I was eight years old and wasn’t aware of all the arrangements being made for our journey as a family to London in 1950. My mother was in great pain and wished to visit specialists in London. My father reluctantly had to sell our property in Queensland. The day before we boarded the ship, Father unwillingly said goodbye to his five-year-old cattle dog, Spider, who was loved by us all. Father’s friend Sandy was to be his guardian while we were overseas, as he had been getting to know Spider for many weeks.
Six weeks later, an airletter arrived from Sandy, giving my father the news that Spider had run away just two weeks after we had sailed. Sandy had advertised constantly on ABC and other regional newspapers. Despite many “sightings”, the dog was never found. It seems Spider just kept running and searching for us. As he was cattle dog, my father thought he would shoe or dingo-trapped, because of his appearance. But our family thought that Father held a secrets hope that Spider was still alive.
We sailed back to Australia two years later and re-established our home. My father immediately began his own search for Spider. One cold winter’s Saturday morning eight months after our return, my father had a call from an elderly lady living on her own on the outskirts of the town. As she told my father on the telephone, it was “just glimpses of a dingo-type dog in the shadows” of her disused tennis court. That was enough for my father to interrupt my homework.
We set off in his blue and black Jensen car which he had brought back from England. It was hardly the right vehicle for the rough roads we travelled that day. Five and a half hours later, we found the run-down old property. Sadly, she told my father that the “dingo dog” hadn’t been around for a few days. My father had a strange look in his eye. He put two fingers to his lips and did his special whistle for Spider.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly there was a sound in the bush.
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Once home we had the task of getting all the prickles (刺) off him.
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Opening presents carefully selected by our parents is our family tradition on Christmas morning, which always pushes the festive atmosphere to the climax. However, this year’s Christmas seemed not as happy as usual.
It was Christmas Eve when my sister and I decided to open our presents before our mom got home from work. Though worried about ruining my mom’s original plan, we still wanted to sneak a peek (偷看) at the gifts in advance, driven by a strong impulse of curiosity. Since my sister was older, and that put her in charge, she opened the first gift while I was ordered to stand guard at the big picture window in our front room. I was to report any suspicious activity or person, namely our mother, who can easily capture the details of life.
I was so excited that I could barely stand still. I also couldn’t keep my eyes on the window very long. My head moved from the window to my sister and back to the window again. I felt like I was watching a Ping-Pong match.
“All right!” my sister shouted. She pulled out a jewelry box. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
I jumped up and down. “Yeah, it’s my turn!”
“No,” she said. “It means that there must be some jewelry under here.” I watched my sister rummaging (翻寻) through the presents under the tree, trying to find one she thought was small enough to be a necklace or earrings.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” I complained, stomping my foot.
“Are you watching for Mom?” is all that she said. I couldn’t do anything except stand guard as she opened present after present. Finally, when my sister’s curiosity was satisfied and she had finished wrapping her last present back up, we traded places.
My heart hammered so hard that it felt like my chest was moving in and out. My sister reminded me to be careful so I wouldn’t tear the paper, and to wrap the present back up the same way that I had found it.
After unwrapping a few presents, I found it faster to open one end of a present and peek inside. “Headphones! How can my mom know what I want! Without any hesitation, I pulled the headphones out of the box.
注意：1.续写词数应为 150 个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。Paragraph l:
I was about to put them on when my sister shouted, “Quick! Mom’s coming!”
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Christmas morning finally approached, and we were ready to open our presents again!_
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Emily White was born seventeen years ago with so many birth problems in her body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. No one expected her to survive. She did make it but with her strange body figure, everyone could recognize her, even from a distance.
In Emily White’s hometown, there was a yearly outdoor performance in the school auditorium (大礼堂). It had been performed for so many years and actually had become one of the most important events of the Christmas season for many of the town’s people.
Many people tried out each year for it, but so many were turned away. It can only include the most excellent people in the field.
Emily had a beautiful singing voice. Last year she went to Mrs. Owens — her music teacher to ask to join in the performance. Without letting her sing, Mrs. Owens took a look at Amy’s body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable, too.”
Without singing a single note, Emily was sent back through the door of the choral room. Hurt and upset, she decided never to try out again. But Mrs. Owens then retired.
This year, there came a new music teacher, Mr. Buttler. He heard about Emily and suggested that she have a try.
Emily didn’t want to be rejected again, so she hesitated a little about it. As Emily struggled, the door was pushed open and Mr. Buttler called, “Emily, you’re next.” Although kind of nervous, Emily did as Mr. Buttler told her to do. Mr. Buttler sat by the piano to keep Emily company. When Emily finished her testing performance, she thanked Mr. Buttler and knew the result would be posted on the door of the choral room the next day.
Emily couldn’t sleep that night. She was suffering from the feelings that she didn’t fit and the great need to be accepted. By the next morning, her stomach was even in pain because of stress.
注意：续写词数应为150左右Paragraph 1: The next day, Emily nervously glanced at the list on the door of the choral room.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Finally, the day of performance came.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When my daughter. Rachel was 6 years old, we went to the local shelter, looking for a perfect cat. We liked all the cats we saw there, but we especially loved one that was black with a small white tip to her tail, like a bright star in the night sky. We brought her home and called her Starry.
Starry was lovely. At night when we watched TV, she would come into Rachel’s lap and comfortably stay there. Starry always got her face close to Rachel’s, ending her love with a gentle touch on Rachel’s nose. Sometimes I felt so jealous (忌妒的) of their love. Although I was the one who tank care of the cat, feeding and cleaning it, Starry was clearly Rachel’s cat. Finally, I came to love watching their close relationship
My little girl grew up and went to senior high school. Starry and Rachel were still close, though Rachel spent less and less time at home. starry spent most of her day sitting on the sideboard in the dining room, looking out of the window into the backyard. I loved seeing her as I passed by her, for her shiny black coat almost sparkled (闪烁) in the sunlight and the white tip of her tail looked bright against the shining black of her body.
One Sunday morning, early in November, Starry got out of, the room before we could stop her. When Rachel came home from school, she went into the room with a worried expression. “Where’s Starry?” she asked. When we told her we didn’t know, she led us outside with her. There was a black cat lying on the street.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
It was Starry.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Days without Starry went by, but one Christmas recalled us of Starry.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________During the 25 years we’ve lived in our home, many cats have appeared on my porch (门廊), gazing through the glass door, silently begging for food. Well, what can I do? Certainly not ignore their lovely faces. Even as my husband says “Don’t feed these cats, Caren,” I am opening the door, with cat food bag in hand. These cats usually stay a few days, maybe a couple months before disappearing into the woods.
One evening while feeding the horses, I saw something move. I turned just in time to glimpse a black tail disappearing under our shed (小棚). Later, I saw a skinny young cat sneak around and finish the leftovers. The next time I saw her, she had a companion, a black male cat. I made sure to put out enough food for the both of them.
Pretty soon, they were appearing at dinnertime with our other cats. I named them Minnie and Freddy. I would give them food in separate containers, but they would walk up and down until I went back inside. Then, with no human near, they would devour their meals. This went on for a couple of weeks. One day, Freddy didn’t show up. We never saw him again.
But Minnie kept sticking around our room, dividing time between the shed and the porch. She was no longer skinny and looked quite nicely. I congratulated myself on her newfound health. However, she kept gaining weight —especially around her middle. Yup, she was pregnant (怀孕的).
注意：续写词数应为90词左右。
We fixed up a small place in the shed for Minnie.
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From that day on, our family grew not only with Minnie but also with her adorable babies, creating a harmonious and loving environment for all of us to cherish(珍惜).
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The fourth graders’ school day was coming to an end. Wilson was filling his backpack when a voice came out of the loudspeaker. “Good afternoon, students. This is a reminder that the All-City Math Contest will be in two weeks. The contest is open to fifth and sixth graders, and the top prize is fifty dollars. Please speak to your teacher if you’d like to participate.
“I am confident that I could excel in that contest,” Wilson thought to himself. Determined to participate in the competition, he rushed to his teacher’s desk and told her that he wanted to enter that math contest.
Ms. Jones looked up from her papers and said, “That’s wonderful, Wilson, but I’m afraid that this contest is for fifth and sixth graders only. Besides, our class has not yet covered some of the topics that will be tested.”
Wilson was not ready to give up. He knew he had a natural talent for math. “But you know that I’m good at math!” Wilson protested. “I do math problems with my brother all the time - and he’s in sixth grade! I think I could do really well!”
“You are a very good math student, Wilson, but rules are rules. I’m sure that you can enter next year.”
Wilson came home frustrated and disappointed, stormed upstairs without saying a word to his mother, and slammed the door to his room shut. His mother quickly appeared at his door, knocked, and came in. “Dear, did something happen today?” She was concerned.
Wilson was quiet for a minute, then it all came out. In a burst of emotion, he told his mom about the contest, how excited he was to enter, and how angry he felt when his teacher told him that he wouldn’t be allowed to do so this year. “It’s just not fair, Mom,” he complained. “I know I could really do well on it. Why won’t they let me?”
Wilson’s mother put her hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes, son,” she said softly, “people follow rules even when they don’t make sense. Perhaps you can persuade your teacher to make an exception for you.”
Wilson perked up: he had an 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。
The next day, Wilson went straight to Ms. Jones’ office.
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Forty minutes later, he finished Ms. Jones’ test and handed it to her.
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My brother Joe and I no longer live in the same state, but I make sure to give Joe a call every Christmas. In fact, I will never forget a Christmas when I was seven and Joe was five. I’ve kept a secret about that Christmas for 20 years. Now hearing Joe’s voice makes me feel guilty (内疚的) about it all over again. I think he probably doesn’t even remember it.
When we were kids, Joe almost drove me “crazy”! If Mom brought home my favorite yogurt, Joe would make sure to eat it before I got a chance. When our parents gave us each our own basketball, Joe insisted on playing with mine instead of his own.
That Christmas when I was seven, I was determined to teach him a lesson. At that time I was old enough that I no longer believed in Santa, but I knew Joe did. I couldn’t stand him thinking Santa had put him on the “nice” list when I knew he’d been naughty (淘气的) all year.
One day before Christmas, I put on my winter jacket and headed over to our neighbor’s backyard. It was filled with rocks. To me they really looked like coal (煤炭). I was sure that they’d look like coal to Joe too. I filled a lot of the rocks into the pockets of my winter jacket, brought them up to my room and hid them under my bed. Then I waited.
That morning, I got up early, went downstairs secretly and put the rocks into the red stocking with Joe’s name on it. I watched Joe take down his heavy stocking, lay it on the living room floor.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右。
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Looking at the gift inside, Joe’s smile disappeared suddenly.
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I said on the phone, “Hey, Joe, do you remember that Christmas morning when you were five …your stocking…”
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It was time for the annual Potato-Salad Contest in Russet Park. After trying for the third time, Alexis shook her head sadly. There was no way she would win the Golden Potato again because Grandpa wasn’t here this year.
Memories of how Grandpa taught her to make potato rose in her mind. She sighed and missed Grandpa so much.
Alexis cut the potatoes and mixed the boiled potatoes, some sauces and a little salt and peppers in a bowl. But it didn’t taste right. Alexis tried a bite of the salad mixture, wondering what was missing. Seeing her frown, Mom suggested, “What about something spicy? Your Grandpa loved spicy things.”
“You’re right! Maybe he put a jalapeno pepper in it,” Alexis said, cutting up a bright green jalapeno and adding it to the bowl.
It was closer, but it still didn’t taste right. Alexis was drooping her head, disappointed. “Should we look in a cookbook?”
“Grandpa was never one to follow a recipe,” Dad entered the kitchen and said.
It was true. People loved Grandpa’s potato salad because it was one of a kind. Alexis remembered posing with Grandpa for a photo while they were making the salad.
Photo! That gave her an idea. Alexis hurried to the bookcase and found an old photo album. She immediately flipped it open, expecting to find clues in the photos there. Lots of photos showed Grandpa and Grandma cooking together. Dad laughed, “He and Grandma loved to tease each other but he always called her Honey.”
“Do you think he put honey in the potato salad?” Mum asked.
“It is worth a try,” said Alexis. She stirred some honey into the bowl.
But it still wasn’t quite right. Alexis’ heart sank, on the verge of giving up. Dad kept flipping the album. At the end of the album was the picture of Grandpa and Alexis making the salad together.
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。
It looked like Grandpa was crying in the photo.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With hesitation, the family tasted the potato salad with onions in it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On a Friday night, a poor young artist named Anthony Perry stood at the gate of the New York railway station, playing his violin. The violinist was a student at an arts college and had planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna. He needed money to pay the tuition, so he played the violin at the railway station every day to make money. The music was so great that many people stopped to put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next day, Anthony came to the same place, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it under his hat. Then he began to play the violin. It sounded more pleasant than ever.
Soon he was surrounded by people who were attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to get it soon.”
After about half an hour, a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist and said, “Yes, it’s you. I knew that you were an honest man and would certainly come here.” The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr George Sang?” The man nodded. The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?” “It’s a lottery ticket (彩票),” said the man.
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。
Anthony took out a lottery ticket and George Sang’s name was seen on it.
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Anthony’s good deed was posted on social media and went viral.
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A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.
Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”
“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”
“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”
The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.
It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!
Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.
Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.
She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”
Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.
注意：续写的词数应为150左右。
Paragraph 1:
As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
