A cactus (仙人掌) stood all alone in the desert, wondering why it was stuck in the middle of the desert. “I do nothing but stand here all day,” it sighed. “What use do I have? I am the ugliest plant in the desert. My spines (刺) are thick, my leaves are tough, and my skin is uneven. I can’t offer shade or juice to the passing travellers. I don’t see that I am of any use at all.” All it did was stand in the sun day after day, growing taller and fatter. Its spines grew longer and its leaves grew tougher. It truly was strange-looking.
“I wish I could do something useful,” it signed. By day, hawks (鹰) circled high overhead, and the cactus called, “What can I do with my life?” Whether they heard or not, the hawks flew away. At night the moon floated into the sky and cast its pale light on the desert floor. “What can I do with my life?” the cactus called. The moon only stared coldly as it continued its course.
A lizard (蜥蜴) passed by, leaving a little trail in the sand with its tail. “What worthy deed can I do?” the cactus called. “You?” the lizard smiled, pausing a moment. “You can do something. Just wait for the right moment. The hawks circle their ways overhead, making beautiful patterns for us all to admire. The moon hangs high like a lantern at night, so we can see our ways home to our loved ones. Even I, the lowly lizard, have something to do. I decorate the sands with these beautiful trails as I pull my tail along. And you, you will show us your beauty some day.”
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It went on year after year, and the cactus grew old.
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The desert hadn’t known such a flower of it.
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One day, my brother and I were in our apartment. My parents had both gone for a party and had left me in charge of everything. I was doing my homework while my younger brother was watching TV. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Dingdong! Dingdong! My younger brother had rushed to the door before I decided to answer the door. We both thought that our parents had come home. As a result, he unlocked the door and opened it.
Outside of the house stood a man who wore a black raincoat and black rubber boots. He looked no different from other people and said that he was a salesman and asked politely if our mother or father was at home so he could talk with them.
Without thinking, my brother said，“No.” He asked if we would like to buy some comic books (漫画书), which he was selling. I quickly explained to him that we were not supposed to buy anything without our parents’ permission. However, it seemed that he was not willing to follow my advice and he had an intention to enter our house.
Then, I realized something terrible would happen. As I was about to close the door, he forced his way into our house. He forced me to tie up my brother’s hands with the rope which he took out from his pocket. I tied up his hands but tied it in a special way so my brother could untie (解开) it himself as we often did. The man then tied my hands up and locked both of us in the kitchen.
Soon, he went upstairs to search the bedroom for something valuable. I managed to teach my brother to untie the rope on his hands. He then untied it for me. I rushed to the telephone to call the police, but the line was dead.
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
3. 参考词汇：forget to do sth. lock window manage to do sth. (设法做某事) go out of (出去) police station (警察局) as soon as possible (尽快地) be caught (被抓) robber (盗贼) tell pretend to do sth (假装做某事) praise (赞扬) bravery (勇敢) back home (回家) thankful (感恩) get hurt (受伤) learn a lesson (吸取教训) safety and responsibility
The doors were all locked from the outside and what’s more, I did not have the keys.
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Just at the same time our parents come back home.
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It was time to go home. “Remember to work on your class speeches for homework,” Miss Walker said as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone would get really bored with listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.
Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.
Jenny picked it up and wanted to return it to Lee, but she couldn’t catch up with him. When she arrived home, Jenny put it on, thinking about the magic. She was surprised that it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her. “I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water…” Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the minor, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really did have something magical.
The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker ask cd who was going to be brave and go first. Nobody moved, Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say something, there was a shout “She’s stolen in y watch!” Lee said angrily. “It went missing at school yesterday.”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段. 每段的开头语已为你写好；
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Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation,
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Miss Walker smiled and asked the class lo listen lo Jenny’s speech first.
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Belinda, like many of my students, had grown up "street smart", with very little use for schools and books. On the first day of school, she called Rory a very bad word, so I kept her in at break. I made her wash all the desks and pick up all the garbage lying around. "That'll teach her," I thought. Belinda, though, was smarter than me. "I like cleaning. Mr. Brassell," she said. "Can I do this every day?"
On the third day, I caught Belinda fighting with Jose. I walked over to their table and asked what the problem was. "She keeps calling me a bad word," Jose said. Belinda wrote standards after school while I gave her another lecture on behavior. The next day, I caught her fighting with Jose again. I shouted angrily across the room to ask why they were fighting. Again, Jose accused Belinda of calling him a bad word. Belinda had finally earned a home visit. I told her that I would walk her home after school and talk to her mother in person.
And for the first time all the week, Belinda became silent. For the rest of the day, she sat still in her chair, even with kids teasing her. "It's not going to work, young lady," I told her. "You already earned a walk home, and behaving now isn't going to change that."
When the final bell sounded, I took Belinda by the hand, and we began the two-block walk to her house. Belinda took me through the gate to her yard and she went inside to get her mother while I waited outside.
Where have you been, girl?" a voice screamed. Babies cried loudly inside.
"My teacher's here," Belinda said softly, and I still couldn't see inside through the front door.
"Hello," a deep voice barked. Then the door opened, and a rather skinny, short woman walked out.
"Uh, I'm Mr. Brassell, Belinda's teacher."
"What'd she done this time?"
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。
I suddenly decided to try a different approach.
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The next day at school, Belinda gave my knees a big hug.
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A couple, Peter and Alice, had a nice home and two lovely children, a boy and a girl. Peter had a good job and had just been asked to go on a business trip to another city and would be gone for several days. It was decided that Alice needed an outing and would go along too. So they hired a reliable woman called Mary to care for their children and made the trip.
Days later, they returned home a little earlier than they had planned.
As they drove into their town feeling glad to be back, they noticed smoke, so they went off their usual route to see what it was. They found a house in flames. Alice said. “Oh, well, it isn’t our fire. Let’s go home.”
But Peter drove closer and screamed in surprise. “That house belongs to Fred Jones who works in the same company with me. He wouldn’t be off work yet, maybe there is something we can do.”
“It has nothing to do with us,” protested (抗议) Alice. “You have your good clothes on. Let’s not get any closer.”
But Peter drove up and stopped. They were both shocked to see the whole house in flames. A woman on the lawn was in hysterics screaming, “The children! Get the children!”
Peter seized her by the shoulder, saying, “Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!”
“In the basement,” sobbed the woman, “down the hall and to the left.”
In spite of Alice’s protests, Peter turned on a tap, used the water to wet his clothes, put his wet handkerchief on his head and dashed into the basement which was full of smoke.
He got to the door and found two children. Holding one under each arm. Peter headed outside. As he left, he could hear some more whimpering (呜咽声). He delivered the two badly frightened children into his arms and started back asking how many more children were down there.
注意:
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
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The woman told him there were two more.
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At that moment, Peter seemed to feel something familiar in his arms.
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John was crazy about playing basketball. Every day after school, he would spend much time practicing basketball skills. Sometimes, he didn't go back home until sunset, which made his mother extremely angry. One day. as he was given a chance to watch a basketball game, he dreamed about being a member of the college basketball team the next year. On the way, he was delighted secretly. He thought no one in the world was luckier than him. Suddenly. a car hit him. What a terrible experience! It seemed like a bad dream.
John woke up in a hospital room. He was frightened to death. He realized that he couldn't move both of his legs. At that time, the doctor came in. When the doctor told him that both his legs were broken and he had to sit in the wheelchair for the time being, he knew his college basketball dream was over. He was really depressed. John followed what the doc tors had told him. but it did not work entirely. When he left hospital# John was sent to a health recovery center. He never heard of this center before, but it was not far away from his house. Although he felt unwilling to go there, he had no choice but to accept the fact.
A week later, he arrived there unhappily. The first person he met was Sunny Chen, who was so kind and friendly that he warmly welcome John to go there. Sunny's legs were badly hurt in a skating accident. He told John that he would help him recover soon. Though Sunny couldn't move his legs, he became the coach of a basketball team called the Suns. After a period of recovery training. John felt his legs were all right. So Sunny invited him to join the game Sunny guided the team on his wheelchair. John played badly, but for the first time since the accident, he stopped feeling sorry for himself.
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.
John was glad that his dream of being a member of the basketball team came true.
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______________________________________________________________________________________________________When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby，many families were left completely destroyed.Afterward all the local newspapers carried many humaninterest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
One Sunday，a particular picture especially touched me.A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered mobile home，a depressed expression twisting her features.A young boy，seven or eight years old，definitely in low spirits，stood at her side，eyes downcast.Clutching(紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera，eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member.With growing interest，I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours.This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves.I taped the picture of the young family to our refrigerator，explaining their difficulty to my sevenyearold twins，Brad and Brett，and to threeyearold Meghan.
“We have so much.And these poor people now have nothing，” I said.“We'll share what we have with them，thus they will smile again.”
I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor.Meghan watched seriously，as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.
While I sorted through our clothes，I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things.Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games.
“I'll help you find something for the little girl when I'm done with this，” I said.
The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes.Meghan walked up with Lucy，her worn，faded，muchloved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest.She paused in front of the box that held the toys，pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat，paintedonface，gave her a final kiss，then laid her gently on the top of other toys.
“Oh，Honey，” I said.“You don't have to give Lucy.You love her so much.”
Meghan nodded seriously，eyes glistening with heldback tears.“Lucy makes me happy，Mommy.Maybe she'll make that other little girl happy，too.”
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The boys，openmouthed，had watched their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box.
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Taking the cue from my little ones，I removed my old jacket from the box of clothes.
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It was Christmas Day. Pappy was working alone fixing an old lantern in the backroom when he heard the ringing of his bell on the shop door. The bell, which produced a uniquely pleasant sound, had been in Pappy’s family for over a hundred years. He valued it dearly and enjoyed sharing its song with all who came to his shop. Although the bell hung on the inside of the main door, Pappy had tied a wire to the screen door so that it would ring whether the inner door was open or not. Hearing the bell, he left the backroom to greet his customer.
“And how can I help you, little lady?” Pappy’s voice was joyful.
“Hello, sir.” The little girl spoke almost in a whisper. She looked at Pappy with her big brown eyes, and then slowly scanned the room in search of something special. Shyly she told him, “I’d like to buy a present, sir.”
“Well, let’s see,” Pappy said, “who is this present for?”
“My grandpa. It’s for my grandpa. But I don’t know what to get.”
Pappy began to make suggestions. “How about a pocket watch? It’s in good condition.” The little girl didn’t answer. She had walked to the doorway and put her small hand on the door. She shook the door gently to ring the bell. Pappy’s face seemed to glow as he saw her smiling with excitement.
“This is just right,” the little girl said. “Momma says grandpa loves music.”
Just then, Pappy’s expression changed. Fearful of breaking the little girl’s heart, he told her, “I’m sorry, Missy. That’s not for sale. Maybe your grandpa would like this little radio.”
The girl looked at the radio, bowed her head, and sadly sighed, “No, I don’t think so.”
In an effort to help her understand, Pappy told her that the bell had been his only companion, for the rest of his family were all gone now, except for his estranged daughter whom he had not seen for nearly a decade.
注意：
所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
With a giant tear in her eye, the little girl looked up at him.
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Later that evening when Pappy was closing up the shop, he heard a familiar ringing.
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9 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
A Vacation with My Mother
I had an interesting childhood. It was filled with surprises and amusements, all because of my mother---loving, sweet, yet absent-minded and forgetful. One strange family trip we took when I was eleven tells a lot about her.
My two sets of grandparents lived in Colorado and North Dakota, and my parents decided to spend a few weeks driving to those states and seeing all the sights along the way. As the first day of our trip approached, David, my eight-year-old brother, and I unwillingly said good-bye to all of our friends. Who knew if we’d ever see them again? Finally, the moment of our departure arrived, and we loaded suitcases, books, games, camping equipment, and a tent into the car and bravely drove off. We bravely drove off again two hours later after we’d returned home to get the purse and traveler’s checks Mom had forgotten.
David and I were always a little nervous when using gas station bathrooms if Mom was driving while Dad slept: “You stand outside the door and play lookout(放哨) while I go, and I’ll stand outside the door and play lookout while you go.” I had terrible pictures in my mind: “Honey, where are the kids?” “What?! Oh, Gosh…I thought they were being awfully quiet.” We were never actually left behind in a strange city, but we weren’t about to take any chances.
On the fourth or fifth night, we had trouble finding a hotel with a vacancy. After driving in vain for some time, Mom suddenly got a great idea: Why didn’t we find a house with a likely-looking backyard and ask if we could set up tent there? David and I became nervous. To our great relief, Dad turned down the idea. Mom never could understand our objections(反对). If a strange family showed up on her front doorstep, Mom would have been delighted. She thinks everyone in the world is as nice as she is. We finally found a vacancy in the next town.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:The next day we remembered the brand-new tent we had brought with us. ______________
Paragraph 2:
We drove through several states and saw lots of great sights along the way. ______________
