It was an unusually quiet day in the emergency room. Quiet, that is, except for the nurses who were standing around the nurses’ station complaining about having to work on Christmas Day.
I was triage (分诊) nurse that day. Since there were no patients waiting to be seen at the time, I came back to the nurses’ station for a cup of hot cider. Just then an admitting clerk came back and told me I had five patients waiting to be evaluated. “Five, how did I get five? I was just out there and no one was in the waiting room.” I complained. So I went straight out and called the first name. Five bodies showed up at my triage desk, a pale woman and four small children in somewhat messy clothing.
“Are you all sick?” I asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” she said weakly, and lowered her head.
“Okay,” I replied, unconvinced, “who’s first?” One by one they sat down, and I asked the usual questions. When it came to descriptions of their presenting problems, things got a little vague. A six-year-old girl had a headache, but the headache wasn’t accompanied by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still. Three children had earaches, but only one could tell me which ear was affected. The mother complained of a cough, but seemed to work to produce it.
Something was wrong with the picture. Our hospital policy, however, was not to turn away any patient, so we would see them. I checked the chart after the admitting clerk finished registering the family. No address—they were homeless. The waiting room was warm.
I went back to the nurse station and mentioned we had a homeless family in the waiting room. The nurses, complaining about working on Christmas Day, turned to sympathy for a family just trying to get warm on Christmas. The team went into action as much as we do when there’s a medical emergency. But this one was a Christmas emergency.
We took turns joining in the waiting room.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As the family were to leave, the six-year-old came running back.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 . In the Pascucci household, putting up Christmas lights was always a big day of celebration and a family affair. Every year, Anthony Pascucci, the male head of the family, and his older sister, Connie Pascucci, and Anthony’s son, Anthony Jr., and daughter, Sara, pitched in it.
In 2020, Anthony Sr., 60, tied colorful lights all around their roof until it looked as if the brightness of the lights could counter some of the darkness of the past year with COVID-19. However, just several days after Christmas Eve the pandemic claimed his life.
Sara says the next weeks were the worst of her life. But when she pulled up to the house at the end of a long day, the twinkling Christmas lights brought her a spark of joy. Taking the lights down felt like a final act of closure she wasn’t ready to take. So she kept them up.
One day Sara received an unsigned letter which read “Take your Christmas lights down! It’s Valentine’s Day!!!” Sara was shocked and angry. She decided to post the letter. “I wanted to remind people that we all had a tough year and people should be a little more caring toward each other,” she says.
“I know what it feels like to lose someone and not want to put their things away. It’s very hard,” one man commented. And something strange began to happen. Sara was driving back from work one day when she noticed that Christmas lights were appearing—or reappearing—on neighbors’ houses. The mystery had a sweet explanation: Her neighbors had gotten together and decided, collectively, to hang their lights back up and turn them back on in honor of Sara’s father.
“To see the lights and the block lit up again,” Sara says, “it touched my heart.” A few weeks later, Sara decided she was ready to take down the lights. Sara said it was hard to pack them away—“but not as hard as I think it would have been if we hadn’t experienced all that support and love.”
1. In Sara’s family, putting up Christmas lights ______.| A．was a family routine |
| B．was Anthony’s responsibility |
| C．was the biggest event in a year |
| D．could remove the darkness of the past year |
| A．they reminded her of her father |
| B．it was still Christmas season then |
| C．it was too troublesome to remove them |
| D．they were extremely colorful and bright |
| A．ask for netizens’ help |
| B．share her anger and shock |
| C．criticize the person who wrote the letter |
| D．appeal to people to care about others more |
| A．Up in lights. | B．Sara’s sweet neighbors. |
| C．An unforgettable Christmas. | D．Let your neighbors’ lights on. |
17-year-old Tammy lives on the Little Acres Farm with her family. In October, they create a successful hay maze (干草堆的迷宫) on the farm and people buy tickets to get in. However, people like to see pumpkins on Halloween, and the farm doesn’t have very good pumpkins.
One morning, Tammy’s father told her, “The Shelby Farm is planning a hay maze this year, which means they are going to compete with us.” “Oh no!” said Tammy, “they’ll take away our business!” “Well, we’ll just have to make ours bigger and better,” Dad suggested. “Tammy, you have good social skills. I need you to go over to the farm and see what they are up to,” Dad said. “Can I trust you to do a good job?” “Of course you can, Dad!” she said. “I’ll find out what’s going on and come back with a full report!”
Early the next morning, Tammy took her bicycle and went to find out information about the Shelby’s plan for the maze. When she got to the farm, Mr. Shelby was staring at piles of hay in front of the barn, looking confused. In his hand was a bright orange pumpkin.
“Hello, Mr. Shelby,” she smiled, “how lovely the pumpkin is! If only our farm had pumpkins like it.” “Thank you, Tammy. I’m glad you like it. Why not take it home as a gift for your family? We got a plentiful harvest of good pumpkins this year.” “Thanks, you are so kind and generous.” When Mr. Shelby handed the pumpkin to Tammy, he sighed, “How I wish my farm had a hay maze as beautiful as the pumpkin.” Looking at the pumpkin in hand and the piles of hay in front of the barn, Tammy had an idea in her mind.
When Tammy got home, she showed the pumpkin to Dad as well as her solution to the current situation.
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 have a great plan,” Tammy said, “which can benefit both farms.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tammy rode back to the Shelby Farm to fulfill her plan.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 . Eight years ago, Al Nixon decided to begin each day from a bench with a spectacular view of the St. Petersburg, Florida, waterfront. “I call it ‘life rising’ because watching a
A year later, a woman stopped to say hello. “She said, ‘You know, every morning when I see you
Instead of
So, every morning, weather
No matter what problem a person wants to air, Nixon
| A．sunset | B．woman | C．sunrise | D．newspaper |
| A．running | B．standing | C．sitting | D．sleeping |
| A．money | B．nothing | C．price | D．attention |
| A．mattered | B．talked | C．wrote | D．shouted |
| A．nearly | B．simply | C．hardly | D．really |
| A．walks | B．romances | C．music | D．conversations |
| A．joining | B．leaving | C．joking | D．judging |
| A．professional | B．personal | C．national | D．traditional |
| A．worsening | B．improving | C．permitting | D．changing |
| A．selfishness | B．loneliness | C．foolishness | D．openness |
| A．strangers | B．children | C．friends | D．colleagues |
| A．trains | B．covers | C．stops | D．lends |
| A．unlovely | B．unlikely | C．untimely | D．unfriendly |
| A．walk up | B．dress up | C．cheer up | D．shut up |
| A．city | B．sea | C．sun | D．bench |
There was a time when my favorite thing to do in the entire world was to play in the woods near our house. A river ran through them, so not only could I climb branches, but I could turn over rocks on the riverbank and find baby eels (鳗鱼).
My favorite book was called Guide to Reptiles (爬行动物). My father had given it to me for my birthday, and I read every page over and over, looking at the pictures of colorful animals. Some of the snakes were the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen, and some were described as poisonous, but still an important part of the ecosystem.
Little did I know that my book would end up saving a life.
My family moved to Virginia, into a new house. The houses were so new that no one had lived in them before. In fact, woods had been there first, and almost all the trees had been cut down to make room for houses and driveways. Inside our new house, everything smelled like fresh paint. Outside, no lawns had been planted, but my father tossed out grass seed and baby seedlings grew. My brother Patrick and I could not walk on them. We had to play in the driveway.
All the same, I liked our new house. One of the best things about living near the woods were the animals that would come into our yard. Rabbits and turtles came over every night. It seemed as if they were only trying to go home, and instead, what they had found was a big new land where their old homes used to be.
Besides playing in the driveway, we spent time in a sandbox, which my father built right next to the driveway. One day before dinner, I ran to the sandbox to build a castle but found there in the sandbox was a snake.
It was lying very still, and it was beautiful. The snake had rings of color around it-red, then white, then yellow, then black. I had seen a picture just like it in my reptile book, and I remembered that it was one of the prettiest snakes in it. It said in the book that the poisonous snake looked very much like it. I was scared and ran inside.
Para 1: “Dad! Dad! There’s a snake in the sandbox!” I yelled.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Para 2: Two hours after the call, the zoo expert arrived with a secure container.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 . Age is truly just a number if our hearts are young. Lee Minor, an 85-year-old retired psychologist, has
“I like to run in all kinds of
Minor’s enthusiasm for running is
Last fall, Robert graduated from the university, despite the challenges of his illness. “When I went across the stage, and as I’m getting my
The stories of Minor and Robert are reminders that age and illness need not
| A．proven | B．approved | C．won | D．imagined |
| A．starting | B．center | C．finishing | D．bottom |
| A．depressed | B．thrilled | C．calm | D．uneasy |
| A．weather | B．zones | C．illness | D．phases |
| A．position | B．footprints | C．reflections | D．route |
| A．infectious | B．temporary | C．blind | D．restricted |
| A．wait | B．abandon | C．exist | D．run |
| A．award | B．suspend | C．quit | D．pursue |
| A．powerful | B．visible | C．boring | D．accurate |
| A．uniform | B．application | C．certificate | D．license |
| A．slid away | B．gave up | C．broke in | D．choked out |
| A．emotional | B．identical | C．financial | D．abstract |
| A．enjoy | B．reject | C．doubt | D．expect |
| A．save | B．define | C．distinguish | D．witness |
| A．scholarship | B．fitness | C．passion | D．career |
Last year, during the summer break, my friends and I decided to go for a walk in the forest. The forest had paths, and we decided that we would hike along the paths and meet at a central point to have a drink later. The whole team had several groups and we had planned on meeting with the rest of the team after three hours. I had a lighter,a partially charged phone, and a bottle of water. We continued on our way towards the deeper part of the forest until we were far from any recognizable trail. After two hours, we were in the deepest part of the forest, and we could not trace our other friends.
All of a sudden,a bear came rushing along our path, and we all run in different directions. After running for about five minutes,I stood alone in a bush. I had no clue about my surroundings as I had never been.there before.I shouted at my friends’ names loudly, but all was in vain:there was no reply, and the whole place was silent. I was confused and felt like crying as I realized I was alone with nothing to protect myself.With a lot of fear,I tried to trace the part where I had come from, but all was useless:l was lost.
As I walked along the path trying to locate my friends, I realized that I was tired, and nothing was looking familiar. I was out of food, water, and barely had any battery in my phone. I decided to walk through the bushes as the trees had grown so close together. I squeezed myself between the little trees. After some thirty minutes, it started raining heavily. Though I had heavy clothing,I was rained on until I was soaked up.I started freezing and praying to the God for protection and direction out of the forest.
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;
With darkness approaching,I tried to figure out various ways of making a signal to my colleagues.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
While sitting down and warming myself around the fire,I heard some distant noise.-
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . Qidai is a new film released in 2023. It tells a son, who is a musician living and performing in Beijing, returns to take care of his mother, who
The musician brings his mother back to their old house in the countryside, but the mother who is often lost in
After discovering that his mother was
The film re-explores the
| A．reveals | B．becomes | C．permits | D．gives |
| A．admiration | B．romance | C．confusion | D．panic |
| A．adding | B．connecting | C．reacting | D．appealing |
| A．unwillingly | B．repeatedly | C．possibly | D．delightedly |
| A．break up | B．clear up | C．give up | D．pack up |
| A．scenery | B．moment | C．location | D．nest |
| A．element | B．relationship | C．foundation | D．gratitude |
| A．prevent | B．discourage | C．ban | D．excuse |
| A．net | B．rope | C．label | D．cloth |
| A．nailed | B．wrapped | C．fastened | D．locked |
| A．even | B．rather | C．just | D．ever |
| A．exact | B．rare | C．initial | D．final |
| A．client | B．prisoner | C．bride | D．child |
| A．symbolizes | B．declares | C．establishes | D．shows |
| A．continue | B．build | C．value | D．discover |
9 . As they say, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” This old proverb was brought to life in a whole
Just a minor 500-mile difference, but who’s counting? TikToker SophAlice posted a video of the
“When you thought you had booked
The video received millions of
Suggestions for locations started flooding in - everything from a super fancy spa to Bran Castle. Not to mention the
Life doesn’t always go according to
| A．strange | B．new | C．direct | D．outdated |
| A．otherwise | B．instead | C．therefore | D．besides |
| A．family | B．colleague | C．pair | D．hiker |
| A．put | B．took | C．kept | D．set |
| A．comments | B．gifts | C．warnings | D．apologies |
| A．flights | B．rooms | C．magazines | D．attractions |
| A．different | B．funny | C．similar | D．logical |
| A．complaints | B．tickets | C．views | D．photos |
| A．underlined | B．underrated | C．undergone | D．understood |
| A．broke | B．delayed | C．messed | D．happened |
| A．nicer | B．uglier | C．bigger | D．farther |
| A．recommendation | B．instruction | C．landmark | D．argument |
| A．shooting | B．saving | C．forgetting | D．documenting |
| A．mistake | B．approach | C．imagination | D．plan |
| A．make up | B．break down | C．make for | D．hunt for |
In my twenties, I went far from home to study in America. Due to limited financial resources from my parents, I worked part-time on campus to pay for my bills. In addition, I did cleaning every Friday for an American family. If I was lucky enough, I could occasionally babysit a child for extra money.
Like most poor people, I had to be careful with every penny I spent, from food and clothing to rent and transportation. Because of a tight grocery budget, I couldn’t afford to buy fish, beef or certain other nutritious food. Due to an imbalanced diet, I would easily feel weak and listless.
As soon as Dai Mom realized that I was encountering financial hardship, she lovingly invited me to her home for dinner every Friday and weekend. In addition, whenever it was time to return home, she would always prepare me with some homemade dessert or food to take home. Her kind actions, like the seeds of love planted in my heart, profoundly changed my life. In particular, there was one event that I would always remember.
One early evening, while I was walking out of the library, I felt my blood sugar running low. I started to feel dizzy, and my hands started to shake a little. Searching my pockets, I found that I only had a few dollars left. I was dying for a free and tasty dinner. Without a second thought, I quickly headed for Dai Mom’s home, rather than go back to my apartment.
As I got to the door, Dai Mom immediately noticed my fatigue(疲劳). She seated me at the dining table, and before long, a plate of food was set in front of me on the table. “Have dinner. Don’t make yourself work so hard,’’ she said to me with a nice smile.
Staring at the meat, vegetables, and fish on my plate, I suddenly felt so spoiled that tears started welling up in my eyes, rolling down on my face, and dripping to the food on the plate. I gobbled up all the food with indescribably bitter-sweet feelings.
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:
To be specific, during that period of time, my extremely tight financial difficulties only allowed me $10 for my weekly groceries.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Dai Mom was an angel to be my guardian.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
