I was a broke university student. I should have been going to university on a scholarship because I came from a low-income family, but a last-minute £100-a-year pay rise for my mum pushed my family over the threshold (门槛) for what defined “low-income” and I was suddenly no longer qualified for £15,000 a year in scholarship money. This news came after I’d been accepted by the university and signed the lease (租约) for my accommodation.
Despite my family not being labelled low-income anymore, I still wouldn’t receive any financial support from my family as all the income went toward taking care of my disabled brother and paying their own bills. It would be tight, but because I had savings from my part-time job, I decided to go to university anyway. After paying my rent, I had £10.20 a week for everything else including food, toiletries, and school supplies.
As I was in a new city, I really wanted to make friends, which was difficult when most of the social activities were expensive. Therefore, I jumped at the chance to do a relatively cheap coffee shop trip with my roommates who were pleasant to me.
I had £20 with me to get a cheap cup of coffee and my food shopping for a few weeks. So I headed for the coffee shop. While paying, I pulled out the note and a handful of change and realized I could pay without breaking the note, so I put it back in my pocket. It wasn’t until I arrived at the supermarket that I realized the note was gone. What should I do? I was desperate it was the equivalent (相等物) of two weeks of money. My roommates helped me look for the note. However, it was in vain. Finally, I went to school empty-handed.
注意：
(1) 续写词数应为150词左右；
(2) 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
P1: As a final attempt, I messaged the coffee shop’s Facebook page asking if they’d seen it.
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P2: I said, “Oh, ...This isn’t mine; my note was an old worn one.”
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“I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over,” the nurse said apologetically. “You can come back in the morning.”
My husband Eric had just got out of the operating room and was still struggling with being sick from the anesthesia (麻醉). I really wanted to stay with him until he was more comfortable, but I knew that the hospital’s visiting policies must be followed.
“I’ll take care of him before you get back, I promise.” The nurse handed me a piece of paper. “That’s my cell number. You can call or text me anytime tonight if you’re worried or just want an update.”
I thanked her and then turned to Eric. “Can I do anything for you before I leave?” He shook his head slightly without opening his eyes, and I could tell he was uncomfortable. “I can’t believe I have to leave while you’re like this,” I said, tears filling my eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
He patted my hand and signaled to me to leave. “I’ll be right here in the morning.” I said and headed to my car, still fighting tears. In my head, I knew that Eric wasn’t in danger, and he would be physically okay when I returned in the morning, but it still broke my heart that I couldn’t be with him when he needed me.
The hospital was a few hours from our house, so I was spending the night in a hotel. When I got to my room, I texted Eric’s nurse. She texted back, saying he was still sick to his stomach.
I sighed, feeling the worry rush in. What if getting sick caused his stitches (缝线) to break open? How much of the pain medicine was still in his system? What if he was in pain from his incision (切口)?
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。
I turned on the TV to shift my focus, but it didn’t work.
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Around midnight, I heard my phone receive a message.
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As the bell was about to ring, our teacher announced a special assignment for next Monday: to share our gratitude for someone instead of giving a daily report. Hearing this, anxiety crawled over my body as the last thing I would do was speaking in front of the entire class! I couldn’t help complaining to my best friend Jenny.
“You are the chief violinist in our school orchestra, aren’t you?” she said. “So what’s the point of being afraid of speaking to a few our own classmates since you can handle acting in front of a large audience?”
Her point made sense, but being in a performance meant being part of a team. I shook my head. Besides, there were so many people I was grateful to, and choosing just one seemed difficult. Even if I could pick someone, I wouldn’t know how to say thank you. And even if I figured out what to say, I was sure I’d stumble(结巴地说) on my words when speaking aloud! Standing there, with everyone’s eyes on me, I would feel the spot light was wholly on me, and there would be no place for me to hide! “Oh no!” I covered my face with my hands and said, “I can’t do it, just can’t!” Real friends, the ones who know you well, don’t just do exactly what you ask. Jenny, always supportive and helpful, wrote something on a piece of paper and gently removed my hands from my face. She had drawn a cute cat with the word “CALM” written below it.
“Nice meeting you; I am the ‘everything will be fine’ cat,” Jenny laughed and sounded exactly like a cat. Pretending to listen to the cat, she asked, “Well, kitty, you think my friend should come to my house tomorrow, so we can prepare our speeches together I laughed out loud and relaxed a lot. I have to say Jenny was there for me, always!”
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。
The next day, I went to Jenny’s house.
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Before the speech, however, I changed my mind and wrote “Jenny” on the blackboard.
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My daughter and I were fans of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, an educational children’s television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers, more commonly known as Mister Rogers.
Around my daughter’s second birthday, I had a Mister Rogers-inspired idea. Why not invite one key person in my daughter’s world to dinner each month? The local children’s librarian could visit one evening, and perhaps the borough mayor (区长) could drop by a few weeks later.
But I wanted to start at the top.
“Let’s invite Mister Rogers himself, ” I said to my wife. “After all, he lives just a few neighborhoods away. I bet he’d come.”
She looked at me as if I wanted to invite the President. “You really think Mister Rogers would come to our house for dinner? Fat chance.”
Undeterred (不气馁的), I sent a letter to Mister Rogers that fall, telling him of my newfound delight in his show and my idea for inviting neighborhood people over to talk about their lives, and asking him and Mrs. Rogers to be our guests.
I told my daughter about the letter. Her eyes glistened (发光). “Mister Rogers coming? Really, Daddy?”
One month later, no reply. My daughter hadn’t forgotten and periodically asked when Mister Rogers would be visiting. I always told her that he hadn’t called yet and that it was a good opportunity to learn about patience.
Two months later, no response. At the three-month mark, my wife simply rolled her eyes when I raised the topic. I was beginning to lose optimism. Mister Rogers had let me down.
Sadly, Mister Rogers passed away in late February of the following year. I was unaware of his illness and now understood why our invitation had gone unanswered. Mister Rogers would not be coming to dinner after all. Yet, even after his passing, Mister Rogers gave us a far greater gift than I ever could have imagined.
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。
A week later, I was surprised to find a letter in our mailbox from Mister Rogers.
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The letter is a treasured gift and his kind words touched my life and my daughter.
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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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