“Bye, Mom! Don’t forget to make my pie!” shouted 12-year-old Jake after kissing his mother, Susan, goodbye.
He was anxiously waiting for the bus. Moments later, the bus pulled over, and Jake hopped in, assuming it was just going to be an ordinary ride to school. “Luckily, Mom gave me $6. Otherwise I’d have to walk all the way to school,” he thought.
The bus came to a stop, picking up Christel, a 56-year-old woman from the next stop. She was smelly and looked dirty. Some passengers frowned at her, but she was least bothered about them. Moments later, she trembled through the crowd toward an empty seat next to Jake.
“Ticket, please?!” the conductor said loudly, staring at her. Christel’s face slowly started to go red. “One second, I’m looking for my purse,” she replied. “I...uh...I don’t have money. I forgot to bring my purse,” Christel stammered (结结巴巴地说), embarrassed.
“Lady, this is not a charity ride that picks up beggars for free. I’m stopping the bus right now. Get out!” yelled the conductor as the crowd of passengers turned toward Christel all at once.
Jake witnessed everything and was disappointed at how the conductor treated the poor woman. Then he remembered he still had some change. “Here is your $3...Give her a ticket,” he said to the conductor, throwing the money into his hand.
“Thank you, sweetheart. I am forever grateful to you! What is your name, dear?” said Christel.
“I’m Jake. That’s okay. I just did what I should do,” replied Jake, taking Christel’s words of gratitude casually.
They talked about Jake’s school life. “I want to become a baseball player, but my school does not have such facilities. I don’t want to trouble my mom. She’s already working hard in the restaurant. My father passed away in an accident two years ago,” revealed Jake.
“Alright, Grandma! We’ve arrived at my school. I’ll leave now. Bye-bye!”
Christel was touched by Jake’s warm heart. She stared a second time at his school, watching him disappear inside the gate.
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 Christel paid a surprising visit to the school in her expensive car.
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Jake didn’t realize a bigger surprise was waiting for him outside the principal’s office.
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The old man turned away sadly with his eyes filled with tears. Poor Mr. Dev! Indra thought sympathetically. Another day went past and there was still no sign of his family. Indra wondered how children could be so heartless as to abandon a parent like this.
Indra recalled the day when the old man was admitted to her ward (病房). He was thin and delicate. He could not produce his identity card but he could remember the number. The hospital tried to contact his family using the phone number he gave them but it was in vain. He was treated for a lung infection and was now recovering. Soon, it would be time for him to be discharged (出院). Where would he go then? He did not look strong enough to look after himself. Indra threw down the file she was holding as anger rose within her.
“What’s the matter?” asked Poh, Indra’s colleague.
“I’m just upset about old Mr. Dev,” she replied. Poh nodded with understanding. She had been a nurse much longer than Indra. She had seen many cases of abandoned old people and she had learned to control her feelings.
“Don’t worry too much. The hospital will contact the welfare department. Mr. Dev will be placed in an old folks’ home,” Poh said and patted Indra’s arm comfortingly.
Indra sighed. “I know. It’s just that the old man really longs for his family to visit him. He cleans and tidies himself every morning and sits up to wait expectantly. You can see the eagerness in his eyes whenever the door opens. At the end of the day, he goes to sleep with tears in his eyes. You can feel the disappointment as he does. It makes me cry inside. I just could not bear it.”
Poh shook her head sadly, “He needs a miracle (奇迹).”
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。
Two days later, the doctor confirmed that Mr. Dev was fit enough to be discharged.
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Just then a middle-aged woman appeared and cried out, “Dad”.
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Desiree, a 4-year-old girl, was sobbing quietly over her father, Ken, who had died nine months earlier. She was hugging a photograph of her father with her fingers running around his face. “Daddy”, she said softly, “Why won't you come back?”
Instead of gradually adjusting to her father's death, Desiree refused to accept it “Daddy will be home soon,” she'd tell her mother. “He's at work.” When she played with her toy telephone, she pretended she was chatting with her father “I miss you, Daddy,” she'd say. “When will you come back?” Desiree's situation made her mother worried.
Days later, it was Ken's birthday. “How will I send him a card?” Desiree asked her mother “How about if we tie a litter to a balloon.” her mother said, “and send it up to heaven?” Desiree's eyes immediately lit up.
Her mother took her to a store and Desiree picked out a balloon with HAPPY BIRTHDAY above a drawing of The Little Mermaid (美人鱼). Desire and her father had often watched it.
The child's eyes shone as they were on the way to Ken's grave. Then Desiree dictated (口述) a letter to her Dad. “Daddy, Happy birthday, I love you and miss you,” she rattled off (快速说). “I hope you get this and can write to me on my birthday in January.”
Her mother wrote the message and their address on a small piece of paper, which was then wrapped in plastic and tied to the end of the string on the balloon. Finally, Desiree let fly the balloon. For almost an hour, they watched the shining spot of silver grow smaller and smaller till disappear. “Now Dad's going to write back to me,” Desiree said confidently.
Every day since they'd flew the balloon, Desiree had asked her mother, “Do you think Daddy has my balloon yet?” Several weeks passed, and she stopped asking.
Paragraph 1One day, 3,000 miles away, Wade was on a duck hunt when suddenly something in the bush caught his eyes. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2
Desire's fifth birthday came and later on the afternoon, a package arrived.
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