I had run away from home after finishing high school. My parents had insisted I go to college, but I was tired of school. I hated it. I was determined not to go. And, besides, my father was too strict. I had too many chores to do around the farm. I haled the work!
There had been a quarrel between my father and me. I threw some things into a bag and left angrily, as my father shouted after me, “If you leave, don’t come back!” My mother cried openly, and I had seen those tears during a hundred sleepless nights.
Then it was time to write a letter to my father.
Dear Dad,It’s been more than a year now. I’ve traveled east to west. I’ve had dozens of jobs. None of them amounted to very much. Always the same questions: “How much education have you got?” It seems they always want college men for the good jobs.
Dad, you and Mother were right about everything. I know now that the work on the farm didn’t hurt me, and I’m convinced I need college. I’m also convinced that both of you loved me.
Dad, I’ve learned a lesson. I want to come home. I know you said if I left, I couldn’t come back, but I’m praying you’ll change your mind. I want to come home and be a part of the family again.
Give my love to Mother and the girls.
Love,Your son
As I folded the letter and put it into an envelope, I felt a refreshing relief. It was as if a heavy load had been lifted from my shoulders. And I had to be on my way home.
I started down the desolate road—the long road home. Fortunately, a car picked me up, and it was good to have someone to talk with. The driver was a salesman and very pleasant.
“Where you going, boy?” he asked good-naturedly.
There was a long silence before I said, “Home.”
“Been away from home long?”
I smiled, a little self-conscious, and said, “One year, one month and two days.”
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。
Having heard my story, he expressed his support for my final decision and told me something surprising.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, I arrived home when. it was completely dark.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A little bird landed on the tree branch outside Lisa’s bedroom window. It sang energetically as the first pale yellow rays of sunshine appeared.
“Oh, my god, what is that noise?” Lisa complained to herself, pulling her bed sheets over her head to ignore the sound. It was no use, and she knew it. The loud sound showed the coming of the day. Lisa’s mom knocked twice on her door, and then came in with a smile. “Time to get up, Sleepyhead,” She whispered. “The early bird catches the worm, you know.”
“Ugh,” mumbled (含含糊糊地说) Lisa into her pillow. “What does that even mean?”
“It’s just an expression, Honey”, her mom replied. She gave Lisa a kiss on the cheek and urged her to get out of bed. Lisa rolled over and slept for a few more minutes.
With her mom’s repeated urging, Lisa had no choice but to get herself dressed. She went unwillingly downstairs for breakfast, ate slowly, and missed her bus. When she finally got to school, she failed to get a place in the Chess Club. She also missed the first part of math class, so she didn’t understand the lesson and had to get extra help at lunchtime. Her teacher gave her extra homework to make sure she knew it. As a result, she missed her favourite library time. This day was no fun.
The next morning, Lisa was woken up by the same loud noisy song. Instead of ignoring it, today Lisa walked over to the window and opened the curtains. “Well, hello there, little fellow,” she said when she saw the pretty bird outside, still singing happily. As she watched, the bird stuck its beak (喙) into the wet ground, and pulled out a wiggling (不停摇摆) worm for breakfast.
“Today I am going to be the early bird,” thought Lisa.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At lunchtime, Lisa finished her lunch early and had time to go to the library.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________No Crown for me
“Will you come with us, Susan?” cried several little girls to a schoolmate. “We are going to the woods; do come, too.”
“I should like to go with you very much,” replied Susan, with a sigh, “but I cannot finish the task grandmother set me to do.”
“How tiresome it must be to stay at home to work on a holiday!” said Rose, one of the girls, shaking her head. “Susan’s grandmother is too strict.”
Susan heard this remark, and, as she bent her head over her task, she wiped away a tear, and thought of the pleasant afternoon the girls would spend gathering wild flowers in the woods.
Soon she said to herself, “What harm can there be in moving the mark grandmother put in the stocking? The woods must be very beautiful today, and how I should like to be in them! ”
“Grandmother,” said she, a few minutes afterwards, “I am ready, now.” “What, so soon, Susan?” Her grandmother took the work, and looked at it very closely.
“True, Susan,” said she, laying great stress on each word. “True, I count twenty turns from the mark, and, as you have never cheated me, you may go and amuse yourself as you like the rest of the day.”
Susan’s cheeks were red, and she did not say, “Thank you.” As she left the cottage, she walked slowly away, not singing as usual.
“Why, here is Susan!” the girls cried, when she joined their company. “But what is the matter? Why have you left your dear, old grandmother? ” they asked.
“There is nothing the matter.” As Susan repeated the words, she felt that she was trying to deceive herself. She had acted a lie. At the same time, she remembered her grandmother’s words, “You have never deceived me.”
“Yes, I have deceived her,” she said to herself. “If she knew all, she would never trust me again.”
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The little party had reached an open space in the woods.
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“Now, Susan.” said Rose, “Put on the crown of flowers, for you are to be our queen.”
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We had just taken a holiday of three days: from Saturday to Monday. Now, it was Tuesday morning, but in some way, it was like a Monday-the start of a new week. And after a busy and tiring holiday, it was time to go to work.
After I hurriedly got up, I looked out of my bedroom window. It was raining. I complained, “This weather is terrible. What an awful morning!” As I stepped out of the front door, a big wind turned my umbrella inside out, so I decided to run through the cold rain to my car. But I didn’t see a puddle (小水坑) until I stepped into it. My new shoes were completely wet. I had to rush back to my room for a change. When I was finally seated in my car, it stalled (熄火) twice before I could back out of the driveway. And I was worried that I would be late for work.
The traffic on the road was heavy. A horn (喇叭) honked—someone thought I wasn’t going fast enough. “This day is terrible. Nothing is cheerful,” I said to myself. To drive easily, I decided to listen to the traffic report on the radio. Under the guidance of the announcer, I drove carefully. I was grateful for that.
Finally, after managing to navigate (导航) my route through the traffic, I decided to stop at a little coffee shop near my office to buy a cup of coffee. The line of cars at the drive-through stretched to the parking lot, so I figured it would be faster if I just got out and went inside.
Clearly, the coffee shop had many customers. I sighed impatiently as I waited in line until I reached the counter where I ignored the friendly greeting from the waiter. I ordered my favorite: a cup of coffee, extra cream and no sugar. Then my order was served. That’s when I realized I had left my wallet at home! I was both upset and embarrassed.
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。
Noticing my anxiety, the man waiting in line behind me pulled out his wallet.
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When I got back into my car, I found the man walking in the rain.
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A Chair for My Mother
My mother works as a waitress in the Blue Tile Diner. After school sometimes I go to meet her there. Then her boss Josephine gives me a job too. When I finish, Josephine says, “Good work, honey,” and pays me. And every time, I put half of my money into the jar (罐子).
It takes a long time to fill a jar this big. Every day when my mother comes home from work, I take down the jar. My mama empties all her change from tips for me to count. Then we push all of the coins into the jar.
Sometimes my mama is laughing when she comes home from work. Sometimes she’s so tired she falls asleep while I count the money. Some days she has lots of tips. Some days she has only a few. Then she looks worried. But each evening every single shiny coin goes into the jar.
We sit in the kitchen to count the tips. Usually Grandma sits with us too. Often she has money in her old wallet for us. Whenever she gets a good bargain (划算的交易) on tomatoes or bananas or something she buys, she puts by the savings and they go into the jar.
When we can’t get a single other coin into the jar, we are going to take out all the money and go and buy a chair. Yes, a chair. A wonderful, beautiful, fat, soft armchair for Mama and Grandma. When Mama comes home, her feet hurt. “There’s no good place for me to rest my feet,” she says. When Grandma wants to sit back and cut up potatoes, she has to get as comfortable as she can on a hard kitchen chair.
So that is how come Mama brought home the biggest jar she could find and all the coins started to go into the jar.
Paragraph 1:
Now the jar is too heavy for me to lift down.
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Paragraph 2:
Finally we find the chair we are all dreaming of.
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My middle child, Jake, was smart and good-looking, but he always sees the cup of life as half empty. Every day when he came home from school, Jake would list everything bad that happened that day!
On his ninth birthday, we saved enough money to take the family to Disneyland for two days. His dad and I didn’t make much then, so it cost a considerable amount, but we felt Jake’s birthday was worth it. After doing Disneyland to death (玩够了), we returned to our hotel room, all exhausted. And I asked the birthday boy, “Did you have fun today, Jake?”
All my fault-finding son could say to me was “Pirates (海盗) of the Caribbean was closed!” “Jake Marshall,” I was clearly unable to contain my anger, “we stood in line for an hour and a half to see The Haunted Mansion. We rode Space Mountain three times. We spent two days playing in the park, and all you can say is, Pirates of the Caribbean was closed?” Clearly, something had to be done about his negative attitude and I was going to be the one to do it!
I was determined to help him. I read every article and bought every book. With the help of great resources, I found my son had the tendency to see the worst in every situation. My research told me that people with negativity have an emotional need for order and sensitivity. That meant I needed to listen to my son’s daily pessimistic reports. My usual reaction was to try to talk Jake out of his negativity, but that wouldn’t satisfy his need for sensitivity, so I had to let him finish his complaints and ask what good things happened. Then I needed to wait until he could tell me. This would help Jake realize that good things really were happening to him.
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；
One day Jake came home from school and complained as usual.
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From then on, Jake came to understand the power of seeing good points.
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The summer I turned 16, my father gave me his 69 Chevy Malibu convertible (敞篷车). Beautifully repainted cherry red with V-8 engine—it was a gift wasted on me at that age. What did I know about classic cars? The important thing was that Hannah and I could drive around Tucson with the top down.
Hannah was my best friend, a year younger but much taller, almost five foot ten.“Hannah’s a beautiful girl,” my mother always said. And sure enough, that summer she signed with a modeling agency. She was already doing runway work .
A month after my birthday, Hannah and I went to the movies. On the way home, we stopped at the McDonald’s drive-through, putting the fries on the seat between us to share. “Let’s ride around a-while,” I said. It was a clear night, oven-warm, full moon casting low over the desert. Making a turn too fast, l hit a patch of dirt and the back of the car slid to the other side. I then drove through a neighbor’s landscape wall and knocked into a full-grown palm. The front wheels came to rest half way up the tree trunk.
There were French fries on the floor, the dash (仪表盘), and my lap. An impossible amount of blood was on Hannah’s face, flaps of skin hanging into her eyes. They took us in separate ambulances. In the ER, my parents spoke quietly: “Best plastic surgeon in the city…but it is more likely to be the end of her modeling career.…”
We’d been wearing lap belts, but the car didn’t have shoulder bands. I’d broken my cheek bone on the steering wheel; Hannah’s forehead had split wide open on the dash. What would I say to her?
When her mother, Sharon, came into my hospital room, I started to cry, preparing myself for her anger. She sat beside me and took my hand. “I rear-ended (追尾) my best friend when I was your age,” she said. “I destroyed her car and mine.” “I’m so sorry.” I said, knowing Sharon was trying her best to comfort me and helping me out of my terrible sense of guilt and self-blame.
注意：1.续写词数应为150词左右。
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“The most important is that you’re both alive. I forgive you and Hannah will too.” She said.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sharon’s forgiveness allowed Hannah and me to return to our normal life.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Having worked at a small food store for two years, I thought I had become successful at what our manager called “customer relations”. I firmly believed that a friendly smile and an automatic “sir”, “madam”, “thank you” and “sorry” would see me through any situation. But on a Christmas night an old woman shook my belief that such a glib response (巧言应对) could smooth over any difficulty while dealing with other human beings.
The moment she entered the store, the woman presented a sharp contrast to our shiny store with its bright lighting and neatly arranged shelves. Walking as if each step were painful, she slowly pushed open the glass door. On such a zero-degree night, she was wearing only a faded print dress, a thin sweater too small to button, and black slippers with the backs cut out to expose heels. There were no stockings or socks on her blue-veined legs.
After walking around the store for several minutes, the old woman stopped in front of the rows of canned vegetables. She looked at the row of cans, finally picked up a can of corn and stared at the label. At that point, I decided to be a good and polite employee and asked her if she needed help. As I stood close to her, my smile became harder to maintain. An unpleasant smell of sweat rose from her torn clothing.
“I need some food,” she muttered in reply to my bright “Madam, can I help you?”
“Are you looking for corn, madam?”
“I need some food,” she repeated, looking down at the can in her hand, “Any kind.”
“Well, the can of corn is ninety-five cents, madam.” I said in my most helpful voice. “Or if you like, we have a special on bread today.”
After a short pause, she lifted her head and said, “But I can’t pay.”
For a second, it was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that she could take the corn.
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
Paragraph1：
Then the employee rules flooded into my mind: remain polite but do not let the customers get the best of you.
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Paragraph 2：
Moments after she left, I rushed out of the door with the can of corn.
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Tim Robinson, a former junior officer of the British Army, was on holiday in Bridport, Dorset, a town in England. While enjoying a walk down the beach, Tim slipped on a piece of seaweed lying in the sand and fell, breaking his leg.
Unfortunately, Tim did not bring his cell phone with him when he left for his walk. No one was in site, but as Tim lay helpless he remembered his military training and tried to think about what was around to help him. After struggling around on the beach, the pain became too much to handle. He stopped and thought about what to do.
With no phone and no one around, and with his leg hurting greatly, Tim had a decision to make. He could either continue this way in pain and hope that someone happened to see him, or he could try something else. It didn’t matter that his leg had made him partially immobile, Tim still had the ability to crawl (爬行), and so he did.
The choice was easy, but the crawl was tough. Tim told the Daily Mail, “After I crawled to about a mile-and-a-quarter away from the car park, I started flashing my torch in SOS and spinning it over my head to create a Buzz-Saw signal which is a way of attracting helicopters in the armed forces.”
No one seemed to be around. At least, no one could read Tim’s signals for help. Once again, he had to either stay where he was and wait for help or get moving. In his mind he had no choice. There was no response to begin with, so he crawled for five minutes and covered about 50 meters before making the same signal three times. Most people couldn’t imagine crawling for any distance with a broken leg, but Tim wasn’t about to give up.
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。
Tim finally got a response from the distance.
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Tim’s condition was worse than Mrs. Robinson thought.
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The Case of the Missing Dinosaur（恐龙）
My little brother Teddy and I run a detective agency together out of an office in my bedroom closet. The sign on the door says Investigations by Nina (with help from Teddy). Well, We’re detectives. We find things like missing shoes and hats.
Teddy handed me notes he’d gathered from the empty flowerpot on our porch(走廊). That’s where family and neighbors let us know about mysteries to solve. I read the papers, only to find that there were nothing important.“ How about a dinosaur?” asked Teddy. “ My friend Peter is missing his dinosaur.” That sounded great. I asked Teddy to tell me everything he knew.
Most days after school, my brother goes across the street to Peter’s house to play Go Fish. But yesterday, Peter refused to play any games. His eyes were red. He kept talking about his dinosaur, Bruno. We decided to help him. Then we walked to Peter’s house to check things 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。
I started with my usual questions.
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Teddy was turning out to be a good detective.
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