It was Saturday. My daughter was showing me something in the backyard when I heard my name called out. I turned around and saw a little boy. “William!” I cried in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m helping my daddy lay turf,” he answered proudly.
“I’m sure he appreciates that,” I said. “This is William,” I told my daughter. “One of my students. He’s a joy to have in class.”
It was true. Little William was a delight. And even though he struggled with his reading, he never once complained. There was a brightness he brought with him wherever he went.
I’d never forget the day in class when another student was having trouble understanding the lesson. “Don’t worry,” William had told her, “Sometimes, second grade is really hard.” He was a gentle soul, wise beyond his years.
Still, I couldn’t help but worry. Despite his firm determination, William’s grades were poor. Some days, I wondered if he’d be able to pass.
Back at school, William’s grades showed no sign of improvement until the last few weeks of the year. As a class project, each child planted a sunflower seed in one of those containers small plant beds came in. I did this every year, with varying results. Planting the seeds was exciting for many of the students, the growing part much less so. It took too long to see results from daily watering, and most kids had little patience for it. They lost interest and forgot to care for their sunflowers-to-be.
But not William. Every afternoon, William made sure all the containers were watered and nurtured (培育). By the last week of school, the shoots were about four inches tall. I was amazed. In years past, few seeds successfully sprouted (发芽). And those that did had never gotten so tall. But these were different. These were William’s sunflowers.
The head caretaker maintained the flower beds on the school grounds. Before summer, I asked if he’d mind planting our seedlings (幼苗). We picked out the perfect spot behind the library. It could clearly be seen from the street. We transferred (转移) all 20 seedlings and hoped for the best.
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。
William managed to enter third grade.
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But when I saw them, I had to stop the car.
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Mum was in a hurry as usual, but as she rushed them down the street, Magnus and Mina couldn’t resist peeking (偷看) through the window of the pet shop on the corner.
“Mum, are you SURE we can’t have a pet?” Mina asked. “NO! Daddy is allergic to cats and dogs!” said Mum.
Five minutes later, they were outside Magnus and Mina’s grandad’s place — an old repair garage on a road just off the high street. Grandad had retired, but he lived in the flat above and kept the workshop for his hobby: fixing up old cars!
Mum used her key to open the door and they went inside. An old car was in the middle of the floor. Then they heard a sound from somewhere under the car. “Who’s there? Is that you, M and M?” Grandad Eric’s head appeared from behind the car. He smiled when he saw them, and wiped his greasy (沾油污的) face with an old cloth. “Hello kids!”
Mum was moving towards the door of the garage. “Thank you for taking the kids for the weekend, Dad — something came up and I have to go away for work!” Grandad just smiled. “No problem at all, sweetie!”
Once Mum had left, Magnus and Mina had a good look around. Mina was excited. At school she had taken a technology and design course where they had learned how to design and build simple robots, and she wanted to make one of her own. She shouted over to Grandad, “Grandad, can we use some of these spare bits over here? I promise we won’t make a mess!” Grandad replied, “Of course, but be careful!”
“Do you have a plan, sister?” Magnus looked at his sister. “I sure do! Mum said we couldn’t get a pet, but she didn’t say that we couldn’t make one!” Magnus’s eyes widened. “A robot pet?” “Yeah, a dog-cat,” replied Mina. “Brilliant! You build it, and I can program it!” said Magnus.
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2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Before long, Mina finished and Magnus and Mina admired the work.
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Grandad Eric came over to see the dog-cat and collected the turned-off robot.
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Azimi and Daud sat in the sunshine teaching their pet monkey, Hitam, to do tricks. “Hitam will do anything we do,” Azimi told his brother. “He’s the smartest monkey in Malaysia!”
Daud clapped his hands. The monkey clapped his hands. “Stop, Hitam,” Daud said. Hitam stopped. Azimi did a somersault (翻筋斗). The monkey did somersault after somersault. “Stop, Hitam,” Azimi said. Hitam stopped.
“Azimi! Daud!” their mother called from the house. “Your father is fishing today. You need to pick one hundred coconuts (椰子) to sell at the market tomorrow.” “OK, Mom!” the boys shouted. They got the cart and pulled it to the coconut forest. Hitam followed them. Twenty-five feet above them coconuts hung on the branches.
“That’s high,” Daud said. “I wish our father was like Uncle Tahar. He uses monkeys to get the coconuts.”
“We have a monkey,” Azimi said. “He’s smart. He will do whatever we do.”
Azimi grabbed Daud’s head and bent his ears. “Break it off!” Azimi twisted (转动) Daud’s head. Hitam reached for the brown fruit and twisted until the coconut broke off the stem. He let go of the coconut. It fell to the ground at Azimi’s feet.
“Another one, Hitam! Drop another one!” Azimi called. Hitam dropped another coconut, and another. Hitam picked so many they didn’t fit in the cart. Azimi and Daud put them into piles.
Daud looked at the huge piles. “We must have two hundred coconuts,” he said. Azimi looked up at Hitam. “OK, Hitam, come down now.” Hitam climbed down the tree.
Azimi and Daud dragged the cart to the house, unloaded coconuts, and went back for more. Back and forth they went until all the fruit sat in the front yard.
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。
“We won’t sell that many coconuts tomorrow,” said their mother, standing in the front door.
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All that week, Azimi and Daud ate coconuts.
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Long ago, a man and a woman and their daughter, Oksana, lived in a tiny cottage on the edge of a village. The family was poor, but their home was rich with love and laughter. And Oksana was never lonely, for behind their cottage was a high hill where the village children played throughout the year.
But one winter, Oksana fell ill. Her parents were too poor to pay for the costly medicine she needed. Oksana would sit by the window all day, watching her friends outside. While Oksana watched the children, a little spider watched Oksana from her web in the rafters (椽子).
One day, the spider spun down next to her. “Hello there, little spider,” Oksana said. She watched as the spider began to spin a delicate design in the window.
When Mama came to set some tea by Oksana’s bed, she noticed the spider too. “What’s this?” she said. “Let’s get the creature out of here!” She reached for the broom.
“No, Mama, please let her stay,” said Oksana. “She is my friend. Look, she’s spinning a web for me.”
“Ah, Oksana, talking to spiders. You silly girl!” Mama patted Oksana’s cheek. “We need to get you back outside with your friends. You’re as pale as the snow.” As the spider scurried (小步疾跑) away, she turned her head toward Oksana as if to say thank you.
One day, Dad took home an evergreen tree. Mama hollowed (挖空) out some eggs so Oksana could paint them as decorations for the tree. But halfway through painting the first one, Oksana stopped. “Mama, I’m too tired.” She sighed and shut her eyes. Mama finished the egg and hung it on the tree.
As the spider watched Oksana’s family, an idea came to her. Once Oksana, Mama, and Dad were asleep, the little spider set to work. She carefully climbed every branch, leaving a trail of sticky webs behind her. As the night sky lightened, the spider reached the top of the tree. It was only a short way to her own web in the rafters, but it felt like miles.
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Suddenly, a gust (股) of air blew under the door and turned the gray webs to silver — real silver.
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When villagers got word of the silver tree, they all came to see it.
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Getting their fishing gear (装备), Francesco and Brian rode to the abandoned quarry (采石场). They settled down at the edge of the bank, cast their lines, and waited patiently for a bite.
They spent hours searching for unusual rocks to add to their collection for Miss Bailey’s rock project. Suddenly, Francesco saw something unusual. “Look at that rock,” he said as he reached for it. “It looks like the trilobite (三叶虫) in Miss Bailey’s fossil book.”
Brian took a look and saw that it was a trilobite.
“We could donate it to the museum, and we’ll be on the news! We’ll be famous,” said Francesco.
Just then, they heard Emily and Anna coming.
“Quick, hide it,” whispered Francesco. “If they see it, they’ll tell everyone.” Francesco placed the stone in some tall grass on the bank. Then the boys went back to their fishing. “Let’s leave it there for now,” Brian said. “We’ll come back and get it after supper. Then we’ll decide what to do with it.”
Francesco agreed. They picked up their fishing gear and headed back.
When their paths parted, and Francesco was riding home, he thought, “I want that fossil. I saw it first. It’s mine.” He immediately turned around, rode back, picked up the rock, and put it in his pocket. He felt good riding home.
Brian could hardly eat his supper, thinking, “I want it for myself. I’m going back for it before Francesco does.” After supper, he rushed out. Arriving at the spot, he searched and searched, but the fossil wasn’t there. He knew the girls didn’t take it; they were too far away to see it. “It’s gone! Did Francesco beat me to it?” He thought angrily.
As soon as Brian saw his friend riding up the path, he shouted, “You took the fossil! YOU STOLE IT!” “So what?” Francesco said. “I found it ... it’s mine! I knew you were going to come back for it.” Francesco gave Brian a hard push. Brian stumbled over (被……绊倒) some rocks, and then fell backwards into the quarry.
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。
Francesco froze in horror.
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Swimming to the bank, the two rested there.
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“Not fair.” Wendi was rather angry. “You promised we could go to the climbing park.”
“But, it is going to rain, and the climbing park is outdoors.” Mum shook her head.
Wendi looked out of the window. “But it isn’t raining, just clouds.”
“The weather lady says so, and she knows, rain in the afternoon,” Mum said.
“The weather lady must get it wrong,” Wendi complained in a low voice, but suddenly, the rain started. “Oh.” Wendi was surprised, looking up at the sky.
“We’ll go to the climbing park another day.” Mum watched the rain.
“How does the weather lady know about the weather?” Wendi asked.
“Well, she has got a weather station, I think.” Mum was not sure.
“Grandpa might know. I’ll ask him tomorrow,” Wendi said.
“We can build a little weather station in the garden if you like, Wendi,” Grandpa explained. “You’ll need a wind vane (风向标) to see how the wind is blowing, and we can make it by ourselves. And we also need to prepare a rain gauge (雨量计) to measure how much rain has fallen. And, I’ve got a good thermometer (温度计) for outdoors.”
“A thermometer ... what is that?” Wendi asked.
Grandpa laughed. “A thermometer measures the temperature.”
“Thermometer.” Wendi was pleased with her new word.
“And last of all, we need a barometer (气压计). That’s a big word, too, Wendi,” Grandpa explained. “A barometer tells us what the air pressure is. I’ve got one, too.”
“But what is air pressure?” Wendi asked.
“Well, if the air pressure changes, the weather will change,” Grandpa answered.
When everything was ready, Grandpa and Wendi got down to business, and soon a little garden weather station came into being.
Grandpa gave Wendi a list and said, “You have to keep a list of all the wind, rain and temperature changes. That’s when you’ll see how the weather is changing. And then you really will be a weathergirl.”
Rainy, Windy, Sunny, Snowy, Hot, Cold, Cloudy, Stormy, Very Windy ... Wendi painted many cards for all the things a weathergirl has to say.
Hearing the news, all Wendi’s friends visited her garden weather station.
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。
Wendi was a very good weathergirl until one icy cold winter day.
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After seeing this, Grandpa said to Wendi, “No weathergirl is always right, but it will snow soon, I am sure.”
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Joe sat on his bed and looked at his birthday presents. They were great! Smart new sports shoes from his mum. A fishing rod (竿) from his dad. And best of all, his grandpa had given him a watch. A proper, grown-up watch with a silver face.
Joe looked at the watch. It was so beautiful.
“Look after it, Joe,” said his mother. “It was expensive.”
Joe nodded. “I will, Mum. I promise. ”
That was last night — Saturday. Now it was Sunday, and Joe was going fishing.
“Are you wearing them to go fishing?”
Joe’s mum pointed at his new shoes. “It’s been raining all night, Joe. The river bank will be muddy (泥泞的). Wear your old shoes. ”
“No, it’s my birthday weekend,” said Joe. “I want to wear my new things. It will be okay. The rain has stopped now. ”
He quickly pulled on his jacket and left the house. “Bye!”
He knew a perfect place to fish. It was flat, like a little beach. He could stand really close to the water.
Soon he was there. The beach was empty. The only thing there was a huge white swan (天鹅). After seeing Joe, the swan walked into the water and sailed away. Joe began to fish.
An hour went by. Joe continued to fish happily. But the sky was getting dark. Rain! It began to fall. It was hard and heavy.
“Go away!” said Joe. “It’s my birthday weekend. I want to fish!”
The rain didn’t go away. It rained even harder.
Another hour went by. The rain didn’t stop. Joe was wet through, but he wouldn’t go home. It was his special day, and he was going to stay.
He threw his fishing line out again. But his hands were wet and the fishing rod was slippy (滑的). The rod flew out of his hands and dropped in the river.
“NO! My new rod!” He ran forward. But the beach had turned muddy. His new shoes were ruined in a moment. Then one of them came off completely. It was stuck in the mud behind him.
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。
Joe tried to turn around to pick it up but he lost his balance.
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At that time, the swan came back and saw something shiny and silver in the water.
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Laurie sat quietly in the empty dressing room.She had not competed since the accident.As she waited for her turn to skate,Laurie was very nervous.Today was very important in her comeback (复出).“If I can win today,” she thought,“I can skate in the World Cup next year.”
Before Laurie had her accident,everyone had said that she was the one to beat.
She thought back to that car accident where her right knee was badly injured.She spent six total months on recovery,treatment and practice because she hoped to regain her skill.
“Hello,Laurie,” one of her friends burst in.“How’s the knee?Is it going to slow you down?”
“I guess we’ll find out tonight,” Laurie said.
“There’s a girl named Jinny,strong in everything.She’s the only real competitor you have to beat,” the friend said and hurried out.
Hearing that,Laurie decided to show her most difficult jump.“If I don’t try it,I won’t stand a chance,” she thought.“Does anyone believe that I can still win?”
Suddenly her right knee sent pain up and down her leg.The doctor said it would do that for a while.“What makes you think you have a chance tonight?” she said to herself.
After the pain passed,she moved slowly to warm up.Then she said firmly,“I must win!”
At that moment,a young woman hurried in with a skate equipment bag.She put some of her belongings onto a chair.Her bag fell to the floor.“Hi,I’m Jinny Jordan,” she said.
Laurie felt uncomfortable as she looked at Jinny.“So this is my competitor,” thought Laurie.“Because of her,I may lose tonight.”
“I’m Laurie Collins,” Laurie told Jinny.“Something fell out of your bag,Jinny.”
As Jinny began to gather her belongings,the door opened.
“Jinny,” someone called,“your tape of music is missing.You are the next one!Laurie,after Jinny.”
“Oh,my God!I thought I had handed it in hours ago,the green box with my name on,”screamed Jinny,hurrying out.
注意:续写词数应为150左右。
“Music is so important to the skating,” Laurie said thoughtfully,doing some preparation alone in the dressing room.
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Minutes later,Laurie glided to the centre of the stadium when her name was called.
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A wealthy master once owned a large farm with a big house, where he employed two servants to work in the fields.
One servant was very loyal to his master. He placed the command of his master in his heart and obeyed it while the other servant only heard the words of his master, but went on his own way.
The first servant, who loved his master more than himself, worked really hard. Every day he planted seeds under the sun. Though sometimes he felt so tired, he never quit; he just took a rest and thought of his master coming back. There were also times when he got hurt because of stones, insects and other harmful objects but still he never gave up; he continued doing what his master had commanded. He knew that someday all his hard work would pay off and that his master would be satisfied with him. But the other servant, who loved himself more than his master, enjoyed the pleasure of the world. He thought that his master would never know what he was doing. He used his freedom for his own sake. He just ignored his master’s command and followed his own will.
Many years passed, but still the master did not come back. The first servant went on working hard in the fields for a good harvest year after year while the other servant wandered around the world.
One day their master appeared suddenly and was pleased when he found one servant harvesting the crops in the fields. Of course, he was disappointed when he couldn’t find the other one.
The master called the two servants and explained why he had been away for such a long time.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
The master said that he built a large beautiful house in town.
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The master treated the two servants fairly.
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Whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it. If we always ignore our own intention, we will obviously feel unhappy. Thus, take all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret doing it later in life.
The following story happened in a battlefield during the World War I. The soldiers from two sides were fighting against each other fiercely and there was no sign for the war to stop. All of a sudden terror attacked the heart of Peter, one of the French soldiers, as he saw his friend—Tom, who was born in the same village as him and had played with him happily and joined the army at the same time falling in the battle. Caught in the trenches (战壕) with continuous gunfire whizzing (嗖嗖地移动) over his head, Peter was lost in thought. He couldn’t decide whether he should lend a hand to Tom. Eventually he gathered all his courage and asked his officer if he could be allowed to go out into the“No Man’s Land” between the trenches to bring his helpless partner back because he thought there might be some chances of saving him.
“You can certainly go,“ said the officer, who couldn’t understand why Peter had made such a crazy request,“but I don’t think it will be worth it. As you know, your friend is probably dead and if you rush out of the trenches you may possibly throw your own life away.”
Considering the situations of the war, what the officer said really made sense because he didn’t want Peter to risk doing so. However, the officer’s words didn’t matter to Peter, and he had obviously made up his mind and he went anyway bravely.
Paragraph 1：
Much to the officer’s surprise, Peter managed to reach his friend.
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Paragraph 2：
“I told you it wouldn’t be worth it,“ the officer said.
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