I was eleven years old standing outside in just my underwear while I watched the house that I grew up in rapidly burn to the ground. A few minutes earlier I had been sound asleep in my nice, warm bed when a scream woke me up.
My grandmother’s bedroom was just next to mine and my brother’s, A fire had broken out there and awakened her. Hearing her my older brother had sprung into action. While I stumbled around in the smoke and darkness he ran from room to room quickly waking everyone in the house. The house, however, was over 50 years old and made of wood. Before we could do anything the fire consumed it. We all barely made it outside before the flames engulfed every room. I stood there shivering while the fire destroyed my books, clothes, and toys. I watched helplessly while my Mom cried and my Dad swore. I wondered what was going to happen to us now that we had lost all of our things. As I looked around, though, I realized something for the first time: The things that matter, aren’t things.
I saw my older brother running across the swinging bridge by our house to get help. I saw my oldest brother who was on crutches from an earlier accident standing unsteadily on one leg. I saw my grandmother and Dad huddled together and my Mom holding our little dog in her arms.
I realized at that moment that we were all alive.
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I still think of that fire in the night that helped me to become who I am today.
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I found that Minnie had been unhappy ever since her family moved away from Hartford, but I was never quite sure how to approach her about it.
From the time she was a child, she was abnormally quiet; she would rarely speak unless she was spoken to, and even then her response would be very little. Despite her soft-spoken nature. she showed a great interest in art-particularly painting. Whatever she lacked in words, she made up with the paintbrush, and so it was through her paintings that I first noticed something was wrong. When she painted an animal, it would be the pigeons(鸽子)flying in Hanford Park; or, when she painted a person, it would be the partner she played badminton with at the Hartford playground. Whether intentionally or not, he sowed in her paintings what she hesitated to put into words.
Being her elder cousin, I was eager to make her move to the big city as smooth as possible. Hartford was a small country town.so Minnie had grown up alongside familiar faces who were used to her timidity(羞怯). But in the city everyone was a stranger, which made it a challenge for her to communicate with others.
This problem was more obvious with her changing schools. What’s more, she was under some pressure to improve her grades. Although she was a good student, her mother was very demanding of her. She always wanted Minnie to seize all the opportunities to be the best, but it was really difficult for Minnie.
On Fridays when my high school finishes early, I usually head over to the middle school to walk Minnie home. It being such a Friday, I approached the school gate expecting to find her waiting for me as usual, but she wasn’t there.
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。
The guard said he had seen Minnie leave alone already.
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There she was,sitting helplessly in the waiting area of the train station.
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As a young boy, I was carefree. Every vacation I looked forward to two things—seeing my grandpa and hearing his wonderful stories. My grandpa was a very good storyteller. He had worked various odd jobs when he was young and wove his adventures and misadventures into fantastic tales. These wonderful tales colored my childhood.
As I grew up, I had to admit that Grandpa’s stories went on a little long, even a little boring and gradually lost their magic. However, not wanting to upset him, my brother and I would sometimes take turns sitting in the living room, listening to grandpa tell his stories.
When my grandpa was approaching 91, he suffered from serious memory-loss. It was kind of what doctors called dementia (痴呆), probably the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Following the doctor’s directions, we moved him into a Sunrise Assisted Living Community, where he could get a better care. After that, grandpa hardly came to our house.
One weekend before my grandpa’s birthday, I came to visit him. Seeing grandpa sitting in his armchair, dull-looking, I was consumed with mixed feelings. I wheeled grandpa to the sunshine in the courtyard, talking to him. He couldn’t express himself clearly and spoke in short bursts, but I listened to him patiently and carefully just as I used to be a little boy.
It was then that I noticed a shadow box with some old and yellowish photos in it. I picked one up, in which my brother, several boys in our neighborhood, and I were playing basketball with grandpa cheering us on twenty years before. My mind flashed back to those beautiful memories. Back then, Grandpa was in good physical condition and we were all wearing basketball jerseys, playing and laughing with abandon. I presented the photo to my grandpa, pointing at each member and reminding him of their names. Incredibly, grandpa could speak out the name of every player. I even caught a soft light in grandpa’s eyes and a smile on his lips.
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。
A bright idea for grandpa’s birthday came to my mind.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing “the same players” playing there, grandpa seemed to have thought of something.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was Christmas Day. Pappy was working alone fixing an old lantern in the backroom when he heard the ringing of his bell on the shop door. The bell, which produced a uniquely pleasant sound, had been in Pappy’s family for over a hundred years. He valued it dearly and enjoyed sharing its song with all who came to his shop. Although the bell hung on the inside of the main door, Pappy had tied a wire to the screen door so that it would ring whether the inner door was open or not. Hearing the bell, he left the backroom to greet his customer.
“And how can I help you, little lady?” Pappy’s voice was joyful.
“Hello, sir.” The little girl spoke almost in a whisper. She looked at Pappy with her big brown eyes, and then slowly scanned the room in search of something special. Shyly she told him, “I’d like to buy a present, sir.”
“Well, let’s see,” Pappy said, “who is this present for?”
“My grandpa. It’s for my grandpa. But I don’t know what to get.”
Pappy began to make suggestions. “How about a pocket watch? It’s in good condition.” The little girl didn’t answer. She had walked to the doorway and put her small hand on the door. She shook the door gently to ring the bell. Pappy’s face seemed to glow as he saw her smiling with excitement.
“This is just right,” the little girl said. “Momma says grandpa loves music.”
Just then, Pappy’s expression changed. Fearful of breaking the little girl’s heart, he told her, “I’m sorry, Missy. That’s not for sale. Maybe your grandpa would like this little radio.”
The girl looked at the radio, bowed her head, and sadly sighed, “No, I don’t think so.”
In an effort to help her understand, Pappy told her that the bell had been his only companion, for the rest of his family were all gone now, except for his estranged daughter whom he had not seen for nearly a decade.
注意：
所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
With a giant tear in her eye, the little girl looked up at him.
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Paragraph 2:
Later that evening when Pappy was closing up the shop, he heard a familiar ringing.
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