“Not fair.” Wendi was rather angry. “You promised we could go to the climbing park.”
“But, it is going to rain, and the climbing park is outdoors.” Mum shook her head.
Wendi looked out of the window. “But it isn’t raining, just clouds.”
“The weather lady says so, and she knows, rain in the afternoon,” Mum said.
“The weather lady must get it wrong,” Wendi complained in a low voice, but suddenly, the rain started. “Oh.” Wendi was surprised, looking up at the sky.
“We’ll go to the climbing park another day.” Mum watched the rain.
“How does the weather lady know about the weather?” Wendi asked.
“Well, she has got a weather station, I think.” Mum was not sure.
“Grandpa might know. I’ll ask him tomorrow,” Wendi said.
“We can build a little weather station in the garden if you like, Wendi,” Grandpa explained. “You’ll need a wind vane (风向标) to see how the wind is blowing, and we can make it by ourselves. And we also need to prepare a rain gauge (雨量计) to measure how much rain has fallen. And, I’ve got a good thermometer (温度计) for outdoors.”
“A thermometer ... what is that?” Wendi asked.
Grandpa laughed. “A thermometer measures the temperature.”
“Thermometer.” Wendi was pleased with her new word.
“And last of all, we need a barometer (气压计). That’s a big word, too, Wendi,” Grandpa explained. “A barometer tells us what the air pressure is. I’ve got one, too.”
“But what is air pressure?” Wendi asked.
“Well, if the air pressure changes, the weather will change,” Grandpa answered.
When everything was ready, Grandpa and Wendi got down to business, and soon a little garden weather station came into being.
Grandpa gave Wendi a list and said, “You have to keep a list of all the wind, rain and temperature changes. That’s when you’ll see how the weather is changing. And then you really will be a weathergirl.”
Rainy, Windy, Sunny, Snowy, Hot, Cold, Cloudy, Stormy, Very Windy ... Wendi painted many cards for all the things a weathergirl has to say.
Hearing the news, all Wendi’s friends visited her garden weather station.
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。
Wendi was a very good weathergirl until one icy cold winter day.
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After seeing this, Grandpa said to Wendi, “No weathergirl is always right, but it will snow soon, I am sure.”
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I’d had a rather stressful day at work. It didn’t help that I’d also had another argument with my teenaged daughter that morning. By the time I arrived home, I eagerly anticipated(期盼)getting my evening walk to clear my mind. It was getting cloudier and I could tell that rain was coming. No problem. I would be home long before the liquid sunshine fell.
The intense walk worked off much of my energy. I slowed my pace, but a quick glance down shocked me. The cutest Jack Russell Terrier had appeared out of nowhere and was keeping pace beside me. I knelt to pet her, delighted to discover that her ears were so soft that she reminded me of my childhood dog. She had the same coloring as Lucky — white with a large black spot on her back and side, brown face, and white nose.
“Where did you come from, little one?” She was not wearing a collar or identification tags. I remembered seeing a Terrier when I drove into the neighborhood a few hours earlier. It had darted(突然行进)into the street in front of my car, but I had assumed she lived in the area. She must be the same dog.
I continued my walk, thinking she would find her way home on her own. The little stray continued to keep pace, walking next to me as if we were age-old companions. When I looked around, I was not surprised that, other than the dog, I was alone on this dreary(沉闷的)night. The sky had already darkened. I was worried. If I left her out there, she might be hit by a car. I wondered if I should just take her home.
The timing was ironic(讽刺的). My sixteen-year-old daughter, Megan, wanted another pet. Our family dog, Daisy, had slowed considerably in her old age, and Megan hoped we would adopt a younger, livelier dog. We had resisted her requests, since she would be leaving for college in a couple of years. Besides, Megan and I had not exactly seen eye-to-eye earlier that day. I didn’t want it to seem as if I was rewarding her after yet another argument.
The heavens opening and rain pouring, I made my decision.
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The neighbor offered to give me a spare leash(遛狗绳), and I accepted gratefully.
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The day of the balloon festival, I felt as light as a hot-air balloon. This year, I wouldn’t just be watching. I would be riding in Mr. Brown’s truck, following the flight of the balloon and meeting it when it came down.
It was a perfect day. Dad and I drove down the road, looped around the lake, and turned into the field that was being used as a parking area. Dad pointed toward the lake. “That’s where you’ll find Mr. Brown’s truck,” he said.
We stopped and got out of the car. And then I saw it — a white bird with a brown head and skinny legs. It cried and thrashed (激烈扭动) in the dirt in front of the cars that were driving downhill. Its wing looked broken. Suddenly it flew off.
“Dad!” I called. But my dad was watching the balloons.
“It has a nest (鸟巢) here somewhere,” a voice said.
I turned to see an old woman. “I’m Edie Thomas,” she said.
“I’m Nat,” I said. She shook my hand as if I were someone important.
Mrs. Thomas smiled. “It was a nesting place before it became a parking area. No one told the bird about the balloon festival.” Then she pointed with her cane (手杖). On the ground was a perfect clutch of eggs, looking like a heap of pebbles (鹅卵石). They were in the path of cars, trucks and motorbikes.
Screech. The parent bird was back, its wing all twisted again.
“They pretend to be wounded,” said Mrs. Thomas. “They lead enemies off, miles sometimes, before flying back. Those eggs sit there pretending to be rocks.”
“Nat!” Dad called. “Isn’t it time you went down to see Mr. Brown?”
“Dad! I’m …”
I looked at the lake. The balloons were ready. Mr. Brown’s truck was there, ready to go.
A bird cry forced me to look back. I felt as if I had a rock in my stomach. “Dad, I’m not going.”
“You’re sure?”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右； 2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1: “I can’t,” I said. “I have to stay here so cars don’t run over the nest.”
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Paragraph 2: All morning Mrs. Thomas and I watched balloons fly across the sky.
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Whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it. If we always ignore our own intention, we will obviously feel unhappy. Thus, take all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret doing it later in life.
The following story happened in a battlefield during the World War I. The soldiers from two sides were fighting against each other fiercely and there was no sign for the war to stop. All of a sudden terror attacked the heart of Peter, one of the French soldiers, as he saw his friend—Tom, who was born in the same village as him and had played with him happily and joined the army at the same time falling in the battle. Caught in the trenches (战壕) with continuous gunfire whizzing (嗖嗖地移动) over his head, Peter was lost in thought. He couldn’t decide whether he should lend a hand to Tom. Eventually he gathered all his courage and asked his officer if he could be allowed to go out into the“No Man’s Land” between the trenches to bring his helpless partner back because he thought there might be some chances of saving him.
“You can certainly go,“ said the officer, who couldn’t understand why Peter had made such a crazy request,“but I don’t think it will be worth it. As you know, your friend is probably dead and if you rush out of the trenches you may possibly throw your own life away.”
Considering the situations of the war, what the officer said really made sense because he didn’t want Peter to risk doing so. However, the officer’s words didn’t matter to Peter, and he had obviously made up his mind and he went anyway bravely.
Paragraph 1：
Much to the officer’s surprise, Peter managed to reach his friend.
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Paragraph 2：
“I told you it wouldn’t be worth it,“ the officer said.
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One afternoon, Ava drove to her 4-year-old son’s kindergarten to pick him up. When she arrived, as usual, her son Noah came running and said, “Hi, Mom!” It brought a big smile to Ava’s face. “Did you have a good day, sweetie?” she asked. “Yes,” Noah replied.
“Alright, let’s get your things and go home,” Ava said. Noah sat down on one car seat in the back, carrying his school bag which contained books, candies, etc. Then, Ava started the car. “So tell me about the PE class today. Did you have fun?” Ava asked. Noah said he did and explained happily. Ava watched traffic while listening to him.
The mother and son were quiet for a couple of minutes. And Ava started to think about what to make for dinner. “How about having some pizza when we get home?” Ava asked Noah. When he didn’t answer, Ava wondered what he was thinking. She knew her son liked pizza, but maybe he wanted something else this time. “You like pizza, don’t you?” Ava asked. Still, Noah didn’t answer.
Ava looked over her shoulder, seeing Noah’s face turning red. He couldn’t speak at all. “Oh, my God! What happened?” Ava asked. She had just passed a four-ways top, and there was a wide, grassy shoulder on the road where she pulled off and jumped out of the car, She ran to the other side of the car and freed Noah from the car seat. His face was still bright red and he couldn’t speak, Clearly, he was choking (噎住)!
Ava cried out for help and called 911 while pounding her hand against Noah’s back, trying to save her son. But nothing was changing. Suddenly sat all man appeared next to them and took Noah from Ava’s arms. His truck was parked behind them. He held Noah with the boy’s back against his stomach. And, the man thrust (猛推) his hands into Noah’s abdomen (腹部), trying to remove whatever was choking him. Still, nothing happened. Then another family pulled over ahead of them.
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 l:
A woman ran towards them, saying she was a nurse and could help.
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Paragraph 2:
That day, Ava realized the importance of first aid.
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6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
I’ve spent my adult life as a college professor teaching people how to think more creatively and use more of their brainpower. Interestingly, this lifetime passion was awakened by a casual contest when I was a child.
At a family picnic for employees of the company where my father worked, they held contests for the children — who could blow the biggest bubble-gum (泡泡糖) bubble, who could hop the longest on one leg. I was 13, full of enthusiasm and the spirit of competition, so I threw myself into the contests. The grand finale, the handkerchief-throwing contest, I realize now, was not meant to demonstrate any real skill, but simply for laughs. But it stirred my love of thinking outside the box.
The judge gave each of the dozen children a cloth handkerchief and told us the winner would be the one who threw it the farthest. The first throwers, the little ones, took mighty wind-ups (挥臂动作), but when the cloth left their hands, it opened and fluttered (飘动) to the ground a few inches in front of them. The crowd roared with laughter, and being 13, I didn’t like adults laughing at us.
So it made me angry to see the kids throwing harder when the handkerchief always opened, caught the air and died. The secret was not to throw harder but to keep the cloth from opening. Suppose I hid a rock in the cloth without tying it. The rock would drive the cloth at least farther than the others, and when they separated, people might not notice a small rock landing in the grass. I had a good chance of getting away with it, but I didn’t want to win by cheating. What I really wanted to do was to show them that a kid could beat them at their own game. I had to make the handkerchief fly like a rock. Like a rock! That was it! But the question was how.
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 was thinking really hard when suddenly a good idea struck me.
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Paragraph 2: “It’s just the handkerchief,” the judge declared, holding it up and untying the knots (结).
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One sunny day in summer, two girls named Gracy and Emma were walking to their homes after school. They were talking about the special celebration activities that were going to take place the next day at their school. They both needed something new to wear for the activity, but they had failed to save enough money to buy anything for that purpose. Both their parents had given them only little money to buy something nice for the celebration the next day. But it surely wasn’t enough for them.
Once again they came by that store near their school and looked at the dress they wanted to buy, and Gracy suddenly saw a wallet near her feet just outside the clothing store. She picked it up and found a bit of money inside it. She turned to Emma and shouted exitedly, “Look, I found a little money in this wallet and I will use it to buy the dress I want! What a lucky day!” Emma took the wallet, opened it and found a name and an address in it.
“It is not a good habit to keep whatever we find, Gracy. Put the money back. There is a name and an address in the wallet. I think it won’t be difficult for us to find its owner. We are going to return it,” said Emma.
Gracy was disappointed and said angrily, “No way! I am not putting it back. I just can’t find the owner anyway. I can buy the dress in the store with the money.”
Emma then forced Gracy to come with her to the address and they arrived at a house. Together, the two of them came up to the door and rang the doorbell.
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 elderly man came to answer the door.
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Then Emma and Gracy went back to the store.
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My mother’s gift
A dandelion (蒲公英) in my dictionary always reminds me of my lunchtimes with my mother.
When I was in the third grade, I was picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly (费力地) practised my lines with me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped onstage, every word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s part to the play, and asked me to switch roles.
I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my unease, and instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard.
It was a lovely spring day and the rose leaves were turning green. We could see yellow dandelions popping through the grass in bunches, as if a painter had touched our landscape with a little bit of gold.
I watched my mother casually bend down by one of the dandelions. “I think I’m going to dig up all these weeds,” she said, suddenly pulling a flower up by its roots. “From now on, we’ll have only roses in this garden.”
“But I like dandelions,” I protested. “All flowers are beautiful — even dandelions.” My mother looked at me seriously. “Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn’t it?” she asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. “And that is true of people too,” she added. “Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.”
Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened.
“But you will be a beautiful narrator,” she said, reminding me of how much I loved to read stories aloud to her. “The narrator’s part is as important as the part of a princess.”
Over the next few weeks, with her constant encouragement, I learned to take pride in the role. Lunchtimes were spent reading over my lines and talking about what I would wear.
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。
Backstage on the night of the performance, I felt nervous.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the play, I took home the flower I had placed in the pocket.
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One day, while I was watching Good Morning America, the news reporter, Robin Roberts, closed the morning show with this, “All you gentlemen, fifty years and older, should make it a point to get a PSA test. It is a simple blood test and could save your life.”
I called my doctor’s office that very morning to confirm what Robin had said. So, I made an appointment to have it done. Ten days later, my doctor told me, “Ray, you are a very healthy seventy-two-year-old. However, we got the result of your PSA test. It is high, and you probably have prostate (前列腺) cancer. I want to do a couple of biopsies (活检) to confirm it.”
When the biopsies came back, I was called into the office once again. “You definitely have prostate cancer,” the doctor said. He explained to me the various treatment options that were available. After hearing the various treatments and their after-effects, I decided to have the prostate removed and get rid of the cancer entirely, as it had not spread yet.
After going through several pre-surgery tests, I was scheduled to be the first one to undergo the new Da Vinci method of removing prostate operation. Due to my old age and the first operation of its kind in the local hospital, a medical expert had been assigned to monitor the situation.
My surgery was successful. All the cancer had been removed. The next day, I was allowed to leave the hospital with the post-operative instructions and directions on how to do exercise to strengthen my muscles. I soon learned that all my functions were working well. What was even better was that my PSA level was zero.
One morning afterward, my wife and I spotted a sign by the road requesting volunteers for Suncoast Hospice (收容所) of Florida. We decided it was time to give back for our good fortune and recovery from the operation.
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。
After six informative classes, we became volunteers for Suncoast Hospice.
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With the permission of the patient’s nurse, we might bring cookies, books or flowers to the resident.
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A Gift of Gold
It was the winter of 1937, just after Christmas. The Depression (大萧条时期) was still going on, but I was in good spirits. I was going to graduate from elementary school, but my mother still dressed me in shorts. Most of my classmates had given up wearing shorts. For the graduation ceremony, all the boys were expected to dress white shirts and dark-blue wool pants.
I waited until a week before I told my mother. On a cold Monday afternoon I went home from school.
“Mom,” I said, about graduation…”
“Yes?” she answered.
“They are going to give me the first-prize medal,” I said.
Still working over the stove, she looked over her shoulder at me and smiled broadly. “That’s wonderful, Babe. Dad and I will both be there, and we’ll be the proudest in the place.”
She must have seen by the look on my face that something was wrong. She turned her back and said, “So?”
“So, I have to get long pants,” I said.
“Babe, we don’t have the money for new pants right now,” she said.
“Okay,” I burst out. “Then I won’t go to graduation. Plus, I’m running away from home!”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t pack my bags. We’ll solve the pants problem somehow,” she said.
The following Saturday, when my mother said, “Let’s go shopping,” I knew that she had solved the problem. Then we left home. We took the trolley (有轨电车) and got off at Southern Boulevard, the best shopping street. Our clothing store was just a couple of blocks away.
But first we walked a short way down the Boulevard and stopped at a place I had never noticed before.
“Wait here,” she said. Then she opened the door with the hand with a gold wedding ring on her ring finger and entered a storefront (店面) that looked like a bank.
She went out about ten minutes later with a purse in her left hand, and then we went to the pants store. I chose a pair of pants. After a patient bargain with the seller, my mother bought it at the price of three dollars and fifty cents and handed it to me.
注意:1, 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
I was holding the pants tightly under my arm when my mother went to pay the money.
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We took the trolley back home.
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