If you are constantly lack of confidence and worried about what other people think about your shortcomings, you will never get to where you need to go in life. This was what I learned from my own experience.
My name is Peter. Before I was born, the doctors examined my mom and found there was something wrong with my face, and actually it was worse. With my “weird” face, I knew I was not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I had never been to a real school before, not because of the way I looked, but all the surgeries I had. Mom homeschooled me. I became stronger, though. So maybe it was time for me to go to the real school.
One day, I happened to hear Mom and Dad talking about me quietly. “We can’t keep protecting him.” Mom whispered to Dad, “We have to help him learn to deal with it. We can’t just keep avoiding situations that… ”, but she didn’t even finish her sentence because she saw me. “Go back to sleep, Peter,” Mom said softly.
“Everyone will stare at me at school,” I said, suddenly crying.
Mom came over, putting her hand on mine. “Honey, you know if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to. But we spoke to the principal (校长) , Mr. Green and told him how funny and smart you are. When I told him about all your surgeries, and how brave you are, ‘Wow, I have to meet this kid.’ ” Mom smiled at me.
“He is really a nice man. Besides, a real school is really good for you. Peter, you will make lots of friends and learn things you have never learned with Mom.” Dad added, raising his hand as if to swear.
“But… I don’t want to go. I am afraid... ” I said in a low voice.
“How about at least meeting Mr. Green before you make up your mind?” Mom asked.
I nodded, unwilling to accept the arrangement.
注意：
1. 续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
We arrived at the school a few weeks before the start of the school.
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Paragraph 2:
After taking a tour of the school and hearing Mr. Green’s words, I realized it was time to make a change.
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When I drove my sister Connie from Michigan to Arizona to start her junior year of college, I didn’t realize it’d be the last time that I’d see her alive. Four months later, when she was traveling back to the Midwest for winter break with four of her college friends, the driver of her car fell asleep. The car went off the road and rolled over several times. My sister, unfortunately, was thrown out from the car and died within minutes.
As a nineteen-year-old away at college myself, I was already dealing with my own confusion and uncertainty about where my life was headed. I’d thought I wanted to become an engineer, but the related courses I’d taken left me wholly uninspired. Now, with the struggle from my sister’s sudden death, I knew leaving my family to return to school hours from home would only heighten my confusion. Yet, when my parents expressed their belief that Connie would’ve wanted me to return to college, I knew they were right.
During the first term following her death, I felt like I was sailing through a personal fog in a rudderless(无舵的) boat. I was aimlessly drifting, fearful of what lay beyond the horizon. My grief(悲伤) consumed me as I continually questioned how the college courses I was taking would affect my life. And, more importantly, I missed my sister. Born just ten months apart, she’d always been there for me.
When I began my junior year, I still hadn’t declared my major, but I signed up for one particular class for personal reasons: Death Education and Suicide Prevention. One day, the professor had a guest speaker come to our class. At some point during the presentation, the speaker said, “Joy shared is joy increased. Grief shared is grief decreased.” The speaker explained the saying by breaking it into parts, saying, “Joy shared is joy increased. If you don’t believe it, go into a closet and tell yourself a joke. It isn’t funny unless you share it with others. Or you can try to share your sadness with your beloved one, even in the journals.” I was locked in “Joy shared is joy increased. Grief shared is grief decreased.”
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 silently repeated this message to myself over and over again, trying to absorb these words into my being.
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After that day in class, I began keeping journals about my sister.
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I like staying overnight at my Gramma’s house — that is, until Gramma starts telling me how wonderful my cousin Maya is. Then it’s Maya this and Maya that until I don’t ever want to hear another word about her.
That’s why I wasn’t too excited when Gramma called me on the phone to “come on over and bring your pajamas.” When I got there, it was worse than I’d expected. There, in Grandpa’s big leather rocker, sat Maya, all dressed up and formal-looking and wearing fancy shoes as if she’d just been to a party.
“Surprise, Kristen!” Gramma said. “Your cousin Maya and her parents have traveled in from the East Coast on business. Maya gets to stay with us this afternoon.” Gramma chattered away about how excited she’d been for this surprise get-together, and how cousins ought to get to know each other better.
I hung my baseball cap in the closet and set my backpack by the stairway, all the time smiling and nodding as if I’d been waiting forever for this chance to spend an afternoon with Maya. Grandpa’s chair squawked (咯咯叫) as Maya rocked back and forth. It’s the chair I like best in the house, the one I usually sit in. I sat down on the sofa across from her.
Shortly, Gramma went off to the kitchen to “see about some lunch,” she’d said. That left me stuck in the living room with rocking Maya.
She was still small but taller than I’d remembered her from her last visit four years ago. She was good at small talk, though, and was chatting away about how nice it was to see me again. But I could tell that she didn’t really think so. The last time she was here, we’d had hours of fun together building caves out of Gramma’s sofa pillows.
After that, I’d heard about her only through Gramma’s tales. Maya taking piano lessons. Maya learning math. Maya, Maya, Maya. Now Maya was here, looking great with the latest haircut and a fancy dress.
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。
Glancing down at my jeans and my old sneakers, I wished I hadn’t come.
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“How do you know all these things about me?” I asked.
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Public places have been difficult for my family since Myles was diagnosed with autism(自闭症) at two. He had quickly turned into a silent child frozen in a world completely inaccessible to us. One time, I got up the courage to take Myles out to Golden Corral without my husband. Lots of people and noise caused overload for him. First came the screaming, and then more noises. With my nerves stretched thin, I noticed a sweet old lady coming my way.
“Can you keep him quiet?” she snapped. “I’m trying to eat!”
I held my tongue out of respect for my elders. I apologized and left with as much dignity as I could. I had to escape the weight of the eyes around. After that, I built a wall around my heart to protect my heart from other people’s opinions about my family. I still had the great privilege of raising this very special child. It didn’t matter what anyone thought, but I had lost something. I stopped looking for the opportunity to help them understand. I assumed the worst about them.
So when I was back at Golden Corral with my son, who started shouting and hitting the table again, I looked up at the middle-aged woman approaching. Her face was calm as she assessed the situation. If she complained about my son’s behavior, I was prepared to fight back.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking,” she said. “But does your son have autism?”
“Yeah,” I replied to the lady, who was waiting patiently.
“Well, I raised a child with autism. My name is Pam,” she said. “If you ever need any help, please call me. I have connection with a lot of people like you and me.” I looked at the hands she extended, holding a slip of paper with her name and number on it.
“Thank you,” I managed to whisper.
“Call me,” she said, smiling at me, and saving a special, knowing smile for Myles before walking away.
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。
Later I called her, and she became as close as family.
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Of course, there are moments when we simply felt hopeless.
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Act of Memory
I was a young girl of eleven then, living in Brooklyn. My father had died unexpectedly that summer. Times was suddenly very hard for my mother, my brother, and me.
Papa had always made a big deal out of Christmas. Every Christmas, when we were about to decorate the tree, he would make a little ceremony out of taking a special little Kewpie-doll out of its box, holding it up in front of me, saying, “Maria, this doll is as old as you are.” Then he would hang it on the Christmas tree. Papa bought that little doll when I was born, and it had become a small tradition. But this Christmas we were to have no tree. My mother was a practical woman, saying it was a luxury. I thought, with quiet but strong bitterness and anger, that it had never meant as much to her as it had to Papa anyway.
We had been to church that evening and were walking back home in silence. All I could see were the tree-lit windows we passed. Their cheerful glow made my bitterness even more intense because I pictured happy families in those houses, sharing laughter, exchanging presents, talking, joking. I knew while arriving home, we would be greeted by darkened windows and endless emptiness.
As we passed my friend’s house, I asked my mother to please let me drop in for a while. She nodded. I waited until my mother and brother disappeared around the corner. Then I turned and headed for my friend’s house. Suddenly, a pile of abandoned Christmas trees from the store next to her house came into my sight. Surprised and excited, I dashed to the trees, picked out the best one and began half-dragging my treasure home. It seemed as if Papa was mixed up in this somehow. It seemed as if he was in the stars above me, in every lighted-house, in the very tree I was carrying.
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 I got home, I rang the doorbell and couldn’t wait to show them the tree.
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Before going to bed, I slipped to see my tree one last time but saw my mother standing in front of it.
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What is a family? Why does it matter? What does it teach us that we can’t learn on our own? These questions seem especially relevant in the holiday season when it is often our tradition to gather as families and celebrate together.
I don’t recall getting many gifts from them. I remember the sense of belonging, of being part of something that assured me I was loved and not alone.
I delighted in the laughing, playing and fighting with my crazy cousins.I watched my granddad and uncles sit on the porch , rain or shine, smoking and joking, arguing about politics and trying to solve the problems of the world.I listened to my grandmother, mother and aunts stir pots on the stove and talk about their lives, hopes, dreams and disappointments, and gossip about any sister who failed to show up.The food was always plentiful and delicious. But for me, the food was never the highlight. The highlight was simply being together.
A family should be always separated？
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When it comes to“together”, it occurred to me that
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My three-year-old son, Charles, has loved watching trucks, cars and all types of vehicles (交通工具) since he could sit up and look around. Charles was a fan of fire trucks, ambulances, garbage (垃圾) trucks and other vehicles which have wheels.
Because of his deep love for anything with wheels, I always made it a point to take him outside to watch garbage trucks drive up and down. Charles loved watching the workers and would get so excited when the drivers beeped the horns (鸣喇叭) at him as they went by. Charles would wave and shyly say, “Thank you.”
There was a particular waste management employee who was extra friendly. Charles was attracted by him, and after we knew his name — Lonnie, Charles talked about him throughout the day. One day, Lonnie rode by and said, “Charles, I promise when this pandemic (流行病) is over, I’m going to let you ride in my truck.” However, we were going to move out of the state about a week later. I had to tell Lonnie the truth.
The next week, we waited for the garbage truck. Finally, late in the afternoon, I heard the loud noise of the truck. I raced to the door, carrying Charles. We did not want to miss seeing Lonnie on our last week in Birmingham. Lonnie stopped the truck and got out. He told me he had some things for Charles — a hat, a yellow safety vest, two toy garbage cans, coloring books and so on. Charles was absolutely excited, especially by the garbage cans, and I was so touched. The next day, Charles and I were playing in the front yard when a man approached me. He said, “I’m Lonnie’s manager, and he has something special planned for Charles. Are you going to be here around 11 am?” I said, “Of course we will.”
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。
At noon, something surprising happened.
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Even though we moved out of the state, Charles still misses Lonnie.
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1.你最感激的人是谁；
2.为什么感激他/她；
3.如何感恩。
注意：1.词数 100 左右;
2.首句已为你写好。
Hello, boys and girls,
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Thank you for your listening.
