My teenage son, Jordan, always complained about having to be home earlier than all his friends. He would tell me that he was already seventeen, but still had a curfew (宵禁). He believed he was practically an adult. I pointed out that he was not an adult as he was still in high school.
“You don’t trust me!” he yelled. Before I continued, he rolled his eyes, slammed the door and walked away. I sighed. How could I make Jordan see that I only wanted to keep him safe?
I decided to go for a walk, hoping the December air would clear my head. I opened the front door and nearly stepped on her: a small black cat, just like a meatball. “Hi, Meatball,” I said, bringing her into my arms. I walked back in, touching her neck gently. Meatball seemed happy enough to come in the house, but after an hour or two, she sat by the door, meowing to go back outside.
“Why won’t she just stay in with us all the time?” Nathan, my youngest son asked.
I explained to him that she was happy here but she liked being able to come and go as she pleased.
“That must be nice,” Jordan muttered from the other room, complaining why the cat, not him, could come and go. He even asked me to give Meatball a curfew.
Meatball became a regular.
One night, temperatures were unusually low. Meatball stood at the door, meowing to go outside.
I shook my head at her, afraid that she might freeze to death. She stared at me and meowed again. I patted her head, “I know you’re not happy, but it’s for your own good.”
“Mom’s not being mean to you,” Nathan told the cat. “She’s just trying to keep you from turning into a frozen meatball.” We both laughed at his joke.
The next morning, I couldn’t find Meatball. I asked the kids if anyone had seen her.
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。
Jordan nodded, “I let her out last night.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As I drove to the animal hospital, Jordan sat in the back, holding Meatball inside his coat.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.人物简介(至少包括生平、事迹、成就或品质中的两个方面)
2.对你的影响。
注意：1.词数100左右，文中不允许出现真实的人名。
2.短文题目已给出。
The Role Model around Me
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When I was a baby, my parents gave me anything I wanted. I would play with a toy for a while, get bored, and ask my parents for a new one. Then my dad died when I was 2, and I got even more stuff as my mom, friends, and family gave me more and more stuff to try to make me feel better. My mom continued to treat me to whatever I wanted until I was seven and my world crashed.
That was when the real estate market crashed. My mom had thought buying houses was a good idea as a way to invest her money to take care of us. After the crash, I went from the kid who got a fine iPod and who had the coolest house, to almost having nowhere to stay.
Since then, when I would ask for a new toy or bike, or even to see a movie my mom would say “I’m sorry, honey but we really can’t afford that right now.” But my mom had grown up in a family where money was never a problem, so this change was as big for her as it was for me. My constant requests for toys and video games deepened her concern about our financial situation. But I wasn’t used to hearing “no.” So, for a year or two, I kept asking for things whether I really needed them or not.
Then something happened that would change my way of thinking forever. My mom had been working really hard all year, just to pay for the necessities, like our rents, and water and power bills. When she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said that I wanted a new video gaming system. I didn’t know that it was expensive. All I knew was that my friends had them and that I wanted one, too.
Paragraph 1:
On my birthday, I started opening presents, believing that I would get what I asked.
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Paragraph 2:
From then on, I wouldn’t ask for anything that I didn’t need.
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A MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE
The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How pleased and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They planned to make French toast and chicken porridge. They had watched their mother in the kitchen. There was nothing to it. Jenna and Jeff knew exactly what to do.
The big day came at last. The alarm rang at 6 a.m. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the kitchen. They decided to boil the porridge first. They put some rice into a pot of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Jeff broke two eggs into a plate and added in some milk. Jenna found the bread and put two slices into the egg mixture. Next, Jeff turned on the second stove burner to heat up the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until Jeff started frying the bread. The pan was too hot and the bread turned black within seconds. Jenna threw the burnt piece into the sink and put in the other slice of bread. This time, she turned down the fire so it cooked nicely.
Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to shake. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna panicked. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the gas quickly. But the stove was a mess now. Jenna told Jeff to clean it up so they could continue to cook the rest of the porridge. But Jeff’s hand touched the hot burner and he gave a cry of pain. Jenna made him put his hand in cold water. Then she caught the smell of burning. Oh dear! The piece of bread in the pan had turned black as well.
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。
As the twins looked around them in disappointment, their father appeared.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The twins carried the breakfast upstairs and woke their mother up.
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