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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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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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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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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