Brit works full time as a fourth-grade teacher at Kula Elementary School. It was there that she met Seth Snyder, a student who had flown under the radar with previous teachers. Every year, Brit is given a nine-month window in which to connect with a group of new students. And with each batch of new students, she hopes to have a positive impact on their lives. But Seth was a tough cookie to crack. For the first few months of the school year, she struggled to connect with her student, who was shy but nevertheless a pleasure to have in the classroom.
One day, Brit showed her students a clip of skateboarders going all out at Tony Hawk’s ramp in California. Brit glanced over and watched Seth’s face light up; she found their connection. She went one step further to connect with Seth by inviting him to join her at the skate park after school one day. Instead of excitement, Seth shut down. He politely declined his teacher’s offer and withdrew once more. In spite of that, Brit wouldn’t give up so easily. She asked again a few weeks later, the day Seth and his fellow students were cut loose for spring break.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Are you going to skate?”
“No,” he mumbled, almost embarrassed. “I don’t have a skateboard.”
Brit’s heart sank into her stomach. Kula Elementary comprises mostly underprivileged (缺少机遇的) students who come from low-income families. Teachers like Brit have to tread (行事) carefully when it comes to even the smallest conversations or assignments, because a question as innocent as “What are your plans for spring break?” can be hurtful, sometimes embarrassing, for students who have so little.
Brit said to the reporter, “If your parents are working three jobs to be able to pay rent, of course they’re not going to have time to take you to skate park or, you know, take you surfing, or let alone buy you that $400 surfboard or $ 200 skateboard.”
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。
Brit shared the story with her best friend, Zach, a professional skateboarder.
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What began as two people coming together to do a good deed for one young boy quickly blossomed (发展) into a grassroots effort.
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I brought home a homemade invitation to a party and showed it to my mother. “I’m not going,” I said. “She’s a new girl named Ruth, and Berniece and Pat aren’t going. She asked the whole class, all 36 of us.” As Momma studied the handmade invitation, she looked strangely sad. Then she announced, “Well, you are going! I’ll pick up a present tomorrow.” I couldn’t believe it. Momma had never made me go to a party!
When Saturday arrived, Momma rushed me out of bed and made me wrap the pretty pink mirror-brush-and-comb set she’d bought. She drove me over in her yellow and white car and then left. Ruth answered the door and guided me to follow her up the steepest, oldest staircase I’d ever seen.
Stepping through the door brought me great relief. The hardwood floors was shining in the sun-filled sitting room. Snow-white doilies (装饰小垫) covered the backs and arms of well-worn furniture. The biggest cake I ever saw sat on one table. It was decorated with nine pink candles, a messily printed Happy Birthday Ruth. Thirty-six cups filled with homemade fudge (软糖) were near the cake—each one with a name on it. “This will be wonderful if everyone gets here.” I thought.
“Where’s your mom?” I asked Ruth. Looking down at the floor, she said, “Well she’s sick.” “Oh. Where’s your dad?” “He’s gone.” Then there was a silence. Some 15 minutes passed… then 10 more. It occurred to me that no one else was coming. How could I get out of here? As I sank into self-pity, I heard muffled (压抑的) sobs. Looking up, I saw tears in Ruth’s eyes. All at once my heart was filled with sympathy for Ruth. There we were two small girls and a cake, 36 candy-filled cups, three dozen party gifts, games to play and prizes to win.
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。
Then I announced to Ruth, “Let’s start our birthday party!”.
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Showing Momma my prizes, I shared my experience at Ruth’s house with her.
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I had stopped at the Swindon services (服务区) while on my way back to London. As I drove up the slip road, I spotted a man with a backpack and his thumb (拇指) out. I pulled over and lowered the window.
“Which way are you heading?” I asked. “I’m going back to London.”
“Ah, that would be grand,” came his immediate reply. He opened the door and lifted his backpack on to the back seat. “I’m Brendan,” he said with an easy smile and a rich Irish tongue. “I was getting a bit desperate. I've had my thumb out for a day and half. Nobody seems to stop these days.”
“I haven’t eaten in days,” said Brendan. “I’m trying to get home.”
I’ve always enjoyed picking up hitchhikers (搭便车的人). I used to be a motoring journalist and crossed the country in various test cars. Picking up a hiker always made me feel a little less guilty about all the miles I was doing.
As we headed cast along the motorway, Brendan told me how he came to be waiting for a lift on that particular evening, and also about the two recent family tragedies that had ruined him and pushed him out of his old life and on to the road.
Brendan told me that he was 52. He laughed a lot and enjoyed his off-grid (不入网的) lifestyle. Until last week, that is, when he’d been mugged (抢劫).
“Three young men in Birmingham took my other pack and it had all my money in it. I’ve been sleeping out since then. I haven’t eaten in days. I’m hoping to get some casual work in London, so I can then get myself home to Ireland.”
It must have been the concept of home that got me, and helping a man who'd clearly had a tough time seemed like the right thing to do.
Para.1:
As we were approaching the Heathrow turn-off (希思罗机场岔道), I had an idea.
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Para.2:
Before he left to buy his air ticket, he gave me a huge hug.
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Grandma got Grandpa out of bed and helped him to the kitchen for breakfast. After his meal, she led him to his armchair in the living room where he would rest while she cleaned the dishes. Ever so often, she would check to see if he needed anything.
This was their daily routine after Grandpa’s latest stroke. Although once a very active man, his severely damaged left arm, difficulty walking and slurred (含糊不清的) speech now kept him housebound. For nearly a year he hadn’t been to church or to visit family.
Grandpa filled his hours with television. He watched the news and game shows while Grandma went about her day. They made a promise — he was not to leave his chair or his bed without her assistance.
“If you fell and I threw my back out trying to help you, who would take care of us?” Grandma would ask him. She was resolved they should take care of themselves and live independently. The Brooklyn brownstone had been their first home and held wonderful memories. They weren’t ready to leave it behind anytime soon.
Immigrants from Ireland, they had met and married in America. Grandma was friendly, outgoing and unselfish; Grandpa was reserved, a man devoted to his family, but he wasn’t big on giving gifts. While he wouldn’t think twice about giving Grandma the shirt off his back, he had the belief that if you treated your wife well throughout the year, presents weren’t necessary; so he rarely purchased gifts for her.
It was a cold, gray February morning, a typical winter’s day in New York. As always, Grandma walked Grandpa to his chair. “I’m going to take a shower now.” She handed him the television remote. “If you need anything, I’ll be back in a little while.”
After her shower, she glanced towards the back of Grandpa’s recliner (躺椅) but noticed that his cane was not leaning in its usual spot. Sensing something unusual, she went into the room. He was gone. The closet door stood open and his hat and overcoat were missing. Fear ran down her spine. Grandma threw a coat over her bathrobe and ran outside.
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。
Desperately, she scanned the street in both directions.
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Just then, Grandpa came around the corner.
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One day, Dad took Tim and Lily to the supermarket. “Now where has Tim gone? ” asked Dad. Lily shrugged. Keeping track of Tim was not on her agenda today. She’d been trying to decide on the perfect gift for Dad’s upcoming birthday. This year, she was determined to prepare a present that couldn’t be bought at a store or ordered online.
“Daddy!” Tim appeared out of nowhere, disturbing Lily’s thoughts. He yelled, holding a cereal (麦片) box in the air, “Let’s get it! It’s nutritious and delicious! And it has a dragon inside! ” Tim remembered Dad saying that when he was a kid, almost every box of cereal came with a toy. Ever since, Tim was certain that he, too, would find a toy in the next box.
When they got home, Dad and Lily began putting away the groceries. Tim couldn’t wait to take the box of cereal upstairs to his room. By the time they finished, Lily could hear Tim shouting. “No! No!” Tim’s voice kept getting louder and louder. Lily imagined each word as the sound of a hammer striking metal. Then she raced towards her brother’s room. The moment she stepped inside, she felt a crunch (嘎吱声) beneath her feet. It was obvious that Tim dumped all that cereal looking for a toy dragon. “They lied! No dragon. Just a picture on the box.” Tim sounded close to tears. Annoyed as Lily was, she said quietly, “Let’s see what the box says.” “I don’t know how to read.” her brother said in a low voice.
It reminded Lily that last school year, Tim’s teacher who sent home easy-to-read books and worksheets insisted that he was ready to learn to read and just needed some extra help, but Tim complained about books “for babies” and “boring” homework assignments. It was really a headache for Dad to teach Tim to read! At the thought of these, it seemed that Tim’s dragon issue had swept away her concern for a present for Dad.
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：
Lily decided to cooperate with Tim, making up a dragon story and having Tim read for Dad.
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Paragraph 2：
After what seemed to be a century, Dad’s birthday finally came.
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All I wanted was to sit with them at "the popular table". Jill had the best clothes. She looked like she walked straight out of a store window. Brett had the coolest haircut, plus she was already on the field hockey team and we were only in the sixth grade! Aimee was a cheerleader and Shannon could boss people around and they'd do whatever she said. I sure didn't have that kind of power, but then again, I wasn't popular.
Everyone else called them the "popular girls" and at lunch I’d watch them from across the middle school cafeteria and wonder how on earth I could get a seat at their table. I imagined how much fun they had sitting there, the envy of the lunchroom, while I ate sandwiches at the table near the dustbins. This wasn’t how I thought middle school was going to be at all.
One day, I had the nerve to walk past their table and Shannon and Jill started making fun of me, saying I smelled.
"I hate them," I sighed, sitting down beside my three friends and opening my lunch bag. "The popular girls are so mean."
"Well, we aren't mean!" said one friend, and she was right.
I looked towards the popular table. Aimee appeared to be in a fight with Jill, while the others were laughing at a red-headed boy, who was the smartest kid in our grade and maybe even our whole school. He was in tears when they got done with him. He took his tray to an empty table in the far corner of the room to eat alone.
That was when it hit me. Why would I even want to be friends with people who were so mean? My friends were far nicer and from the looks of it, we had a lot more fun. None of us fought or made fun of people. We laughed, sang, and joked to entertain one another.
"Maybe I should ask him to come eat with us," I said, gesturing towards the lonely, red-haired boy.
"Sure," said my friends.
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。
From then on, we invited everyone the popular girls made fun of to eat at our lunch table
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Later, I looked up the word "popular" in the dictionary.
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My dad always told me that when I was two years old, I told everyone I met that I was going to be the next Michael Jordan. One day when I was six, he looked me straight in the eye, asking, “Are you willing to do any amount of work to become Michael Jordan?” I hesitated for a moment, feeling the weight of his words, but then smiled brightly and nodded.
“All right. ” He produced a sheet of paper and handed it to me, warning, “This will be one serious commitment. ” He gave me a pen and gestured for me to sign my signature at the bottom of the page.
The next morning I had completely forgotten about the paper until, at the crack of dawn, my father shook me awake.
“Get up. ” he ordered. “Basketball practice starts today. ”
I complained, unwillingly getting out of my warm bed and following my dad. We headed out to the driveway and he showed me an orange basketball. He threw it to me, and I clumsily grasped it with both bands. That morning, I practiced for three hours, the most tired I had been in those years. Already, I was beginning to regret my decision to be the female version of Michael Jordan.
The next morning my dad dragged me out in the driveway at the crack of dawn, once again. It was the same the next day, and the next day. I screamed that I would never touch a basketball again, but he took out my signed contract （合同） and waved it in my face, explaining that I couldn’t take back my words now.
Years passed and I began to accept basketball practice as just a fact of life. One day, at the age of 15, I finally reached my goal — my 10, 000 hours. That morning we practiced our usual three hours, and for once, I felt like I may have learned everything there was to know about basketball. At the end of our session （训练时期）, my dad hugged and congratulated me before handing me that orange basketball and saying. “It’s yours now.”
注意:
1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1:
That evening we had a party, with a huge basketball-shaped cake.
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Paragraph 2:
Dad and I held the paper to the candle’s flame and watched it slowly burn.
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Robert and Henry were two friends in the same class. They always played together and went home together. One day, Robert and Henry were going home from school. On turning a cornner, Robert cried out, “A fight! Let’s go and see!”
“No” said Henry. “Let us go home quietly and not meddle with (管闲事) this quarrel. We have nothing to do with it and may get into trouble. Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together and I don’t want them to worry about me.”
“You are a coward (懦夫), and afraid to go,” said Robert, and off he ran. Henry went straight home, and in the afternoon went to school as usual.
But Robert had told all the boys that Henry was a coward, and they laughed at him a great deal. From then on, they looked down on Henry and didn’t want to play with him together.
Henry was sad but he wasn’t angry with Robert for his rude behaviour, because he knew that they misunderstood him, and that they ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong. Thus, he just ignored the other boys’ laughter and continued to go to school and study as well. However, Robert didn’t invite Henry to go home together with him anymore. Instead, he had some other boys who also thought Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn’t go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had a lot of fun.
A few days later, Robert was bathing with his new friends in a river, and got out of his depth. He struggled and cried for help, but he failed. The boys who had called Henry a coward got out of the water as fast as they could, but they did nothing to help him.
Paragraph 1It seemed as if Robert would be dying.
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Thus, Robert’s life was saved.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was eleven years old，I had a big accident.I get scared even now when I think about that time.I went skating near my house.There were many people，and I saw them falling on the ice.
It was my first time to go ice skating，so I was nervous.I was wondering how to skate.I went with a friend who was very skillful.He spent some time teaching me how to skate，but I didn’t learn much.He left me and skated all around.As soon as he left，I fell down.I envied other people because they could skate very well.
I was bored because I kept falling so I took off my skates and just walked around on the ice in my shoes.It was cold and my hands were frozen.
Suddenly，I stepped on something that was not hard.What was it? It was a weak place in the ice.When I stepped there，I sank under the ice.I thought that I was going to die，but I did my best to grab something to get out from under the ice.I tried to grab the edge of the ice.But it was very difficult for an eleven year old.
It seemed like a very long time，like a year.Then，fortunately，someone helped me.He grabbed my arms and pulled me up.So，I lived and I’m still alive today.
I thanked him.At that time，my friend came back.I was annoyed at him because he was supposed to take care of me，but he didn’t.He was embarrassed.When I took a taxi home，the taxi driver was surprised and asked what had happened.I didn’t want to say anything because I was tired and scared.Even now，whenever I think about that time，I feel uncomfortable.I don’t want to go skating again even now.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
It was long before I went skating once again，
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Paragraph 2：
However，ever since then I haven’t found any time to go skating，
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10 . Last year I ruined my summer vacation by bringing along a modern convenience: the iPad.
Instead of looking at nature, I
So this year I made up my mind to try something
With determination and the strong support of my wife, I succeeded in my vacation struggle
I knew I had
| A．received | B．selected | C．checked | D．removed |
| A．online | B．informal | C．local | D．traditional |
| A．so that | B．as if | C．now that | D．even though |
| A．opinion | B．identity | C．mind | D．curiosity |
| A．attractive | B．logical | C．magical | D．different |
| A．since | B．unless | C．though | D．so |
| A．excited | B．shocked | C．frightened | D．determined |
| A．showing | B．handing | C．sending | D．introducing |
| A．quality | B．design | C．signal | D．technology |
| A．trapped | B．ignored | C．injured | D．persuaded |
| A．taken out | B．pulled down | C．cut off | D．carried away |
| A．rely on | B．connect to | C．help with | D．look at |
| A．method | B．goal | C．trick | D．choice |
| A．against | B．for | C．on | D．to |
| A．expected | B．realized | C．permitted | D．suggested |
| A．puzzle | B．sign | C．evidence | D．problem |
| A．won | B．forgotten | C．suffered | D．recovered |
| A．Somehow | B．Anyway | C．However | D．Therefore |
| A．survive | B．change | C．escape | D．continue |
| A．take apart | B．give up | C．turn to | D．care about |
