An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year -old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) perched (栖息) on their window.
The father asked his son, “what is this?” The son replied, “It is a crow.”
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?” The son said, “Father , I have just now told you, it is a crow!”
After a little while, the old father again asked his son for the third time, “What is this?”
At this time some expression of irritation (恼怒) was felt in the son’s tone when he said to his father with a rebuff (生硬回绝) . “It’s a crow , a crow.” A little while later, the father again asked his son the fourth time, “ What is this?”
This time, the son shouted at his father, “ Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times ‘IT IS A CROW’. Are you not able to understand this?’
A little while later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered (发皱的) diary, which he had maintained since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary:
“Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I did not at all feel annoyed but I rather felt love for my innocent son.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150词左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
After reading the diary,
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Paragraph 2:
Feeling ashamed , the son got down on his knees before his father.
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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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was little, I lived in a house with a beautiful garden full of all kinds of Bowers. There was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting in the garden with my mother reading stories to me. When I was old enough to read, I enjoyed reading stories aloud to her.
I would never forget one day when I was in the third grade. I bad been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had rehearsed (排练) my lines so hard with me. But however easily I acted at home, the moment I stepped on stage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside, explaining that she had written a narrator’s (解说员) part to the play, and asked me to change roles. Her word, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.
I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home after school that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to take a walk in the garden.
It was May and roses were blossoming and, under the trees, we could also see yellow dandelions (蒲公英) in the grass, as if a painter had painted our garden with red, yellow and green. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion. ”I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, pulling it up by its roots. ”From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden. ”
“But I like dandelions,” I protested, “All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions.” “Yes, every flower is beautiful in its own way, isn’t it?” she asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. “And that is true of people too,” she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.” Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened. She listened and smiled to me gently.
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。
Para 1: “But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said.
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Para 2: After the play, I took home the flower.
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A boy named Ali had a large and harmonious family, happily living with his sisters, parents and grandmother. His grandmother loved everyone a lot and was respected by all family members. She was very old, but sometimes she would recall things from her past and share with them. Sometimes they would believe her but at other times they would think that Granny might be mixing up the facts due to her old age.
One day, when Ali was in school, suddenly while knitting (编织), Granny remembered something and she couldn’t contain her emotions so she got up to tell her son — Ali’s father. She walked as fast as she could to his room and said, “You always asked about my birth date, but do you know today is the day when I was born?”
She looked at her son with an excited expression, expecting an immediate response. However, her son wondered how she could remember her date of birth in this old age when she forgot so many other things, so he didn’t pay much attention to this. Disappointed at her son’s reaction, Granny then went to Ali’s mother and Ali’s sister, but like Ali’s father, nobody believed her.
Sadly, she went and sat in the terrace (庭院). When Ali returned from his school, he found his grandmother sitting alone with a sad expression. Ali asked his granny about the matter, but she said there was nothing to worry about. After a lot of persuasion she finally told him what was troubling her — nobody seemed to care that it was her birthday today!
After hearing what Granny said, Ali thought of a plan. Purely by chance, some of Ali’s friends were playing nearby so he shared his plan with them.
His friends were all willing to help Ali achieve what he planned.
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Ali was so happy to see his granny with tears of joy shining in her eyes.
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A Great Monday
Monday started out well. I woke up on time, ate breakfast and did some last minute studying for my math test later that morning. I was confident of getting good grades. I left my house and ten minutes later, I sat with my friends on the school bus. We were busy chatting about how we spent our weekend. At the next stop, a student named Ryan got on the bus. He was in a rush and tripped (绊倒) over someone’s foot. There was a loud noise as he fell to the floor.
Every one of us on the bus laughed. Ryan got up, brushed his jacket and went to an empty seat. He tried to laugh with us, but his face was red with embarrassment. The rest of the morning went by quickly. I did well in my math test. I read two more chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird in English class. Soon we heard the lunch bell. I met my friends from the cheerleading team in the dining hall. I noticed Ryan a few tables away, sitting by himself. He caught me looking at him. I smiled at him quickly and looked away.
When we finished eating, we went to the courtyard to practice a cheer we would do at that night’s football game. After much practice, we finally managed to do the cheer perfectly. We decided to practice it again one last time. Just like the rest of my day so far, the cheer was going great. I raised my leg for one last toe touch. That was when I felt my jeans (牛仔裤) split (裂开) down the middle of my backside.
I froze. I had no idea what to do. I heard people burst out laughing and I saw them pointing at my torn jeans. I tried to cover myself with my hands, I tried to laugh too, but I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Then I saw Ryan running towards me.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That night, after the cheer at the football game, I found Ryan.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________There was once a troubled family. The parents spoiled their children. The son, John, loved to play video games all day long when summer vacation was around and he did not like to study. The daughter, Emily, on the other hand, loved studying without play. To her, video games were for foolish people who were unable to achieve anything useful. Life went on with parents complaining and not changing anything.
One day two new neighbors arrived in their neighborhood. One lived on the right side of John’s house while the other lived on the left side of John’s house. These two people were twins. They did not communicate with anyone other than themselves. John and his family felt uncomfortable living right between them. Strange sounds came from their houses every midnight until the afternoon. People heard and saw thunder and lightning coming from the house. After a couple of weeks of lightning flashing, machines roaring, this disturbed every household. Everyone could not help but wonder what their new neighbors were doing. It was whispered that they were inventing a time machine in secret.
People were beginning to dislike them. Every moment they heard these noises, they felt like something was going to explode soon. To deal with this problem John and Emily’s parents walked to both houses to speak with the owners. But on each door hung a sign that said, “DO NOT DISTURB!” They tried knocking the door and no one responded or came out from the house. The machine noise kept going but once in a while it did stop for a small break before it continued. They tried nearly every day to get the attention of their new neighbors. But in the end they gave up. They decided to send their kids to get their attention instead. So they made a plan and the kids successfully entered the neighbor’s houses.
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:
Unexpectedly, the kids both experienced a journey to their own future there.
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Paragraph 2:
After returning from the neighbor’s houses, the two kids changed totally.
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I was in my room, unwilling to head to the community theatre with “my brother” Henry. He was just adopted by my parents recently. I was not in the mood for being onstage with him.
“Kristie, come here,” my mom called. Following her voice, I found her outside the bathroom, holding a wet book. She gave the book a shake. “Henry’s book was in the bathtub. Did you put it there?” She glared at me—something she never did before Henry came to our home. I didn’t wet his book on purpose. Tears of hurt clouded my eyes. Worse still, she promised to buy him a new copy. My heart ached. Henry was stealing my mother’s love. He was ruining my life.
Meanwhile, Henry was just nearby, absorbed in working on a complicated rope knot (绳结) as usual. Why did a boy like him do the girly work? Far from manly!
Soon, it was time to have to set off for the community theatre. As Henry walked ahead of us to the car, my mom took me aside and said in a low voice, “It’s the first time for Henry to be onstage. Be kind to him, Honey.” I nodded but sighed. Being kind didn’t use to be hard. But after Henry moved in, everything felt different. The theatre used to be a special place for my parents and me. With Henry involved, it didn’t seem so special any more.
Finally, it was our stage time. My heart beat wildly. I forgot my annoyance at Henry for a while. As we kids lined up, ready to act out our short play, I realized how loosely I had tied the drawstring (束带) on my skirt. Sure enough, my skirt began to drop. Laughter from the audience could be heard, and even though I was wearing shorts under my skirt, I could feel my face burst into flames. However, my hands were full. If only someone could help me out!
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。
Right then, Henry sensed my embarrassment.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the performance, I found Henry and tapped him on the arm gratefully.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Being sent to New York to help develop a new project, my parents would be too busy to look after me. So they decided to drive me to the village where my grandpa lived. He had been a teacher in a high school before he retired 3 years ago. I haven’t seen my grandfather for a long time. I could only remember he was a serious, well-dressed and handsome man.
When Mum pulled in the driveway, Grandpa Michael was weeding his garden. He stood up and greeted us with wide-open arms. In his muddy gloves and jeans, he looked nothing like the grandfather I remembered. I wasn’t expecting him to look so different.
After the hugs and kisses, Grandpa couldn’t wait to show off his garden, pointing out his almost-ripe tomatoes and complaining about the rabbits eating his lettuce. The man who had been devoted himself for ages to helping his students improve their grades, form good habits or change their bad behaviour now cared so much about gardening. He used to be a perfect teacher but now he was only a perfect gardener.
Mum returned, leaving only Grandpa and me. I was a little nervous as if we were strangers. My grandpa was a little, too. “Are you hungry? Let’s prepare for our dinner together, OK?” My grandpa turned to me and said proudly, “Now, Adam, you know I am very good at making pasta（意大利面）with delicious sauce. Would you like to try?” I eagerly nodded. “That’s good!” Grandpa said. “We’ll make some.”
We pulled up some vegetables from the garden, and then drove 15 miles to the nearest grocery, where Grandpa bought cheese and nuts. On the drive home Grandpa told me his students all liked the pasta he cooked especially the sauce.
Then Grandpa showed me how to mix eggs with flour to make pasta and then how to prepare the sauce. When everything was ready, he proudly served me a large plate of pasta. I put a forkful into my mouth and it was just terrible.
Paragraph 1:
“So,” Grandpa said, his eyes shining, “what do you think?”
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Paragraph 2:
My grandpa hugged me warmly.
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There is no school equal to a decent (体面的) home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.
There are two typical examples: Edison’s mother and our mother. As you all know, Thomas Edison is one of the most outstanding scientists and inventors in the world. Unbelievably, young Tom was in school for only three months. It is said that he liked to ask strange questions, many of which have nothing to do with learning. His teacher didn’t understand why he had so many strange questions. He didn’t want to teach Tom any more. He asked Tom’s mother to take the boy home. Tom’s mother taught him to read and write, and she found him to be a very good pupil. He learned very fast and became very interested in science. It was she who played an important role in Edison’s growth. Although we can’t compare with Edison, our mother played a more important role in our growth than his mother. Our dad was an English teacher who taught high school students. For many years, he had been cautious and conscientious (认真的) towards work. Mom stayed home and homeschooled their four children. Three of us had no trouble in learning but my sister Catherine still could not read by fifth grade, and worse still, did not even know the alphabet (字母表).
My mother did some research and found that Catherine had some sort of learning disability. She sent Catherine to a public school to get some help. Catherine made many friends at school and amazed everyone with her gift for telling creative stories in class, but she still couldn’t master reading skills. After all the testing was done, the school had my parents come in. They were told that based on the test results, they should just take Catherine home, which was very similar to Edison’s experience. However, the biggest difference is that Edison was not stupid, and my sister really had learning disabilities.
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。
Tears of sadness ran down my dad’s cheeks.
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In time, Catherine got it.
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In gift shops, it is likely that many tourists would pass by what may be a symbol of Portugal: swallows made of glass. In Portugal, people gift the birds for weddings, anniversaries, housewarmings and going-away gatherings.
Farewells were on my mind when I met Apolinario in February 2020. At the time I was well aware of my oldest child’s upcoming graduation and departure for university in a city far from home.
Ethan, my oldest child, has been away from me before. There have been camps and school trips, but each time I have rested easy in the knowledge that he would come home. He always comes home.
But this time I feel less certain.
The feeling was at its peak when I entered Apolinario’s gift shop that specialized in Portuguese souvenirs. I was aimlessly walking among the shelves when I noticed the abundance of glass swallows.
“The swallow is connected to a lot of things that are dear to us,’’ explained Apolinario who stood behind me. The birds’ qualities —they mate for life and raise their babies together—make it a nostalgic (怀旧的) symbol. “They don’t leave the nest until all of the babies do and they always return.”
Apolinario also told me that the swallow also marked an important time in the country’s history when the Portuguese sailed around the world. A lot of people missed their homeland and wanted to come back. The swallow represented that there was a nest somewhere in Portugal, although people were living all over the world.
“The concept is best described as the feeling of connection you get when you taste your grandmother’s cooking or a familiar smell that takes you back to your childhood. The swallow is thought to be the embodiment (体现) of that feeling. When you have one in or on your home, it carries those good memories with it,” he added. “When you’re giving this as a gift, you’re basically giving a part of yourself that stays there. You’re creating a connection.”
注意：1.写作词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
When Apolinario told me about the bird, I knew I needed one.
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This past September, my husband and I accompanied our son to his university.
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