Leo and Alex were close friends. They had been friends since childhood, sharing countless memories, and growing up side by side. They were as close as siblings, sharing countless happy moments and supporting each other through thick and thin. However, one fateful day, a misunderstanding tore them apart, leaving their friendship in shreds.

Leo was a die-hard fan of the local football team, the Metropolis Eagles, while Alex was passionate about the city’s rival team, the Metrostars. Their differing loyalties often led to lively debates and friendly jokes, but it never affected their friendship. Until one fateful game day.

The Metropolis Eagles were playing against the Metrostars, and Leo and Alex were both determined to watch the game together. However, when the game got intense and the score was tied, Leo’s and Alex’s passions boiled over. Leo accused Alex of favoring the other team, while Alex felt Leo was being unreasonably stubborn. The argument escalated (升级) quickly, and words were exchanged that neither of them would soon forget. “You’ve gone too far. I don’t want to see you again,” thundered Leo. Both friends were left feeling hurt and disappointed.

The next day, there were heated discussions about the game, but Leo and Alex avoided each other like the plague (瘟疫). Leo deeply regretted what he had said and wanted to apologize, but pride got in the way. Weeks passed, and the silence between them grew deafening.

One day, while walking home from school, Leo came across a lost dog. He couldn’t help but notice the collar around the dog’s neck, with a tag that read “Alex’s Best Friend.” Leo realized this dog was Alex’s.

3 . 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。

Mary was fond of outdoor activities, especially the beauty of nature. She would often spend her weekends hiking, biking, or simply taking long walks in the countryside. She had a group of close friends who shared the same enthusiasm for the outdoors.

One day, while enjoying a cup of coffee at a local cafe, Mary’s friend Jenny approached her with an exciting idea. “Mary, have you ever thought about stargazing (观星) in the wilderness?” Jenny asked, her eyes shining with excitement. Mary’s eyes widened, and a smile spread across her face. “Stargazing? That sounds incredible! Count me in,” she exclaimed, her voice filled with expectation.

The plan was set for a cool evening when the sky would be at its clearest. As the day turned into night, the two friends gathered their warmest clothes, packed some snacks and hot chocolate, and set off on their adventure. They began their journey from Mary’s house.

As they walked hand in hand, their breath turned into misty clouds in the cool night air. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, casting a darkness on their path. But instead of feeling scared, they felt a rush of excitement washing over them. The stillness of the night, broken only by the soft whispers of the wind, brought a newfound peace to their mind.

They walked through the streets, little by little, the city lights faded, and the stars above became increasingly obvious. They couldn’t help but feel amazed by the countless stars that decorated the sky. They decided not to choose the well-known path and wandered deeper into the wilderness. Fireflies (萤火虫) danced gracefully, lighting up the night sky.

Mary’s eyes widened with childlike wonder as she watched the tiny creatures create their magical light show. Absorbed in chats and laughter, they failed to notice when the familiar sights started to disappear, slowly getting swallowed by the tall trees of the forest.

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。

Suddenly, Mary’s heart skipped a beat as she realized they had lost their way.

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Determined, the two friends set off, guided by the light of the North Star.

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4 . In our family, the presents we gave one another were almost always homemade. I thought that was the definition of a gift: something you made for someone else. We made all our Christmas gifts: piggy banks from old bottles, and puppets from retired socks. It didn’t seem like a hardship to me; it was something special.

My father loves wild strawberries, so for Father’s Day my mother would almost always make him strawberry cakes. While we kids were responsible for the berries, we each got an old jar and spent the Saturday before the celebration in the fields, filling it as more ended up in our mouths. Finally, we returned home and poured them out on the kitchen table to sort out the bugs. I’m sure we missed some, but Dad never mentioned the extra protein.

In fact, he thought that was the best possible present, or so he had us convinced. It was a gift that could never be bought. As children raised by strawberries, we were probably unaware that the gift of berries was from the fields themselves, not from us. Our gift was time, attention, care and “red” fingers.

Gifts from the earth or from each other establish a particular relationship, a duty of sorts to give, to receive, and to exchange. The field gave to us, we gave to my dad, and we tried to give back to the strawberries. When the berry season was done, the plants would send out its red runners to make new plants. So I would weed out little fields of ground where the runners touched down. Sure enough, tiny little roots would emerge from the runner and by the end of the season there were even more plants, ready to bloom under the next strawberry season. No person taught us this — the strawberries showed us. Because they had given us a gift, an ongoing relationship opened between us.

5 . I arrived in Lunenburg three weeks ago. It took a while to get _______ to the different way of life here. The main reason for coming here is to collect some of the _______folk songs of Canada, but one of the other reasons why I come here _______ is that Lunenburg has been given a protected status in Canada. This means that its buildings, the design of the town, and even certain industries, have to be _______. Even though that is the case, there are still many examples of _______ life, including the ability to send emails.

Lunenburg only really has one community. Most of the _______ know each other and few new people are moving in. Actually, more young people are leaving than are coming in, leaving a(n) _______ population. The people I want to speak to the most are those _______ the fishing industry.

So far, I have made friends with a couple called John and Mary. They both have relatives who worked on the fishing trade, _______ over a hundred years.

Fishing became a key part of Lunenburg in the mid-19th century. Because it ________ the Atlantic, it was an important port for the whole of Nova Scotia. In the 1920s, it became an important place for shipbuilding. Then, during the First and Second World Wars, it was used to ________ ships and submarines. As a result, a lot of different ________ stayed there for a while.

John told me that many of the folk songs he learnt as a ________were from all over Europe because soldiers would sing them in the public house where his parents entertained them. Luckily for me, both John and Mary also have a very good ________ for the old songs that their grandparents taught them. Some of these folk songs are reckoned to be over one hundred and fifty years old. Besides, I went to a ________ yesterday where I heard a local singer sing new songs about the dangers of fishing.

There is plenty more history to learn about this unique town.

6 . “I don’t want to see that cat in our yard again,” my husband said as he shooed the beautiful cat back into the neighbor’s yard. “I don’t appreciate her cat ________ in our yard,” he insisted. Sighing, I sent off a quick________ to our sweet neighbor, Cheryl, informing her of my husband’s ________ of cats. “I’ll do my best,” she replied some time later, “but it’s kind of hard ________ where she goes when I let her outside.”

The following morning, John stood at the window in our bedroom. “You aren’t going to ________ this,” he said in a low voice. “Come look!” “Oh, my God!” I cried ________. Right in the center of our yard were two ________ groundhogs (土拨鼠). John raised the ________, and the two raced into the woods ________. That evening, I happened to glance out the window, only to see a big fat groundhog chewing on the flowers we’d planted. “Something’s got to be done!” John shouted. He surfed the Internet and looked up what ________ the groundhog could cause and how they could be ________. “The groundhogs do not like cats. That’s ________… in fact, they hate the ________ of soiled kitty litter. Um… why don’t you text Cheryl and let her know the cat ban has been ________?” I couldn’t help smiling to myself.

That evening, we spotted the sweet yellow cat in our yard searching mice. The groundhogs were nowhere to be ________. “It’s a beautiful evening, isn’t it?” My husband smiled as we sat on the sofa.

As an independent, self-reliant person who always handled everything by myself, I didn’t expect parenting to be hard. Oh, sure, it’s difficult for other people. I heard parents complaining all the time — kids are challenging; nothing is ever clean; there’s not enough time in the day to do everything. But that was “other people” and I knew I could handle it. How complicated could it be?

I’d always dreamed of adopting a child, and finally my dream came true one summer afternoon. Even though we had requested only one child, the worker asked, “Could you take another baby and his eleven-year-old brother?” Of course, we could. We had room to have all three boys together.

The first week after they moved in, I spent my days rushing from task to task, cleaning and making sure they had all they needed. I constantly organized our living room, which was suddenly full of toys, and picked up the path of destruction left in the boys’ wake. Cooking and cleaning after meals and snacks seemed to take half of my day. I hardly ever sat; something always needed to be done.

“I think we need a break,” my husband told me one evening as I was falling asleep on the couch as usual.

“No,” I refused. The idea of sending them to a stranger sickened me. However, with each passing day, I was growing more and more exhausted. Besides meeting the physical needs of the boys, there were medical and emotional needs. Both the little ones constantly clung (黏住) to me. It was never quiet in our house; I felt overwhelmed.

One night, my husband said firmly that he needed a break. Whether I “needed” one or not, we were going to take one. With tears rolling down my cheeks, I nodded, knowing it was true, although I didn’t want to admit my weakness.

I called my parents.

Asking for help is something I must keep re-learning as time goes on, but it’s getting easier.