“No matter how hard we try, some things are just not meant to be,” Andrew thought bitterly. He looked down at the hospital bills in his hands and tears filled his eyes. His poor mom had been so ill, and here he was complaining and feeling sorry for himself! He should be praying for her recovery, not crying over a lost, childish dream.
Andrew was nineteen, and as far back as he could remember, he’d wanted to become a software engineer. That dream had become harder to reach after his dad died when Andrew was twelve. His mom had been left to raise him on her own, and it was hard to make ends meet. So Andrew started doing part-time jobs.
Every cent he earned he put away for college. When he was sixteen, he got himself a summer job at a local IT company, where his insight and intelligence caught the owner’s eye. Mr. Lewis, the CEO, made Andrew the assistant of his best and most innovative developer, and the boy thrived (不断成长) on the challenge. He couldn’t wait to go to college!
Unfortunately, when Andrew was in his senior year in high school, his mother became very ill. The usually energetic woman was constantly tired and in pain. She went from doctor to doctor, but no one knew exactly what was wrong with her. They sent her off to do dozens of expensive tests, then shook their heads over the results. Andrew’s mom started getting weaker and weaker, and thinner and thinner until she could barely walk.
Andrew added up the medical bills and was shocked. They owed over $23,000! Andrew pulled out his bank book. He had close to $30,000 in his savings account. He’d painstakingly (艰苦地) saved up for YEARS, so he’d be able to go to college, but his mom’s health was more important.
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。The next day, Andrew went to see Mr. Lewis.
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That night, Mr. Lewis appeared on Andrew’s home with a great idea.
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Freddie Forbes stared in awe (敬畏) at the platform in the packed school hall. The headmaster marched onto the stage, followed by the captains of the school soccer team and rugby side. Freddie watched enviously (羡慕地) as each was presented with an honors jacket for their contribution to the school’s sporting success over the previous year. When the next presentation of honors jacket would come around, Freddie knew there was little hope that he would be the receiver of one of these treasured items of clothing.
“I wish you all a happy summer holiday,” the headmaster announced. “Although most of you will be going away to sunnier parts, there are others who will be staying near their home. The local council has asked the school to undertake a project over the next six weeks to help clear up litter around the area and separate it for recycling. If anyone is interested, come to my office and you will be supplied with a litter picker, bags and heavy-duty gloves.”
Freddie knew he would be at a loose end over the holiday, so he went to the office along with four other boys to pick up the equipment needed to gather up the rubbish which littered the streets around the school. When he arrived home, his mother looked at him curiously as he placed the equipment on the kitchen table.
“What is this all about?” she asked with a smile on her face. “Mum, I’m an average pupil and I’m not very good at sports,” he replied. “This waste recycling is one way I can contribute to the good name of the school.”
“Just as long as you don’t get fed up and stop half way through,” said Mum.
“I have made up my mind to stick this out through thick and thin,” Freddie said confidently.
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。
Over the next few weeks, the other boys dropped out of the project.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hearing his name called by the headmaster, Freddie nervously made his way to the platform.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I lost all my hair at age 2 due to alopecia (脱发). Though all I can do was fit in when growing up, I would look at all the beautiful girls I was surrounded by at schools and in the media and think if I had hair, I would be beautiful, too.
I wore a wig (假发) and was often laughed at for it. They called me “bald (光秃的)”. I had no choice but just to let them laugh at me, because I know it was the fact. I felt like I deserved it, as if losing my hair was somehow my fault.
When I came to the senior high school, I still wasn’t okay with my alopecia and avoided talking about it. I was expecting a huge change, and I extremely wanted to be like everyone else. I kept my alopecia a secret and was fearful of telling anyone about it.
I remembered one day I built up the courage to tell a girl about my alopecia. Hesitating for a long time, I finally stammered (结结巴巴地说), “I have no hair because of alopecia.” She was shocked because I hid it so well. “I can’t have a date with someone who doesn’t have hair,” she said in a low voice. Disappointed and heart-broken, I turned around and walked away. From then on, I shut down, never wanting to let anyone know my alopecia again. I continued to wear my wig no matter what the weather was and what I was doing. It was my security and way to hide from the world.
Sports became my escape, though. I was fortunate to have inborn athletic ability. I would race home and play basketball for hours every day. I would pretend to make the game-winning shot when I was playing. I had big dreams. I did not think about my alopecia during these moments, but think who I wanted to become and what I wanted to accomplish.
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 put all my time and energy into becoming the best player I could be.
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Then a marathon totally changed my life.
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The morning of June 30, 2014, was warm and fine. We sat on the cottage dock, relaxing on the chairs with our several dear friends. Our kids were playing on a big white paddleboard in the lake. As the children screamed in delight and swam, we adults joked about middle age, weight problems and so on. Everyone laughed. The mood was light.
Then black clouds rolled in over the calm blue lake and blocked out the sun.
“Looks like rain,” said my husband, Ian.
“Let’s head up the hill before it starts to pour.”
The kids unwillingly pulled the paddleboard to shore and we hiked up the path to the cottage (小屋) that my parents built in 1969. The wind became stronger. Thunder boomed and echoed through the rolling hills. We were glad to be indoors and comfortable.
The rain kept pouring. Ian decided to see the situation outside. He stepped onto the cottage’s small covered porch (门廊). A moment later, he called me to join him.
“Come out here, Patricia,” he said.
“No, I’m good in here, honey,” I said. I felt sleepy in my chair. I was enjoying my rest time and the sound of the rain on the roof.
“Come, please,” he said. “NOW!”
I recognized the anxious tone in his voice; it meant trouble. When I stepped outside, I couldn’t believe the scene before me. Water poured down our driveway. Small streams formed, flooding the cottage and the land around.
Ten minutes later, our yard was filled with water like a swimming pool.
The water tore away the grass and gardens. It carved out a deep ditch (沟渠) along one side of the building, exposing the pier (支柱) that my dad had poured forty-five years ago when he and my mom built our cottage.
Ian stepped forward. “We need to get all the cars to the main road before the driveways wash completely away. I’ll get shovels (铲子).”
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。
Soon,every adult had a shovel in hand.
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The rain stopped and the dinner was ready.
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It was so heartbreaking for Devan Bonagura to see 81-year-old Nola Carpenter sitting in the break room of a supermarket where she works. In the short video he shared, the woman appears tired and stares at the floor as if thinking of something. The video finally went popular, earning over 30 million views and causing a movement that would change Carpenter’s life.
It is widely known that retail (零售) workers are heroes. They put up with long hours and angry customers, among a lot of other things. This work is challenging for young people and able-bodied people, so it can really be more difficult to the old. That’s why Bonagura posted the video.
He posted the short video of her with the message “Life shouldn’t be this hard. . . ”and the caption(字幕)“I feel bad”. At last, his followers asked him to find a way to support this woman, and it inspired him to open a GoFundMe campaign titled“Let’s help Carpenter retire (退休)”. The idea was to support Carpenter so that she could retire early.
Although the goal was just $10, 000, 24 hours later over $100, 000 had been collected. Two days later, Bonagura met up with Carpenter and told her how he had posted a video of her and how people had come together to help her. “They see that you’re a very hard worker,” the social media platform told the woman. “We are all super proud of you, and we want to offer you the $110, 000 that has been raised for you.” “T’d accept it, but I’d still have to work until I get the other $60, 000 to pay off the house,” she explained. “The house is what’s holding me at work. ”She then talked about her daily life and how she struggled to help those in need.
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。
Knowing why Carpenter worked so hard at this age, every one was moved
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Reaching her goal, Carpenter won’t retire until the New Year.
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“Howie! You can’t go in! Mom told us to avoid Mrs. Carrigan’s house at all costs! We can’t go in there,” Howie’s big brother, Archie, yelled at the boy who had entered the older woman’s yard upon seeing her Halloween decorations.
The little kid turned and looked at his two big brothers angrily. “But she put up decorations. She wants us to come in,” Howie said, pointing at the pumpkins in the yard and the trick-or-treat sign on her doorway.
“Come out, Howie! Let’s go! I think Mom thinks she’s a ... a witch,” his other big brother, Bobby, whispered the last part. “What? Are you afraid of her?” Howie laughed, knowing that his brothers would not like that. He saw their frowns, but his words were true. They were afraid. No one in the neighborhood went into Mrs. Carrigan’s house or even stayed close.
The old woman was strange. She only dressed in black and never brushed her hair. She couldn’t walk straight and never smiled at anyone, so people avoided her the few times she was seen outside. But Howie was not afraid. He was going to knock. The worst that could happen was being ignored or told to go away. Despite his big brothers’ words, he went up the tiny steps and rang the doorbell.
“Howie! Howie! No!” his big brothers whisper-yelled at him from the sidewalk, and Howie turned and put his finger to his mouth, signaling for them to shut up. But he saw their eyes widen and their faces pale even beneath the Halloween makeup they were all wearing. Howie felt something behind him and turned slowly, not knowing what to expect. He felt the cold air; he felt like ringing the bell was not a good idea.
The old woman was there, staring at him surprisedly. He saw her black clothes, and he knew precisely why everyone thought she was a witch. She looked like the ones in cartoons. But Howie squared his shoulders, raised his plastic pumpkin bucket, and said, “Trick or Treat!”
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。
Mrs. Carrigan stared at him for a few seconds.
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“Guys! Come here! There are lots of candies!” Howie shouted at the top of his lungs, waving his hands.
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Despite coming from a wealthy family, Adam and Cody were kind and helpful. Everybody intown knew their parents, but they preferred to keep a low profile(低调).
One day, Adam and Cody sat on a bench in a park. They held up a sign that read, “Please help.” They also set up a table with some items which they had put on sale. A homeless man usually sat on the bench they were on, but he was nowhere to be found. People gathered around them to see what happened.
A woman went up to them and asked, “Are you two okay? Why are you out here asking for help?”Adam admitted that they were there to help their friend who was currently in hospital.
Concerned, she secretly took a photo of them and sent it to their father, Peter. When he received the picture, he immediately left his meeting to pick up his children. However, when he arrived at the park, he was shocked by what he saw. Dozens of people had lined up to put money in a box and purchase items from the two teenagers.
He approached them immediately. “Adam, Cody, what is going on here?” he asked.
Cody was frightened, but he answered, “Sorry, Dad. We didn’t want you to see this, but we had to do what we could. A few weeks ago, we were walking home from school when we saw a homeless man named Carl sitting on this exact bench. We want to help him.”
“We have been bringing him tea and sandwiches every day, and he’s been so grateful. We’ve also been spending a couple of minutes with him every day exchanging stories. He is such a kind man, Dad. Yesterday, we had food to bring him but he was not on the bench. We walked to the abandoned shack(简陋的小屋)he lives in, and found he was so ill.” he explained.
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。
Deeply touched by his sons, Peter joined the line.
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The next morning, Peter went to the hospital with Adam and Cody.
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Henry Tyler made the catch of the year on the weekend. When he saw a young child hanging from a sixth-floor apartment balcony (阳台), Henry ran one hundred metres, jumped over a 1.2-metre fence, and held out his arms to catch the
Eric Brown, only three years old, knocked Henry down when he fell. The boy is in the hospital and doctors say he'll be OK.
Eric woke up a little later when he heard children playing outside. He pushed a chair onto the balcony, and climbed up
Henry
"He saved my
"I just didn't want the boy to be hurt," said Henry.
“Get out of my house, you rude, unwanted, ugly and stupid child!” Aunt Foully shouted as Justin before closing the front door. Justin looked out at the grass that surrounded his aunt’s garden. He sighed as he remembered the list of housework that his evil aunt had planned for him after he got home from school. It was just not fair. If his parents had not died, he would not have to spend his entire life with Aunt Foully. Aunt Foully was a woman with crazy, curly, orange hair. She had small, black eyes, a big nose and a mouth so wide that you could have fitted a dining plate in it. Worse still, she had a heart so cold that you would freeze if you went near it.
As Justin dragged himself to school, he felt angry and disappointed. He wanted to express his anger at somebody. He decided that for the whole day, he was going to be rude to everyone, including Madame Bell, who was a little hard of hearing.
As he stepped into the classroom and took his place at the back of the room, he started making loud noise with his mouth, and started throwing paper airplanes at his classmates. Whenever Madame Bell looked back at the class, Justin would stop and pretended to be reading his history textbook. After throwing paper plans at his classmates for ten minutes, Justin started to feel bored. He slowly took an eraser out of his pencil case and threw it at a girl in the first row named Jody. But at that moment, Jody bent down and the eraser hit Madame Bell on her back. Madame Bell turned around quickly but crashed into a water bottle on the table, water and broken glass all over the floor. Madame Bell glared at the whole class, face red with anger, and shouted, “Who threw the eraser?”
All eyes turned to Justin as he sank lower and lower in his seat. “Justin Wang, go to the headmaster’s office immediately!” Madame Bell ordered, Justin stood up and went out of the classroom.
Paragraph 1:
Justin walked in the headmaster’s office.
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Paragraph 2:
After the long talk with the principal, Justin went back to his classroom.
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“Nothing will ever be the same again,” Ally said to herself.
Ally's father died last summer. It wasn't fair, Ally thought. Dad was young and had never been sick. Why had his heart suddenly stopped? Ally sank slow into her father's favorite chair and looked at his picture on the bookcase. Ally smiled. “I miss you, Dad,” she said softly.
At this moment, she felt a hand smoothing her hair and looked up. “Why don't you come outside with me, Ally?” her mother asked. “The birds are nesting in the woods. By this time last year you'd already taken dozens of pictures.”
But her mother must know birdwatching wouldn't be the same this year. How could it be? Ally wondered. Ever since she could remember she and Dad had been a team, searching the woods for the special wood warbler (林柳莺). “I'll be out in while, I promise,” she answered.
After her mother left, Ally reached for the photo album she and Dad had put together. On the cover was a photo of a tiny yellow bird with blue-gray wings and black eyes. Dad cut it from a local newspaper. Ally smiled, remembering the excited look on Dad's face when he showed her the pretty bird.
“I can't believe someone spotted this little guy way up here in New Jersey,” he said. “Wood warblers are usually found in the south, not this far north. I bet if we search really hard, Ally, we'll see this little guy together someday.”
Ally closed her eyes. She loved thinking about the times she and Dad had spent searching the woods for the little bird. They'd never spotted the warbler, but her father had an amazing way of making each outing seem special. He was her best friend.
注意：
1.续写的短文词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
When they were together, Ally felt comfortable with her favorite blue sweatshirt on.
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Just then her mother came to her, carrying the old net.
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