Professional explorer Leo Houlding is no stranger to climbing. He’s been doing it since he was 10 years old and has made many expeditions across the globe including to the very top of Mt. Qomolangma, remote Arctic and Antarctic peaks, Yosemite Valley, and jungles of South America.
In 2020, Leo decided to celebrate his 40th birthday by showing his two children, Jackson and Freya, and wife Jessica, what he loves most: climbing cool mountains and exploring new lands. The family would spend four days together climbing the north ridge (山脊) of Piz Badile (巴迪莱峰), part of the picturesque Alps on the border of Switzerland and Italy. Their destination was the top of Piz Badile, with nearly 11,000 feet tall.
The family have previously climbed a few other mountains in Europe but the Piz Badile climb was harder than the ones they climbed. In 2019, Leo and Jessica, together with their kids Freya and Jackson who were only six and two separately at the time, skied down Les Grandes Platiers in Flaine unassisted and unsupported. Leo reported this was one of his family life goals.
However, Freya wasn’t that confident as expected this time. So Jessica decided to encourage her by telling their dad’s story.
Their dad Leo grew up in the Lakes, a mountainous region in North West England, and started rock climbing at the age of 10. By the time Leo was 16 he had become the British Junior Indoor Climbing Champion. When he was only 18, Leo landed in Yosemite Valley with the similarly youthful Patch Hammond and made a landmark ascent (攀登). Leo is brave and never gives up in the face of difficulty.
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:
Freya was moved and inspired by their dad’s story.
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It took them three days to get to the top and they’d spend three nights camping there.
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A big gathering of friends sat around our living room making music. “Get up there, Roberty Bob!” my mum Mary encouraged me. It was 1996, and aged five, I’d recently started Irish dance lessons with my two older sisters. I showed off some of the steps I’d learned in a shy and nervous way as the friends cheered.
We lived on an apple orchard (苹果园) in the Huon Valley, which had been in my dad’s family for generations. Mum had left her own family’s farm in Ireland after she met my father, Robert, while he was travelling around Europe. She vowed to never forget the culture of her homeland.
On nights like this one, friends and family would gather for a jam session (即兴演奏会). Many would bring instruments—tin whistles, Celtic drums, piano accordions — and produce a noisy Irish symphony (交响乐). Music was as much a part of my childhood as the country air I breathed.
When I turned 14, my parents gave me a guitar, and I began to suspect life would take me far beyond the bush. After school, I got into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) which led to a career in musical theatre. I had a ball performing in shows across Australia, like Disney’s Aladdin and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. During this period, I met a beautiful actress named Chloé Zuel and in 2019 we married. After COVID, I found it hard to get back to the former routine. Then, in April this year, I was sent an audition (试音) notice for a new musical about Elvis Presley set to tour Australia. We grew up with Irish and classical music, I thought. I knew nothing about Elvis. I figured they’d give the role to some Elvis fan and resolved to audition for smaller parts. Chloé disagreed and encouraged me to go for it though she was pregnant and needed company.
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。
Amazingly, a few weeks later I learned that out of 700 applicants, I’d got the lead.
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In the finally show, Elvis sang Can’t Help Falling in Love to his new baby, and so did I.
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At the beginning of this year, my daughter Helen spent a month in the hospital fighting for her life. Since then, she has had to deal with the disease as well as many side effects. She has met each challenge, disappointment and setback with courage.
With her 16th birthday approaching, Helen dreamt of a party and campfire at the beach with friends, relatives, and her beloved dog, Ginger. It took a while, but I finally found a good beach that allowed dogs and campfires and had easy access. However, a week before her party, Helen’s disease worsened.
Our friend Ian called the night before the party and turned our plans upside down. The small beach we’d selected and the surrounding beaches would host a 30, 000-person event on the party night and would be closed. It was a disaster because we had researched no other nearby beach would work.
Helen had her heart set on having her dog and a campfire at the beach, but as usual, she didn’t complain. In her young life, she’s dealt with much worse things than a destroyed birthday party. She sat down and began to quietly cry. After a while Helen decided she’d rather have the party at our home so she could have her dog and a campfire. We called the invitees with the changed plans.
How to design a party at home with dogs and campfire was a challenge. It occurred to us that we could make full use of our yard. Ian’s wife Jayme came first with some small signs, which read: “Welcome to Campbell Beach, where dogs and campfires are welcome. Where the beach is small and the waves are so far away, you must close your eyes to see them, but not so the love for Helen and her little dog. Happy Birthday, Helen!”
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。
An hour later, Ian arrived with a loaded truck.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Helen and her friends couldn’t wait to play on the sand.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With a wide smile on her face, 15-year-old Sirin eagerly rushed to her mom to show off her new painting. But Mom raised her eyebrows with eyes wide open, and spoke impatiently, “No time, baby. Right now I am busy with an important talk. Just wait for some time, OK?”
Holding her oil painting, she frowned (皱眉),and then searched for her dad. “Dad, see what I have done,” Sirin exclaimed cheerfully. Her dad turned around while adjusting his tie, grinned at her, and showed his thumbs up!
Immediately, Sirin replied angrily, “Dad, you haven’t seen it yet.”
He smiled at her saying, “No time, baby. I will see it later.” He just patted her back lovingly, kissed her forehead, and rushed for his office.
She was not a kid to be pleased with simple gesture or smile. She stood there for a few seconds, and then stormed off to her own bedroom. Hot air was blowing from her nostrils (鼻孔) ; her face turned into apple red. She threw the painting on the table, slammed the door and threw herself on her bed.
“Why is everybody so busy?” She recalled thousands of incidents that hurt her in preschool, middle school and even in high school too! She assumed at least her own family members would give some values to her thoughts, but they were no exception. Unconsciously, her eyes were filled with tears.
The knocking sound on the door put a sudden stop to her thought. Her mom was calling her for dinner. Sirin deliberately (故意地) came late to join them. She kept silent and didn’t look at anyone, scratching the table mat with her nail. Her mom was puzzled at the unusual behavior. Suddenly the morning incident came to mind. Softly, she asked, “ Honey, did I do anything wrong? ”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
At this very moment, Sirin could no longer resist her anger.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When back from school the next day, Sirin was surprised to see her beautifully-decorated paining on the wall.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Writing assignment had always been difficult for fifth grader Jimmy and this time it just seemed impossible. The English teacher Mrs. Davis gave them the title, I Pride Myself on…Jimmy racked his brains but found nothing he was proud about himself. He was only average in everything both at home and at school.
At home, his parents supported and took care of the family; his elder sister Julia was sometimes helpful with housework and taking care of his baby sister Lily, who was twelvemonth sold. As for Jimmy, he was the kind of middle kid who seemed nonexistent except for his appearance at the dinner table for each meal. At school, he was average in all subjects and never had a chance to standout in school activities. It seemed to him that all his friends deserved certain kind of praise either for their academic performance or for a favorite hobby, except him. His teachers would be satisfied if he didn’t get himself into some kind of trouble each day.
It was Friday evening. The composition would be due the next Monday but Jimmy was still trying to figure out what to write about. After dinner, he stood by the kitchen window, wondering what the teacher would say if he failed to finish the composition on time. He could hear Julia promising Mom and Dad she would take care of Lily so that Mom and Dad could leave for a movie and have a good time.
“Jimmy, what are you up to there?” Julia asked putting Lily in the stroller (婴儿车). Jimmy went overhanging his head and poured out his trouble. “That’s really a problem,” said Julia with compassion. “But if you will look after Lily this evening, I will tell you what you can pride yourself on.” That seemed a fair deal for Jimmy and he accepted it. After some instructions on baby care, Julia left Lily to Jimmy and went upstairs.
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。
It was the first time for Jimmy to sit a baby but he was determined to do a good job.
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The next morning, at dinner, Jimmy told Julia he had already known what to write about.
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Our friendship can be traced back to our college days when I first met Rishi. We had our own share of first impression about each other. Mine was—she’s a lovely and charming personality. Hers was—I look like an arrogant (傲慢的) personality. I don’t blame her for this. Many of my close friends had the same view when they first met me. Blame it on me being a shy person to some extent.
We became really close within a short period of time. Ours was a group of four people divided into 2 each during our final year when we both chose advertising as our specialisation and the other two journalism. Back then, I was a regular user of BBM Messenger and hardly used WhatsApp.
On one specific occasion, we had really bad argument about a failed project. The usual blame game was on. We decided to put it past us and focus on our studies. During this time, she once handed me her phone to show me a picture. While I was going through that, I came across a message from a particular WhatsApp group that comprises of her and my other two friends. I asked her permission to view the group. She had a blank expression on her face. But she allowed me to go ahead.
I was in shock while going through their messages. Not really positive things were said about me in particular. It shook me. Because these were the people I considered my friends. I broke down in front of her. She apologised. But I felt cheated on. I told her about my decision of not wanting to continue this friendship further. We both missed each other. But neither of us wanted to give the last try.
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。
Then came our official last trip.
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It’s been almost 7 years after graduation since we picked up our friendship.
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“You should throw me in the bin, Mummy.”
Those are the words my son say to me, words a mother should never hear their child say. When I asked him why, he told me that like his digger, he was broken and could not be fixed. My heart cracked a little more at that and I knew that, I had to try and find a way to bring back the joy into our world.
At age two, he was diagnosed with type two diabetes and he was “just losing his puppy fat”. My son grew sicker and sicker until eventually, he was admitted into hospital.
Motherhood changed in that moment. I went from “Mummy” to nurse, always keeping a watch for signs he might be in danger from his own body. It can be hard to find the balance between the demands of being a full-time carer for a child with illness and being a mother. In those early days, it broke me to hear him beg and cry for me not to hurt him with needles again. The risks that come along are as big as they can be: blindness, organ failure, coma, death. His life is, and always will be, dependent on the monitoring and assessment of all these factors.
Yet, I had to find a way to raise him to know that he could live it fully and with all his dreams within reach. I had to learn how to live with these two roles, just as he had to learn to live with the demands his body would place on him. What I had not expected was to find the way through in the mud and rubble (瓦砰) of a new-build social housing estate.
My husband, son and I moved to the new estate in Cumbria when my son was four. The back garden was nothing more than a patch of newly sown grass, and a thin layer of topsoil. Underneath that was rubble and rock. The site was a former industrial stoneworks, and but to us, it was a place of hope.
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。
Soon after we moved in, my son and I decided to plant a garden.
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This small garden let us both live again.
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A Pleasant Surprise
For a long time, I had been longing for a piano of my own to practice on.
There was a piano shop on the street through which I went to school every day. Whenever I passed the shop, I would stop, looking at the beautiful piano which stood in the corner of the shop window. How I had been dreaming day and night to possess a piano like that!
Unfortunately, Father was just a clerk. Times were tough during the Depression, and there were five mouths to feed, besides buying coal and wood for the stove. In order to lay aside some money, on cold winter days Father walked 7 miles every day to get to work. No, he couldn’t afford to buy me an expensive piano—such an extravagance (奢侈品), though he knew that I was very anxious for one as a gift.
On my birthday, after school I went as usual to the shop window to look at the piano, but to my surprise the piano had gone. In fact, I should not have been surprised, others had the right to buy it, if they could afford to. Tears filled my eyes when I thought of not being able to see that piano any more.
Disappointed, helpless and sad, I wandered aimlessly up and down the street. About an hour later, I had just entered into our house, when I heard my mother calling me. I brushed away my tears and went into the dining-room where she was.
I could not believe my eyes.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________请记叙一个迄今让你难以忘怀的与家人一起度过的日子。
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My family had a hard time when I was in Grade 11. My parents lost their jobs during the Depression. Dad was too ill to work outside, while Mum had a tough time raising us kids on her own in our small community. We relied on our community assistance to keep us clothed, and although our clothes were secondhand, we thought they were beautiful.
Looking back, I realize what Mum went through for sending us kids to school. Every morning she would put a new piece of cardboard in our shoes, because our shoes were worn out. Moving house constantly was typical for my family during the period. Rent was twenty-five dollars a month, but Mum couldn’t pay it. These were hard and sad years, but we never complained.
The new year was approaching, and we were entitled (享有)to a twenty-five dollar fund for social services. Mum said that instead of buying food, she would use the money to pay back rent, making sure we all had a roof over our heads for a little while longer. She told us then there would be nothing for the new year.
Unknown to Mum, I had been removing snow and doing odd jobs to earn enough money to buy a new pair of shoes. I knew exactly which shoes I wanted. They were made of genuine leather and they had a price of twenty-three dollars. Well, the big day came on the last day of that year. I was very excited, as I was hurrying up to catch the bus. It was only a half-a-mile walk, but on the way I noticed a house with lights and decorations. It was then that I realized in our house, we had no lights, no decorations, nor any money for goodies (好吃的东西). I knew then that we would have no delicious food for the new year, and I felt sad.
As I continued walking, I began to feel confused. I was sixteen years old, and I was feeling a strange sense of guilt. Here I was going to buy a new pair of shoes while Mum was home in tears. She would be trying to explain to us why there were no presents.
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 thought how I ought to use the money I had earned.
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Soon I got to my house with the groceries (食品杂货).
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