Tomato Changed My Life
Doing things-without being planned was never my strength.
As a 14-year-old, I would refuse to go for walks around the block with my friends if I was the least bit behind in my schoolwork.
Unlike most teenagers, I lived not in my room, but in an unused kitchen upstairs where I spread my books and papers on a large round table. I spent considerable time there, working continuously for hours, and my mother worried. She would try to lure (引诱) me away. “Come and watch the parade!” she would call from downstairs. “All neighbors are out there!” She thought of all kinds of tricks-the swimming pool, ice cream, stray cats and turtles-to remove me from my -studies, but nothing ever worked.
Later, in college, the pattern continued. The library and my college dorm replaced the unused kitchen at home. When spring came along friends would stop by my dorm or peer into my library room to persuade me to play Frisbee on the lawn. “No, I would almost always say.” I have too much to do.
My college study days were gone, but not my need and love for schedules. My friends and sisters tried to keep me away from my plans, but they were hardly ever successful.
This summer, though, while house sitting for my parents, I was persuaded to change my plans in the most unexpected way. The sight of tomatoes growing in my mother’s garden lured me out of my tightly scheduled world. They drew me with the power of a lover’s gaze. Hundreds of them were turning ripe and red by the minute, decorating the garden like decorations on a Christmas tree.
“If I have time, I’ll make tomato sauce (番茄酱).” I told myself. But my long week in the house by myself was already filled with things to do: writing, and finishing a project that I brought home from the office.
Then, watching the fascinating tomatoes continuously falling to the ground in ever-greater numbers, again I mentally argued about all the things I had planned and needed to do.
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。
Finally, I gave in.
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A month later, my parents came back.
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It was Saturday. My daughter was showing me something in the backyard when I heard my name called out. I turned around and saw a little boy. “William!” I cried in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m helping my daddy lay turf,” he answered proudly.
“I’m sure he appreciates that,” I said. “This is William,” I told my daughter. “One of my students. He’s a joy to have in class.”
It was true. Little William was a delight. And even though he struggled with his reading, he never once complained. There was a brightness he brought with him wherever he went.
I’d never forget the day in class when another student was having trouble understanding the lesson. “Don’t worry,” William had told her, “Sometimes, second grade is really hard.” He was a gentle soul, wise beyond his years.
Still, I couldn’t help but worry. Despite his firm determination, William’s grades were poor. Some days, I wondered if he’d be able to pass.
Back at school, William’s grades showed no sign of improvement until the last few weeks of the year. As a class project, each child planted a sunflower seed in one of those containers small plant beds came in. I did this every year, with varying results. Planting the seeds was exciting for many of the students, the growing part much less so. It took too long to see results from daily watering, and most kids had little patience for it. They lost interest and forgot to care for their sunflowers-to-be.
But not William. Every afternoon, William made sure all the containers were watered and nurtured (培育). By the last week of school, the shoots were about four inches tall. I was amazed. In years past, few seeds successfully sprouted (发芽). And those that did had never gotten so tall. But these were different. These were William’s sunflowers.
The head caretaker maintained the flower beds on the school grounds. Before summer, I asked if he’d mind planting our seedlings (幼苗). We picked out the perfect spot behind the library. It could clearly be seen from the street. We transferred (转移) all 20 seedlings and hoped for the best.
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。
William managed to enter third grade.
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But when I saw them, I had to stop the car.
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After starting to play basketball at just four years old, Riley Morrison became fond of the sport. Now, the nine-year-old spends most of her time practicing her skills and playing for a basketball team in California.
When she’s not playing basketball herself, the fourth grader likes watching her favorite basketball player, Stephen Curry, play for the Golden State Warriors, which also happens to be Morrison’s favorite NBA team. According to Morrison, she has been a longtime fan of Curry because of his impressive and dynamic basketball skills that lead to him being awarded MVP more than once as well as a few championship titles. And when Morrison goes to Warrior games with her dad, Chris Morrison, she always wears her No. 30 Warriors shirt to show support for her favorite player.
However, Morrison isn’t Curry’s fan just for his basketball skills. For Morrison and other young girl basketball players, Curry is a hero because of what he has been doing for women’s rights. Besides supporting his wife, Ayesha, and their two young daughters, Curry has hosted a girls’ basketball camp to encourage young women athletes.
When Morrison was starting her basketball season this year, she needed to get new sneakers (运动鞋) as her old ones were getting too small and too worn. It didn’t take long for the 9-year-old to decide she wanted to play in Under Armour’s Curry 5 sneakers.
After asking her dad about the sneakers, the pair went on the Under Armour website to look for Morrison’s dream shoes. Unfortunately, the Curry 5 sneakers weren’t available for girls. Instead, the sneakers were only available on the website’s boys’ section.
Chris could tell how upset his daughter was. He suggested she do something about it if she felt it was unfair. “Well maybe you can write a letter,” Chris told her daughter.
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。
The nine-year-old immediately (立即) got to work writing her letter.
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Several days later, Curry responded with his own hand-written letter.
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Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off” said the teacher to her class.
An extra day off unsuited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.
“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.
“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”
“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.
Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. I trained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing videogames inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours.
Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped here yes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.
“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents，
“Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”
“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右;2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At first Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________But things began to change as she was doing the chores.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I had never been more anxious in my life. I had just spent the last three endless hours trying to get to the airport so that I could travel home. Now, as I watched the bus driver set my luggage on the airport sidewalk, I realized that my anxiety had only just begun.
This was my first visit alone to the international terminal of the airport, and nothing was familiar. I could not make sense of any of the signs. Where was the check-in counter? Where should I take my luggage? I had no idea where to go, feeling as if I were deaf and blind and stupid. I began to panic. What time was it? Where was my plane? I had to find help because I could not be late!
I tried to ask a passing businessman for help, but my words all came out wrong. He just frowned and walked away. What had happened? I had been in this country for a whole semester, and I could not even remember how to ask for directions. This was awful! Another bus arrived at the terminal, and the passengers came out carrying all sorts of luggage. Here was my chance! I could follow them to the right place, and I would not have to say a word.
I dragged my enormous suitcase behind me and followed the group. We finally reached the elevators. Oh, no! They all fit in it, but there was not enough room for me. I watched in despair as the elevator doors closed. I was abandoned again! I had no idea what to do next. I got on the elevator when it returned and stared at all the buttons. Which one could it be? I pressed button 3, because I thought I saw those passengers pressed 3, though it was no more than a quick glance. The elevator slowly climbed up to the third floor and came to a stop. A high, unpleasant noise announced the opening of the doors, and I looked around shyly.
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。
Tears formed in my eyes as I saw the empty hall and realized that I would miss my plane.
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When I turned to thank him for all his help, he was gone.
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One day two years ago, my mother came home from work and announced that she had found a pet for the family. My father, little sister, and I eyed her in doubt.
My sister asked what kind of dog it was. My mother said it was a poodle (贵宾犬) named Pepe. I couldn’t believe she wanted a poodle — especially one with such an ordinary name. But she had made up her mind. “Actually, I’m doing a co-worker a favor,” she said. “The woman who owns Pepe says he hates to be alone and needs children to play with him.”
Pepe arrived the next night. His short tail shook happily. I didn’t get very close to him, thinking he should have stayed with his previous owner. My little sister played with him until bedtime, and he would come to me and begged for more attention. I always ignored him. But no matter how I treated him, he’d always like to be with me. He has always been waiting for me at the front door at the end of the day, smiling happily. He seems to know that I will be coming home from school at that time. Every day, he asks me with his eyes to play with him or take him somewhere. At night, he will wait until I fall asleep, leave his bed by the wall heater, walk down the hall and jump onto the end of my bed.
One night, while everyone was sleeping, I was in a half dream state. My throat hurt, my eyes pained, and some animal was crying in my ear. I opened my eyes and saw fog in my room. I wondered who left the window open. Pepe cried and bit my pajama sleeve (睡衣袖). Then I woke up and realized that it wasn’t fog in my room — it was smoke.
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。
Standing up, I couldn’t breathe.
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I turned off the burner with Pepe around me.
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An Unforgivable Mistake
A few years ago, the company I work for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I’ve always loved jogging, so I was really happy when I found the apartment they had rented for us was next to Central Park. This meant that every morning I could go for a run before I went to work.
Because a lot of people had told me to be careful of muggers (行凶抢劫者) in the park, I didn’t usually take anything with me. How could they rob me if I didn’t have anything? But one morning my wife asked me to buy some bread on the way home, so I put a $10 bill in my back pocket.
It was a beautiful morning and the park was quiet with very few people walking or jogging around. While I was running, another jogger bumped (撞) into me. He apologized and continued running. For a while, I didn’t think too much of it. However, when I noticed the wide path where I was running, I thought it was kind of strange. The warning of muggers in the park occurred to me. It could have been a mugger! I suddenly became alarmed, so I checked my pocket. The money was missing! I immediately started to run after the jogger. I finally caught up with and grabbed him firmly by the arm. I started shouting and demanding that he give me the $10 bill. I’m not usually a hot-headed person, but I really lost my temper at that moment. I couldn’t believe the robbery was actually happening to me. Filled with anger, I shook my fist at him. This seemed to frighten him. He quickly put his hand in his pocket and gave me the money. Then he ran away as fast as he could.
I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to tell my wife the story. “You won’t believe what happened to me,” I started with pride. She immediately interrupted (插话), “I know, you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.”
注意：续写词数应为150左右。Paragraph 1:
Looking at the money on the table, I stood there, shocked.
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For several days, I waited at the same place.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Little Boy
A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and shabby and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at them.
The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy’s parents told him to stay away from the house, and a lot of other neighborhood children were told the same thing from their parents.
Dusk found the boy lingering on and hesitating what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. “What do you want?” the old man said impatiently. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota (定额) to meet for school with selling the magazines. So he got up the courage and said, “Uh, Sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”
The old man just stared at the boy without a word. The boy could see inside the old man’s house and saw that he had dog figurines (小雕像) on the fireplace mantle. “Do you collect dogs?” The little boy asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.
“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” The old man was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”
The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
The little boy headed back down to the old man’s house.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________From that day on something changed inside the old man.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One morning, my family and I woke up and went to eat breakfast—until we heard barking and scratching at the door. When my mom opened the door, we saw a puppy (小狗). We looked around to see if we could find its owner, but there was no one. We took it inside and fed it.
Regardless of how badly I wanted to keep the puppy, we decided to look for the owner. We looked all day, but we failed. We talked about whether we should keep looking or if we should look the next day. We all agreed to look for its owner the next day.
So the next day my family and I looked for the dog’s owner. It was so hard looking for its owner. We were looking for flyers (传单) that involved the puppy, but no luck.
“We won’t stop looking,” my mom and dad said. We were going to take care of the puppy until we found its owner.
When we woke up in the morning, we went to a pet shop to buy the puppy some dog food. After that we went back home to feed the puppy, and then we gave it a nice bath. It was so dirty that the fur was black and sticky, but after we gave it a bath, it turned white. And I noticed there was a collar (项圈) on him, which said “Coby”. After a while, we went to look for the puppy’s owner, but my mom stayed at home, and it was only my dad and me this time.
We continued looking until we found a flyer. We looked at it. It said, “Lost Dog: Please Help if Found.” Then we looked at the picture; it looked exactly like Coby. We were all happy we found a flyer that was for Coby.
There was a phone number on the flyer.
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We found the lady’s house, and then we knocked on the door.
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It was September 10, a warm Wednesday morning. Jennifer, a fifteen-year-old girl, was monitor of Class 908.As usual, she got up early, dressed herself and rushed out to the bus stop without breakfast. She was supposed to arrive at school at 7:00 o’clock because some of her classmates were planning to prepare for the celebration of Teachers’ Day.
When she got to the classroom, some of the students started to decorate their classroom with colorful paper-cuttings and balloons. Others went out to buy cakes, soft drinks and fruit. The blackboard was decorated with beautiful words, which read “Happy Teachers’ Day!”.
Mr Li, head teacher of that class, must have found it strange enough when he got close to the classroom. It was too quiet as if no student was in. He had never thought a complete surprise was waiting for him.
Entering the classroom, Mr Li was greatly surprised to find all the students standing in line, clapping hands and saying loudly “Happy Teachers’ Day!”. The girls began to sing songs for Mr Li and three boys showed their Chinese kung fu talent. So excited was Mr Li that he sang a new English song for all the students. What a wonderful time they were having!
At last, Jennifer, on behalf of the class, stood up, walking to the respectable teacher with the prepared flowers. She was about to present Mr Li with the flowers when she got fainted and fell to the ground. Immediately, Jennifer was sent to the hospital.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
Jennifer was found to have dangerously low blood sugar level.
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Jennifer’s case is a reminder of the dangers of the unhealthy habit.
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