Preparing for the upcoming Christmas season was truly annoying. Schedules to meet and deadlines to attend were pounding at the doorstep. The stores were jam-packed with people. The freeways, highways, main roads, and back roads seemed to fill as quickly as the opening of Disneyland’s theme park.
This was supposedly the season of giving and loving. Something needed to change — but what?
Suddenly, a request from the local radio station playing in the background caught my attention. “This year, they’re forecasting a record for cold temperatures. The local homeless shelter is in desperate need of clothing — hats, scarves, and gloves especially. A three-day window has been set up to receive donations into the late hours of the night. ”
Something pulled at my heartstrings that very moment — a tinge of a feeling almost forgotten. This is the answer! I immediately thought. Then, as if flying on wings, I packed up my three-year-old son and headed out to the local discount store.
The crowds in the store didn’t change my determination. Four sets of hats, gloves, and scarves were found within a matter of minutes and purchased.
Back in the car, the same radio station was playing holiday music, but this time it seemed to capture my senses. My attention was again brought to the present as my patient three-year-old son finally asked where we were going. I explained that certain people needed warm gloves, hats, and scarves. They didn’t live in a house of their own and needed us to help. His face held a look of puzzlement. How does one explain such a thing to a three-year-old?
My son carefully took his very first dollar bill from his pocket. It had been given to him a few days earlier — a possession so precious that if anyone even looked at it, he immediately retreated out of sight with the dollar in hand. It had become his priceless treasure.
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。
An hour later, we reached the entrance to the drop-off center.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With a wish of “Merry Christmas,” I turned to go back to the car.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Catherine had stayed at home all her life to look after her three children, but now, she, who lost her husband in a car accident, had to step out and earn money to make ends meet. With zero work experience and no professional degree, her chances of getting hired for a well-paid job were next to zero.
One day, after dropping her children at school, Catherine spotted a construction site. “I think I can work here,” she thought and approached the manager.
“Hi, are you hiring?” she asked. “Yes, we are,” the manager looked at Catherine from head to toe. “Are you sure you can work here? This job requires a lot of hard work.” “I’m ready for it,” she told the manager and signed a contract to work a 12-hour shift.
However, Catherine kept her new job a secret from her children. She thought they would feel embarrassed after learning their mother worked at a construction site.
Every morning, after dropping her children to school, she would go to the construction site and work until her shift ended. She would pick up heavy bricks on her shoulder to transport them from one part of the site to the other. One evening, Catherine’s son, Peter, told her about an upcoming contest in school that required mothers to participate. In the competition, students will wear blindfolds and have to recognize their mothers without looking at them. “That sounds like such a cool event, Peter!” Catherine said excitedly. “I can’t wait for it!” “I won’t go therewith you, mom,” Peter replied. “But why?” What her son said next was something Catherine wasn’t prepared to hear.
“Mom, I would have to touch your hands to recognize you, and everyone would look at them,” Peter explained. “Your hands are so ugly. They’re so hard and rough,” he added. “I will feel so embarrassed when my classmates look at your hands,” the boy said. “I won’t attend the event.” Catherine felt terrible but couldn’t say anything in her defense.
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:
A few weeks later, Peter was walking home when something unexpected caught his attention.
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On his way back home, he kept thinking about how he would apologize to his mother:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________December is certainly the time of Christmas spirit and with that comes a wave of kind acts — people are often much nicer and willing to be giving than any time of the year. While it seems like an expected sight, thankfully it still keeps surprising us. That’s just what I experienced while volunteering with Santa’s Secret Shop at a local school.
I volunteered to help with Santa’s Secret Shop at the school. Each child there paired up with a helper, mostly high school seniors. There was one guy with disabilities this afternoon and when he was helping a kid next to me, he found the kid was a little short of cash for Christmas gifts, so this senior opened up his wallet. I supposed they were brothers, and didn’t think much of it. However, I noticed he was always holding out his helping hand and allowing other children to choose gifts that were out of their budgets. I felt curious and reported my experience on Facebook and praised the mysterious young man called Timmy Sweeney.
What did people on the Internet think about his actions? Many people praised him, just as a post said, “This kid has a heart of gold. I so wish there were more kids like him! His parents definitely did an amazing job raising him.” Others expressed their gratitude.” This story brought tears to my eyes. Thank Timmy for being what this world needs: a kind person who is thoughtful and just happens to be watching out for others. The world is really becoming a better place because of such nice persons as Timmy.”
Deeply touched, I came up to Timmy to keep me informed of his motivation to do so, for I was really curious about his behavior. He responded. “I’m a senior at Susquehanna Community High School. I used to be very athletic until I was in an accident and I can’t play any more, which destroyed my faith in the future. That’s the reason why I need to do something meaningful to make a difference in the world.”
注意：1. 续写词语应为150个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
He continued his story, describing his acts of kindness.
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Paragraph 2:
Eventually, his acts of kindness influenced others.
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Many years ago, I lived in a densely populated old community in Northern California. There was a little girl named Grace that made me have a deeper understanding of the power of dreams.
I used to watch her from my kitchen window, who seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during break. A sea of children, and yet to me, she stood out from them all.
I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could.
I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone. She would practice dribbling and shooting over and over again, sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked directly into my eyes and said without a moment of hesitation “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a scholarship. I like basketball. I decided that if I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Then she smiled and ran towards the court to restart the routine I had seen over and over again.
Well, she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her team to victory.
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。
One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head buried in her arms.
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She lifted her head from her hands and told me that her father said those coaches were wrong.
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5 . Students at an elementary school in California, with the help of their art teacher, created a telephone hotline that people can call to get
Jessica Martin, who teaches art at West Side School in Healdsburg, California,
The project was called “PepToc”. Actually, they called it “Pep Talk” (鼓励话语) first.. But when Ms. Martin’s 6-year-old son drew an advertisement for the hotline and
The hotline is
| A．reasonable | B．rare | C．mysterious | D．cheerful |
| A．thought | B．complained | C．declared | D．insisted |
| A．wealth | B．attention | C．calm | D．luck |
| A．comment | B．joy | C．praise | D．mind |
| A．pronounced | B．typed | C．spelled | D．drew |
| A．decided | B．learned | C．changed | D．assumed |
| A．spoken | B．memorable | C．popular | D．available |
| A．callers | B．children | C．artists | D．operators |
| A．witness | B．suggest | C．catch | D．hear |
| A．generates | B．records | C．analyzes | D．breaks |
| A．mark | B．wrinkle | C．smile | D．tear |
| A．brings up | B．laughs at | C．gives away | D．turn to |
| A．distracted | B．content | C．peaceful | D．nervous |
| A．management | B．encouragement | C．judgement | D．argument |
| A．hotline | B．world | C．school | D．street |
After being busy for half a year, my parents decided to drive me to a scenic spot outside the city to have fun. Joyfully, we planned our driving route.
Then, on a December Saturday morning, my dad started his car and we set off with great expectation. Before long, we left the noisy city and came to the mountains. There were few vehicles on the road and the trees alongside were pretty. We felt so excited!
As a few hours passed, we drove onto a narrow road. And minutes later, we found a river not far away from the road. The beach was very wide, and we wanted to have a rest there for a while. So my dad turned our car and drove towards it. Soon, we were driving on the sandy beach. Moments later, our car wheels were struggling in the increasingly soft sand. But my dad wanted to get closer to the river.
Before he regretted it, our car had got stuck in the sand. My dad tried to turn around or move back, but the car didn’t move. We were worried, trapped in the middle of nowhere. Even worse, it began raining and was cold. We got out of the car and tried to push it, but failed. After a couple of minutes, we were tired and our hair and coats were a little wet. But the car only sank further into the sand.
Anxiously, we walked to the road, eager to stop a vehicle and let it help pull our car out of the sand. Our coats and hair were wetter and wetter. Before the journey, we hadn’t prepared umbrellas or carried any food. Now, we were hungry and cold, standing in the rain. After waiting for a long time, there wasn’t one vehicle passing.
Just when we were helpless, we saw a farmhouse not far away. “Can they help us?” I asked. My dad was doubtful. Still, we reached there, and found it was a big family. They seemed poor and unfriendly. My dad told them our problem and begged them to help us pull our car out.
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。
To our surprise, they nodded without thinking.
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My dad was so grateful that he handed some money to the family to thank them. _
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It was the worst day ever. The exact date was January10, 2010. And my life was changed completely when that accident happened.
Before that day I had just started my college life and loved being at that stage in my life where I could eat all the pizza I wanted, yet engage in adult conversations with my parents about the responsibility to make life better for others. I was pretty sure I could be someone in the future, a great volunteer maybe. Then on that day, all the possibilities were destroyed by a careless driver. The days I spent in hospital were dreadful, suffering severe pain and hearing the doctor telling me that I could never walk anymore.
When I was finally permitted to leave the hospital, I had myself in a small apartment and refused any visit, blaming everyone in the world and drowning myself to despair. After I missed ten calls from my dad, he just couldn’t leave me alone. And when he entered the apartment, it was in a mess, with pizza boxes on the floor and dirty dishes in the sink. In the corner, there was a garbage can around which were pieces of garbage and waste paper. He turned around and finally had his eyes on me. A few steps towards me and he stroke his fingers through my hair, gently asking, “You want to see something?” I felt a little guilty for making my dad so worried, so I faked a smile and nodded my head.
He opened my fridge, searched for a while and took out some ice and some tea leaves after boiling some water in a pot. Mysteriously, he put the ice in the boiling water. After a while, he asked, “How is the ice now?” “What?” I was a little confused about his question, wondering what he was about to do next. When he repeated the move and asked me the same question, I began to feel bored. “How is the ice now?” “What ice? There is no ice in the water now! It melted!” I answered with my eyes fixed on the roof. Suddenly, Dad held my head, looked at me straightly and explained, “The ice was once tough and hard.” Dad continued, “But when it was put in the pot, the boiling water melted it and made it disappear as if it had never existed, just like what the difficulties may do to one’s dream.”
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。
“Want to see something different?” Dad went on to pour a spoonful of tea leaves in the boiling water, too.
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I knew it was time to change.
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The afternoon was hot and fierce as the midday sun shone with all its might. Richard had just gotten down from a truck and could barely stand on the hot road. He breathed heavily, looking around for a frozen drink. But as far as his eyes could see, there was not a drop of water. Suddenly, he noticed a little bike lying there.
Richard wondered and approached the spot, staring with shock at a water bottle and a small pink helmet lying nearby. He went closer and noticed fresh little muddy footsteps disappearing into the woods...It seemed unusual for a little kid to be all alone there. “Something was wrong,” so he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to the child.
“Hello, anyone there? Hello?”
Just a she changed course, he heard a faint (模糊的) cry from the heart of the woods. It was a little girl’s cry for help.
“HELP...I’M STUCK...HELP...”
“I’m coming. Hold on,” Richard rushed toward the voice. A she got nearer and nearer, Richard heard the sound of running water. The fierce current in the muddy-brown river flooded through the rocks.
“Don’t give up! I’m coming!” her an screaming after noticing a little girl and her dog holding on to a log floating on the river. The current was washing away everything on its course, and the girl was lucky the log was stuck on to something under the surface. But that would not hold on for long as the current grew faster and stronger.
Richard was running out of time. He could not think of anything immediately. His only hope was to somehow pull the two out to the shore before they were washed toward the edge of the waterfall, which was just meters away. Just then, his mind acted fast, and he ran back to get something. “Hold on...I’ll be right back,” he assured her.
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。
Moments later, Richard returned with along jungle vine (藤蔓) tied around his waist.
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Richard was glad that he had saved them in time and then asked how the girl got there.
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It was a sunny summer morning, the breeze blowing gently. As planned, Jackson took a trip into the remote wilds near Olom Village, in the Sakha Republic, Russia. His four-year-old daughter, Karina, found him leaving and wanted to follow him to give her dad a surprise. She slipped out of the house, with nobody realizing it, even Jackson.
Unfortunately, she walked too slowly on her way and soon she was lost in the vast, dangerous Siberian wilderness. Luckily for her, her dog, Naida, followed Karina just as the girl followed her father. The two suddenly found themselves walking with no one in sight, drifting away from their home as the hours went by.
Night fell. Karina’s father returned home, and it didn’t take long after that for the whole family to realize what had happened. They couldn’t find Karina anywhere. They turned to the police for help immediately. And they took action at once in search of the lost girl.
A whole week had gone by and there was no progress of the rescue in sight. The whole family was stuck in desperation, but Karina’s mum never lost hope. “Many stopped believing that she was alive, but as a mother I felt that she would be found soon.”
In fact, Karina did survive. Although Siberia is an extremely dangerous place even for otherwise fit adults due to its wildlife and climate, she made it. She survived by eating wild fruits and drinking water from nearby rivers, and she faced the freezing nighttime temperatures by cozying up in a bed of grass. Naida did its best too, scaring away the wild animals and keeping each other warm by sleeping close together at night.
After nine days struggling to survive, scared and alone, Karina could only be grateful about one thing: her good friend was by her side. Naida gave its strength, and actively helped the four-year-old to stay alive for that long.
This morning, Naida suddenly walked away and headed back into town, ignoring Karina’s hopeless cry and leaving her completely alone.
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Naida did what it could to lead the rescue team to where Karina was.
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10 . Squaw Peak, with its breathtaking scenery, has attracted numerous hikers. But
Henry Grant was well
After 15 minutes of pushing past bushes and slipping down, Grant spotted Paula crumpling (瘫倒) on a small flat rock. He called 911 to
About 45 minutes later, first responders arrived. They carried Paula on a stretcher (担架) to a waiting ATV and sent her to a hospital.
Paula, who has fully
| A．injury | B．danger | C．pain | D．fortune |
| A．proud | B．innocent | C．ignorant | D．aware |
| A．stayed | B．jumped | C．walked | D．lived |
| A．impress | B．disturb | C．enjoy | D．prefer |
| A．fantastic | B．desperate | C．disappointed | D．enthusiastic |
| A．extended | B．wheeled | C．facilitated | D．guaranteed |
| A．anywhere | B．somewhere | C．nowhere | D．elsewhere |
| A．sight | B．position | C．route | D．location |
| A．predicting | B．imagining | C．deciding | D．hoping |
| A．report | B．find | C．determine | D．check |
| A．found | B．grasped | C．saved | D．reached |
| A．examinations | B．operations | C．measures | D．means |
| A．nervously | B．tightly | C．gently | D．silently |
| A．free | B．comfort | C．distract | D．spare |
| A．improved | B．recovered | C．returned | D．survived |
