The Feel-Better Book
My grandparents have lived in a whole different state for as long as I can remember, so I’ve had a lot of experience as far as missing them goes. I usually get to see them only a couple of times a year. But they ended up canceling their summer trip last month because Gran had to have knee surgery.
“It’s not fair!” whined (抱怨) my little brother, Tex. “Paul was going to take me fishing.”
“Sorry, kiddo. That’s just the way the ball bounces,” said my dad, using one of his old-fashioned sayings that all pretty much mean “Relax, because there’s nothing you can do to change this particular situation.”
“And what about the zoo?” grumbled (嘟囔) my little sister, Indi. “Gran and I were going to have a special zoo day, just the two of us!”
“There will be lots more summers for special zoo days,” said my mom. “How about, for now, we give Paul and Gran a call?”
While Tex and Indi talked on the phone, all kinds of memories started playing in my head like a movie: spotting seals from the ferryboat, riding bikes through Golden Gate Park, baking Gran’s world-famous cookies, and putting on silly magic shows with Paul. For some strange reason, those happy memories just made me unbelievably sad. I started missing my grandparents so much that I wanted to cry.
“Here you go,” my mom said, handing me the phone… “It’s your turn to talk to Paul and Gran.”
“Um, I can’t talk right now,” I told her and suddenly I was running down the hall.
“Why in the world did you run away like that?” asked my dad.
“I didn’t want to cry on the phone,” I sniffled (抽泣).
“I’m sure Gran and Paul would have understood,” he said.
“Yes, but they already have enough to worry about with Gran’s knee troubles,” I said. “I want to make Gran happy, not sad!”
“Hey, good idea!” I thought to myself and ran to my room. “I’ll make Gran a get- well-soon card. ”
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 started drawing pictures of all those fun memories I was talking about earlier.
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I described all the different pictures in the memory book over the telephone.
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One weekend in July, Jane and her husband, Tom, had driven three hours to camp overnight by a lake in the forest. Unfortunately, on the way an unpleasant subject came up and they started to quarrel. By the time they reached the lake, Jane was so angry that she said to Tom, “I'm going to find a better spot for us to camp” and walked away.
With no path to follow, Jane just walked on for quite a long time. After she had climbed to a high place, she turned around, hoping to see the lake. To her surprise, she saw nothing but forest and, far beyond, a snowcapped mountain top. She suddenly realized that she was lost.
“Tom!” she cried. “Help!”
No reply. If only she had not left her mobile phone in that bag with Tom. Jane kept moving, but the farther she walked, the more confused she became. As night was beginning to fall, Jane was so tired that she had to stop for the night. Lying awake in the dark, Jane wanted very much to be with Tom and her family. She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she loved him.
Jane rose at the break of day, hungry and thirsty. She could hear water trickling (滴落) somewhere at a distance. Quickly she followed the sound to a stream. To her great joy, she also saw some berry bushes. She drank and ate a few berries. Never in her life had she tasted anything better.
Feeling stronger now, Jane began to walk along the stream and hope it would lead her to' the lake.As she picked her way carefully along the stream, Jane heard a helicopter. Is that for me? Unfortunately,the trees made it impossible for people to see her from above. A few minutes later, another helicopter flew overhead. Jane took off her yellow blouse, thinking that she should go to an open area and flag them if they came back again.
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；
3)请在答题卡的相应位置作答；
4)字体端正，格式规范，卷面整洁。
Paragraph l:
But no more helicopter came and it was getting dark again.
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It was daybreak when Jane woke up.
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How can we celebrate the people we've never met who helped get us through the worst year of our life?
When I was a child, my grandmother often expressed the importance of communicating with everyone. When she walked down the street, she spoke to everyone. It did not matter if you were elderly or a child, or if you spoke English or Spanish. She had a smile and a conversation for you.
My grandmother's wisdom opened my mind to having a pen pal. This hobby-exchanging regular letters with someone on the other side of the world that you may never meet in person used to be popular in the 20th century. But many people consider the practice outdated in age of Facebook. Today, when I reveal that among my long time friendships is a relationship with a pen pal, with whom I communicate solely through long emails, people find it odd.
It isn't odd-it's wonderful. My relationship with my pen pal is one of the most valuable friendships I have ever had. even though I have never met her in person, or even heard her voice.
It all started in 2013. I was on my way to USC to meet Kerstin Zilm, a German radio personality who wanted to interview me about being a struggling student at Long Beach City College. After the interview, a woman named Renate reached out to Kerstin, inquiring how she could find me and help me financially with college. I thought it was great that Renate, who lives in Germany, wanted to assist with my education.
At first, Renate and I emailed each other twice a month. She wanted to know a lot more about my life growing up in Watts, my attempts to further my education, and whether there were ways beyond finances that she could help. I did not have a specific answer for her last question, but her moral support was important. With someone encouraging me and sponsoring my education, my spirits were greatly lifted up.
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。
Her support kept coming, in various forms.
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But as I prepared for meeting with her, I received the worst news I'd ever gotten.
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One rainy day, Lily, a sad little girl, was looking out of the window. Her mother was doing her usual housework. She had been busy preparing dinner and washing clothes. Her daughter, not old enough to go to school, had wanted to play outside, but it was raining. The mother told her little girl to get some paper and a pencil to draw pictures. She hadn’t noticed her daughter was very sad.
Lily was the only child in the family and had no brothers or sisters to play with. She sat on the sofa with her pencil and paper, looked out of the window and began to draw a picture. She drew the window with rain streaming down the glass. Then she drew a little girl in front of the window with ribbons in her hair. The mother passed by as she was going to put the clothes into the dryer. She told her daughter that her drawing was pretty. Lily said thank you, but she still wanted to go out to play. Her mother said, “We have discussed that already. You can’t. It’s raining.”
Lily continued to draw the picture, while her mother went back to the kitchen to check on dinner. The mother could see her daughter’s drawing across the glass door that divided the two rooms. In the drawing, a little girl had big tears rolling down her cheeks. The mother thought about the events of the day in her mind.
Several times that day, Lily had asked her mother for permission to go out and play. The rain had prevented her from going out. She had asked her mother to play and watch cartoons with her. Each time, her mother was too busy with things she had to do. The mother felt guilty, and realized the little girl in the drawing was her daughter’s self-portrait. So she walked into the living room.
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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She sat down on the sofa by her daughter.
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“Where’s my surprise, Mommy?” Lily asked curiously.
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I was sitting at my kitchen table the other day with a pen, a notebook, a calculator, and a pile of bills, I was doing my monthly budget(预算). There were bills for electric, water, rent, insurance, the car payment, the phone bill, and the WiFi bill. Plus money needed to be set aside for food, gas, clothes, and hopefully a little left over to save for those unexpected bills that always seemed to show up. When I was done I shook my head, closed my eyes, and thought of a time long ago when I would regularly get treasures.
When I was a boy, we lived across the road from Camp Caesar. It held week long camps all through the Summer and my grandma who I lovingly called “Nanny” worked in its big kitchen. I remember sneaking(溜进) in there getting a smile, a hug, a kiss, and a hot cookie from Nanny. Then she would always dig deep in her pockets and pull out a treasure, a shiny coin. She would give it to me and I would run down the hill to either get an ice cold can of coke from the pop machine or I would head to the camp’s swimming pool where I could buy a warm cup of cherry coke for 15 cents and a tiny 10 cent bag of chips from the stand. I took my time because it was always a big decision. It was nice to feel so rich for a few minutes.
Looking back now I can see that the real treasure wasn't the coin at all. It was the love with which Nanny gave it to me. I would have still visited her at work every day if I had never gotten a single coin. It was her smile, hugs, and kisses that were priceless in my heart then and now.
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 I posted my grandmother’s story online.
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It was suggested that we should write a book about these stories.
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I couldn't believe that my father shouted at me and called me a fool! In all my 18 years, I'd never heard him say anything like that to anyone. But then, I had never shouted the words "I hate you!" in his face, either. I guess we were both pretty angry. I had been saving money from my part-time job for three years and now I wanted to use it to buy a car. He wanted me to save it for college expenses.
I knew that we both needed time to cool off. I left him sitting at the kitchen table, ran down the stairs to the driveway, and jumped on my bike. I headed for the road that runs along the river. It's usually pretty quiet there and I've found that it's a good place to go to when l need to think something out. Riding along, I kept thinking over and over, "But it's my money! I earned it!" Little by little, I calmed down. Circling back toward town later, I stopped in the park. I had a drink of water and decided to avoid Dad for the rest of the day.
He must have had the same idea—about avoiding me, that is. He didn't come up to my room to say goodnight, and I didn't go downstairs. I couldn't get to sleep that night. I kept going over our argument in my mind. He felt I didn't really need a car. After all, I could use his anytime I wanted to. In addition, he paid for my driver's insurance and bought all the gas. It's just that all my friends were buying their own cars and I wanted one of my own. I really wanted that car. I finally fell asleep and when I woke up I didn't really change my mind. But I felt a little better.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
I guess Dad was feeling a little better, too.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After a moment, I was able to speak.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was my tenth birthday and I would have the biggest party ever. The guest list, which I kept at the back of my homework assignment folder, began with a few close friends. But in the two weeks before that special Friday night, it had quickly grown from seven girls to a total of seventeen. Nearly every girl in my fifth grade class had been invited to sleep over at my house for a big celebration. I was especially happy when each guest I invited excitedly accepted the invitation. It would be a night of scary stories, pizza and lots of presents. But as I later realized, I would truly treasure only one gift I received that night.
The family room was a flurry of shouts and bursts of laughter. We had just finished a game of Twister and were lining up for the limbo when the doorbell rang. I hardly paid attention to who might be at the door. What did it matter, really? Everyone I liked from school was there, in my family room, preparing to lean under the stick held by my two sisters.
“Judy, come here for a minute,” Mom called from the front door.
I rolled my eyes and shrugged to my friends as if to say, “Now who would dare bother me at a time like this?” What I really wanted to say was: It's tough being popular!
I rounded the bend toward the front door, then stopped. I knew my mouth dropped open and I could feel my face turning red, for there on the front porch stood Sarah Westley-the quiet girl who sat next to me in music class and she was holding a gift.
I thought about the growing list in the back of my assignment folder. How had I forgotten to invite Sarah?
I remembered that I only added a name to the list when someone had shown an interest in me. But Sarah had never done that. Never once had she asked me about my birthday party. Never once did she squeeze into the circle of kids surrounding me at lunch time. And once she even helped me carry my backpack while I dragged my science project to our third floor classroom.
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 guess I had forgotten to invite her simply because she wasn’t pushing to be invited.
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I stood there with Sarah’s gift in my hands and an empty feeling in my heart.
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A Sweet Song
"Nothing will ever be the same again," Ally whispered. She sank slowly into her father's favorite chair and stared at the small American flag on his desk. It was the flag which Chief Russell had given to her after the funeral last summer, when he hugged her and told her how proud the Police Department was of her dad's work for them. His tears had warmed Ally's cheeks; her own tears were still frozen inside her heart.
Ally looked at her father's picture on the bookcase. Dad was sitting in the middle of a stream, wet through but grinning proudly. "I miss you, Dad," she said softly. By this time last year she had already taken dozens of pictures. Ever since she could remember, she and Dad had been a team, searching the woods behind the house each weekend for a glimpse of the special wood warbler（林中莺）.
Ally reached for the first photo album she and Dad had put together. On the cover a tiny orange bird with blue-gray wings and sharp black eyes peered out of the photo her father had clipped from a local newspaper. Ally smiled, remembering the excited look on his face when he first showed her the pretty bird. "Ally, I bet if we search real hard, we'll see this little guy together some day."
They'd never spotted the warbler, but her father had an amazing way of making each outing seem special. Staying with Dad, Ally felt comfortable. "If only I could get that good feeling back," she thought, sighing.
Staring at the bird, suddenly, she knew exactly what she had to do. Grabbing the-little flag, she placed her camera around her neck and hurried outside. Ally stuck the flag among the flowers in the garden. "Please let me see the warbler," she murmured to herself. She gave her worried Mom a kiss and then set off into the woods.
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。
Familiar smells of the earth rose up to greet her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Determined to start out the next morning, she was about to head home when a ringing birdsong floated down to her.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I am a doctor, so I love my job. I always have, but I feel particularly proud to do it at the moment. With COVID-19 sweeping through Wuhan, people are avoiding hospitals as possible they can. However, pregnant women still need to come into the hospital. Babies still need to be born.
Right now, it is even scarier for these women, as they have to come in on their own, often feeling frightened. Their families are separated from them due to safety measures. We’ve always provided physical support, but now we are doing so on a different level — we also have to keep them company and offer emotional support. Unfortunately, some of the women have caught corona-virus, and being at the hospital puts me at risk. Personally, I feel protected because we have full personal protective equipment, which we wear all through our 13-hour shifts. You don’t know if someone is carrying corona-virus or not.
I didn’t want to put my family in danger by bringing the virus home and possibly passing it on to them. As a single parent to my children, Xiaohua, 12 years old, and Xiaoyong, 9, I realized I had to make a very tough decision about my family’s safety when the country went into lockdown. Giving up work wasn’t an option for me. I wanted to be able to look after the women who were feeling poorly and very scared, but I could not leave my little angels behind either.
At this point, my sister suggested that the children stay with her and her husband for the time being and leave me to my hospital duties. I thought it was a great idea, so we set a date for her to pick them up. When I explained the situation to my angels and told them they needed to stay with their aunt for a while, they both seemed upset, but agreed to go. On the day I saw them off, they kept looking back at me until they were too far to be seen.
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。
After that, my workload increased because some of my coworkers fell ill.
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A week later, it came to Xiaoyong’s birthday.
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Dad and Mom had got to go on a four-day business trip. They taught their elder son Daniel and younger daughter Jane how to feed and look after their dog, Spot, how to take good care of themselves—learning to cook if they could, or ordering pizza—with money left on the table—if they were busy, and told them to keep their rooms clean and tidy. They asked Daniel to be in charge.
On the very morning when the parents left, Mom kissed them and said to Daniel gently, “Young man, do take care of Spot and Jane.” Daniel promised, “I will, Mom.”
Too excited to fall asleep again, Daniel and Jane jumped out of bed, calling out each other to get up. Their pet dog, Spot, heard the similar voice and rushed in, with a ball in its mouth. Jane stuck(伸) her head into Daniel’s room,“Spot got up an hour earlier. Let’s walk it.” Daniel said excitedly, “I’m coming, but, Jane, don’t forget to keep your room clean and tidy.” “I will.”
They ran with the dog in the yard and threw the ball away for Spot to bring it back. They had fun playing with Spot the whole morning. Washing Spot was slow and tiring as it was the first time they had done it. Then Daniel settled down to his homework while Jane did her reading with interest.
The following day, Jane begged her brother to order pizza for lunch. Daniel agreed excitedly, “We haven’t tasted that for long and we behave ourselves, right?”After a while, he added, “We should save money, too.” Within half an hour, they treated themselves to a big pizza. However, in the afternoon, Spot looked sick, lying lazily and unwilling to move. Daniel was concerned about the dog and took it to the pet clinic immediately with Jane as their parents had done.
注意：(1)续写词数应为150左右；(2)请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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When Dad and Mom arrived a day earlier, they were amazed to find everything in a mess.
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Daniel ran into his room, with tears in his eyes,“ Jane, there is no need to explain and Mom won’t trust me any longer.”
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