Sharing New Year with Strangers
I come from a large multicultural family, spread out across the globe. Despite being found in distant corners of the world, we’re a tight-knit family that makes an effort to stay close and keep in touch. New Year has always been a special time for us and a chance for us all to come together, no matter where in the world we might be.
My aunt Samantha, known affectionately by everyone in the family as Mantha, loved New Year and always went out of her way to make it cosy and magical for everyone around her. Mantha was kind, fun and full of energy so it wasn’t hard to get into the New Year spirit when she was around.
This year was no exception. Mantha drove three hours from her house in Bournemouth to visit everyone two weeks before New Year and to drop off presents to her friends still in the area. We chatted merrily about our plans, laughed at how organized Mantha was — presents already bought and wrapped and the freezer full ahead of the big day — and kissed goodbye when it was time to leave. So just several days before New Year, when Mantha’s son called us saying Samantha had passed away suddenly at home, none of us could quite believe it. I’d only been messaging her the day before, sharing voice notes like we always liked to do.
Mantha had had a blood clot (血块) that had unfortunately travelled to her lung and despite the paramedic’s best efforts, they were unable to save my beloved, fun, wonderful aunt.
So close to New Year, none of us felt like celebrating and we decided we’d have a quiet day at home, surrounded by family. The silence lasted until my sister-in-law, Vera, told us about some colleagues of hers who’d just arrived in the UK far away from friends and family. And they were eager to experience a proper English New Year.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 开头已给出。
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Hearing this, we were in a dilemma.
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When the day finally came, we welcomed them into our house.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Catherine had stayed at home all her life to look after her three children, but now, she, who lost her husband in a car accident, had to step out and earn money to make ends meet. With zero work experience and no professional degree, her chances of getting hired for a well-paid job were next to zero.
One day, after dropping her children at school, Catherine spotted a construction site. “I think I can work here,” she thought and approached the manager.
“Hi, are you hiring?” she asked. “Yes, we are,” the manager looked at Catherine from head to toe. “Are you sure you can work here? This job requires a lot of hard work.” “I’m ready for it,” she told the manager and signed a contract to work a 12-hour shift.
However, Catherine kept her new job a secret from her children. She thought they would feel embarrassed after learning their mother worked at a construction site.
Every morning, after dropping her children to school, she would go to the construction site and work until her shift ended. She would pick up heavy bricks on her shoulder to transport them from one part of the site to the other. One evening, Catherine’s son, Peter, told her about an upcoming contest in school that required mothers to participate. In the competition, students will wear blindfolds and have to recognize their mothers without looking at them. “That sounds like such a cool event, Peter!” Catherine said excitedly. “I can’t wait for it!” “I won’t go therewith you, mom,” Peter replied. “But why?” What her son said next was something Catherine wasn’t prepared to hear.
“Mom, I would have to touch your hands to recognize you, and everyone would look at them,” Peter explained. “Your hands are so ugly. They’re so hard and rough,” he added. “I will feel so embarrassed when my classmates look at your hands,” the boy said. “I won’t attend the event.” Catherine felt terrible but couldn’t say anything in her defense.
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。
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A few weeks later, Peter was walking home when something unexpected caught his attention.
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On his way back home, he kept thinking about how he would apologize to his mother:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was one of the coldest days of the snowy season. We had seen the world covered with white in almost a month. The rivers were frozen. Wild animals had stopped wandering around. The small village was resting in silence. Had we not prepared enough firewood in advance we wouldn’t have made it through the nights. It was on this day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the best miracle I have ever seen in my life.
I was in the kitchen making lunch for the family when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. I could only see his back. He wasn’t walking with his usual steps. He was obviously walking with great effort, trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. I went back to make sandwiches, thinking that whatever he had been doing was completed. Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful long step toward the woods. This activity went on for half an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him secretly on his journey.
He was taking something in his arms as he walked; being very careful not to trip and fall. I stepped close as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns (荆棘) slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He might have a much greater purpose, I thought. As 1 came closer, I saw the most amazing sight. Several little cats curled up beneath a huge fallen tree, where there was no snow but the least space for any life to survive the severe winter. Billy walked right up to them, at the sight of which I almost screamed for him to stop what he was doing. He had piled up a stack of firewood next to the kittens and was about to light it with a match! He had no idea what the fire would cause at the hands of a six-year-old.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
My sudden voice obviously took Billy by surprise.
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Billy agreed to collect up the firewood after I decided to take them in.
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“Daddy, I want to ask your permission to study in America,” I said to my father a few months before my graduation from high school. But hardly before I finished, he shouted, “No!”
“But why?” I replied. “If you are worried about money, it will be OK since I have got a scholarship…”
But he refused to give in. At the moment, I didn’t know what to say. For more than two years, I had been working very hard to pass all the necessary examinations. I had not told my father because I wanted to give him a pleasant surprise. I thought he would be very proud of me because it was many of my classmates’ parents’ dream to send their children to study abroad.
“Why do I have to get your permission? I am already 18 and I’m not a kid anymore.” I said angrily and rushed to my bedroom, shutting the door violently. Blinded by anger, I found that I could not stay at my hometown any longer. Late that night, I slipped out of the house and decided to take the bus to the railway station to start my own life as far away from my home as possible.
The bus stop was just two blocks away from my home. When I got there, I found that I forgot to take any money with me and missed the last bus. I did not want to go back home, so I sat down on the bench and closed my eyes to have a break.
Suddenly, I was woken up by my phone. I looked around and found the road was deserted and the street was so quiet that I regretted that I had left home in such a hurry. I picked up the phone and answered the phone even without checking the number.
“Have you had a good sleep? It’s going to rain. Shall we go home now?”
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 my father’s voice!
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I grabbed my bag and hurried to ward him.
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Willie’s 11th birthday was coming. His aunt sent him a birthday present—a small nice notebook. There was a place in it for a pencil. Willie valued it a lot and always kept it in his pocket. When he found something interesting, he would write it down in the book.
One afternoon, after Willie came back from school, he called his best friend, Caper, a well-trained shepherd dog and said, “Come, Caper! Let’s go out and have fun.” They went to the pasture field (牧场) to catch the butterflies and there they found a shaft (通风井), which seemed to be deserted for a long time. Willie sat down on the edge of the shaft, bending over to see how deep it was. Suddenly, he lost his balance and fell in. “Help! Help!” Willie called desperately. But no response at all. He was so far away from the house. He made several attempts to climb up the shaft but again he failed! Now Willie was exhausted and frustrated. When Caper saw his master falling into the shaft, the little good companion ran round and round, reaching down and trying to pull him out. Unfortunately, a piece of rock gave way under his feet, and he fell in the shaft too!
It was getting dark. When Willie’s mother, Mrs. Lee came back from work and found there was no one at home, she was anxious and worried. Without any clue at home, she decided to look for Willie outside. She went to all the trees under which Willie was in the habit of playing, but he was nowhere to be found. By this time, the sun had gone down. A feeling of panic took hold of Mrs. Lee. She comforted herself that Willie might have come back. She rushed back, hoping to find her son at home.
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。
She found Caper sitting in front of the door, with a notebook in his mouth.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Willie told Mum how he came up with the idea after he was successfully rescued.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My parents moved to Vermont when I was still a baby. A soft-spoken man, my father settled quietly into his medical practice. Soon the local people accepted him as one of their own. Around town the neighbors greeted my father as “Doc Eppley”. And I would always be known as “Doctor Eppley’s son”. “If you’re anything like your father, you’ll be a smart boy,” my first-grade teacher said. I couldn’t stop beaming.
Initially, I was never tired of letting others know that my father was one of the town’s most respected people. Somewhere in my teenage years, however, something changed. I was sixteen years old and I grew impatient whenever I heard my neighbors still calling me “Doctor Eppley’s son”. My father’s name now seemed like an ugly shadow that followed me wherever I went. And so when strangers asked me if I was Doctor Eppley’s son, I would reply loudly, “My name is Harold.” As an act of rebellion (叛逆), I began to call my father by his first name, Sam. “Why are you acting so rude lately?” my father questioned me one day. “Well, Sam,” I replied, “I suppose that bothers you. You know it hurts me when you call me Sam,” my father shouted.” Well, it hurts me when everybody expects me to be just like you. I want to be myself. Let me take it out for a drive, “I said, pointing to my father’s new car. My father agreed, but not without his usual warning,” Be careful. Keys are in the kitchen. “I glared at him,” Sam, I’m sick of being treated like a child. I’m in college now. “I jumped into the car and headed down the road, enjoying the beauty of the countryside. My mind was wandering when I hit the car right in front of mine before I knew it. The woman in the car jumped out screaming: “You idiot! What were you looking at?” I surveyed the damage. Both cars had suffered serious dents (凹痕).
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 sat there like a guilty child as the woman continued swearing.
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An hour later, I drove my father’s broken new car back home.
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One night the earth quaked, reducing the villages to ruins and causing hundreds of deaths.
It happened that I was away that night. I had gone to the town to buy my school books. I stayed the night at my uncle’s house. We spent the entire night outside.
I came back to my village. My uncle accompanied me. Every single house, every wall, every roof had been flattened. Our house was a two-storeyed stone building. My father had died of an illness, just fourteen months before. My mother took care of us. I was the oldest. My brother John was ten. Jane, my two-year-old sister, was the baby of the family.
When the soldiers began to clear the debris (废墟), my uncle led me away. “They have taken the bodies to the river bank,” he said gently. “Come, you must perform the last rites (仪式) to the dead before sunset. Tomorrow, we will go back to the town.”
I had last seen my family while leaving for the town. They stood at the doorway and waved. John and Jane. That is the way I will always remember them — smiling and waving at me.
Jane? She was not at the river bank. “They have not found her,” my uncle said. “She is dead…” “But we must find her,” I shouted. I ran back to the village, to the spot where my house had stood, searching, crying, searching on my knees…
“Boy, it is no use!” a voice said. I looked up. The speaker was the Army officer in charge of the relief operation. “Whom are you looking for?” “My sister,” I said, fighting to control my tears.
He looked dirty and exhausted as if he had not slept for days. “My men have been on their feet for days,” he said softly. “They have done all they could here. Tomorrow, at daybreak, we go to another village just like this, then another…”
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。
Ten minutes later, the officer was back.
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Excitedly, the soldiers began to clear the hole.
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From high up in his skinny apartment building, Pieter could see the canal stretching in all directions. Every Saturday, Pieter watched for Grandpa riding toward the building on his bicycle. But today, Pieter knew that his grandfather wouldn’t come. Pieter would not hear the ring-ring of Grandpa’s bicycle bell. And there would be no Saturday afternoon picnic in the park. Last week, Grandpa had a knee operation, Now he needed a walking stick to provide assistance―and Pieter didn’t know if Grandpa would ever ride his bike again. Sighing with worry, Pieter was lost in thought. Would he ever again hear the ring-ring as Grandpa approached?
That’s when Pieter had an idea. He grabbed his birthday money-l0 euros-from the top dresser drawer. Then he hurried to tell Mum his plan. A few minutes later, Pieter ran down the stairs of his building and burst into the afternoon sunshine. His bike was waiting for him. Pieter wore his helmet and pedalled down the bumpy road, Ring-ring sang his bicycle bell to alert walkers that he was coming. He pedalled past the hardware(五金) store in the corner. He pedalled past the window washer who whistled a she worked. And he pedalled two more blocks before arriving at the market. He loved the market’s sights and smells.
Pieter’s euros clinked(叮当响) in his pocket a she walked through the market, examining each table. He stopped at a fruit stand, chose two shiny apples and paid two euros. Then he stopped at the cheese table and asked for half a pound of cheese, handing the waiter three euros. Pieter placed the items in his bicycle basket and pedalled back toward home. Imagining his Grandpa walking toward him joyfully accompanied by the ring-ring sound, Pieter whistled a merry tune.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.开头已给出。
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Wearing a bright smile, he stopped halfway in front of the hardware store.
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But instead of heading for home, Pieter pedalled in a different direction.
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It was the worst day ever. The exact date was January10, 2010. And my life was changed completely when that accident happened.
Before that day I had just started my college life and loved being at that stage in my life where I could eat all the pizza I wanted, yet engage in adult conversations with my parents about the responsibility to make life better for others. I was pretty sure I could be someone in the future, a great volunteer maybe. Then on that day, all the possibilities were destroyed by a careless driver. The days I spent in hospital were dreadful, suffering severe pain and hearing the doctor telling me that I could never walk anymore.
When I was finally permitted to leave the hospital, I had myself in a small apartment and refused any visit, blaming everyone in the world and drowning myself to despair. After I missed ten calls from my dad, he just couldn’t leave me alone. And when he entered the apartment, it was in a mess, with pizza boxes on the floor and dirty dishes in the sink. In the corner, there was a garbage can around which were pieces of garbage and waste paper. He turned around and finally had his eyes on me. A few steps towards me and he stroke his fingers through my hair, gently asking, “You want to see something?” I felt a little guilty for making my dad so worried, so I faked a smile and nodded my head.
He opened my fridge, searched for a while and took out some ice and some tea leaves after boiling some water in a pot. Mysteriously, he put the ice in the boiling water. After a while, he asked, “How is the ice now?” “What?” I was a little confused about his question, wondering what he was about to do next. When he repeated the move and asked me the same question, I began to feel bored. “How is the ice now?” “What ice? There is no ice in the water now! It melted!” I answered with my eyes fixed on the roof. Suddenly, Dad held my head, looked at me straightly and explained, “The ice was once tough and hard.” Dad continued, “But when it was put in the pot, the boiling water melted it and made it disappear as if it had never existed, just like what the difficulties may do to one’s dream.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
“Want to see something different?” Dad went on to pour a spoonful of tea leaves in the boiling water, too.
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I knew it was time to change.
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One morning Jack woke up with an aching arm. He touched it carefully with one finger. Ow! That really hurt! He climbed out of bed and put on his dressing gown(睡袍), very, very carefully. Then he went downstairs.
Mum was in the kitchen, searching for cornflakes(玉米片)in the cupboard.
“We’re out of cornflakes again,” she said, not looking round.
“Mum,” Jack began, “I think there’s something wrong with my…”
But at that moment, Lucy, Jack’s twin sister, came into the kitchen.
“Mum,” she cried, “I’m very, very ill! Very ill indeed! My stomach hurts really, really bad! I am far too sick to go to school!”
Mum was worried. She felt Lucy’s forehead. “You do feel hot. But you were fine yesterday.”
“I’m not fine now,” said Lucy. “Please, Mum. Can I go back to bed?”
Lucy didn’t even want breakfast. Jack tried to tell Mum about his arm. But Mum was too worried about Lucy.
“Please just get dressed, Jack, or you will be late for school!”
Mum stayed home to look after Lucy. Dad gave Jack a lift to school, and Jack tried to explain about his arm. “I was playing football yesterday and I hit my arm and it still hurts,” he said.
“Probably just a bruise(瘀伤),” said Dad. “I hope Lucy is better soon. She looked a bit feverish to me.”
It’s always about Lucy, thought Jack crossly.
At school, Jack had to be very careful of his arm. He had to keep it really still. Luckily he could still write with his other hand. At home, Mum was looking after Lucy. She put her back to bed and brought her a glass of warm water. She read her a story.
“How do you feel now?” she asked. “Would you like to try a little breakfast?”
“I can’t eat a thing,” said Lucy.
Mum was worried. It wasn’t like Lucy not to eat anything. She bent down to pick Lucy’s teddy bear off the floor. As she did so, she caught sight of something under the bed.
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 huge pile of candy wrappers(包装纸)! And an empty box!
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Mrs Smailes, the headteacher, came running to meet them. ”I think you need to go straight to hospital. Jack is there!"
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