The Right Thing
My mother worked as a housekeeper and she was often given used toys as well as many other goodies by her clients. My elder sister and I always loved sharing the recycled books and board games brought home by my beloved mom, which we considered great gifts life presented us.
The long-awaited Christmas finally approached. One December day, an old model toy car arrived in the load of goods. It was as long as my forearm and took both hands to lift. My sister didn’t want it, so it was all mine. I immediately set down to wiping it clean and polishing it to a bright candy-apple red. It turned to be a thing of beauty, and I became overjoyed at possessing it. My elder sister was amazed at the newly-polished, refreshing toy car, with a hint of regret and envy in her eyes.
As was planned, our relatives from France came to visit us that Christmas. It was a time when the family bond got strengthened. I shared the prized toy car with Alex, my young French cousin. Eyes glued to it, he fell in love with the wonderful, shiny red automobile the instant he saw it. It was a rare moment to see him feeling so relieved and happy. He’d been unlucky so far in life, suffering severe, life-threatening illnesses as a child, leaving him mentally and physically stuck and the family starved of cash. Of course, such lovely toys like my dear model car were unreachable dreams for him.
Seeing Alex’s consuming thrill brought by the red car, I was seized by immense joy as well. But contrary to Alex’s excitement, a voice inside me constantly reminded, “Watch out! He’d keep it for himself.”, which got me faintly worried. I followed my cousin for fear of something.
My mother also noticed Alex’s fondness for the car. Approaching me, she asked gently in a low voice, “Would you like to give it to Alex?”
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。
Giving or keeping? I struggled with myself.
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In the moment of parting, my model car went with Alex.
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The teacher was new. She was a substitute(代替者). She wrote that word “Mugs”(马克杯)on the blackboard when she arrived. Today, she said we were making mugs for Mother’s Day. They were white and would say WORLD’S BEST MOM on the side. Some kids couldn’t read it, but I could. Dad had been teaching me. I could read The Magic School Bus by myself now.
When the new teacher tried to give me a mug, I told her I didn’t want one. Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, what was your name?”
“Milo,” I told her, “and I don’t need a cup.”
“Why not, Milo?” she asked in confusion.
I was ready to say, “Because my mom doesn’t live with us anymore and she left two years ago. Dad said he doesn’t know where she is, so I won’t be able to give her a mug.” Speaking this, I thought of a day, a long time ago, when I was four. Mom came home from work and gave Dad a chocolate bar and me a doll. And Dad was confused because he and Mom had been mad at each other the day before. But he wasn’t mad any more because she gave him chocolate, I guess. He was happy and surprised and he picked Mom up and tried to spin(使旋转)her around but he almost dropped her and I fell off the couch because I was laughing so hard. What sweet memories! However, she left us. From then on, Dad and I lived with each other and he waited on me hand and foot.
Suddenly, a gentle touch on my hair called my mind back. “You can give it to your father as a gift,” the teacher said, looking at me gently. I stood in silence. And next to me, Amelia was already gluing pink flowers all over her mug, and I wanted to do that too, and it didn’t seem fair that she got a mug and a mom and I didn’t get either.
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 looked back at the teacher and took a mug out of her hands and said,
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So when Dad picked me up after school, I hid the mug at the bottom of my backpack.
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Like every boy there ever was, what Kyle Hrenwood most wanted in this world was a dog. Unfortunately for Kyle, his mom didn’t think he was responsible enough.
The day before Kyle’s thirteenth birthday, he went to the park and found a woman sobbing. He was immediately worried. Was the woman hurt?
He bent over and said “Miss, Are you OK? Do you want me to call anyone?” The woman shook her head and said, “My husband died two weeks ago, and I feel alone. We’d been together for thirty years. I can’t stand the silence inside that house. I’m Deidre. What’s your name?”
Kyle introduced himself and they talked for a long time. Kyle’s encounter with Deidre left him very sad, and he decided to go home. “Mom,” he said. “I don’t want to get married.” “Why not?” asked Kyle’s mom. “What if you spend thirty or forty years with someone,” Kyle said. “And then he is dead, and you’re alone?” Mom said, “Then you’ll miss out on love. You see, if you protect yourself from feeling pain, you’re cutting yourself off from happiness. You may discover those thirty years alone are not worth living.”
The next day, he had one of the biggest surprises and greatest joys of his life—a puppy! That was when he remembered Deidre was alone in her huge house.
A few hours later, Kyle knocked on Deidre’s door holding the puppy. He said, “Today is my birthday, and my parents gave me this puppy. You need this puppy more than I do.” “Give my heart to an animal just so it can die in a few years’ time?” Deidre asked bitterly. “I don’t think so. I don’t need any more pain in my life!”
“My mom said that if you protect yourself from feeling pain, you’re cutting yourself off from happiness. too,” Kyle said.
“You’re right, Kyle!” Deidre said. “I do need this puppy. Maybe you can visit us both; I’ve never had a dog before and may need some advice!”
Over the next few years, Kyle and Deidre, and Max (that was the dog’s name) became great friends. Then Kyle’s dad was offered a job in another state, and the family moved 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。
Kyle grew up and fell in love, and his wedding was drawing near.
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“This is Gemma, Max’s daughter,” Deidre said.
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One of my leachers once asked my class what our favorite memory was. My leacher asked for the moment in which “you fell the best; you fell that you had the world in the palms of your hand.” Some described amazing awards; other described winning a tournament. My answer, however, invited giggles and hesitant smiles. Why? Because I felt the best when I first learned how to ride my bike at thirteen. I didn’t mind my classmates’ stares and mockery, because I knew there was more to the story.
My elder sister and I shared a typical sisterly relationship: we couldn’t stand each other. I was an annoyance to her. Any sort of conversation we had usually ended up fighting. Gradually, I started to learn to be totally indifferent; perhaps the silent treatment would get more approval. I was wrong. We soon fell into a sad pattern. I avoided her, and she ignored me. Deep inside, it hurt. So that was how it was between us. She was only a sister in name. I truly believed that we would forever be apart, two housemates without conversation, two strangers without warmth.
I still remember the day I learned to ride a bike. I had received the bike that Christmas, which was great, until I realized that I had no idea how to ride it. My mom had long abandoned any attempt to teach me. I had proven to be a frustrating student. I took it upon myself to learn, a little bit each day. It was no different. I was coming to the end of my daily one-hour torture(折磨). I was so frustrated that I threw my bike aside and began to cry.
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 guess that was what caused my sister to come outside.
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“I made it,” I exclaimed with delight.
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Mark Mancuso’s phone rang. He looked at it. It was a calendar alert, telling him it was his mother’s birthday. His mother Amelia lived 200 miles away, a bit of a drive, but Mark had driven further for a lunch with a friend. He just couldn’t stand his mother’s complaints. Then he found a florist(花店). He smiled and got an idea.
Entering the florist, Mark smiled broadly, “Can you arrange to have flowers delivered in Syracuse, N.Y.? It’s my mother’s 65th birthday and I wanted to send her some flowers.” Mark explained.
The florist said, “Of course, I just need your mother’s name and address, and I guess you want to send a note, a birthday message?”
“Yes,” said Mark, and he quickly recited his mother’s name and address and then added, “Please write: Happy birthday to the best mom in the world, love you and miss you. Your son, Mark.”
Mark was walking out with a feeling of accomplishment when he saw a girl sitting on the corner with tears running down her face. Mark squatted down(蹲下来)next to her and asked, “Hey dear, are you OK?”
“I’m Mandy and I wanted a rose for my mom,” the girl wept.
“But I don’t have enough money! The flower lady said I could only buy a daisy, but my mom loves red roses.”
“You just wait here,” Mark said, and then he walked back into the florist and bought a lovely red rose for Mandy. “Here you go,”he said, placing the rose in her hands. Mandy took the rose in her hands, smiled up at Mark and said,“Thank you! But could you take me to my mom? It’s not far but I’m not supposed to go on my own.”
Mark nodded. Mandy took his hand and walked with him down the street. After a while, Mandy turned right and Mark was surprised to see they were standing by the gates of a cemetery(墓地).
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
The girl gently placed the rose on a grave(墓碑).
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Mark felt tears well up in his eyes.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Cody always knew his family was different. While other kids went to the beach for summer vacation, he and his mom visited the world’s largest basket, or the world’s largest baseball bat, or the world’s largest fork. These are real things. And Cody’s mom had photos of them during those trips hanging on the wall.
As a little kid, Cody thought these vacations were the best ever. But with time going by, he started to feel embarrassed. When his classmates would ask where he’d gone for vacation, he’d say, “No place special.”
On a Sunday morning, his mom said, “I was reading this article about the world’s largest gathering of people dressed as turkeys. It was in Texas, and it was only 661 people! Five times as many people live in our town. I want to hold a similar event here around Thanksgiving Day, which is a few weeks away.”
“Mom,” Cody said. “No.”
“Yes!” Mom said. “I just called the newspaper. The announcement runs tomorrow. The day after Thanksgiving, everyone will meet in the town square — dressed as turkeys!”
A few days before Thanksgiving, Cody and his mom sat down for dinner. Cody set down his fork. “Do you have any idea what the kids at school think about the turkey dress-up?”
“No,” Mom said.
“Well, they have a lot to say.”
Mom looked down at her fingernails, then looked at Cody. “I’m afraid it’s too late to call it off, sweetie.”
At last, it was the day of the great turkey dress-up. But instead of bouncing around the house as she’d been all week, Mom was sitting on the living-room floor, shoulders slumped (耷拉着). “I can’t believe the DJ is sick,” she said. “What am I going to do? Music is what makes a festivity festive! I don’t know how to work all this stuff.”
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。
Mom sighed and leaned back against the couch.
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With the happy memories brought back by the photos on the wall, Cody said, “I’ll do it.”
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The Girl Who Never Talked
I never really felt like I fit in. I was a freshman in high school and my only close friend was Bella, whom I had known since kindergarten. Bella is and will always be one of my best friends and we often play together. However, she had other close friends too, but I didn't. I was on the volleyball team, and on the court I knew exactly who I was and where I was supposed to be. I loved all of my teammates, but when we were sitting in the stands before and after games I would just sit there quietly, totally unsure of myself.
At school, no one spoke to me and I didn't know how to get along with them. It seems like the only time anyone talked to me was just to jokingly say, "You are so quiet!... do you ever talk?" I wanted to talk, but I just couldn't find the words. I never felt like I knew what to say in a big group of people. All of these made me upset.
One Saturday after our game, Bella was supposed to come over and spend the night at my house. We always had a lot of fun together. I wished that I could talk to the other girls the way I talked to her. But before we left the gym that day, some of the other volleyball girls invited her to go to the movies with them. Since Bella had already made plans with me, they asked if I would like to go to the movies with them too. I agreed and was happy to have a chance to join them.
One of the moms drove us, and we all piled into the back seat of her Suburban-Rhiannon, Destinee, Christine, Bella, and me. I was kind of nervous at first, but once it was just us five, I came out of my shell (壳). For the first time in my life, I really felt like I was a part of the conversation, instead of just sitting there listening. It turned out that I had a lot to say.
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。
All the way there, an all the way back, we talked and laughed.
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I smiled, knowing I finally had friends and my school life would be much happier.
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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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As a child, I clearly remembered watching the PBS cartoon character Arthur get glasses. The poor guy felt ashamed and was laughed at by other kids due to his glasses. So I was thankful that I had good eyesight.
However, when I entered the eighth grade, I could no longer see very clearly the writing on the blackboard. Luckily, I was usually seated in the front of the classroom, and my study was not affected. So I didn't turn to glasses.
During my first year in high school, my eyesight became poorer. My eyes were examined, and the doctor determined that my eyesight was quite bad. I would either have to wear glasses full time, or try contact lenses (隐形眼镜). Since I had watched the cartoon character Arthur before, I was afraid to be judged by others due to my glasses — it made me believe the glasses would affect a person’s beauty. And being a teenage girl, I cared much about my self-image. Besides, at that time, there were few students around me wearing glasses. So I chose to wear contact lenses. I felt they would not affect my appearance. On the contrary, they would make me more attractive. And after wearing contact lenses, my entire world was transformed. Trees actually had leaves. People around me showed clear expressions. I was overjoyed at my new-found sight and appearance, and I had more self-confidence.
But when my junior year came along, I began to have trouble with my eyes. Once in a while, the contact lenses would irritate (刺激) my eyes, almost to the point where the pain was unbearable. It would take me thirty minutes just to get the lenses in comfortably every day, which made me so upset. With time going by, the pain only got worse.
In spite of endless visits to the hospital, my doctor found nothing wrong with my eyes. He tried countless mediations to ease my pain, However, none of them worked, and there was nothing left to try.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
He suggested that I wear my glasses full-time. __________________________
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Paragraph 2:
Later in my summer camp, I met a very outgoing girl who also wore glasses.
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