I pulled the car into the garage and got out, just like every night for the past 16 years. The difference was that I wouldn’t have a job to take in the morning. I used to be a VP in technology for a national bank until it was closed.
I’d put my heart and soul into my job. Not only did I work long hours, but I was on call 24 hours a day, including weekends and holidays. My kids joked that, though they were the teenagers, I was the one who was glued to the cellphone and had to be told not to text at the dinner table.
My wife, Michelle, went back to work fulltime once my job was threatened. But our kids would be going to college—our son, TJ, was a high school senior, and the girls, Sarah and Tara, were in ninth grade—and I wanted to give them the education and opportunities they deserved. God, if I can’t provide for my family, I asked, what good am I?
A ray of light streamed through the window, as if beckoning(召唤) me. I opened the door and stepped out into our yard. The lawn, the maple tree planted when I was young and the flower beds were overrun with weeds.They needed pruning(修剪)．
Treasure this time. The thought came out of nowhere. But clear, clear as it could be, I shook my head. I couldn’t get distracted by random thoughts. The clock was ticking. I needed to get busy finding a new job.
I went up to the house. “I’m sorry, Dad,” TJ said. “I know how much your job meant to you.” His concern was mirrored in the girls’ faces. Then Michelle added, “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this together. Maybe you should consider this time as a break.You deserve one.”
A break? Was she kidding? There was no time to rest. If anything, I needed to work even harder.
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The next morning I got up before everyone else and opened my laptop.
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Just a few hours here and there, the new lawn began to take shape and so did I．
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In high school, Dad got me to play football in the first place. I enjoyed throwing the ball around with my friends, but I didn’t think I had what it took to play on a team. “I’m no football player,” I told my dad. “You’ll never know what you’re capable of unless you give it a try, Adam,” he told me. So, I did. It would give me a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence. I remember how proud he was when I won some awards and the hug he gave me after I received my congratulation letter. There was rarely a game where Dad wasn’t on the sidelines, cheering me on.
Four years of hard preseason football camps came down to my last game. I urged my dad to bring our video camera.
I waved at my parents before the opening kick-off, and put on my game face. My pads broke as I made contact with the offensive players. I grabbed at the clothes of their running back and dragged him to the field. A loud cheer came from the sidelines. There was Dad with the camera, cheering like crazy. By the end of the game, I had stopped seven players and a sacking (擒杀) — my best performance ever, a perfect end to my career. I ran into my dad’s arms. I was sweaty and smelly, but he hugged me anyway. I couldn’t wait to watch the tape — experience every moment again.
As soon as we got in the house, I took the tape out of the camera and put it in the player. My dad, mum, sister and I sat down in the living room in front of the big screen TV. I pressed Play. The video started. The two teams, lined up before the game, then the running back taking the handoff, running up to the line, me reaching out, and then…the sky and clouds! I could hear my dad screaming “Way to go, Adam!” as images of the sky shook up and down on screen.
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I leaned forward to see the next big play.
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The tape ended and Dad was quiet.
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I still remember it, like it was yesterday when my parents told me the news. It was the week before Christmas on Thursday morning when my parents said, “Stacy, start packing your things so we can go to Florida for the holidays.”
“Okay,” I responded. We do this every year for Christmas and New Year. It’s kind of a family tradition we have. We go every year because we like to visit some family members living in Florida. There has never been a year when we’ve missed a trip to Florida for the holidays. I was so excited to go on this trip because Christmas is my favorite holiday, but to top it off I was going to get to celebrate it with my family.
The next morning, my mother entered my room. “Stacy, wake up! We need to go to the airport so that we can get our plane tickets to Florida before they sell out.”
I jumped out of bed and got ready as fast as I could. When we were on our way to the airport, I couldn’t stop talking and smiling because I was too excited about getting our tickets.
“Aren’t you just excited to go to Florida?” I asked.
“Yes, I am. We can finally catch up with the family and drink hot cocoa,” responded my mother.
The airport was so crowded. Some people were leaving to other countries and others were just visiting for the holiday. There was such a huge line in the airport because so many different people were buying plane tickets.
When it was our turn, my mother said, “Three tickets to Florida on Christmas Eve please.” The lady working there responded, “Well, you guys are lucky. You got the last three tickets to Florida.”
My mother and I both smiled in relief and paid for our tickets and went back home to finish packing.
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When we arrived home, we found Father was
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After we left for the airport to buy tickets, a man climbed into our house to steal money.
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As your child progresses through life, he will make mistakes. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to correct those mistakes, but you should use the right way to correct your child’s mistakes or else you risk harming his self-esteem (自尊) or causing problems in your relationship. Using the right way to offer your child constructive criticism (建设性的批评) encourages healthy development.
Parents should be willing to teach their child proper behaviors when offering constructive criticism, according to an Everyday Health article. If your child’s leaving food particles on dishes that he’s washed, teach him your way of properly washing dishes, as opposed to shouting at him or thinking he’s lazy. You can say, “I know you work hard at washing the dishes every night. But for the past few weeks I’ve noticed that there’s been some food stuck on some of the dishes. I used to do this when I was about your age, too. May I show you the way I’ve learned to wash the dishes?”
Your child will probably not reply to your criticism if it is given in an angry tone (语气). Talk to your child when you’re calm and clear-headed. It’s difficult enough to receive criticism because no one really wants to hear about their mistakes, says psychiatrist Harry Croft, so it’s important that you use a loving tone when correcting your child’s mistakes. If the matter doesn’t need to be dealt with immediately, give yourself as much time as you need — even go for a walk — before correcting your child’s behaviors.
Comparison is never a good way of offering constructive criticism. When you compare your child with someone else, you are creating feelings of inadequacy (缺乏信心) in your child, which can have long-lasting bad influences. Instead, focus on your child, his behaviors, and the things he might be able to improve. Instead of saying, “I wish you could be respectful to your grandparents like your brother,” try saying, “I really want you to work on having more respect for your grandparents.”
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Long ago, there was a big apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He climbed to the top of the tree, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree also enjoyed playing with him.
As time went by, the little boy grew up and he no longer played around the tree.
One day, the boy came back to the tree, appearing sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy gently.
“I am no longer a kid; I won’t play around trees any more,” the boy replied. “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”
“Sorry, but I don’t have money. However, you can pick all my apples and sell them. Then, you will have money.” The boy was so excited that he picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy didn’t come back after that.
The tree was upset.
One day, the boy returned and the tree was so joyful. “Come and play with me,” the tree said.
“I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” “Sorry, I don’t have a house. But you can cut off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left with delight.
The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn’t appear since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree requested.
“I am sad and becoming old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?”“Use my trunk to build the boat. You can sail and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and did not show up for a long time.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
Many years later, the boy finally returned.
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The apple tree is our mother.
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My mother always told me it was better to be smart than to be beautiful. “If you are smart, finally you will afford to be beautiful.” All I needed were the brains, and someday, I would be a really beautiful lawyer.
My mother worked at a TV station and I would come along and watch the magic of filming TV shows. But all the same, I was learning.
When my father’s business failed, I was able to continue to attend one of the best bilingual (双语的) schools in Mexico City thanks to scholarship. Scholarship followed me into middle school and high school.
However, during my senior year in high school my family moved to my dad’s country, the United States. For the first time in my life, I had optional (可选择的) classes. So I decided to take psychology class. While I found the public school system to be a joke, I did find my psychology class attractive. My mother, in her dreams for my life, did not see psychology as a good choice, but I was like her, strong-willed to the subject.
I married young, even before I had a degree under my belt. Worst of all, I married a kid who wanted to be poster (牧师). My mother loved Andy dearly but she would ask him occasionally, “When will you have a real job?” I did finish my degree and I became a social worker, but when I had my first child at age 24, I quit my job. Then at 26, another baby girl joined our family. Unfortunately, this baby girl had Down syndrome (唐氏综合征).
How would I be able to break the news to my mother? “It is better to be smart than to be beautiful.” I knew what “smart” meant in the statement, and I doubted if my baby with an extra chromosome (染色体) would meet those expectations. My mom was coming to the hospital to meet her new grandbaby. I would tell her then. I needed time to gather my thoughts. I was afraid, afraid that she would see Nichole as one that would never be smart...or beautiful.
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My mother arrived at the hospital midmorning, ready to meet her new granddaughter.
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Six years later, Nichole runs to mom whenever we see each other.
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I pulled the car into the garage and got out, just like every night for the past 16 years. The difference was that I wouldn’t have to work in the morning.
I slammed the car door. I used to be a leader of a national bank until it was closed. I’d put my heart and soul into my job. Not only did I work long hours, but also I was on call 24 hours a day, on weekends and holidays. If someone had a technical problem, even at 2:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, I was on it.
My kids joked that even though they were teenagers, I was the one who was absorbed in my cell phone and had to be told not to text at the dinner table.
My wife, Michelle, had been able to go to work full-time as an office manager once we heard my job was threatened. But our son, TJ, was a high school senior, and the girls, Sarah and Tara, were in ninth grade. And I wanted to give them the education and opportunities they deserved. “If I can’t provide anything for my family,” I asked, “what good am I?”
I opened the garage door and stepped out into our yard. The lawn and flower beds that my mum had tended so carefully were overrun with weeds. There was a maple tree in the middle of the yard that my parents planted when I was a boy. It needed caring. But I’d put on a lot of weight—no time to exercise with my crazy hours. I went up to the house. Michelle greeted me at the door with a hug. “It’s going to be okay. We will get through it,” she said. “Maybe you should think of this time as a break. You deserve one.”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” TJ said. “I know how much your job meant to you.” His concern was mirrored in the girls’ faces.
“I’ll take care of this,” I told them. “I’m going to work round the clock to find a new job and make our lives go back to normal.”
注意：
(1) 续写词数应为150左右；
(2) 请按如下格式作答。
The next morning, I got up before everyone else.
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The new lawn I’d planned for so long began to take shape and so did I.
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George’s mother was very poor. Instead of having bright blazing fires in winter, she had nothing to burn but dry sticks, which George picked up from under the trees and hedges.
One fine day in July, his sick mother sent George to the woods, which were about two miles from the village in which she lived. He was to stay there all day to get as much wood as he could collect.
It was a bright, sunny day, and George worked very hard; so that by the time the sun was high, he was hot, and wished for a cool place where he might rest and eat his dinner. While he hunted for a spot about the bank he saw among the moss some fine, wild strawberries, which were a bright scarlet with ripeness.
”How good these will be my bread and butter!“thought George. Lining his little cap with leaves he set to work eagerly to gather all he could find and then seated himself by the brook.
It was a pleasant place, and George felt happy and contented. He thought how much his mother would like to see him there, and to be there herself, instead of in her dark close room in the village.
George thought of all this and just as he was lifting the first strawberry to his mouth, he said to himself, ”How much mother would like these!“and he stopped, putting the strawberry back again. ”Shall I save them for her?“said he, thinking how much they would refresh her, yet still looking at them with a longing eye.
”I will eat half, and take the other half to her, “said he at last, and he divided them into two heaps(t). But each heap looked so small, that he put them together again.
”I will only taste one“thought he. As he again lifted it to his mouth, he saw that he had taken the finest and he put it back. ”I will keep them all for her, "he said with great happiness, and he covered them up nicely, ready to take home.
注意：(1)续写词数应为150左右;
(2)开头已给出。
He stood up and started to get more and more wood until the sun began to sink.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Just after he had thrown down his wood, he heard his mother’s weak voice calling him from the next room.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 我的爷爷是一所部队的杰出的指挥官。（troop, outstanding, commander）
2. 他在与敌人的一次激烈战斗中牺牲了。（violent）
3. 他们的目标是解放那座城市。（objective, liberate）
4. 今天是清明节，我和家人都表情严肃地参加了纪念仪式。（solemn, memorial）
5. 父亲回忆起和爷爷一起度过的美好岁月，眼中含着泪花。（recall, with的复合结构）
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My mom only had one eye. I hated her. She was such an embarrassment.
She ran a small shop at a flea market (跳蚤市场) and collected old clothes and some other things to sell for the money we needed. Once during elementary school, it was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed and wondered how could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school, my schoolmates asked me, “Your mom only has one eye？” and laughed at me.
I was so angry with my mom and wished that she would just disappear from this world. So I said to my mom, “Why don't you have the other eye? You're only gonna (将要) make me a joke！” My mom trembled with shock, and said in an apologetic tone, “I'm so sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you. But I was so proud of my son to see a whole new world for me with that_eye. I will leave right now. Sorry！” My mom turned around and staggered away.
For the words I had said to her earlier, there was something biting at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my oneeyed mom and our desperate poverty. Maybe because my mom hadn't punished me, I didn't think I had hurt her feelings very badly.
I told myself that I would become successful in the near future, so I studied very hard. Later I got accepted by the Seoul University. I left my mother and came to Seoul to study. I never went back to visit my mom.
Then I got married there. I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too. Now I am living happily as a successful man. I enjoy the life in Seoul because it's a place that doesn't remind me of my mom and my past. This kind of happiness was getting bigger and bigger, until one day someone knocked at my door.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2．至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3．续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4．续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
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It was my mom! And still with her one eye！
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Holding the letter, I cried for the person who only lived for me.
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