The Meredith family lived in a small community. As the economy was in decline, some people in the town had lost their jobs. Many of their families were struggling to make ends meet. People were trying to help each other meet the challenges.
Mrs. Meredith was a most kind and thoughtful woman. She spent a great deal of time visiting the poor. She knew they had problems, and they needed all kinds of help. When she had time, she would bring food and medicine to them.
One morning she told her children about a family she had visited the day before. There was a man sick in bed, his wife, who took care of him and could not go out to work, and their little boy. The little boy -his name was Bernard-had interested her very much.
“I wish you could see him,” she said to her own children, John, Harry, and Clara. “He is such a help to his mother. He wants very much to earn some money, but I don't see what he can do.”
After their mother left the room, the children sat thinking about Bernard. “I wish we could help him to earn money,” said Clara. “His family is suffering so much.”
“So do I,” said Harry. “We really should do something to assist them.”
For some moments, John said nothing, but, suddenly, he sprang to his feet and cried, “I have a great idea! I have a solution that we can all help accomplish(完成).”
The other children also jumped up all attention. When John had an idea, it was sure to be a good one. “I tell you what we can do,” said John. “You know that big box of corn Uncle John sent us? Well, we can make popcorn(爆米花), and put it into paper bags, and Bernard can take it around to the houses and sell it.”
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 Mrs. Meredith heard of John's idea, she thought it was a good one, too.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With everything ready, Bernard started out on his new business.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Bang. . !” Sara pushed the door open. She threw her school bag onto the floor and called out, “I’m home!” No answer. The house was silent. It sounded empty, but she knew it wasn’t. Her mum and dad were working upstairs.
Sara got a glass of orange juice, went into the conservatory (玻璃房) and sat down in her favourite chair. The garden was still in the dark afternoon. On one side, her mum’s garden was neat and tidy with boring short grass, boring straight flowerbeds and boring straight paths. But on the other side, Sara’s Nature Garden looked wild and exciting with big dead sunflowers and tall grasses.
“Nobody is interested in me. Mum and dad only think about their work,” she thought sadly.
Then she recalled: One month earlier, she learned in a magazine that many dogs were abandoned because their owners got bored with them; One hour earlier, she saw a cute dog wagging its tail and licking her friend’s face.
Sara knew today was special. Today things were changing. She couldn’t wait any longer. It’s time to talk to her parents.
So Sara got up from her chair and climbed all the way to the loft (阁楼). “Mum, I want a talk.” said Sara. “Just a minute!” Her mum clicked on the keyboard, took off her glasses and turned to her daughter. Sara coughed, took a deep breath, and told her mum that she wanted a dog. “No, Sara. That’s impossible,” her mum said firmly. Sara went to her father but got the same answer. She rushed into her room angrily and slammed the door shut.
Later, Sara’s mum knocked at the door and went in. “Darling, we know this is important to you. You can have a dog if you take the responsibility. But look at your Nature Garden, your school bag, your bedroom! What a mess! Do you think you can take good care of a dog?” said her mum.
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。
Sara was lost in thought and decided to make some changes.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With the dog’s company, Sara began her busy but joyful life.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sally’s birthday was approaching, and the excitement that usually filled her heart was now replaced with disappointment and stress. Turning eleven was a big deal, and she had always celebrated it with a grand party surrounded by her friends. However, this year was different. The burden of excessive homework and her parents’ struggling business weighed heavily on her, forcing Sally to make the difficult decision of not having a birthday party, even though it was an event she enjoyed dearly every year.
One day, during break, her best friend, Jane, with a curious look in her eyes, approached. “Are you going to have a birthday party this year?” Jane asked, sensing Sally’s sadness.
“No,” Sally sighed and replied sadly, “There’s just too much going on and my parents are going through financial difficulties.”
She smiled weakly, trying to conceal her immense disappointment and stress, but Jane saw through her pretence (假装) easily. Jane nodded thoughtfully and did not say anything. After the break, Sally saw her talking to one of their classmates, Sarah, secretively. Curious, Sally went over to them, but as soon as Jane saw her, she quickly walked away. Sally was startled by Jane’s strange actions and turned towards Sarah.
“What did she say?” Sally asked.
However, Sarah simply shrugged and walked away with Jane, leaving Sally standing there, feeling left out and anxious.
What is happening? Sally wondered anxiously. Are they keeping something from me?
As Sally’s birthday drew nearer, Jane was often found chatting softly with her other classmates. Whenever Sally went over to them, they would just walk away or tell her that they were talking about a secret which Sally was not allowed to know. Jane has never kept secrets from me before, Sally thought. Her heart fell. Even her friends were distancing themselves from her! She swung between confusion and sadness with each passing moment, desperately trying to figure out what was happening. Why were her friends distancing themselves from her? And what were they hiding?
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。
On the day of Sally’s birthday, she went to school and found her classroom in total darkness.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tears sprang from Sally’s eyes and her face broke into a radiant smile.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My family moved in a small house in Brighton, Colorado on my seventh birthday. My first memory is our neighbor Bill, an old man, handing me strawberries from his garden through a hole in the chain-link fence. “We need to make the hole bigger,” he said jokingly. Later I knew that he lived alone.
Bill spent much time working in the garden, and I was always talking to him from our yard. I was a chatterbox. I think what drew me to Bill is that he never got tired of listening to me. I also think Bill saw a lot of himself in me — we were both lonely and anxious — and that may be why he always took the time to listen to me. It was a wonderful connection.
There weren’t any kids of my age in the neighborhood, and my parents were very busy, so I mostly played in the yard with my dog. I had a lot of imaginary friends — a whole family, actually, with a wife, children, a best friend... no joke. Weird kid.
One day, my parents asked Bill whether he’d watch me while they were away on business. This worked for everyone, so it became a somewhat monthly occurrence. Bill had a spare room in his house, which became “my” room.
Bill promised to teach me to drive the lawn tractor(割草机) someday and I was always looking forward to it. In winter, Bill would attach a snowplow(铲雪机) to the front of the dawn tractor. I seriously told him that I would invent a better snowplow when I grew up. “Sure you will. You’ll get a patent certificate. It takes a certificate to prove an important thing,” Bill said with a smile.
One snowy morning, an idea suddenly hit me. My parents were watching TV when I spit it out, “What if I adopted Bill as my grandpa?” My parents said I could go over and ask him.
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 knocked on his door, sat down in his living room, and asked, “Can I adopt you as my grandpa?”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next morning, while learning to drive the lawn tractor with a snowplow, I accidentally plowed down our chain-link fence.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dave had loved basketball for as long as he could remember and he had never had a day without playing it. At primary school and junior high school he joined basketball clubs, attended training programs and watched basketball games, from which he learned the moves of the star players, wishing to play in a professional team like them and shine on the court.
Now as a senior high school student, however, his dream of becoming a professional player was dimming (变暗) because he was only of average height. He had to give up the hope of joining the school team. The guys on the school team were all tall boys who played matches and won honors for the school. They were like heroes. Dave watched them play and cheered them but he knew he would never be one of them.
Dave felt it a pity not to be tall enough, but this didn’t stop him from pouring his passion into basketball. He just played for the love of the sport. He played in the school gym with other boys or by himself every day, even during holidays and weekends, when it was open for two hours in the morning. He enjoyed every minute on the court making every effort to play better.
It was one Saturday morning. Dave was playing in the gym by himself, as all the other boys were busy with other weekend affairs. Then he noticed a tall boy approaching. It was Lankas. Everybody knows him as captain of the school basketball team. “Hi, Lankas,” Dave greeted him. “My name is Dave.” “Hi, Dave,” Lankas replied as he got closer. “Nice to see you here. Do you need an opponent to play against?” Dave was shocked, frozen right there, unable to believe his ears but somehow, he answered, “Why not?”
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。
So, a game of two players began.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next Saturday, when Dave was playing in the gym, Lankas appeared shouting, “Dave, I have good news for you.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read beneath a willow tree. It must be as sick, for the branches were kind of yellow and dry. I was a deserted girl. Endless quarrels with my parents had left me nowhere to go but this desolate (荒无人烟的) corner of the park. As I sat on the bench, things that happened recently began to flash through. Days seemed months to me recently. No cozy home to stay. No happy memories about my life. No considerate family members to talk to. Even the book I was reading was no fun. Not content with life, I had a good reason to frown, for the world was intended to drag me down.
And if that were not enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play. He stood right in front of me with his head tilted (倾斜) down and said with great excitement, “Look what I found!” In his hand was a flower. What a pitiful sight, its petals (花瓣) were all worn—not enough rain, or too little light. He must have picked the flower from somewhere shady and sunless, just like where I was staying these days. I couldn’t help being self-pitying. Wanting him to take his dead flower away and go off to play, I faked a smile and then looked away. “Why couldn’t everyone just leave me be!” I thought to myself, upset and gloomy.
But instead of leaving, he sat next to me and placed the flower to his nose and declared loudly with certainty, “It sure smells pretty and it must be beautiful, too. That’s why I picked it; here, it is for you.” The “weed” before me was dying or dead, not vibrant with colors, orange, yellow or red—anyone having eyes can see that clearly! But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave. So I reached for the flower, and replied, “Just what I need.” Strangely, instead of placing the flower in my hand, he held it in mid-air without any reason or plan.
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。
Casting a curious glance at the boy’s eyes, I was hugely shocked.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“I had to make a change,” I thought to myself.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The average present merely satisfies a temporary desire; the great one becomes more precious with time going by.
When I was a boy of fourteen, I needed to have 80 hours of community service per year and I used to take care of Mrs. Long’s garden, which was near the Presbyterian Church. As a junior high school student, I devoted myself to it, sweeping the fallen leaves and mowing the lawn (修剪草坪). There I learnt how to cut away dry branches and even helped to plant a sapling (小树苗). Tired as I was every time I finished my work, I did enjoy the time there for learning something new. I clearly remembered that Mrs Long, a nice and caring elder, always treated me to delicious meals and drinks. She also loved taking photos, always with an old camera in hand. It was said that the camera was passed down from her father and she cherished it a lot.
Several days before Christmas, she whispered to me, “When Christmas comes, I shall have a present for you.” I spent much time wondering what it would be. The boys I played with had baseball gloves, ice skates and bicycles, and I was so eager to acquire any one of these that I convinced myself that she intended to choose from among them. But at the same time, I had some doubts whether she would buy me such things because she was not that well-off.
The day before Christmas, I went there as before. With the work done, I was going to leave when she pulled me aside. “Kid, wait for a minute,” she said, leading me into her living room. She seated me on a chair, went to another room, and in a moment stood before me holding a small package that under no circumstances could hold a bicycle or a pair of skates or even a baseball glove. It weighed almost nothing.
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:I took the package with disappointment. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Opening the package, I was totally astonished. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Sure, I’ll be there on time. Yes, thank you!” James replied and hung up the phone. He had applied to be an in-house volunteer at a foster (寄养) group home and was finally accepted.
James, who was just 29 years old, had never considered starting a family. He always wished for one but quickly dismissed the idea, preferring to remain unmarried because his finances never encouraged him to consider starting a family.
In his spare time, James liked helping the poor and orphans (孤儿) as he had been in their shoes at one point and could connect better with them.
When he was eventually approved as a volunteer at the group home, he felt very satisfied. Though he always felt alone, being a volunteer at the group home came with the company of children; and James was very fond of children. Not to mention, he was a very kind man too.
One day, a little girl called Layla was brought in while James was working at the foster home. Tightly, she hugged her teddy, her favorite toy she called Mr. Fluffy, as she got down from the car at the front gate. James had overheard the foster carer talking about the girl, and he knew she was brought here because her single mother had died, leaving her an orphan. As she walked in, James could see her eyes were teary, and she was looking around, confused.
Still feeling bad for her, James returned to his other engagements that day. Suddenly, the girl came running up to him and began pulling his shirt.
“Daddy, did you come for me? Are you going to take me home?” she asked, smiling through tears, and James was shocked. He’d never had a girlfriend, much less a child. Why was she calling him dad? Trying his best to hide his shock, he smiled and knelt in front of her.“Hi, I’m James. You’re Layla, right? I’m sorry, sweetie, but I am not your daddy.”
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 girl’s smile disappeared, and she started to cry.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
James looked up and saw the foster carer, Clara, who seemed very worried.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was our turn to open our presents this particular Christmas morning. The living room was already covered with torn wrapping paper. Obviously, the children could hardly wait to discover the hidden treasures, which they had expected for nearly a month. Now we adults sat around the room with our presents at our feet, slowly removing the paper, trying to maintain our dignity in front of the children.
My wife, Brenda, and her family have a tradition of getting each other gag (恶作剧) gifts. This always makes me a bit uneasy at Christmas or my birthday, never knowing what form of embarrassment lies waiting for me under the thin borders of the wrapping paper.
Recently, my six-year-old daughter Christy seemed to busy herself with something while I was playing computer video flight games. Now she was standing directly in front of me. The excitement of the moment just beamed across her face. It was everything she could do to keep herself from helping me rip the paper from each present. Finally, I came to the last gift and with my natural Sherlock Holmes ability, I concluded that this had to be the gag gift. With everyone looking on, I decided to go ahead and get it over with—just let them have their laugh—and I tore the paper and there it was a toy airplane about two inches long. Our holiday guests started giggling to themselves as I looked up to my wife with an unpleasant smile on my face and blurted out (脱口而出), “A toy airplane? Are you kidding me?”
Brenda gave me the look—that look that always tells me I have just said something wrong and should have given it a second thought. I had failed to look at the name tag before I opened the present to see who it was from. As I picked up the paper from the floor and read the name tag, my heart sank.
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。
On the tag were the letters that read, “To Dad, Love Christy”.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Staring at the gift, I suddenly thought of a way to cheer her up.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 . In January this year, a fire destroyed the building that housed Yossi Heiman’s Fish Market in Borough Park, Brooklyn: The
The merchant Shea Langsam owns a(n)
The story is wonderful and it’s a(n)
| A．explosion | B．battle | C．accident | D．campaign |
| A．attention | B．assistance | C．information | D．income |
| A．similar | B．mysterious | C．online | D．outdoor |
| A．treat | B．acquire | C．depend on | D．give up |
| A．Moreover | B．Therefore | C．Instead | D．Though |
| A．picked up | B．hung up | C．repaired | D．provided |
| A．doubt | B．comfort | C．turn to | D．1augh at |
| A．service | B．spirit | C．orders | D．notes |
| A．replace | B．attend | C．enable | D．join |
| A．maintained | B．recovered | C．reported | D．cut |
| A．example | B．reminder | C．challenge | D．guide |
| A．because of | B．ahead of | C．out of | D．in spite of |
| A．duty | B．fame | C．interest | D．business |
| A．exceptional | B．boring | C．ridiculous | D．old |
| A．losing track of | B．settling for | C．caring for | D．calming down |
