In a few short weeks I will be going to watch my 40th performance of Les Miserables (《悲惨世界》). I fell in love with the songs back in 1985 when they were first released — Bring Him Home, I Dreamed A Dream and On My Own. Even as a head teacher, I hadn’t read the Victor Hugo novel and knew very little about the musical, but the songs captured my attention instantly and I happily sang along whenever I heard them on the radio.
Five years later I set out on a trip around the world with my wife and daughter. On one of our stops in Vancouver, Canada, I saw a large advertising banner promoting Les Miserables and immediately suggested booking tickets. On the drive to the theatre, we discussed what we knew of the storyline — nothing but the French Revolution. But we did love the rollercoaster ride of emotions and the tragic story of Jean Valjean when enjoying it.
On the late-night drive home, on a high after this amazing performance, I announced that I wanted to perform in the musical when we returned to Australia. This was an incredible statement, given we lived 50 kilometers from the nearest large town, Toowoomba. There was little likelihood of ever having a chance to perform. But the Toowoomba Choral Society bought the performance rights in 1992 with the view to perform it in 1994. I had seen a few of their performances but was not a member of the choir. They called for auditions and, emboldened by the chance to be part of the “Les Mis” experience, I went along. I had had no experience singing and had never performed in any musicals but I believed in miracles and hoped for a place for me somewhere in the chorus.
I tried out for the part of Javert with others as well as the students from the University of Southern Queensland. Rehearsals (排练) started immediately and I got a crash course in singing, acting and dancing. There was so much to learn and as I drove to rehearsals three times a week a little voice would say, “You are in over your head, get out now.”
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 rehearsal process was tough.
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Opening night was amazing.
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One summer when I was ten years old,my brother and I received a wonderful gift — tennis rackets (球拍) and balls. We had never had the opportunity to play tennis, so this was exciting. However, there was one problem — the small town we lived in did not have a tennis court (网球场).
One Saturday morning my brother said, “Hey, I’ve got an idea.Let’s take our tennis rackets and balls to the school and hit the balls against the school building.”
“Great idea! Let’s go,” I agreed, not realizing what a lesson we would learn.
When we got to the school ground, no one was around, so we began hitting our balls against the side of the building. “I’ll hit it the first time,” my brother suggested,“then you hit it the next time. We’ll hit it back and forth to each other.” So we began taking turns hitting the ball, getting more confident with each hit. Actually, we became pretty good at returning the ball and we were hitting the ball higher and faster each time. Suddenly, the unexpected thing happened — the ball got out of control and went crashing through one of the upstairs windows, leaving lots of broken glass on the ground. We looked around and no one was in sight except there was a guard sitting there over a distance.
Quietly, I asked, “Now what should I do?”
“Well,” my brother answered, “no one saw us, except that old man down there. And he probably can’t see this far.”
“He probably doesn’t know who we are anyway... Let’s go home,” I added.
As we picked up the rest of our balls and went home, we discussed whether to tell Mom and Dad what had happened. Would we be punished for our mistakes? Would every penny we had saved go to pay for the window? Or just keep it a secret? We thought about all these things all the way.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
But that decision was made the moment we walked into the house.
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On Monday, my brother and I went to school.
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It took place in a teacher’s family. One day, Ben was playing basketball in the living room after school, when he accidentally threw the ball at a vase sitting on the shelf. The vase dropped to the floor and a large piece broke off. What made Ben more upset was that the vase was not a common decoration but an antique (古董), which was handed down through generations from the 18th century. It was also his mother’s favourite possession. To cover his terrible action, the terrified boy glued the pieces together hurriedly and put the vase back to its place.
As the mother herself dusted the vase every day, she naturally noticed the cracks (裂纹) that evening. To her surprise, the repair work was actually very good. At dinner time, she asked her boy if he broke the vase. Fearing punishment, the suddenly inspired boy said that a neighbour’s cat jumped in from the window and he couldn’t drive it away no matter how hard he tried. It raced around the living room and finally knocked the vase off its shelf. His mother was quite clear that her son was lying, for all the windows were closed before she left for work each morning and opened after she returned. However, in the face of her son’s nervous eyes and the suspicious looks of the other family members, Ben’s mother remained calm. She realized she shouldn’t just simply blame and punish her son for lying. She came up with another idea.
Before going to bed, the boy found a note from his mother in his room, asking him to go to the study at once. The boy thought he would now be punished but, as he had already lied, he was determined to deny everything to the end, no matter how angry his mum became.
In the study, calmly bathed in the light, his mothers face showed no sign of anger. On seeing her son push open the door and cautiously enter, she took a chocolate box out of a drawer and gave him one.
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 mother said, “This chocolate is a reward for your imagination: a window-opening cat!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now with some chocolates in hand, the boy’s bad attitude disappeared.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My husband and I recently made a cross-country move to Florida with our young child Dave. It was a quiet street with few people living there. Our neighbor was an old couple, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith, both over seventy years old and energetic. They were kind enough to help us clean our house and yard, for our new home was in a mess.
Weeks before Thanksgiving arrived, my anxiety about it increased. “We should start thinking about plans for Thanksgiving dinner,” I suggested. “Don’t worry about it,” my husband said, “Heat up some hot dogs, maybe some cheese, and the kid will be happy.” That sounded great. I was in relief!
In the past holidays, I had never been responsible for cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner. My job was always to bring drinks or a side dish and help clean up after the meal. But one day my son Dave happily showed his newly-created turkey crafts. “Let’s go on a walk and try to find a rock that looks like turkey!” Dave shouted to me, “Take me on a walk, Mommy!” The excitement was building, and I had a feeling that hot dogs were not going to be enough for my child on Thanksgiving.
“I’m going to try and prepare Thanksgiving food, Leonard,” I said to my husband late one night. He eyed me incredibly. “Are you sure?” Then he said, “Okay, then, if you think you can do it.”
I went to the grocery store early Thanksgiving morning. Unfortunately, only a huge turkey remained, so I had no choice but to buy a thirty-pound turkey. I dragged (拖拽) the bagged turkey home. When my family saw it, they got a big surprise at its size. Seeing the surprise on their faces, I realized there was no way we could finish the turkey. It’s too big for my family. “There was only one turkey left in the store.” I explained. “But how could we finish the turkey?” I asked my husband and Dave. Dave said we could invite our neighbor, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, to share with us. It seemed a good idea.
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。
We reached the agreement on inviting the couple.
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Seeing my husband and I were clumsy (笨拙的) at preparing dinner, the couple offered to give us a hand.
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Nilsa stared at the clock on the classroom wall, daydreaming about lunch. Her mother had prepared a thermos (保温瓶) full of sancocho. It was one of Nilsa’s favorite dishes, and the national dish of Panama — a country in central America and the hometown of Nilsa’s family. Just thinking about sancocho made her mouth water.
Finally, it was time for lunch. Nilsa carefully poured some sancocho into a bowl. When she looked up, she saw her classmates staring.
“What is that? It smells really bad,” said Gus, covering his nose. “It’s sancocho,” Nilsa responded. “It’s kind of like chicken soup.” Codi glanced at the bowl and said, “Soup? It’s more like a science experiment.” He laughed, pointed to his lunch, and asked, “That’s one weird lunch. Why don’t you eat something normal, like pizza?”
Nilsa looked at everyone else’s lunches: pizza, fries, and sandwiches. Suddenly she didn’t feel hungry any more.
When Nilsa returned home and complained about her classmates’ negative comments, her mother wasn’t mad. Instead, she listened attentively and reminded Nilsa that there is no such thing as “normal” or “weird” food, and that different cultures have their own unique dishes that are loved and appreciated by those who grew up with them.
Nilsa’s mother also suggested making a fresh batch for Nilsa to bring to school the next day. “Then you can share it with your classmates and tell them sancocho tastes great, and that our family has been eating it for hundreds of years. Your great-grandmother taught your grandmother who then taught me.
Nilsa nodded in excitement, and she was grateful for the opportunity to share her favorite dish with her classmates.
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 next day at lunch, Nilsa pulled out her thermos.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Nilsa returned home and greeted her mother that day, her happiness was beyond description.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mary waited anxiously for her turn in the empty dressing room. Never had she been so nervous before. This competition was of vital importance to her comeback. “If I can win today,” she said to herself, “I can dance on the national stage next month.” Three months ago, her left arm was seriously injured in a car accident. After the medical treatment, she began to recover slowly. She practiced over and over again in order to regain her dancing skills.
“Hi, Mary,” in rushed her friend Jessica “How is your arm? Is it going to influence your performance?”
“I guess it can be tolerated for I am to win the match.” said Mary with a determined look.
“Admirable! But I hear that a girl called Linda is really gifted and strong. She can be your real well-matched competitor. Come on!”
After Jessica left, Mary decided to practice her most difficult spin. “If I don’t try harder, I won’t grasp this chance.” She thought. But her arm began to hurt, making her worried. “Mary, what makes you think you have a chance tonight?” she said to herself. After the pain was gone, she continued to warm up.
A slim girl hurried in and put down an equipment bag on the chair. Then, she took out her dance dress quickly and put it on skillfully. Seeing Mary, she smiled politely and said “Hi, I’m Linda. I am the next one!” Mary nodded in reply but felt uncomfortable. “This is just my competitor. Because of her, I may lose tonight.” Her mind was wandering when Linda let out a scream, “Oh, God, I can’t find my music tape!” Linda searched her bag but in vain. “It may be missing on the way.” With these words, she then rushed out.
注意：1．续写词数应为150词左右；2．续写部分分为两段，请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, Mary caught sight of a black box under the chair where Linda put her bag.
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Linda finished her dancing successfully and then came Mary’s turn.
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A Sailor’s Christmas Gift
Last year at Christmas time my wife, three boys and I were in France on our way from Paris to Nice. For five miserable days everything had gone wrong. Our hotels were tourist traps; our rented car broke down; we were all restless and annoyed in the crowded car. On Christmas Eve, when we checked into a dark and dirty hotel in Nice, there was no Christmas spirit in our hearts. It was raining and cold when we went out to eat.
We found a drab (饭馆) little shoddily decorated for the holidays. It smelled oily. Only five tables in the restaurant were occupied. There were two families and an American sailor, by himself. In the corner, a piano player listlessly played Christmas music. I was too stubborn and too tired and miserable to leave. I looked around and noticed that the other customers were eating in stony silence. The only person who seemed happy was the American sailor. While eating he was writing a letter, and a half-smile lighted his face. My wife ordered our meal in French. The waiter brought us the wrong thing, and I scolded my wife for being stupid. She began to cry. The boys defended her, and I felt even worse. All of us here were overwhelmed by an unpleasant blast of cold air.
Through the front door came an old French flower woman, who wore a shabby dripping overcoat and moved along slowly. “Flowers, monsieur? Only one franc.” No one bought any. Wearily she sat down at a table between the sailor and us. To the waiter she said, “A bowl of soup. I haven’t sold a flower all afternoon.” To the piano player she said hoarsely, “Can you imagine, Joseph, soup on Christmas Eve?” He pointed to his empty tip plate. The young sailor finished his meal and got up to leave.
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。
He walked over to the flower woman’s table, picking out two flowers.
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_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Karie double-checked the words on her spelling test .If she got 100 percent today, she’d win her class’ First-Quarter Spelling Challenge and a brand new dictionary.
Three more words to go. N-i-c-e-l-y. Q-u-i-c-k-1-y. H-o-n-e-s-t-y. Wait! She had spelled honesty, not honestly. She hurriedly erased the t-y and wrote l-y before handing in her paper.
Ms. McCormack graded the test papers at the break. Meanwhile, Karie sat restlessly in her seat with her fingers crossed. Then, Ms. McCormack walked to the front of the room and cleared her throat, “Congratulations. Karie! You did it!” she announced.
The whole class burst into applause! Ms McCormack presented Karie with her prize. Karie grinned as she read the label on the box: To Karie Carter; for her perfect first-quarter score in spelling.
“Everything OK?” Mom asked as Karie burst through the front door after school. Karie didn’t answer. As if by magic, she took out her spelling test paper and prize and showed them to her mother, Mom hugged her, asking her to put the test paper on the fridge so that Dad could see it when he got home.
Karie took another look at the test paper before putting it on the fridge. Her hands stopped in the midair. She just couldn’t believe her own eyes. Honesly? YES! H-O-N-E-S-L-Y.
Mom sensed something unusual and asked why. Karie stuffed the test paper into her backpack and explained that she was just too excited. Mom brought her some tea. Yes, a “t” was exactly what she needed.
After drinking a little, Karie plodded(重步走) down the hall, lost in thought How could she tell the class she hadn’t earned the prize after all?
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。
Later Dad came in with excitement.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next morning, Karie went to school earlier than usual.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mary waited anxiously for her turn in the empty dressing room. Never had she been so nervous before. This competition was of great importance to her comeback. “If I can win today,” she said to herself, “I can dance on the national stage next month.” Three months ago, her left arm was seriously injured in a car accident. After the medical treatment, she began to recover slowly. She practiced over and over again in order to regain her dancing skills.
“Hi, Mary,” in rushed her friend Jessica. “How is your arm? Is it going to influence your performance?”
“I guess it can be tolerated for I am to win the match.” said Mary with a determined look.
“Admirable! But I hear that a girl called Linda is really gifted and strong. She can be your real well-matched competitor. Come on!”
After Jessica left, Mary decided to practice her most difficult spin (旋转). “If I don’t try harder, I won’t grasp this chance.” She thought. But her arm began to hurt, making her worried. “Mary, what makes you think you have a chance tonight?” she said to herself. After the pain was gone, she continued to warm up.
A slim girl hurried in and put down an equipment bag on the chair. Then, she took out her dance dress quickly and put it on skillfully. Seeing Mary, she smiled politely and said “Hi, I’m Linda. I am the next one to you!” Mary nodded in reply but felt uncomfortable. “This is just my competitor. Because of her, I may lose tonight.” Her mind was wandering when Linda let out a scream, “Oh, God, I can’t find my music tape!” Linda searched her bag but in vain (徒劳). “It may be missing on the way.” With these words, she then rushed out.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数不少于80字；
2.续写部分为一段，请在答题卡相应的位置作答。
Paragraph 1
Suddenly, Mary caught sight of a black box under the chair where Linda put her bag.
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Having held the interschool (校际) story tell g championship for the past two years, I was the shining star of my school. When it came to choosing the right candidate (候选人) to participate in such competitions, I was always the first choice. Naturally, I was once again selected to represent my school in the approaching contest this year.
Upon hearing the fact that I was chosen again, my classmates and friends acknowledged that I would undoubtedly be the champion again. Consequently, I became conceited (自负的). I was so proud that I ignored the importance of practicing for the contest.
A week before the contest, my teacher Ms. Sara asked, “Selena, would you like to stand in front of the class to rehearse (排练) for the contest?” She had tutored me in the past two competitions and knew how important practice was. “Just imagine you are on the stage
in the audience,” she added.“I’m sorry, Ms. Sara,” I replied. “I have a bit of a sore throat.”
This was usually the lie I would tell whenever my teacher requested me to practice in front of the class. I always found excuses to avoid doing it because I believed that I was the best and therefore the practice was unnecessary. On one occasion, I event old Ms. Sara not to worry too much as I was well prepared for the contest. In fact, I did everything but practice my script (讲稿) .I only managed to glance briefly through the story the day before the contest. As the best storyteller among the students of the local secondary schools, I was too vain to practice and expected everything to be fine.
The contest was being held in the local community hall. On the day of the contest, the hall was crowded with people. My schoolteachers and principal were there along with many of my classmates and schoolmates. I was the eighth contestant out of twenty in total. Those who spoke before me did extremely well. On seeing their fascinating and outstanding performance, I began to lose confidence in myself. My palms (手掌) sweated heavily and I started to feel nervous.
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。
Soon it was my turn to talk.
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