Sara Savick remembers one special Easter when she was nine years old. Her parents gave her a baby duckling in a yellow basket.
“Mom said later that she bought the little duck because she felt sorry for it,” recalled Sara. The people at the pet store colored the feathers pink for Easter. Sara named the duck Pinky.
Sara’s mother really didn’t think the baby duck would survive very long. But to her surprise, Pinky grew and got stronger and stronger. Soon, the little duckling was a healthy, hungry duck with white feathers.
“We fed Pinky oatmeal, cooked and uncooked, and small pieces of vegetables,” said Sara. Pinky lived inside the house with Sara and her family. She specially fancied taking baths with Sara. Everyone treated Pinky as a family member.
But just when everything appeared to be perfect, the night of the “talk” came. Sara’s Mom and Dad sat her down, explaining that the best thing for Pinky was to live a normal duck life, with other ducks. It was not natural for ducks to live indoors with a family, her father told her. He added Pinky needed to swim in ponds and do all the same things that ducks in the wild do.
Sara started to cry, knowing what was going to happen. Sara’s parents decided to take Pinky to a park, which was two miles away. There was a pond with a lot of other ducks. Pinky would have the chance to live a natural life and Sara could still visit her.
The big day came, Sara and her parents put Pinky in a box and drove to the park. Sara said that Pinky did not look happy; maybe Pinky was convinced that she was a human, not a duck.
注意:
所续写短文的词数应为 l50 左右;
续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;
Paragraph 1
Everyone was sad when they left Pinky at the pond, even Sara’s father.
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Paragraph 2
The next morning, when looking out of the kitchen window, Sara couldn’t believe her eyes!
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2 . For a period of a month some time ago, I became a vegetarian. Some people won’t eat meat because they think it is cruel to animals, or because of health
I simply wanted to honor my grandmother by not eating meat. My grandmother spent a large part of her life as a vegetarian, and some of my happiest childhood
In fact, as a child, I learned how to
Grandma
In a city famous for its dining experience, this was
In truth, I wanted to change my
A.wonders | B.studies | C.dreams | D.concerns |
A.different | B.useful | C.cool | D.crazy |
A.lessons | B.opinions | C.chances | D.memories |
A.appreciate | B.experience | C.improve | D.support |
A.sold | B.hunted | C.demanded | D.prepared |
A.pulled away | B.took away | C.passed away | D.put away |
A.similar | B.temporary | C.various | D.distant |
A.supposed | B.believed | C.decided | D.refused |
A.honor | B.protect | C.influence | D.attract |
A.difficult | B.surprising | C.interesting | D.natural |
A.forgot | B.regretted | C.avoided | D.enjoyed |
A.taste | B.skill | C.smell | D.sense |
A.before | B.if | C.until | D.unless |
A.mind | B.brain | C.view | D.duty |
A.theory | B.result | C.fact | D.way |
Desiree, a 4-year-old girl, was sobbing quietly over her father, Ken, who had died nine months earlier. She was hugging a photograph of her father with her fingers running around his face. “Daddy”, she said softly, “Why won't you come back?”
Instead of gradually adjusting to her father's death, Desiree refused to accept it “Daddy will be home soon,” she'd tell her mother. “He's at work.” When she played with her toy telephone, she pretended she was chatting with her father “I miss you, Daddy,” she'd say. “When will you come back?” Desiree's situation made her mother worried.
Days later, it was Ken's birthday. “How will I send him a card?” Desiree asked her mother “How about if we tie a litter to a balloon.” her mother said, “and send it up to heaven?” Desiree's eyes immediately lit up.
Her mother took her to a store and Desiree picked out a balloon with HAPPY BIRTHDAY above a drawing of The Little Mermaid (美人鱼). Desire and her father had often watched it.
The child's eyes shone as they were on the way to Ken's grave. Then Desiree dictated (口述) a letter to her Dad. “Daddy, Happy birthday, I love you and miss you,” she rattled off (快速说). “I hope you get this and can write to me on my birthday in January.”
Her mother wrote the message and their address on a small piece of paper, which was then wrapped in plastic and tied to the end of the string on the balloon. Finally, Desiree let fly the balloon. For almost an hour, they watched the shining spot of silver grow smaller and smaller till disappear. “Now Dad's going to write back to me,” Desiree said confidently.
Every day since they'd flew the balloon, Desiree had asked her mother, “Do you think Daddy has my balloon yet?” Several weeks passed, and she stopped asking.
Paragraph 1One day, 3,000 miles away, Wade was on a duck hunt when suddenly something in the bush caught his eyes. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2
Desire's fifth birthday came and later on the afternoon, a package arrived.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Adam, Nick, and Tom were best friends. Five years after their graduation from college, Nick called Adam and Tom, inviting them to celebrate his birthday on his personal yacht (游艇). They got very excited.
It was a bright and sunny summer day. As Nick was studying the safety measures of the sea journey, he saw Adam and Tom coming towards his yacht. With huge hugs and smiles on every face, the three greeted each other in their usual way. “Thank you boys for coming and making my birthday even more special,” said Nick.
“But before getting started, hope you both know there is a danger zone at a particular point on this sea, ” warned Adam.
“Don’t worry. I will stay away from it. Now let the party begin!” Nick responded, starting to turn the steering wheel (方向盘) of the yacht.
Treating the friends on the beautiful white yacht sailing on the blue water was a perfect idea. They were having a wonderful time, talking, eating and joking. How time flew! It started getting dark.
“Hey guys! It’s time to go back,” Tom shouted.
“Mr. Sailor, turn your ship’s wheel and take us back home,” said Adam.
Little did they know they were going to encounter life-threatening challenges ahead. Unknowingly, Nick crossed the danger zone Adam had mentioned earlier. When realizing this, Nick decided to make a turn immediately. Unfortunately, a strange noise came from the engine and then the yacht stopped. Expert at mending machines, Adam offered to examine the engine and asked Nick to fetch the tool box. Nick was hurrying to get it when he slipped, falling into the sea water.
“Nick!” Tom and Adam screamed.
Panicked, Nick started shouting for help. Tom rushed inside the yacht to get a life jacket to rescue Nick, but didn’t find one. Instead, he found a long rope and out he rushed with it.
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。
Just then Adam shouted on top of his voice, “Nick! Look, there’s a shark behind you!”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What they had to do was restart the yacht.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Meredith family lived in a small community. As the economy was in decline, some people in the town had lost their jobs. Many of their families were struggling to make ends meet. People were trying to help each other meet the challenges.
Mrs. Meredith was a most kind and thoughtful woman. She spent a great deal of time visiting the poor. She knew they had problems, and they needed all kinds of help. When she had time, she would bring food and medicine to them.
One morning she told her children about a family she had visited the day before. There was a man sick in bed, his wife, who took care of him and could not go out to work, and their little boy. The little boy -his name was Bernard-had interested her very much.
“I wish you could see him,” she said to her own children, John, Harry, and Clara. “He is such a help to his mother. He wants very much to earn some money, but I don't see what he can do.”
After their mother left the room, the children sat thinking about Bernard. “I wish we could help him to earn money,” said Clara. “His family is suffering so much.”
“So do I,” said Harry. “We really should do something to assist them.”
For some moments, John said nothing, but, suddenly, he sprang to his feet and cried, “I have a great idea! I have a solution that we can all help accomplish(完成).”
The other children also jumped up all attention. When John had an idea, it was sure to be a good one. “I tell you what we can do,” said John. “You know that big box of corn Uncle John sent us? Well, we can make popcorn(爆米花), and put it into paper bags, and Bernard can take it around to the houses and sell it.”
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。
When Mrs. Meredith heard of John's idea, she thought it was a good one, too.
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With everything ready, Bernard started out on his new business.
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6 . With the young unable to afford to leave home and the old at risk of isolation(孤独), more families are choosing to live together.
The doorway to peace and quiet, for Nick Bright at least, leads straight to his mother-in-law, she lives on the ground floor, while he lives upstairs with his wife and their two daughters.
Four years ago they all moved into a three-storey Victorian house in Bristol - one of a growing number of multigenerational families in the UK living together under the same roof. They share a front door and a washing machine, but Rita Whitehead has her own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room on the ground floor.
“We floated the idea to my mum of sharing at a house,” says Kathryn Whitehead. Rita cuts in: “We spoke more with Nick because I think it’s a big thing for Nick to live with his mother-in-law.”
And what does Nick think? “From my standpoint, it all seems to work very well. Would I recommend it? Yes, I think I would.”
It’s hard to tell exactly how many people agree with him, but research indicates that the numbers have been rising for some time. Official reports suggest that the number of households with three generations living together had risen from 325,000 in 2001to 419,000 in 2013.
Other varieties of multigenerational family are more common. Some people live with their elderly parents; many more adult children are returning to the family home, if they ever left. It is said that about 20% of 25-34-year-olds live with their parents, compared with 16% in 1991.The total number of all multigenerational households in Britain is thought to be about 1.8 million.
Stories like that are more common in parts of the world where multigenerational living is more firmly rooted. In India, particularly outside cities, young women are expected to move in with their husband’s family when they get married.
1. Who mainly uses the ground floor in the Victorian house in Bristol?A.Nick. | B.Rita. | C.Kathryn | D.The daughters. |
A.Positive. | B.Carefree. | C.Tolerant. | D.Unwilling. |
A.Family traditions. | B.Financial reports. | C.Published statistics. | D.Public opinions. |
A.Lifestyles in different countries. | B.Conflicts between generations. |
C.A housing problem in Britain. | D.A rising trend of living in the UK. |
A.Working on a paper. |
B.Tidying up the office. |
C.Organizing a party. |
8 . My son was playing with a bottle of bubbles. Dip the loop in the bottle, pull it out, and blow it to make bubbles. He understood the principle but was vainly
I hadn’t blown bubbles in years. I am a
After several
There are some things that you can get with
A.trying | B.managing | C.expecting | D.acting |
A.changes | B.bubbles | C.results | D.drops |
A.lent | B.handed | C.threw | D.cast |
A.researcher | B.professional | C.chemist | D.parent |
A.out of date | B.of no use | C.in doubt | D.in trouble |
A.trial | B.confidence | C.patience | D.success |
A.even | B.thus | C.somehow | D.still |
A.fruitless | B.tough | C.unwilling | D.difficult |
A.Despite | B.Without | C.On | D.Except |
A.screamed | B.nodded | C.rushed | D.flew |
A.escaped | B.floated | C.burst | D.bounced |
A.silently | B.slightly | C.eagerly | D.gently |
A.freed | B.fueled | C.contained | D.reduced |
A.brain | B.action | C.force | D.science |
A.survive | B.separate | C.jumped | D.arise |
9 . A Great Way to Teach Children to Take Responsibility
As parents, one of the most important things to teach children to take responsibility is to include chores as a part of their daily routine. In order to make a family function smoothly, every member must contribute. Teaching your children to take responsibility at an early age makes it easier for them to shoulder greater responsibilities as they grow older.
Make rewards and punishments a part of the lesson. Together decide whether they will be rewarded or not.
Children need to be taught that there are punishments for their actions in case of not doing their assigned chores. Decide and agree from the start what the punishment will be.
Teaching your children the importance of contributing to the family is of great importance.
A.A chore is a specific task a child has been assigned which helps improve the life of the entire family. |
B.And what punishment they will receive if a chore isn’t done. |
C.Actually you are taking a critical step in empowering them for their future. |
D.Start by teaching children the difference between a chore and cleaning up after themselves. |
E.Teach children the importance of each assignment, and why it matters. |
F.Children will not be rewarded at all for merely cleaning up. |
G.And if so, what the reward will be for a job well done. |
10 . It was about seven years ago. I just picked up my threeyearold daughter from the nursery. I was weighed down with shopping bags, and with my daughter’s things. We arrived at a pedestrian crossing and she pressed the button. In the distance, I heard alarms, told my daughter to wait and watched a police car approaching.
Little did I know, as the_green_man flashed, that my daughter had begun to run into the road. I watched the police car speed toward us—that’s when you sounded your horn and waved wildly to me. My daughter was about a meter from the path of the police car, hidden from their view by your car.
I screamed her name and ran toward her. She stopped and was shocked by the rush of the police car as it sped past. She wondered why you had blown your horn, asking, “Mom, why was that woman so rude?” not realizing you had saved her life.
She wondered why I picked her up and burst into tears. My legs gave way as I reached the other side of the road. I should have followed my “wait” with a hand on her shoulder, or an explanation of why we were ignoring the green man this time, especially as I had in effect conditioned her to cross the road at the sight of the green flash.
I beat myself up for months, and still do, with flashbacks and horrible assumptions about what might have been. But for your sounding your horn, seeing what I hadn’t seen, I would have been left a mother on the other side of the road, totally broken. I apologize for putting you in that position—I can imagine that it upset you, too. You saved her life and I am so grateful.
1. What does the underlined part “the green man” in Paragraph 2 refer to?A.A pedestrian. | B.A policeman. |
C.A traffic sign. | D.A button. |
A.To stop the police car. |
B.To show her impatience. |
C.To greet passing pedestrians. |
D.To draw the mother’s attention. |
A.The mother didn’t regret what had happened. |
B.The daughter didn’t follow the traffic rules. |
C.The woman responded quickly and properly. |
D.The police drove beyond the speed limit. |
A.Angry and shocked. | B.Scared but relieved. |
C.Guilty and confused. | D.Grateful but sad. |