1 . Superman Learns How to Ride
It was the summer of 1967, and the moment was nearing when I would cast off my training wheels and learn to ride a bike.
As an adventurous little boy, I sure put my overactive imagination to good use. I would pretend to be the bookish reporter, Clark Kent. Then, at the first sign of something wrong, I disappeared and emerged moments later with a red towel hanging from the collar of my dirty blue T-shirt and an ironed-on letter “S” on my chest.
“This is a job for Superman!” I would cry out as I flew to meet imaginary dangers that threatened the world.
“Hey, Superman, when are you going to learn to ride a bike?” the neighborhood kids would taunt as they rolled past. “The Man of Steel still uses training wheels!” they laughed.
As I watched them ride away, I realized I was being left behind. To claim my place among their ranks, I needed to cast off my training wheels and learn to ride with the big kids. I turned to my father for help.
“Okay, I’m going to let go, and you just remember to balance,” Dad advised patiently on my tenth try. Suddenly I was riding! I dared to smile as my father’s shouts of encouragement faded into the background. My smile widened. Victory was mine.
You are going to fall. The thought was at first a whisper and then grew louder and more convincing until I believed it must be true. After all, I had always fallen before. Why should this time be any different? Fear seized me, and my confidence weakened and I couldn’t grasp the handlebars tightly. Sure enough, I fell to the grass.
“You almost had it,” Dad said, catching his breath. “You are seized with a sense of fear so you fell.”
“I quit,” I said angrily, trying to fight back the tears of frustration. “I don’t want to learn to ride.”
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: However, on thinking of Superman, I decided to behave like a real hero.
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Paragraph 2: I gripped the handlebars with strong determination.
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I taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at a school. One particular sixth grader, Pablo, was struggling with fluency in reading, so after class I suggested that he get extra practice by reading aloud to his mom while she prepared dinner each evening. This was something I routinely encouraged my struggling students to do. Imagine my surprise when Pablo responded by starting to cry. He said, “My mom can’t cook dinner!” Then he cried harder. Eventually, he calmed down enough to tell me that his mom was only able to “cry in her bed” when he got home every afternoon. He said that he was caring for his six-month-old baby brother by himself from the time he got home each day. His mother, it seemed, had a bad tooth and was in extreme pain. He said that his father didn’t have enough money to get it fixed, and that there was no way for her to go to a dentist. This child’s heart was broken for his mom.
I was speechless! He was still crying when he left me that day, and I promised him I would try to help. I kept asking myself how I could help this student. How could I help his mother when we didn’t even speak the same language?
The next day, I sent a note, which a friend helped me translate, to Pablo’s mother asking if she would like me to find someone to help her. The following day, Pablo brought me a note from his mom accepting my offer to help.
Meanwhile, I had been doing some networking among my friends asking if anyone knew a dentist who might do some free work for this lady. At the time, I was not able to pay for the work to be done myself. Several friends suggested a dental office that had recently opened up in the area, thinking that they might be willing to provide the services. I didn’t want to waste a lot of time going to several dentists, so I prayed that this would be the one.
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。
Stopping by the dental office, I went to the reception desk.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Pablo’s mother came to meet the dentist at the appointed time.
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