Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks.
One day, Ali took Zahra's shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it a secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra's school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.
Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city.When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.
The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache. Getting more and more exhausted he thought only of Zahra and his promise to her. Dreaming of the new shoes he would win for his sister gave him strength, and he stayed right behind the two fastest runners, determined to finish third. Suddenly, as the finish line drew near, another runner collided(碰撞) with Ali from behind and he crashed to the ground.
Ali looked up and saw the other boys rushing ahead.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Filled with delight, Ali walked home quickly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As a sixth grader, I began noticing how other kids were separating into groups. I wasn’t sure where I belonged. I found it hard to fit in.
Our teacher had assigned “secret friends” for the coming week. She wrote each kid’s name on a piece of paper and threw them into a glass; then we each closed our eyes and catch one piece of paper from the glass on which was the name of a classmate who we were to secretly befriend and support each other over the next five school days. By the middle of the week, everyone, including me, had turned this assignment into a competition to see whose secret friend could leave the best gift. We left cards, pens and even money. It seemed that everyone was getting cool presents from their friend except me.
On the last morning of our assignment, I walked into my classroom and noticed there was a package. I opened the wrapping paper and inside was a box of powder (胭脂). The girls sitting near me laughed at the gift I had received. To make matters worse, the powder had already been opened.
I tried to forget about the embarrassing gift, but when I was in the bathroom during the break, the girls who had seen me open the powder started speaking ill of my secret friend. I quickly joined in: “How terrible”. I heard myself saying “What could my friend be thinking by giving me such a stupid gift? My grandmother wouldn’t even want it.” The girls laughed at my remarks and rushed out of the bathroom. I stayed to wash my hands and let the water run through my fingers as I thought about what I had just said. It wasn’t normal like me to say mean things like that about someone.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
Then I saw my classmate Janet come out of a bathroom booth (厕所隔间), tears streaming down her face.
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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A couple of months before I started high school, my parents gave me the greatest gift any teenage boy could ask for: a cellphone. I lived on that phone all summer with my face buried in its screen. I texted with every friend who was lucky enough to have a texting plan. I ignored my family and my surroundings. Being connected was more important than being present.
So, you can imagine my displeasure when l learned what my dad had planned for our family vacation that year. “This year,” my dad said, “we’ll be doing something special. We’re going camping!” His excitement was met with a disappointed sigh. It wasn’t my dream vacation, but I remained unbothered throughout the packing and planning. My mind was on my phone. I was so buried in the screen, in fact, that the first time I can remember truly looking up was when we drove across a bridge on the way to our campsite.
I stared out the window and saw redwoods towering above us, their branches threatening to pierce (刺破) the blue sky. I saw a roaring river, with slivers of silky black water appearing between crashing white rapids. The air blowing into the car from the open windows was hot and smelled of pine. But none of that mattered to me. The reason I had looked up was for something far more serious. My phone no longer had service.
The last hour of the drive was increasingly tense. My dad announced that he had chosen a campsite that had no cell service, and that my phone would be useless until we returned home. I would be trapped in the forest for four days with no way to contact the outside world! I went through the full cycle of teenage emotions during the first day of the trip. I raged (发怒). I bargained. I begged. I flip-flopped (转变) from a depressive state to anger and back.
I went to bed angrily that night. But when I awoke in the morning, something had changed.
Paragraph 1:
Instead of burying myself in my phone, l focused on something else: my surroundings.
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Paragraph 2:
The next four days passed in a flash with many fun activities.
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An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) landed on their window.
The father asked his son, “What is this?” The son replied, “This is a crow.”
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?” The son said, “Father, I told you just now. It’s a crow.”
After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for third time, “What is this?” This time, the son was irritated (生气) and said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It’s a crow, a crow.”
After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?” This time his son shouted in his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, ‘It’s a crow’. Are you not able to understand this?”
A minute later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered(破旧的) diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the 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 suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn’t at all feel annoyed, but instead felt a deep affection for my innocent son.”
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;
Paragraph 1:
After reading the diary,the son was in tears and began to reflect on the days when he used to sit together with his father.
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Feeling ashamed, the son got down on his knees before his father.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Nick was new, so he didn’t have many friends. One day the headmaster announced that it was the basketball season, so they needed to practice after school till 6. Nick smiled. He loved playing basketball.
Later that day it was time to go to the first practice of the season. There were other guys and they all sat together talking, but Nick just sat there and waited. “Alright boys! Line up and tell me your names,” the coach demanded. “Ricky, Derick, Josh, Dan, Nick.” they answered, one after another. Practice went on and the coach began to try out the boys. Ricky and his friends did really good. But the coach ran out of time before he could try out Nick.
The next day, Ricky and his friends came up to Nick and told him he wasn’t good enough though they had never seen him play. Nick said nothing. Soon enough it was time for Nick to try out. “We will start with free throws(自由投篮，即罚球),” the coach said. Nick stood on the free throw line and then shot. He didn’t miss one shot. The boys were amazed. Ricky was mad because they were all giving the attention to Nick. The coach informed Nick that he made the team. All the boys were congratulating him.
Nick was happy that he was on the team and it was a good way to make friends. Ricky just stood there and looked at him in anger. Ricky always got the attention but now Nick did because he’s an amazing player. The next day when Nick went to lunch, he sat by himself and the next thing he knew was that the table he was sitting at was filled with all the basketball players except Ricky.
Soon enough it was time for their first game. The game was a close one ... There were 5 seconds left and Ricky had the ball. Everyone was blocked except Nick. “I'm open. I’m open,” Nick said over and over.
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。
Ricky saw that he was open but he didn’ t care.
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Nick decided to talk to Ricky after they failed the game.
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Many years ago, my father, who was 80 at that time, arrived for his regular two-week visit at my home in Karachi. He lived with my elder brother in Lahore most of the time and for ten years had stuck to his habit of going for an hour-long morning walk to keep fit. In Lahore, he would walk around a park that is quite close to my brother’s house. Naturally, he was keen to continue his morning walk while with us in Karachi.
Our preferred park is a 2 km walk from my house and it has a l km walking track. I could not drive him there every day as I had to leave for the office at the same time he wanted to set out. Since there are hardly any footpaths in Karachi, my father said he was delighted to walk on the road as he was certain there wouldn’t be much traffic in the morning.
I was less confident so I suggested it would be safer if he changed his walk time to the evening. That way I could take him to the park after work. However, my father-a determined person-said that he could not change his routine for just a few days and insisted that he would be leaving the house every day at 7 am and returning by 8 am. He started doing this and stuck firmly to his schedule. So one day when he had not returned by 8:30 am, my wife, Qaisa, phoned me in a panic. Worried, I immediately drove home, taking the same route that my father would have taken for his walk.
Not spotting him anywhere, I went to the police station to report my father’s disappearance. The station house officer advised me to wait until midnight before filling the report. Since it was only 10 am, I drove back to the park, in the hope of discovering some trace, but in vain. Totally at a loss for what to do next, I returned home and waited impatiently, walking back and forth in the house.
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。
Paragraph 1：
At 10:35 am the doorbell rang and my father stood outside the door smiling, accompanied by a young man.
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Paragraph 2：
After knowing what had happened, I showed my appreciation of his kindness.
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At the end of the class, Mr. Smith announced our assignment for the next Monday was to talk about someone we were grateful to instead of a book report. Upon hearing it, I couldn’t help complaining to Mareya that I was so nervous about having to talk in front of the whole class.
“ Arizona ,you’ve been in at least three plays ,” Mareya pointed out.“ If you don’ t get stage fright in front of those big audiences, why are you bothered by a few kids in our class ?”
It was true, but in a play you were part of a group. I shook my head. Plus, there were so many people I was grateful to. There was no way I could possibly pick just one. Plus, even if I picked one I’ d have no idea what to say. Plus, even if I figured out what to say, I was a million- percent positive I’ d mess up if I tried to say it out loud! I’ d be standing there with everyone staring at me, waiting for words to come out of my mouth.“ Oh , my goodness !” I pulled my sweatshirt hood ( 兜 帽 ) over my face, put my hands over my ears and said,“ I don’t want to talk about it !”
But one thing about really good friends who knew you really well was that they didn’ t always do exactly what you asked them to. Mareya could be pretty pushy talking of being helpful. She scribbled(潦草地写) something on a piece of paper , lifted my hood, and smiled. She’ d drawn a funny elephant (named Franky) with the word BREATHE coming out of its trunk .
“ This is Franky, the ‘everything is going to be all right’ elephant ” Mareya giggled. She held the picture up to her ear and asked, “What’ s that you say, Franky? You think my friend Arizona should come over to my house this weekend so we can work on our talks together?”
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. And that was exactly what happened.
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Paragraph 2 .On Monday morning, however, I decided to talk about Mareya.
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It's eight o'clock on a cold spring night. Our apartment has been hit by the artwork of a young, energetic child.It was in total mess！ I’m so tired tonight. I’ve been on crutches（拐杖）for seven weeks,recovering from hip surgery,and I'm trying fruitlessly to clean up.The phone rings-for the sixth time in less than an hour. We know who it is. My mom is troubled by paranoia（妄想症）-she thinks she has been kicked out of the nursing home (not true),she thinks her daughters have not visited in months (it has been a few days).
Each time she calls, I play a game with myself called“How Good a Person Can I Be?"I've won five rounds of the game tonight; I am due for a fall. She has no idea that she has repeated the things she is about to say a million times today and a million times yesterday. She has no idea that I had surgery, nor can she recall her own granddaughter's name. She is unaware of most of the past, and she drifts in the present.She is lonely.
I threw my anger at my mother. “MOM!” I yelled. “YOU ARE NOT BEING REMOVED FROM YOUR HOME!AND WE VISITED TWO DAYS AGO!”“Mom,you have to believe me,and if you don't,I cannot talk anymore!Everything is fine!”Silence. Then:“I was only calling to say hi.” My mother continued,having already forgotten that I yelled. “But I'm also worried about something; do you have a minute?”“No,Mom,I don't.”“Why are you yelling?” I'm yelling because you cannot help me care for my child, or even remember to ask me about my day. I'm yelling because you remind me of everything I fear:aging, sickness,fragility, bad luck,loss...I flop on the couch,aware of all my daughter is witnessing. She hears me blame my mother,lose my patience. I have not only failed at being a Good Person; I have failed at being a Good Example to My Daughter. I sat on the couch, defeated.
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。
“Can I talk to Grandma Ellie?" My five-year-old reaches for the phone.
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I am soft inside, watching my kindergartner handle her fragile grandmother with such skillfulness.
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Recently, 16-year-old Jack found himself troubled his parents,especially his mom. They perhaps just cared too much, always nagging, reminding him about everything ,worrying about the smallest things, sometimes even forbidding him to hang out with friends, which, of course, caused tons of stress for Jack. Feeling like a bird caged, he desperately longed for freedom and even thought of running away from home, but somehow, an unknown kind of guilt stopped him to do so.
The suffering had seemingly gone on for ages and become so much that it was almost unbearable. Then one morning at the dinner table, the family were having breakfast when it struck Jack that he had to go to school in advance because of some earlier arrangements in school.
“Mom and dad, I gotta go.” he said and quickly picked up his school bag.
“But you haven’t finished your food” his mother responded, acute anxiety obvious on her face.
“I’m running out of time and I will explain it later. ” Jack got impatient.
“It won’t take you....”
“Bang”, before she could finish, Jack had stormed out of front door, slamming the door shut, leaving his father and mother stricken dumb.
That night, Jack just locked himself up in his room. Sadness, anger, helplessness, disappointment and many other untold miserable feelings kept flooding over him. However his father and mother tried to talking to him, he wouldn't open the door. Unable to fall asleep, he turned on his computer and logged on to his Instagram account, where he randomly viewed and mindlessly liked his friends’ photos—hundreds of them, all were the sort that overflowed with real happiness and pleasure. “Why is the whole world all so happy except me?” Jack thought to himself and sighed heavily. Just then, a strange screen name caught his eyes. “How could someone give herself such an old-fashioned name ‘Troubled Sally’? and how come she is on my friend list?” he thought doubtfully. Driven by curiosity, he decided to investigate.
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。
To his great surprise, the very first photo was himself and his mother.
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On hearing that, he jumped to open the door.
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Imagine what's in your closet. There might be an old pair of shoes, a worn jacket and a box of junk you wouldn't know how to get rid of. And that's exactly as it should be.
A closet is messy, unorganized, years-long collection of exactly what makes you the person you are. So the tension rose in my chest when my mom recently decided to move because it meant we would have to clean out Dad's closet, nearly a decade after his death. A brain tumor ate away at the parts of the mind and changed the special person—smart, warm and brave into the one who was bound to a chair in hospital. But when your body goes, your closet stays.
In the years after his death, I would sometimes walk into that closet when I was home visiting for the holidays. I had moved into a city many miles away from my mom, starting a life as my mom took pains to slowly evolve her home—upgrading the decorations, sweeping away the dust of grief, and making it once again a place for warmth and gathering.
When I opened the door to Dad's closet last Christmas, I saw so many ties, shirts, and more shoes than I had remembered. And there were the vital things: a handkerchief I'd pull out of his jacket pocket when he lifted me up after arriving home from work, the bright red jacket he'd wear golfing and on family vacations. In the closet, I could remember every detail between us. I worried that would go away when my mom moved. I rolled around nervously in bed in my home. Could I stand to see this closet one last time before Mom moved? Would I find the strength to help clear that stuff out? Then, a shock—I got a call from my mom saying "I cleaned out the closet already." The announcement shocked me completely. What had she thrown 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。
I flew home shortly afterwards, trying hard to ease my tension on the way home.
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I pulled the door open. To my surprise, the empty closet caused me no panic—just peace.
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