I took a job as a receptionist for a vet almost five decades ago. As a keen animal lover, I accepted the position on the condition that I wouldn’t have to assist with any wounded animals. I couldn’t bear to see any creature in pain. It killed me to see the poor animals suffer.
At the end of my first week, we were closing the office for the day when a young man ran up to us holding a severely injured Doberman Pinscher puppy (杜宾犬) in his arms and begging us to save his life. The four-month-old pup had been hit by a car out of the blue.
The doctor and I ran back into the operating room. The only place the skin was still attached to this poor little animal’s body was around one shoulder. It was on the edge of dying, with awful blood and frightening bones. The vet worked tirelessly for what seemed like hours, stitching (缝针) him back together again. I stood in the clinic’s crowded waiting room, praying that the little puppy would pull through.
It turned out that was the easy part. The puppy had broken multiple bones, including his spine (脊椎). If he survived the next few days, we were quite sure he would never walk again. What followed called for great care and patience in the long term, but the vet was too occupied to handle the puppy.
That day forever changed my life. After the operation, the vet mentored me, and I became his assistant in all things medical. One of my first jobs was to give that Doberman puppy daily physical therapy. With mixed feelings, I accepted whatever came to my way—to attend to the puppy until its recovery.
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 following weeks witnessed I bonded with the Doberman in the clinic.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A year later, a huge Doberman broke loose and rushed toward me while I was walking home.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Having nice things can make you feel good, but at the end of the day, what truly matters is that we have people we love and care about in our lives.
Still, when someone is asked to sacrifice something in order to be with their loved ones in good health, it can be hard. That was the situation one man was put in two decades ago when his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
Years ago, Wesley Ryan learned his wife, Laura, had been diagnosed with cancer. The medical bills were piling up, and he knew in order to continue making ends meet, he would have to sell his beloved car.
Wesley loved that car and even nicknamed it Christine, based on the 1958 Plymouth Fury from Stephen King’s book, Christine. However, Laura meant more to him, and Wesley wanted her to continue getting the care she needed. So he handed over the keys.
“I know how much it broke him in half seeing that car drive away from him,” his son, Jake, wrote online. “It’s a day that I’ll never forget.” Jake and his sister, Jeni, knew they wanted to help their dad reunite with the car he’d loved so much. And over the years, the siblings had saved up enough money. So they started an online search and surprisingly, they were able to track down the old car online.
Actually, the man who bought the car found out about Wesley’s story and the meaning behind the beloved vehicle by accident. Moved by the sacrifice one man had made for his family and how his family stepped up to repay him in the sweetest way possible, he soon got in touch with Jake, who purchased it as soon as possible. And after careful consideration, Jake and Jeni decided to surprise their dad in a nearby parking lot. Moreover, Laura, cancer-free for 13 years at the time, joined them for the big reveal.
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。
Finally, the day came when Wesley reunited with his beloved car.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Wesley’s hands trembled as he reached out to confirm that it was real.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“I have something important I would like to read to you,” Ava told her parents. They were sitting side by side on the couch as she stood in front of them. They looked at each other a little cautiously, but smiled. Ava took that as a good sign.
“In school,” she told them, “we’ve been working on persuasive essays. My teacher said that in order to persuade people you have to have reasons and evidence. You can’t just say the same thing over and over again.”
“Well that’s certainly true,” her father said. But Ava wasn’t done yet. “My essay is called Why I Am Responsible and Ready for a Cell Phone,” she continued, smiling as she read.
It had been a problem for months. All three of her best friends received cellphones for Christmas. But Ava’s parents would just shake their heads whenever she asked them.
For weeks it seemed like there was nothing she could do. But then, a week ago, they had started working on writing persuasive essays at school. It occurred to her that why not write a persuasive essay?
For a whole week, she’d worked on her persuasive essay, coming up with all the reasons why she should have a cell phone. She was confident that this essay was the best thing that she had ever written. There was no way her parents wouldn’t be persuaded.
“Alright Ava,” her mom said. “We both wanted to wait until you were older to get you a cell phone.” “But, Ava, since you think you are ready for it, this weekend you shall get it. But we want you to understand, a cellphone is not all just fun and games,” her Dad said. “This is a high responsibility.” He started to list all of the ways that she had to be responsible with her phone, but Ava wasn’t listening anymore. She was too busy trying to decide what apps she could download. On the weekend, her plan worked! She had a cellphone!
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。
She couldn’t wait to show it to her friends.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________She thought maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t ready for a phone yet.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In a big city lived a girl named Amy. She was a clever and lively child, but her heart was often clouded by dissatisfaction. Whenever she saw other children playing with new dolls or dressed in fancy outfits, Amy’s eyes would sparkle with envy and she wished she had them too.
So she always asked her mother, “Mom, can I have this?” or “Mom, can I have that?” If her mom didn’t satisfy her need, Amy would respond with endless complaints or tears. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t possess what she desired.
Her mother, a wise and loving woman, tried to reason with Amy. She explained that Amy already had so many toys and clothes. She said, “Amy, you’re lucky to have so much. Learn to be happy with what you have.” But Amy’s ears were deaf to her mother’s words. She could only see what she lacked, and her heart remained heavy with dissatisfaction.
Amy’s discontentment affected her social life at high school. Her bad temper and constant complaints about what she lacked made it difficult for her to make friends. When Amy saw her desk mate Lily using new stationery (文具), she immediately said, “I have better ones.” Once, hearing some girls talking about their new dresses, she interrupted rudely, “My mom will buy me the same one, even nicer.” Other kids couldn’t bear her attitude and kept away from her gradually, which made Amy feel more lonely and unhappy.
When Amy told her mother the “unfair treatment” she faced at school, her mother was deeply concerned about her. She knew that Amy’s constant dissatisfaction was not appropriate and would eventually ruin her happiness completely. “Something must be done.” she thought. After deep consideration, she decided to take a different approach. One day, she invited Amy to join her in volunteering at a local charity that helped the children there in need. Initially, Amy refused, but her mother’s determined attitude persuaded her successfully.
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。
As they arrived at the charity, Amy’s eyes were opened to a world she had never known.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That voluntary experience and the conversation with the children changed Amy’s life.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sara was always fascinated by art. From a young age, she would spend hours painting, lost in her colorful world. However, growing up in a small town, opportunities to learn and grow as an artist were limited. Her art teacher, Mrs Thompson, saw great potential in Sara and believed she could achieve something extraordinary. Mrs Thompson was more than just a teacher; she was a guide, teacher, and friend to Sara. She recognized Sara’s talent and dedication to art and decided to help her reach new heights. She arranged extra classes, provided art supplies, and even introduced Sara to local artists.
As the town’s art fair was approaching, Mrs Thompson encouraged Sara to submit her work. Sara was hesitant at first, doubting her abilities. But Mrs Thompson’s faith in her was firm. They worked together, choosing the best pieces, creating new works, and preparing for the fair. The weeks leading up to the fair were filled with excitement, hard work, and some anxiety. Sara put in long hours, and Mrs Thompson was always there, offering guidance, encouragement, and a listening ear. Slowly, Sara’s confidence grew.
The town’s art fair was a significant event, drawing artists and art enthusiasts from nearby areas. It was a chance for Sara to showcase her talent to a broader audience and possibly open doors to new opportunities.
Finally, the day arrived, and Sara’s art was displayed. People were drawn to her unique style and emotional depth. The local newspaper even covered her story, highlighting the young artist’s journey and her dedicated teacher’s role. The experience was transformative for Sara, not only as an artist but as a person. She had faced her fears, embraced her passion, and taken a significant step toward her dreams, all with her teacher’s unselfish support.
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。
The art fair was a turning point for Sara.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the art fair, Sara continued to grow as an artist.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On Oct. 4. 2021, James and his friend Raphael were squeezing in a lunchtime workout on Pier (码头) 15 overlooking the East River, when James froze. “Somebody’s in the water,” he shouted. Before Raphael could respond. James climbed over the rail at the edge of the pier and leaped into the cold, polluted water without taking the time to remove his shoes.
What James had heard was an alarmed fisherman shouting from Pier 16. nearly 50 yards away, “Help! He’s in the water!” And what he’d seen was a person floating, lifeless.
Raphael didn’t need to see the victim. “Maybe the fisherman saw someone in the water who needs our help.” he thought. “Or maybe it’s the fisherman who needs my help. Either way, I’m going in.” He yanked off his shoes and swan-dived.
Approaching the unconscious victim, James saw that it was a middle-aged man. He was big, around 200 pounds, respectably dressed and sinking fast. He was 3 feet below the surface by the time James reached him. James dove, felt around, grasped the man and kicked upward until they both resurfaced. Raphael was there now. Treading(踩，踏) water, the two friends floated the man on his back. As Raphael looped his arms around the man’s shoulders and James supported the hips and knees, they made their way back to Pier 15, exhausted.
They might have been hauling a corpse (尸体). The man’s skin was blue, and neither Raphael nor James detected any breathing. When at last they reached Pier 15, they faced a new uncertainty.
How to get out? The pier’s decking stood an unreachable 10 feet above their heads. A metal beam was covered by sharp barnacles. If Raphael, shoeless, attempted to climb onto it, he’d hurt his bare feet.
Suddenly the man breathed again, stirred and clobbered (狠揍) confusedly Raphael in the face before fading back to near unconsciousness.
注意：1.续写词数应为150词左右：
2.请按如下格式作答.
“Did we do something wrong?” Raphael asked himself.
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At the moment, on the pier, the crowd had gathered from somewhere.
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7 . 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。
Being a train driver, I must concentrate on my driving when working. And on that particular day, I was glad for my outstanding attention.
From a distance, I spotted a small figure like a thin kid on the train tracks. Immediately, I rang the alarm, but no response. Observing carefully, I saw a boy lying on the tracks, unable to escape from my train, as his foot was stuck. I pulled the brakes with all my might as soon as I could. Luckily, the train stopped a few inches from the boy, who was crying loudly in fear.
I approached him, asking how he felt and whether I could give a hand. After getting his permission, I cautiously checked how his foot was stuck in the tracks. And after a few pulls, the boy's foot came out finally. Hugging him and making sure everything was okay, I asked whether I needed to call his parents. To my astonishment, the child said nothing, just looking at me with his tearful eyes. Considering it was dangerous to leave the boy alone, I decided to take him to my home after work.
Arriving at my home, I introduced him to my wife, Amelia. She looked at the child in surprise for a while, but she calmed down quickly and asked whether the boy remembered her. The boy nodded. Amelia explained to me that she had just walked out of the supermarket with some bread and vegetables the other day, when a group of bad guys blocked her way. Just then, a little boy ran toward them and screamed to attract the police, which at last saved her. Here stood the brave boy.
In the following hours, we chatted with each other, and thus we knew that the kid was named Tom and he was abandoned by his parents and became an orphan who had been alone on the streets for years. As we didn’t have any children, we were determined to adopt Tom.
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。
I told Tom our decision, waiting for his answer.
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The next morning, we opened our bedroom door and saw Tom standing there.
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8 . 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。
Banjo woke up early this morning. He pulled hard at his sister Mog’s sleeping bag. “Get out of that,” he said. “It’s a great day for exploring.”
After breakfast, they put their boots and packs on, then set off down the overgrow n track.
Having been walking for a while, Mog suddenly stopped. “Look,” she said, pointing through the trees. “An old hut with an old car. Someone must have lived here years ago.”
“Maybe they’re still there,” said Banjo.
“I don’t think so,” said Mog. “Why would anyone want to live in that old dump?”
“Well, let’s just check.” Banjo threw a handful of stones at the hut door, making loud noise.
Abruptly, an old man with gray hair and a beard rushed out of the hut, waving a frying pan and shouting, “What do you think you are doing? Get off my land! You are not allowed here!”
Banjo and Mog had never seen anyone so frightening. His eyes were wide and he was swinging the frying pan around.
“Run!” Banjo yelled.
The two started running as if they were deer pursued by a hungry lion. Wild thoughts raced through Mog’s mind. What if he caught them? He looked half crazy. They kept running for quite a while. Banjo was well ahead of Mog. He glanced behind, no the hut man. Great. Wait, no Mog! Where is she?!
“Mog!” Banjo shouted. Silence. He could feel fear. Something terrible must have happened to Mog. Banjo felt it hard to breathe.
Suddenly, he heard a faint sound, a depressed moan. Then he heard Mog’s voice; it was a panicky voice and far away. “Help! Help!”
He moved forward carefully towards Mog’s voice, knelt down and found himself peering into a deep, dark hole. Mog was sitting at the bottom of the hole, sobbing, with her leg bleeding. Banjo could see the steep, slippery walls of the hole. There was no way he could save Mog out on his own. He could feel his heart pounding but he had to keep calm, for Mog’s sake.
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。
Banjo realized there was only one he could turn to.
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The hut man found a long rope and some wood and followed Banjo.
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Sam Meadows was on the sofa watching the wrestle. This was how he spent most of his evenings. When he had finished watching that week’s shows he would watch a DVD of a classic main event. His focus on the action on screen was disturbed when his mobile phone rang. He paused the television. On the screen the wrestler was frozen mid-air, drop-kicking his opponent. Sam’s friend Phil was on the phone, a boy he’d known for over ten years and who was counted as one of his closest friends.
They made the usual football chat. Sam didn’t really care for football, but kept up the pretence (假装). He told nobody of his lack of interest in the so-called beautiful game. He pretended to be into football to be one of the boys. Sam would keep an eye on the score, and he would even join his mates in the pub to watch important football matches.
Sam had never told anyone his addiction with wrestling. His friends had progressed and grown out of wrestling, gone on from sports-entertainment to so-called real sports like football. By the time he’d left high school, he had learned not to mention his interest in wrestling. To mention his interest in pro-wrestling would bring ridicule (嘲笑). Even now, in his late twenties, if any of his friends or family were to discover his interest, he would be laughed at mercilessly. They would tell him to grow up, and ask if he was eight years old or twenty-eight. When buying wrestling DVDs he would feel his cheeks redden as he approached the check-out. Did the person on the counter know the DVD was for him not a gift for a young niece or nephew?
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。
Around half an hour after he hung up the phone, Sam was shocked by a knock at the door.
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Phil turned on the television, and it came back on to the same channel it had been on.
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There was a story that all the kids told at my school. I don’t know if they believed it but some of them certainly acted as if they did. On the way from my home to school there was a little old cottage. You could only just see the cottage, as if it were trying to hide itself behind the lemonade trees and bushy garden. At times, but not very often, the children had seen a little old woman make her way along the cracked leaf-covered path from the front door to the mailbox. Her fingers were twisted in funny shapes, her body was bent over and her back hunched (弓背). If she lifted her head to look at you, her face was all wrinkly. “The witch (女巫) at Number 97” was how most kids spoke of her. “Don’t look in her eyes,” you could hear them say. “She’ll capture you in a magic spell, take you into the house and never release you again.”
In the mornings and at the end of the day, my friends and I would pass Number 97 in a group. We felt safer and more secure in numbers. But now, I played the recorder so well that I was asked to join the school band, and that meant staying after school one afternoon a week to rehearse (排练). So I had to walk home all by myself.
I set out as I normally would but as I began to approach the little old cottage it looked scarier than ever. For a while I hesitated, not knowing what to do. I wanted to run but felt I really needed to just walk my way through the experience. I took some deep breaths and tried to think of something different: Home, supper and my bed. While thinking of those things, the dreadful look of the old cottage seemed to fade. When I started thinking about the witch again, the cottage loomed big and frightening in my thoughts. “No,” I said to myself, “Concentrate on how good it will feel to get home,” and with that I started to feel easier.
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。
But as I reached the front gate to Number 97, my heart almost stopped.
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One day, I asked the “witch”, Mrs. Walcott, if I could know her story for homework.
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