It was the day of the big cross-country run. Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up and walking the route(路线)through thick evergreen forest.

I looked around and finally spotted David, who was standing by himself off to the side by a fence. He was small for ten years old. His usual big toothy smile was absent today. I walked over and asked him why he wasn’t with the other children. He hesitated and then said he had decided not to run.

What was wrong? He had worked so hard for this event!

I quickly searched the crowd for the school’s coach and asked him what had happened. “I was afraid that kids from other schools would laugh at him,” he explained uncomfortably. “I gave him the choice to run or not, and let him decide.”

I bit back my frustration(懊恼). I knew the coach meant well—he thought he was doing the right thing. After making sure that David could run if he wanted, I turned to find him coming towards me, his small body rocking from side to side as he swung his feet forward.

David had a brain disease which prevented him from walking or running like other children, but at school his classmates thought of him as a regular kid. He always participated to the best of his ability in whatever they were doing. That was why none of the children thought it unusual that David had decided to join the cross-country team. It just took him longer—that’s all. David had not missed a single practice, and although he always finished his run long after the other children, he did always finish. As a special education teacher at the school, I was familiar with the challenges David faced and was proud of his strong determination.

2 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a. m. When I arrived, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute, ”answered a weak, elderly voice.

After a long time, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.

I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly towards the car. She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing, “I told her. ”I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”

“ Oh, you’re such a good man. ” She said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “ Could you drive through downtown?”

“ It’s not the shortest way, ” I answered quickly.

“ Oh, I’m in no hurry, ” she said. “ I’m on my way to a hospice(临终安养院).”   I saw her eyes shining with tears.I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(计价器). For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. At dawn, she suddenly said, “ I’m tired. Let’s go now. ” We drove in silence according to the address she had given me.

“ How much do l owe you?” she asked. “ Nothing. ” I said.

“ You have to make a living, ”she answered. “ Oh, there are other passengers, ” I answered. She said thanks to me, but she looked so sad.

Para1:Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.

Para 2: The next day, I was on my way to visit her.

An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) landed on their window.

The father asked his son, “What is this?” The son replied, “This is a crow.”

After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?” The son said, “Father, I told you just now. It’s a crow.”

After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for third time, “What is this?” This time, the son was irritated (生气) and said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It’s a crow, a crow.”

After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?” This time his son shouted in his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, ‘It’s a crow’. Are you not able to understand this?”

A minute later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered(破旧的) diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the read it, the following words were written in the diary:

“Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn’t at all feel annoyed, but instead felt a deep affection for my innocent son.”

After reading the diary,the son was in tears and began to reflect on the days when he used to sit together with his father.

Feeling ashamed, the son got down on his knees before his father.

Once upon a time, there stood an apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He climbed to the top of the tree, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree also enjoyed playing with him.

As time went by, the little boy grew up and he no longer played around the tree.

One day, the boy came back to the tree, appearing sad. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy gently.

“I am no longer a kid; I won’t play around trees anymore”, the boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”

“Sorry, but I don’t have money. However, you can pick all my apples and sell them. Then, you will have money.” The boy was so excited that he picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy didn’t come back after that. The tree was upset.

One day, the boy returned and the tree was so joyful. “Come and play with me,” the tree said.

“I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” “Sorry, I don’t have a house. But you can cut off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left with delight.

The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn’t appear since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree requested.

“I am sad and becoming old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” “Use my trunk to build the boat. You can sail and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and did not show up for a long time.

Many years later, the boy finally returned.

The apple tree is our mother, who devotes all herself to us.

Yoghurt

It was a rough week. The price of oil skyrocketed as the temperature dropped sharply in Maine. We were looking at a high of eight degrees that week, and I had missed three days of work so my paycheck was going to be lower than normal. I was stressed, to say the least. I shopped strategically, looking for every possible way to cut pennies so I could buy groceries and keep the house warm.

My eight-year-old son didn't understand when I told him we were struggling that week. He wanted a special kind of yoghurt, but I didn't have the extra three dollars to buy it for him. It was the kind of yoghurt with a cartoon kid riding a skateboard on the front of the box, and a mere two spoonfuls in each cup. It was the kind of product that wastes a parent's money and makes me hate advertising.

I felt guilty as a parent when those big eyes looked at me with confusion, as if to say, “It's just yoghurt. What's the big deal?” So I found a way. I put something back as single mothers often do. He got his yoghurt.

On the way driving back from the grocery store, I noticed a homeless man holding a sign by the side of the road. My heart hurt, and I tried not to look at him. I watched people stay away from him on the street and walk by without even meeting his eyes. My son didn't seem to care much, either. I looked at the man closely then — bare hands grasping a piece of cardboard, snot frozen to his face, a worn-out jacket. And there I was struggling because I had to buy oil and groceries. But I decided to help. I pulled over to the man and handed him a five-dollar bill.

Seeing this, my son became confused and surprised.

On that day, my son performed an act that most adults wouldn’t have done.

My wife, Megan, and I went out to dinner with an old friend who we had not seen for a while. There had been some talk of COVID-19 on the news, but it was early in the outbreak and people were still going about their daily routines. Even though everyone in group felt perfectly, we took precautions (预防): we washed our hands with soap and used hand sanitizer (洗手液), did not share food, and had no significantly close contact.

A few days later, our friend called and told us that she had tested positive for the coronavirus. She had felt some mild symptoms for a day or so after that dinner and was able to be tested because she is a doctor. On the following day, I started to feel a little tired and my head was a bit cloudy. I decided to stay in the master bedroom away from the rest of my family. The next morning, I woke up with a 39-degree fever. That was when we realized that I might have caught the virus from our friend.

At once, Megan called our state’s coronavirus hotline, who then called in our primary care doctor and the head of our local hospital system’s coronavirus team. We explained that we had been in contact with someone who had been tested positive, and I was having symptoms. They quickly approved me to receive a test at an urgent care center located 5 kilometer’s drive from my house. The result made my heart sink-I was also tested positive, and the local hospital didn’t have the facilities for my disease. As a mild case, I was recommended to stay home and quarantine (隔离) myself.

Following the doctor’s advice, Megan and I quarantined ourselves and our kids. With my symptoms developing, I started isolation in the bedroom, and the only interaction I had with Megan was when she brought in food. She slept on a small couch in our home office away from the kids’ rooms. She also minimized her contact with our kids in case she was carrying the virus.

We decided to call everyone we had contacted over the course of the past week.

Though worried about the seriousness of the virus, I knew I had to be brave

My husband and I bought a small house in a good neighborhood. It was a one and-a-half-floor house. We had to decorate it first because it was so old. I started to paint the walls and the doors outside. I also broke the broken fence (篱笆) and grew some flowers.

After I finished painting the walls of the bedroom upstairs inside, I brought up some water to wash the window. I washed the inside first, then opened the window and stepped out on the kitchen roof to wash the outside. The window was the kind that you couldn’t open from the outside.

I was so devoted to my housework that I didn’t realize the window gradually closed. After finishing cleaning; I tried to open the window but failed. Standing on my kitchen roof, I looked around the neighborhood. That was a lovely afternoon. Where were the neighbor’s kids riding their bikes? They used to ride back from the park. Now no young voices shouted to one another. Carroll and Julie,an old couple, lived in the house at the corner. They were likely to be at home, but our kitchen was on the wrong side of our house for me to call them.

I sat down and thought about my situation. Even if someone came along, they couldn’t walk in the house and open the window. The doors were locked by my husband before he went to work. “When you’re working on an indoor project, anyone could open the door and come in. So just keep the doors closed.” he said. I sat there, thinking how stupid I was and what I should do.

Then I heard there was a child laughing nearby.

The boy went to ask for help.

It was raining pretty hard on Halloween, but that wasn’t going to stop my little sister Kate and me from trick or treating. We decided to start at Miss Parson’s house. Miss Parson was loved by us kids who lived nearby because she often shared her self-made cookies with us. We usually finished them in a second, especially when we were hungry after class. Sometimes, when we visited her or did something for her, she always gave us a surprise.

Kate and I wondered what kinds of treats she’d offer. As we walked down the street, I held an umbrella, a bag for candy, and my sister’s hand. Jackolanterns gave soft light along the street. Spider webs hung in all the windows. Parents who were dressed up like monsters(怪物) stood in doorways. After we had walked a few blocks, we were wet from head to toes, and I felt Kate was trembling with cold.

There was a light on at Miss Parson’s house,but there were no ghosts,goblins(小妖精), or Jackolanterns. We climbed up the steps and saw Miss Parson through a window. She was drinking a cup of hot tea.

“Maybe she doesn’t celebrate Halloween,” Kate said with a sigh, disappointedly.

“Well, even if she doesn’t, she usually likes it when we visit her,” I said and knocked on the door.

Miss Parson seemed surprised when she opened the door and saw our dressing.“Is today Halloween?” she asked.“I completely forgot. I am so sorry.”

Miss Parson rushed us into her house.

The next morning, a hot and sweet discussion about Miss Parson and Halloween spread among us kids.