In the quiet town, Ethan and his parents lived a peaceful life. His father John, a hard-working architect, and his mother Sarah, a great teacher, had always struggled to provide the best for Ethan.

As Ethan entered high school, something began to change their once harmonious home. School grades were the first battleground. While John believed in traditional hard work, Ethan, a creative boy, found himself crazy about art. Every time he painted well, his mother Sarah would praise and encourage him, but John only thought it was a waste of time. So Ethan often argued with his father.

One stormy night, the conflict (矛盾) came to a head. John, reviewing Ethan’s report card, frowned (皱眉) at the grades. “Ethan, you must focus more on your studies. These grades won’t help you become an engineer. Stop painting!”

Ethan couldn’t bear the disappointment in his father’s eyes, and argued back, “Dad, I want to be a painter, not an engineer.” Sarah, trying to stop the argument, quickly said, “John, maybe we should let Ethan have a try. It could be his true calling.” However, John stuck to his belief and replied, “Art won’t put food on the table or pay the bills. He needs a stable job.” Sarah was between her husband and son and tried to settle the argument.

Sarah, who often helped solve problems between John and Ethan, saw their pain.

As the storm outside got calmer, there was new found understanding among them.

Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night, I took a fare (出租车乘客) at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, sanding on the sideway was a small woman in her 80swith a big suitcase.

After I helped her into the taxi, she gave me an address and asked, “Could you drive through downtown?” “It is not the shortest way,” I answered quickly. “I don’t mind,” She said, “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice (临终安养院).” I looked in the rear-view mirror (后视镜). Her eyes were wet. I quietly reached over and shut off the meter (计价器). “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newly married. She had me stop in front of a shabby house where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she asked me to slow in front of a particular building and sat staring into the darkness, saying nothing. At last, she said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”

We drove in silence to the destination. It was a grey low building.

I was confident at the tryout for the school play and felt pleased to gel a role. It just felt good to be in the play, even if I had only four or five lines. I worked hard at perfecting those lines. I repeated them over and over again. I put in the emphases and tone that my drama teacher had suggested and, because I was on stage much longer than for just four or five lines, I had many actions to rehearse (排练) and perform. “Do them in front of a mirror,” my drama teacher had advised me. “Watch how you look; practice and rehearse as often as you can.” I did just that. I worked and worked at it. It was fun and exciting to rehearse.

Then finally the big night came. Suddenly, things felt different. The theater was full of people. As I dressed, I could hear the chattering and noises of the audience——something that hadn’t been there during rehearsal. I looked around at the other more experienced actors and saw that the confidence they’d shown at rehearsal seemed to have disappeared. Everyone was nervous, anxious, and worried. Had they got their makeup right? Was the costume done up correctly? What if they forgot their lines? The more people talked about their anxiety, the more nervous everyone became. The worries bounced from one person to another—like a baton being passed in a relay race—until the whole of the backstage area seemed to be buzzing with tension (紧张) and worry.

I was on stage early, performing my non-spoken role in the background with several other guys around the same age. When，suddenly, I heard my cue，the lights were bright in my eyes; I couldn’t see the audience but knew there were hundreds of people out there all watching me. The words that had flowed so easily when I stood in front of a mirror in my bedroom didn’t want to come，and when they did I found myself hurrying into them. I tried to slow down my thoughts and my words.

But I suddenly realized I had missed a sentence.

No one commented on my missed sentence——apart from my drama teacher.

9 . 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。

When I was in high school a few years ago, I was an energetic and brave teenager. I loved smiling, writing, and doing sports, especially football.

One day, my football teammates and I took part in an important football game. After the game began, the ball was soon kicked in my direction. I received the ball and crossed it twenty feet toward the goal, just in time for my teammate to meet it and hit it right into the net. “Good shot!” everyone shouted. The game started well.

Later, the game became more and more challenging as the other team tied with our team. And in the second half of the game, the score was still one to one until I received the ball with one minute left. I needed to hit the ball into the net, and I had a successful try, making the final score two to one. But in the meantime, a bad thing happened.

In an attempt to block my shot, one player from the other team challenged me in midair. But instead of hitting the ball, his body happened to hit mine, while my teammates shouted cries of victory and horror at the same time.

When I woke up, I found myself lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by my family members, friends and teammates, with a great pain in my right leg. There were also doctors around me, who told me how serious my injuries were. To my surprise, I would have to undergo a very rare operation that had only been performed a limited number of times in the United States, and the success rate is only 50 percent.

After considering for a long time and getting the support of people around me, I decided to have the operation because I knew that no matter which way I chose, there would be many challenges waiting for me. Would I be able to return to school? What effect would it have on my social life, hobby or future? These questions took over my mind. However, only time would provide answers.

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。

Paragraph 1:

A few days later, I underwent the operation.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2:

I decided to bravely face my bad luck that I lost control of my right leg.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

William, a highly skilled plumber (水管工) with three decades of experience, was admired by everyone for his outstanding plumbing abilities. However, what many didn’t know was his deep love for music. Ever since he was a young boy, William was passionate about singing. He dreamed of attending a music school and becoming a famous pop singer, just like his idol Willie Nelson. He even dreamed about performing in his own private concerts someday. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when a car accident claimed the lives of both his parents, abruptly ending all his ambitions for the future. As the eldest brother in his family, William had to drop out of school and find a job to support his two younger sisters.

After three decades, William’s passion for singing remained as strong as ever. As he went about his plumbing work, he always carried a little radio with him, belting out tunes and joyfully singing along. The dull tasks of repairs became enjoyable and much more manageable with music in the background. Occasionally, when inspiration struck, he even composed a song or two of his own. In fact, he had setup a small basement studio where he recorded some of these songs, purely for the fun of it.

One day, William received a call from a client, Remus Gall, asking him to help repair the pipes in his kitchen. William accepted the mission readily. Upon arriving at Mr. Gal’s, he was led into the kitchen and began his work. As usual, while doing the repair work, he happily sang along to his small radio. Coincidentally, Remus Gall was a music producer and owner of a small recording company. Remus overheard the plumber singing and immediately realized there was something in William’s voice. He was amazed that an ordinary plumber should have such great talent in singing. After the repair work, Remus got the chance to talk with William and introduced his profession to him.

“You’ve really got a beautiful voice.” Remus said sincerely. “Have you ever thought of releasing an album of your own? If so, I would be more than glad to help you.”

William was greatly shocked by what he heard.

After three months’ hard work, William’s first-ever album finally came out.