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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内容包括: 1.概况，2.你的感受。可适当发挥，行文连贯，100词左右。
On behalf of代表，English Speech Contest 英语演讲比赛。
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One sunny day, I drove to the airport and was waiting to pick up a friend. That day I had one of those experiences that change people’s lives.
It happened just two feet away from me. I was sitting on a bench and looked around the big waiting hall. Just then I noticed a man, carrying two bags, coming toward me. He stopped next to me. There stood his family, the wife and three lovely kids. He greeted them, with a big smile on his face.
First of all, he laid down his bag and came closer to his younger son (about six years old). They gave each other a warm, loving hug. Then the father looked in his son’s eyes with words, “I missed you so much. It’s so good to see you, son!” The boy smiled and said, “Me too, dad.”
Then the man talked to his older son (nine or ten years old). “Oh, you are quite the young man. I love you very much!” and cupped his face. Then they had the most tender hug too.
Afterwards the father said, “Hi, baby girl” to his baby daughter. She was moving excitedly in her mother’s arm and watching her returning father all the time. The man gently took his little daughter, quickly kissed her face all over and then held her close to his chest. The little girl laid her head on his shoulder in pure contentment.
After several moments, the man put down the baby daughter slowly. He turned to his wife and looked at her gently and said, “I’ve saved the best for last.” He shared with her the most passionate kiss. They stared at each other, having big smiles. They reminded(使想起) me of newlyweds(新婚夫妇).
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。
Suddenly, I heard myself asking, “Wow, how long have you been married?”
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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.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________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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Say Thanks
If writing thank-you letters is a task you readily dismiss, you aren’t alone. However, saying thanks could be the best gift you can give, to yourself and others.
The benefits of gratitude have long been championed in philosophical thinking. In recent years, the science has been catching up: it shows that people who feel most grateful generally get a psychological boost (促进) as a result. They also have greater life satisfaction, fewer visits to the doctor and better sleep. This has led to gratitude being a part of our culture, inspiring an explosion of gratitude journals, in which you record things you are thankful for. It has also led to renewed interest in the neuroscience and psychology of gratitude.
However, the benefits of actually expressing this gratitude have received less attention. Now evidence is piling up that shows turning our inner gratitude into action can make our lives even better.
For instance, a simple thank you can build relationships, even with strangers. Take people who have received a note of thanks for something they have done from a peer they don’t know. They are more likely to share their contact details with that person in an attempt to continue the relationship than people who receive a note that doesn’t contain thanks. A simple thank you seems to signal interpersonal warmth.
But the benefits go further than just strengthening social relationships, they can have an impact on health, too. A study of more than 200 nurses working in two Italian hospitals found that gratitude expressed by patients could protect nurses from burnout. That was especially so in the emergency room, where personal interactions with patients are typically shorter and less rewarding. This positive feedback from patients reduced feelings of exhaustion among nurses, says Mara Martini at the University of Turin, who carried out the work.
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语老师。请你代表班级写一份欢迎辞，内容包括：
（1）表示欢迎并表达喜悦的心情；
（2）介绍班级的口语情况，反映一些同学们口语上的问题，比如缺乏说英语的信心和积极性；
（3）表达对未来一起学习的期待。
注意：（1）词数不少于100（开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数）；
（2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Mr. Smith,
My name is Li Jin, the English representative of the class, of which you’ll be the oral English teacher. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hunger
When I was a young boy, my mother would place spoonfuls of vegetables onto my plate whether I wanted them or not and the rule in our family was that we always had to clean our plates. However, I rarely saw my mother eat the vegetables herself. She always served us first. She seemed never hungry.
She worked for a rich lady in town, and I always assumed that the reason why she didn’t have our tasteless meals was that she had eaten meats and sweets in the rich lady’s kitchen. Our meals were boring, and there was never enough since there were ten of us — my parents plus eight children.
One afternoon my older sisters were sick, so they couldn’t take care of me. Therefore, my mother had no choice but to bring me with her. It was a long winter day and as my father hadn’t had much work, we had even less food than usual. So I was very excited to go to the rich woman’s house.
My mother placed me in a corner while she rolled out pie crust (饼皮). Then she cooked some meat, and by the afternoon, the pleasant smell filled the kitchen and was making its way into my empty stomach. Then, a bell rang in the kitchen and my mother told me, “Don’t move” and then left.
I tried to do as told, but then I thought it wouldn’t matter if I ate just one blackberry. So I put a single blackberry into my mouth. What an explosion of flavor! The wonderful taste hitting my empty stomach was more than I could handle! Soon I was throwing blackberries into my mouth with two hands! It wasn’t until I was staring at the empty bowl that I noticed the empty, unbaked pie crust sitting on the table waiting for the berries. I looked around for more berries, but there was none. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching, so I quickly hid into the cupboard (碗柜).
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Just at the moment, my mother entered the kitchen, following a well-dressed lady.
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After the lady left, I crept(爬) out of the cupboard with tears streaming down my face.
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Working Out Worries by Writing
After his father was driven to the hospital for emergent treatment, 43-year-old Yanatha Desouvre began to panic. So, he did one thing that he knew would calm himself: He wrote. Over the next few weeks, Desouvre filled several notebooks, writing about his worry as well as his happy memories with his dad. “Writing allowed me to face my fear and process my pain,” he says. Psychologists refer to that kind of writing as “expressive writing”. People do it by recording their deepest thoughts and feelings. However, different from writing in a journal, expressive writing is to reflect honestly and thoughtfully on a particular frustration or challenge.
A well-known psychology professor says that hundreds of studies have looked at the potential benefits of expressive writing and found it can help reduce pain and improve mood, sleep and memory. It may even help reduce symptoms of various illnesses, and prevent colds and flu.
Expressive writing takes effect because translating a painful experience into language allows people to make meaning out of it, some experts say. The process forces them to organize their thoughts and offers a sense of control, thus completing the pursuit of value from such an experience. Another research suggested that during expressive writing, the act of labeling a feeling can lessen the activity relating to nerves in the threat area of the brain. With these nerves relaxed, people can lower the symptoms of their diseases, enhance their appreciation for life, and increase the acceptance of various experiences in their lives.
What can’t be ignored is that it shouldn’t be used as a replacement for other medical treatments. And people coping with a severe depression may not find it useful to do on their own, without therapy. Yet, it can be a powerful coping tool for many, in large part because it helps battle against their reluctance to face negative emotions.
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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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