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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Paragraph 2:
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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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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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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6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。
Miguel opened the door to his grandpa’s shoe shop. Grandpa was drawing a customer’s foot onto a piece of paper. He didn’t look up. Miguel sat down. He looked at the cut leather, hammer (锤子) and pliers (钳子).
The tools reminded Miguel of something else he loved. Grandpa always gave him a piece of candy whenever Miguel helped clean up. Miguel knew he wasn’t supposed to take candy without asking. But he was hungry then. It looked like Grandpa would be busy for a while. “Maybe I don’t need to wait,” Miguel thought.
Miguel reached secretly for the candy box. He hurried and put it in his mouth. Pretty soon the customer left. Grandpa was busy picking up a piece of leather and putting it in some water. Miguel ate the rest of the candy as fast as he could. Then he walked over to Grandpa.
Grandpa looked up from his work. “Hello!” he said with a smile. Miguel hugged Grandpa. He hoped Grandpa couldn’t tell he’d eaten a piece of candy. “It looks like you’re busy today,” Miguel said. “Do you need any help?” “Sure! Could you pass me that thread (线)?” Miguel nodded. He pulled it between his hands. “Wow, that’s strong.” Miguel said. Grandpa laughed, “It has to be, to last through the wear and tear of life.” Grandpa pulled the thread through the leather.
“You know, we need to be more like this shoe,” Grandpa said. Miguel looked at the leather, “Um. We do?” “Yes, indeed. We need to stay strong. That way temptations (诱惑) won’t make us fall apart,” Grandpa said with a nod.
Miguel suddenly thought of the candy. He knew he should tell Grandpa about it. Grandpa took an old shoe off the shelf, “See this big hole?” Miguel nodded. “This was once a small hole that could have been fixed easily. But the owner waited, and now it’s going to be much harder to fix. Bad habits and bad choices are like that hole. It is best to fix them early.”
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They kept talking as Grandpa worked.
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Miguel told him all about taking the candy. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________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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I hadn’t spoken with Samantha in months. Perhaps it was because I was jealous (嫉妒的). After all, she seems to have everything a girl could want. I used to admire her too until she proved that she could draw better, run faster, and score higher in every other subject.
My family was going to go camping at the lake on summer holiday like we always do. Only this time, my Mom announced some very unwelcome news. ”Hanna! Guess what? I’ve invited the McCarthy’s family on our camping trip. “How does that sound?” “Terrible,” I groaned. However, Mom wasn’t changing her mind.
At the lake, my family organized ourselves in the cabin (小木屋) while the McCarthy’s set up their tent. I spent the week ignoring Samantha and staying inside reading. I thought I could get away without talking to her, but it wasn’t so.
On the fourth night of our trip, a thunderstorm struck. The McCarthy’s decided to spend the night in our cabin because they didn’t feel safe in the tent. I, of course, had to share a room with Samantha.
I woke up late at night. The storm had gotten worse. I desperately needed to use the toilet. Our cabin didn’t have one, so I had to use an outhouse a short walk away.
I got out of bed, being careful not to wake anyone up. However, when I was reaching for my flashlight, I accidentally stepped on Samantha’s arm. She woke up immediately. Knowing that I would go to the bathroom alone, she insisted to go with me.
Outside, it was raining hard. Lightning flashed across the sky and the thunder was so loud it seemed to shake the cabin. When we went back and rounded the comer to the cabin, we saw a big tree lay across the entrance of the cabin, blocking the door. There was no way to get back in.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“Oh my gosh! What should we do?” she cried out.
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Morning dawned on us and we walked out of the tent.
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1. 对你很重要的人是谁;
2. 对你很重要的原因;
3. 你想如何回报他(她)
注意： 1. 词数100个左右
2. 文章的标题已经给出，不计入总词数
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