Alexis Langlois, who manages a large farm, heard her neighbor crazily knocking on her front door on a Monday afternoon.
“There’s an emergency”, Amber Countryman yelled. “The horses are stuck in the water.” Langlois was struck with “absolute panic”. She threw on her winter boots — without socks — and rushed toward the small pond on the 80-acre property. She was surprised by what she saw: four horses were in the water up to their necks in 10 feet of ice water.
She immediately called 911.While waiting for help to arrive, “people just started showing up,” she said. “Neighbors were pouring in. People came with ropes, chainsaws, shovels and pick axes.”
“I grabbed a bunch of supplies,” said Countryman, whose two teenagers and their friend also as sited with the effort.
“It was-8℃that day,” she said, adding that she brought out handwarmers and water for the helpers.
Everyone was determined to get the horses out of the pond — which is about 15feetwide.
Beneath a six-inch layer of ice, the water was “just barely above freezing”, said Chris Yerkes, the South Kalispell Fire Department chief who rushed to the pond with about a dozen volunteer personnel.
When the firefighters arrived, neighbors had already attempted to pave a path through the ice toward the edge of the pond using pick axes, sledgehammers and shovels, and “we continued with that effort.” Yerkes said. Unfortunately, “as we got closer to the edge, we realized there was about three to four inches of mud.”
The thick layer of mud — which the rescuers couldn’t cut through — blocked the horses from climbing out. Firefighters enlisted additional support from Flathead County Animal Control, as well as staff from local equestrian organization Rebecca Farm.
“There had to have been at least 60 people here,” Langlois said. “It was very swift action on everybody’s part.”
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
It took nearly two hours to find a workable solution that could bring all four horses to safety.
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Paragraph 2
To get the horses out, they used a powerful tractor (拖拉机) to get the animals out of the mud and ropes to pull them over the edge.
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2 . When Amanda Lemay heard the story about a baker and his wife who were traveling around the United States in a van, learning from expert bakers, she wanted to do something similar. So she got rid of most of her possessions and made an old ambulance with her dad into a lovely home on wheels.
Lemay’s ambulance is actually a former emergency response vehicle for the US Navy, built on a 2006 Ford E350 Cutaway. Renovations were done by her and her dad. Now the dark blue vehicle has a lot of built-in cabinets on all sides, offering a lot of storage space, while the rooftop has 400-watts of solar power panels and a small roof deck where Lemay practices yoga. The inside is tastefully done to suit Lemay’s work and hobbies.
As Lemay mentions, not only did her father help, but so did the rest of her family. Lemay’s mother helped sew the decorations on the removable cushions, and her sister crafted the leather pulls. It was truly a family affair.
Her current nomadic lifestyle fits well with her work doing audiobooks, voiceovers, and publishing work. In the end, this unexpected path has Lemay rethinking what it means to be truly sustainable, now that van life has gotten her to become minutely aware of the water, electricity, and other daily resources that she uses. But all these day-to-day concerns are balanced with a greater sense of freedom.
“It’s almost mind-blowing, it feels like a completely different life because I’m doing the work online, and I can do things on my own schedule. Pretty much most of my days are mine — so by living in the van, I can be where I want to be, and do the things I want to do, and spend time outside.”
1. Why is the story of a baker and his wife mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．It shows a creative way of learning. | B．It was spoken highly by expert bakers. |
| C．It’s an example of strong determination. | D．It’s where Amanda Lemay got her inspiration. |
| A．All family members contributed to it. | B．Its cost was shared by family members. |
| C．It was made to suit the life of the family. | D．The whole family gathered to celebrate it. |
| A．To value every minute of her life. | B．To make the best of what she has. |
| C．To keep a balance between work and life. | D．To be aware of the real meaning of family. |
| A．Reflecting on life. | B．Forgetting all about work. |
| C．Working on her own schedule. | D．Being free from day-to-day concerns. |
Once, when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus(马戏团). Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter.
This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of twelve. You could tell they didn’t have a lot of money.
Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly talking about the clowns, elephants, and other acts they would see that night with their brothers or sisters in a low voice.
One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It should be highlight of their young lives. The father and mother were at the head of the pack, standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You are my knight in shining armor.”
He was smiling and responding in pride, looking back at her as if to say, “You got that right.” The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, “Please let me buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus.”
The ticket lady gave the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand; her head dropped, and his lips began to shake. The father leaned a little closer and asked, “How much did you say?”
The ticket lady told the price to him again. The man didn’t have enough money. How could he turn and tell his eight children that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?
In fact, we were not rich. So I understand how the kids would feel. I felt sorry for them.
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，每段的开头已为你写好。
Paragraph l:
Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand in his pocket.
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That day my father and I went back to our car and drove home without any tickets.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Bicycle
When I was nine I needed to earn some money, so I asked Mr. Miceli, the newspaper publisher in my Chicago neighbourhood, about an after-school paper route. He agreed only if I had a bicycle.
My dad bought me a used bike, but right after that he fell ill and couldn’t teach me to ride. Mr. Miceli, however, merely asked to see the bike. So I walked to his garage, showed it to him and got the job.
At first, I filled my delivery bag with rolled papers over the handlebars and walked my bike down the sidewalks. But pushing a bike with a load of papers was awkward; after a few days I borrowed Mom’s two-wheeled shopping cart.
It took me longer to make my deliveries by cart, but I didn’t mind. I sent each paper to its proper destination. In rain or snow, I put Dad’s old raincoat over the cart to keep the papers dry. I got to meet everyone in the neighborhood — working-class people of Italian, German or Polish origins who were invariably kind to me.
When Dad returned from the hospital, he was too weak to resume his original job. Now we needed every penny we could raise to pay bills, so we sold the bike. Mr. Miceli must have known I wasn’t using a bike, but he said nothing about it to me.
On the Thursday evening before Christmas, 1951, I rang my first customer’s doorbell. Even though the lights were on, nobody answered, so I went on to the next house. No answer, nor did anyone respond at the next family on my route, or the one after.
I was very worried; I had to pay for my papers every Friday. And while it was almost Christmas, I never thought that everyone would be out shopping. So I was very happy when, going up the walkway to Mr. Gordon’s house, I heard music and voices. I rang the bell.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The door flew open, and Mr. Gordon dragged me inside.
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After walking the bicycle home, I opened those envelopes.
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5 . At age 23, Chad’s life was just beginning. But one night, a drunk driver crashed into his motorcycle and his leg was severely injured. To save the leg, Chad went through operation after operation, but in vain. When the doctor announced the leg had to come off, Chad sank into a bitter desperation. How would he function with only one leg? Would he have the family he had always dreamed of? And how would he ever pay off the hospital bills?
Nothing we did eased his deep frustration. One night, I brought Gene, the husband of my colleague, to Chad’s hospital room. Gene joked with Chad at once, telling him he was “on his last leg”. Chad exploded, “How can you talk like that when they’re going to cut off my leg?” Gene just bent over, rolled up his trousers and revealed his own prosthesis (假肢). I left them alone.
When I returned an hour later, the light had come back into Chad’s eyes. “Gene said that people who give to others always get back more than they give. He said I should not worry about my future and the most important thing was never to give up.”
Four months later, Chad was back at work. He remembered Gene’s words. He learned to ride a bicycle with his fake leg, swam one-legged and practiced running slow. However, the hardest problem was how he would ever get back on his “foot” financially. The hospital bills would take him thirty years to pay.
His doctor often called to ask him to rush to the hospital and offer comfort to an injury victim. No matter how tired Chad was, no matter when he was called, he would drop everything to help. One day, he received a different call. “Chad,” the doctor began, “I am calling to tell you that a stranger has just paid all your medical bills.”
Gene was right. People who give freely to others get back more than they give.
1. What can we learn about Chad after the accident?| A．He felt concerned about his future. | B．He left the hospital in desperation. |
| C．He regretted riding the motorcycle. | D．He refused to receive the treatment. |
| A．He tended Chad carefully and lovingly. |
| B．He offered some funny words of comfort. |
| C．He shared a similar story of his own with Chad. |
| D．He proved to be capable of swimming one-legged. |
| A．Determined and helpful. | B．Caring and humorous. |
| C．Confident and cooperative. | D．Ambitious and warmhearted. |
| A．Love breaks down barriers. | B．Kindness is always rewarded. |
| C．A good medicine tastes bitter. | D．He who laughs last laughs best. |
The economic downturn caught us. We sold our ranch and moved to town, Mother had decided to open a day nursery. She had had no training, but that didn’t stand in her way. She sent away for correspondence courses in child care, did the lessons and in six months formally qualified herself for the task. It wasn’t long before she had a full enrollment and a waiting list. I accepted all this as a perfectly normal instance of Mother’s ability. But neither the nursery nor the motel my parents bought later had provided enough income to send my sister and me to college. In two years I would be ready for college. Time was running out, and Mother was anxious for ways to save money. It was clear that Dad could do no more than he was doing already — farming 80 acres in addition to holding a full-time job. A few months after we’d sold the motel, Mother arrived home with a used green typewriter.
“That’s all we can afford,” Mother said. “It’s good enough to learn on.” And from that day on, as soon as the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Mother would disappear into her sewing room to practice. The slow tap, tap, tap went on some nights until midnight. Soon I heard Mother got a job at the radio station. I was not the least bit surprised, or impressed. But she was wild with joy.
Monday, after her first day at work, I could see that the excitement was gone.
Tuesday, Dad made dinner and cleaned the kitchen. Mother stayed in her sewing room, practicing. “Is Mother all right?” I asked Dad. “She’s having a little trouble with her typing,” he said. “She needs to practice. I think she’d appreciate it if we all helped out a bit more. You might just remember that she is working primarily so you can go to college.”
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。
Wednesday, I arrived home earlier and was surprised by what I saw — Mother was crying in the corner of the couch.
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Mother took another job earning half, but the evening practice sessions on the old green typewriter continued.
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7 . Budha Magar, a double above-the-knee amputee (被截肢者), is working with an all-Nepali team to attempt to conquer the world’s highest mountain in May. Though he will be kitted out (装备) with special climbing legs, he will essentially be crawling up Everest using his hands.
He estimates it will take him three times longer than able-bodied climbers to reach the summit (顶峰), though he is confident he will be faster than average on the ladder sections because of his superior upper body strength. Two climbers with below-knee amputations have reached Everest’s summit before. But making the climb without knees is significantly harder. “In Nepali we say that being disabled is ‘like a burden of the earth’,” he explains. Magar hopes that he can raise awareness of just what is possible for a disabled person in the country of his birth, and hopefully inspire others further afield.
He was born in a village of Nepal, and he left there at the age of 19. In April 2021, he had an accident. Suddenly legless, he spent at least 18 months depressed before a charity offered him the chance to go skydiving. “That was a big turning point for me, especially for my confidence. And when we landed on the ground I realized that even without legs we are able to do lots of things,” he says.
He began doing sports — golf, rock climbing, table tennis — before setting his sights on mountaineering. Before long, a childhood dream to climb Everest resurfaced, and he began training in earnest to make the climb in 2018.
Now living in Canterbury, Budha Magar has raised more than £200,000 towards his attempt. If he can find another £100,000 of sponsorship, he will travel to Nepal in spring with his expedition leader Krishna Thapa. Success on the world’s highest mountain can never be guaranteed, but his expedition credo (信条) illustrates his mindset: no legs, no limits.
1. What may enable Magar to perform better than average on the ladder sections?| A．His optimism. | B．Unique equipment. |
| C．His stronger upper body. | D．Help from an all-Nepali team. |
| A．He lived in his birth place all the time. |
| B．He recovered from the accident in 2021. |
| C．He was a member of a charity. |
| D．He gained confidence through skydiving. |
| A．He hasn’t raised enough money for the summit attempt. |
| B．He needs a new expedition leader. |
| C．He can ensure the success of reaching the summit. |
| D．He will go to Canterbury in spring. |
| A．Caring and courageous. | B．Determined and adventurous. |
| C．Hard-working and cooperative. | D．Enthusiastic and intelligent. |
It was around 7 on Monday morning. Paul, a ticket gateline assistant, was working his usual shift at Leagrave Station. “Another wonderful day!” he thought and began to hum (哼) a tune. Suddenly a flash of movement around Platform One caught his attention. After taking a closer look, he realized it was a dog without a collar, silly and excitable, running round after nothing at all.
“Oh!” he hurried down, appeared in a flash and successfully got hold of the dog, but it managed to struggle free out of his grasp, jumped down on the tracks and got stuck.
Panic struck among standers-by as the dog madly raced up and down the tracks, trying to find a way out. There was a lot of noise of people shouting and dog barking. Then the train kicked in.
Obviously, there was no time left to wait for the dog to jump out on his own, but he was not allowed to go down on the track. So he took out his phone and rang the signalman to warn the trains, getting them to slow down, ready to stop if necessary.
Like a cat on hot bricks, he looked around to find something useful. Luckily a guy on the platform there had some bread. So without any hesitation, Paul took the bread and used it to attract the dog as the last hope. Immediately, the dog came over to the platform edge with wagging (摇) tails. But it couldn’t jump back up. That’s not the thing, Paul thought.
Just as it put its paws up to get the bread, Paul managed to grab it. Thank goodness. Paul dragged it up on to the platform. He couldn’t let go of it for fear that it would struggle free a second time. He just held on, stroking its fur and patting on its head to calm it down. Finally he took the dog into the safety of the staffroom.
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。
Then Paul decided to turn to social media to identify its owner.
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The couple shared the photos and the story on the TikTok that evening.
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9 . For me, nothing is more satisfying than discovering hidden gems (美妙绝伦的事物) in secondhand shops and estate sales. After all, one person’s trash (废物) is another person’s
I have collected more than 50,000 of these items. I’ve also set up a social media account to help
People are often quite
I have some
I want to inspire people to
| A．duty | B．strength | C．medicine | D．treasure |
| A．reunite | B．exchange | C．share | D．package |
| A．sold | B．purchased | C．posted | D．admired |
| A．followers | B．monitors | C．customers | D．designers |
| A．guided | B．tracked | C．let | D．settled |
| A．shot | B．downloaded | C．recreated | D．contributed |
| A．embarrassed | B．optimistic | C．emotional | D．confident |
| A．way | B．calendar | C．mind | D．stuff |
| A．display | B．donate | C．rent | D．return |
| A．notices | B．deals | C．stories | D．advertisements |
| A．rules | B．demands | C．aims | D．plans |
| A．apart | B．away | C．inside | D．online |
| A．possible | B．tough | C．complete | D．original |
| A．objective | B．careful | C．realistic | D．grateful |
| A．assess | B．preserve | C．revise | D．comprehend |
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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