heads. They would walk away and then turn around with their carts (购物车) to continue their talks and figure out what was happening.
I arrived at the aisle to find a twenty-something mother standing in the middle of the aisle calmly telling the boy, “No.” She was not going to get whatever the boy wanted. He was holding his mother’s arms, crying, trying to get her to move. His face turned red with tears. He remained seated on the floor and beat at his mom’s legs with his arms while crying at the top of his voice.
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 walked over to the mom and touched her arm.
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At that moment, I could see relief wash over her.
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