It was in the afternoon before the end of the Second World War that Antonio Black, who was twelve, caught sight of a beautiful brooch (胸针) in a shop window. The brooch is so beautiful that he was unwilling to leave the store until he had purchased it. But it was too expensive — $5. His family was very poor and his parents struggled to make ends meet. Five dollars would buy almost a week’s food for his family.
Antonio couldn’t ask his father for the money. Everything his father made through fishing went to his mother, Susan. Slim and beautiful, his mother was the center of the home and the glue that held it together. The housework was never-ending, and she struggled to feed and clothe their five children, but she was happy as her family and their well-being were all she cared about.
Nevertheless, he opened the shop’s door and went inside. Standing proudly and straight in his flour-sack (面粉袋改做的) shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, “But I don’t have the money right now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?”
“I’ll try,” the shopkeeper smiled. “People around here don’t usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while.”
Antonio respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out. He would raise the money and not tell anybody, for he thought Mum would be surprised when she saw that brooch. On hearing the sound of hammering (锤打) from a side street, Antonio suddenly had an idea that he could raise money by selling the used nail bags. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails bought in bags from a local factory. Sometimes the used bags were thrown away at the construction site, and Antonio knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece. That day he sold two nail bags and hid the money in a rusty soda tin.
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。
Every day after school, Antonio started his plan.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The day finally came!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . In 1963, at age 65, my grandfather decided to build a new house on his farm. In order to save money, he hired a bulldozer (推土机) to
We moved in the farm two years after my father passed away. When my wife took one look at the
I walked into the woods where the old house sat. Most of the windows were
As I left the old house that day, I took one last
| A．construct | B．break | C．push | D．repair |
| A．grass | B．woods | C．stream | D．hill |
| A．lost | B．abandoned | C．big | D．familiar |
| A．forbade | B．appreciated | C．proposed | D．imagined |
| A．impossible | B．interesting | C．strange | D．necessary |
| A．left behind | B．passed down | C．taken in | D．put up |
| A．cheap | B．gone | C．empty | D．large |
| A．book | B．wallet | C．umbrella | D．envelope |
| A．letters | B．lines | C．texts | D．pieces |
| A．excited | B．nervous | C．weak | D．homesick |
| A．bottom | B．title | C．back | D．surface |
| A．burned | B．hurt | C．covered | D．protected |
| A．calmly | B．proudly | C．carefully | D．politely |
| A．breath | B．photo | C．note | D．glance |
| A．promise | B．hope | C．guess | D．decide |
After staying at home and taking care of her baby for nearly two years, Rebecca found it hard to make a decision between accepting an attractive offer from her former employer and going on looking after her son Tony at home. She talked, with her husband David, about sending Tony to a childcare center. David gave it a careful thought and decided to leave his job for a year to take care of Tony before he could be sent to a kindergarten, promising to be a super Dad and househusband. It was good news for Rebecca but she knew her husband too well. It would take David some time to get used to finicky（细致的） jobs of taking care of Tony. So she told David she wanted hourly updates on how Tony was handling his day away from Mom.
David was adapting quickly. He texted updates throughout the day, getting hourly instructions from Rebecca. It seemed that David was enjoying his new role and Tony liked the company of Dad, although they often got the home messy. What Rebecca didn’t expect is that David became famous on social media as Super Dad, because people liked watching the videos he posted.
One day, he sent his usual text updates and included a photo of Tony in his car seat during their trip to Walgreens. Rebecca’s reply was to correct Tony’s position in the car seat. And she reminded David that the straps（肩带） were too loose and the chest clip was too low. David laughed at his nagging（絮叨的） wife and rolled his eyes before tightening the car seat and fixing the chest clip. Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca’s phone rang with a call from her husband, “Honey, we had a car accident. We are fine, but the car is going to be totaled（彻底毁坏）.”
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。
Less than three miles from their house, David told Rebecca, a woman had pulled into traffic to turn left.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Rebecca was so thankful that her husband took the extra one minute to put Tony in his car seat safely.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I have a lovely brother. He is 4 years younger than me. I still remember that day when he was born. He is
As time went by, he
Now,
We do a lot of secret things without informing our parents and if
1. What does David do in the bathroom?
| A．He does cleaning. |
| B．He gives people towels. |
| C．He makes sure people tip the waiter. |
| A．One dollar. |
| B．Two dollars. |
| C．Twenty dollars. |
| A．Five times a week. |
| B．Twice a week. |
| C．Once a week. |
6 . Are parents rational (理性的) about their children? No. Parents aren’t rational because
My eldest daughter’s
“I sailed around the Mediterranean when I was seventeen,” she said. “I hiked through the Pyrenees. I’ve done rock climbing and deep-sea diving and slept in rainforests. Right?”
“Right,” I said, “So what?”
“So this,” she went on. “When I go to the corner drugstore to pick up some shampoo, why do you always tell me to be
There is no satisfactory
All I could say in reply was that when I was 50, my mother would
There is something else, too, that children find it hard to understand. When they are far away, there is nothing we can do about their
But when the children are close, the old protective urge quickly
Most
In the parents’ mind, a child ages but does not
| A．worry | B．fear | C．love | D．need |
| A．easy | B．friendly | C．hard | D．important |
| A．problem | B．explanation | C．warning | D．question |
| A．anger | B．pride | C．anxiety | D．surprise |
| A．careful | B．brave | C．quick | D．helpful |
| A．solution | B．answer | C．conclusion | D．present |
| A．select | B．remind | C．insist | D．expect |
| A．different | B．extra | C．same | D．right |
| A．success | B．happiness | C．luck | D．safety |
| A．argue | B．think | C．forget | D．complain |
| A．comes back | B．pays back | C．looks back | D．goes back |
| A．prove | B．mean | C．matter | D．mind |
| A．accidents | B．failures | C．changes | D．mistakes |
| A．tolerate | B．protect | C．devote | D．treat |
| A．stop | B．compete | C．grow | D．leave |
7 . We parents often take material things for love. “I give him everything，” a disappointed mother complains. “New shoes, videogames, and his own TV. You’d think he’d at least show me respect!”
Of course, love and presents are related. Most parents work hard to earn money. They want their children to have more than they did and have better lives. The problem is, most children don’t connect the things parents buy with the labour that is paid for them. Children have more, but our culture—television in particular—teaches them that more is never enough. Having more does not mean that a child feels loved.
From a parent’s point of view, children are not thankful. But this has to do with their natural growth. Young children see their parents as all-mighty (万能的). If parents fail to provide what they want, it must be a matter of choice. It’s normal for children, even schoolage ones, not to be able to take another person’s point of view. For example, they may dislike their parents for working long hours, and not realise that the parents would also rather have more time at home.
In addition to giving presents, we have to find other ways to express love and create memories. Reading or telling stories together, making music and playing games are all ways for families to spend time without spending money. Traditions like reading favourite poems and even snowball fights all serve the purpose (达到目的). Most importantly, as parents, we have to learn to hold back some energy from our tiring jobs. When we’re present for our children, we ourselves become the presents we want to give.
1. What does the underlined word “them” (in Paragraph 2) refer to?| A．The things parents buy. | B．Parents. | C．Children. | D．Better lives. |
| A．want fewer presents | B．want presents rather than love |
| C．are taught to ask for more | D．can live better without their parents |
| A．There’s a heavy job load for some parents. |
| B．There’s a lack of money in some families. |
| C．There’s misunderstanding between parents and children. |
| D．There’s little love between parents and children. |
| A．Our children are good presents to us. | B．We should spend more time with our children. |
| C．We ourselves need some presents. | D．We should give more presents to our children. |
8 . One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap (包装).
On September 11th, 1958, Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying, “I promised you a gift, and here it is.” What an honour! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories. I told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it.Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”, and “dying”, which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming. “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room.“If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” He hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!”
“Thank God!” I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!
1. What happened to the author on September 11th, 1958?| A．He got a baby brother. |
| B．He got a Christmas gift. |
| C．He became four years old. |
| D．He received a doll. |
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring. |
| C．Difficult. | D．Fearful. |
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
| A．A sad Christmas day. |
| B．Life with a lovely baby. |
| C．A special Christmas gift. |
| D．Memories of a happy family. |
Edward is a middleaged man. Although he was not born in a rich family, he was raised well by his father and mother. His father owned a clothes shop, and used to work for more than 12 hours a day, so that his family could lead a comfortable life.
However, Edward’s father could not earn sufficient money to provide a decent life for his family. Edward was an average student at school, and used to score around 70 percent marks. Edward’s dream was to become a lawyer. Since his marks weren’t very high, he could not get the desired course that he wanted to study. Instead, he joined a bachelor’s degree course, completed the course successfully, and got a job in a company.
While his life was going on with no dramatic change, his father continued to work in his clothes shop, so that he did not have to depend on Edward. After getting a permanent job, Edward’s parents wanted him to marry. He got married to a girl from his native town, and at the same time was also promoted in his job. After a few years, his wife gave birth to beautiful twin boys.
Later Edward began to earn a handsome salary, and started to live luxuriously. He bought a new house and a new car. Some of the luxuries were really unnecessary. Although his company provided him with a car, Edward went and purchased a new car.
After a luxurious lifestyle that spanned for almost 6 to 7 years, Edward was suffering from financial crisis and was not able to pay for the children’s education and other basic necessities.
His father fell sick, and as a result, could not continue his work in the clothes shop. He requested Edward to provide some money for his treatment and other household expenses.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式作答。
Edward shook his head.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Just at this moment, his sons walked to Edward.
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Niesha could not forget the way she froze in front of the class today. Mr. Roberts had divided the class into groups to do presentations. Today was Niesha’s turn. However, her hands shook so violently that she couldn’t read her notes. Her voice became softer even to silence. Mr. Roberts kindly ended Niesha’s part of the presentation even though she did clearly not finish. He also asked Niesha to stay after class for a moment.
“Niesha, I know you’re shy, but you worked hard on this project. I’d hate to see you give up on yourself.” Then Mr. Roberts hesitated, “If I give you another chance until tomorrow, do you think you can find your courage?” Niesha nodded, grateful for the chance. She went as quickly as she could to her next class. She kept her head down and hoped the school day would end soon.
When she reached her back steps that afternoon, she could see an inviting light coming from the kitchen windows. Momma was baking. Momma studied Niesha’s face as she came into the kitchen. “What’s wrong, Niesha?”
Tears shone in Niesha’s brown eyes. She told her the whole story. Momma was silent for a moment, her hands still busy with the cake. “Why is it that you can talk to me about anything and everything, but you can’t talk to your class?” Momma asked. She set the timer (计时器) and then said, “Let me show you something.”
Niesha followed Momma to her bedroom. There Momma showed her a book filled with newspaper clippings (剪报) and pictures. In it there was a blue ribbon (丝带) that said “First Place” and a picture of herself when she was very young, standing with her parents.
“I won it for public speaking. I started the school year as the shyest girl on the speech team, but I ended the year as the blue ribbon winner. It wasn’t easy at first-- I was not sure of myself at all. I worked hard, and mostly I faced my fears. You just need to find your courage.”
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:
Hearing Momma’s words, Niesha stared at the precious blue ribbon, lost in thought.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
The next day Niesha again walked to the front of the classroom to give her presentation.
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