Ordinary things on an ordinary night. I wander into the kids’ room. My son, Taylor, 4 years old, sleeps, and I pull the covers around him and kiss his forehead. I walk downstairs to check the hearth (壁炉). The fire is almost out. A thin veil of smoke hangs in the air. I climb upstairs and fall back into bed, but an hour later, panic wakes me. I stand in the kids’ room. The house seems smokier than it did before, but how can that be when the fire burned out hours ago? I crack a window, return to bed, and fall into a dead sleep.
Suddenly, I hear screams. It’s my husband, Troy. “Mary! Get out of the house!”
Hearing the panic in his voice, I sit upright. I run to the bedroom door and swing it open, and I am blown back, knocked to the floor. Searing (灼人的) heat and black smoke surround me, burning my skin. I gasp for breath and crawl across the floor, shielding my mouth and nose.
Without knowing how, I have Taylor in my arms and am at his bedroom window. When I open it, ashes and smoke blow through as the heat is pulled toward us. There’s fire behind me, a 9-meter drop to concrete (混凝土) below.
Troy shouts from another window, “Hold on! I’m coming—I’m gonna jump!” Then the sickening sound of bones against concrete. I scream his name, but he doesn’t respond. I start to cry, but there is no time for panic.
I lower Taylor out his window as far as my arms will stretch so he can breathe. I hold only his tiny hands, his body dangling (晃荡). I am in the center of the firestorm. I choke, spitting out black ashes. Blisters rise on the backs of my legs; the pain becomes unbearable. I have to do something. But there is no grass below, no trees or bushes.
Paragraph 1:
My brain searches for options.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
At that very moment, Troy shouts, “Drop him! I’m here!”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was a hot and dry summer. The beach near the city was crowded with a lot of people, from little kids to the aged, who planned to beat the heat in the water. They enjoyed themselves leisurely. Some were playing beach volleyball, some were making sand castles, and some were doing sunbathing.
Among them, there was a group of 10 boys aged between 12 to 15 years old trying to take an adventure. At first, they intended to hire a yacht (游艇), but due to the wind and the waves, the yacht rides were forbidden on that day. After a while, the boys decided to challenge themselves to race in the sea. They made a deal that the one who swam the fastest would win the race and deserve a huge treat from the group. Most of the boys agreed, except for a few. A boy in the group warmed them of the danger, as the waves weren’t constant. Some boys began to hesitate, but some didn’t listen to him and started their race.
Everything went so well. Suddenly, waves from the sea rose a lot and most of the boys in that young group struggled to reach the beach. However, three boys who considered themselves very brave, decided to ignore the waves and swim further out to sea for more excitement and fun.
Although many people on the beach shouted at them and asked them to swim back immediately, they continued to swim further from the beach. The wind became stronger；all of a sudden, one boy was washed away by a rising wave and the other two boys were so scared that they shouted for help and swam as fast as they could to the beach. However, no one on the beach risked his life to save the boy as the waves were so alarming；and the crowd were asked to move to a safe place.
注意: 1.续写的词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph l: From the crowd on the beach, a young man stood out.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2 : The man stood silently for a few seconds.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lesia Cartelli was badly burned in a gas explosion at her grandparent’s house at age 9. In fact，the burns were so severe that her own grandfather didn’t recognize her. But now，this brave woman uses her injured past to help other burn victims find healing.
On that terrible day，Lesia and her cousin were playing in their grandparent’s basement. A gas leak caused the whole house to blow up. The explosion threw many of the 9 family members in the home across the street. Already a fighter，Lesia pulled herself out of the ruins. Flames still covered her little body，so she rolled in the dirt and snow to put them out.
“It was all face，hands，back and it had burned around my waist，”she says. Lesia’s own grandfather thought she was someone else because of how badly she was burned. As nursing staff loaded her into the ambulance，her grandfather tried to leave. He thought the house ruins still held his granddaughter’s body. Even though Lesia was right in front of him，he didn’t realize it was the same child.
Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the ambulance window helped Lesia understand why her grandfather didn’t recognize her. Burns covered 50％of her body and fire burned off all her hair.
Lesia spent several months in the hospital，undergoing surgeries and skin grafts(移植). Once released，Lesia’s scars(疤)drew stares and questions from people. so she started isolating herself.
“When I was burned，everything in my life changed，”she said. “My friendships changed. I hated going to schoo1. You are coping with things you never had to cope with before. People staring at you. People asking questions. Why do you look like that?”
Lesia could have remained isolated her whole life. When bad things happen，we can always choose to move backwards or to let God give our pain purpose. Lesia chose the latter，realizing she was put on this Earth to do more than just survive.
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。
“My life got better when I started to look at my life as a gift.”Lesia said．
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Those who join Angel Faces describe it as a life-changing experience．
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
