Sumiel was having a tough Friday. It was October 2020, and the 71-year-old, who was dealing with kidney (肾) failure and had been on dialysis (透析) for a few years, found himself at a blood center 30 miles from home for the second time in 24 hours.
Sumiel was no stranger to the struggles of kidney disease. He was on the transplant list, but no matches had yet appeared. So he continued with his treatments. Without a ride lined up for Friday’s do-over, Sumiel took an Uber to and from his appointment.
Timothy Letts, 31, was driving north to visit a friend when his phone pinged (响) with the request for Sumiel’s ride home. The trip was out of Letts’s way. Still, he took the fare, figuring if the passenger was coming from a medical facility, he likely needed a ride. When Sumiel got into the car, Letts could see that the older man was weak but in good spirits. And as they set out on the 40-minute drive to Sumiel’s home, the pair got to chatting.
Sumiel really lit up the car with positive energy. Letts shared with Sumiel that he was once a proud soldier. Sumiel mentioned that in the past he’d enjoyed volunteering in his community. But he was doing less these days, he explained, because the dialysis treatments left him exhausted.
Then Sumiel said that he was searching for a kidney donor. Letts joked, “I’d be a good donor candidate if I don’t drink or smoke.”Sumiel agreed, though he didn’t think much of it as they kept driving. Letts, however, couldn’t stop thinking about it. Letts believes in helping others, so donating a kidney was something that was always on his mind. So, about a quarter-mile away from Sumiel’s house, Letts said, “I’d like to see if I could be a match to give you a kidney.”Sumiel was shocked. He was shaking so hard, he could barely write his name when they exchanged contact information. Once inside his home, he excitedly told his wife, “The Uber driver just offered me his kidney!”
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2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After the initial excitement, Sumiel started feeling a bit less optimistic.
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After a long process, came the good news.
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Hettie’s eyes fell on a magazine she hadn’t noticed before in her bag. She took it out and read the Post-it note her mom had stuck to the cover.
Page 8! So Cool!
Love, Mom
Hettie smiled. Mom always slipped a little surprise into her bag. Hettie jumped onto her bed and wrapped herself in the blanket, opening the magazine to page eight straight. There was a huge ad: “DO YOU WANNA BE CALIFORNIA LEE’S BEST FRIEND FOREVER? Make a video telling us how much you love her and you could win a day with Pop Teen’s rising star CALIFORNIA LEE!”
Hettie tried to see the Cally she had known through the makeup and the fancy clothes. Her eyes sparkled (闪烁) the same emerald green as they had in Hettie’s backyard when Cally told her the big news. “I got the part!” She sang out as she bounced up and down on the swing. Hettie had been excited, too. Cally had really wanted this part. It was in Rock Club, a TV musical on Pop Teen. It was, she said, how all of Pop Teen Channel’s stars started out.
Then the musical came out and Cally, now California Lee, was busy all the time. The last time the two girls had seen each other was at Cally’s birthday party. Even in her best dress and new shoes, Hettie felt out of place. Most of the kids at the party were actors. Big boxes with massive bows covered the birthday present table. Overwhelmed and feeling shy, Hettie took her gift—a flashlight, and sat in a corner. No one came to look for her until her mom arrived to pick her up. Soon after, Cally moved to Los Angeles with her family.
The next day, Hettie arrived at school earlier than usual, with the magazine under her arm, her book bag over her shoulder. After making sure that no one in the schoolyard was watching, Hettie dropped her bag on the ground and pulled out her phone.
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 held the phone as far as she could from her face and pressed record.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hettie’s heart sank as she realized that she wasn’t the winner.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Chester was born in a cardboard box with four other cats. He was in a smaller cardboard box marked “free kittens” when Sasha met him and took him home. From that moment on, he loved boxes.
In the mornings he sat, licking his paws and fur with his tongue in the rainbow-colored sunlight. Then he would look around for a box to sleep in.
He slept in hatboxes and shipping boxes, gift boxes and takeout food boxes. He slept in Sasha’s sock drawer, if she left it open. When he was a kitten, the size of a small load of bread, he had slept in shoeboxes. But he grew and grew, and now he was a lot bigger. When he tried to sleep in a shoebox, his furry tummy hung over the sides.
Chester didn’t just sit in boxes, though. Sometimes he sat in flowerpots, pans, or laundry baskets. Chester also liked to sit in the bedroom of Sasha’s dollhouse, her birthday gift, with the furniture in a mess. Sasha had to redecorate the dollhouse every day, but she didn’t mind as long as Chester was happy. Sasha’s mom suggested Chester need a fixed house of his own, but Sasha ignored.
One day Sasha came home from school, and she couldn’t find Chester. He wasn’t in the dollhouse, or her sock drawer. “Mom, Dad!” Sasha yelled. “Chester is gone!”
Sasha’s mom looked in the attic (阁楼). There were boxes and dust balls, and even a mouse that had escaped Chester’s notice, but no Chester. Sasha’s dad looked in the kitchen cabinets. There were pots and pans, and the old can of soup he thought he’d lost, but no Chester.
Suddenly, “I found him!” Sasha cried.
The big orange cat was inside her mom’s new glass vase, clear glass with blue and green lines. He curled up in it, his fatty body almost jamming the vase.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
He didn’t look happy at all.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Luckily, not only Chester, but the vase, was still in one piece.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a quiet and peaceful afternoon. Connie, already home from school, was sitting comfortably in a chair at the kitchen table, doing her homework. Baby Sister was in the living room, building a castle with her bricks and singing softly to herself.
Suddenly they heard a familiar and unwelcome sound: “La-la-la-la-la-la.”
Connie remarked that trouble was coming, and she was right. A moment later the back door flew open and banged against the kitchen wall. As 8-year-old Benjy ran into the dining room, he inquired about everyone’s whereabouts, accidentally crashing the door against the wall with such force that a small vase dropped to the floor and broke into-pieces.
“Benjy, you naughty boy!” cried Connie. “Whatever will Mom say?”
“Hi, Con. What are you doing here? You don’t want to read anymore, do you?” said Benjy excitedly. “Let’s play something. Look what I found today.”
As Benjy emptied his pockets, sticks, rocks, and candies dropped on the floor and rolled in every direction. However, Connie refused to play. She mentioned that she needed to learn the poetry for a test. To Connie’s shock, Benjy suddenly knocked her book out of her hand and ordered her to play with him first.
Connie was annoyed and jumped out of her chair. “Why did you do that?” she cried. “Why can’t you leave people alone?”
“Oh, stuck-up (趾高气扬的), are you?” teased Benjy, pulling Connie’s hair and kicking her book across the room. Unfortunately it hit Baby Sister’s castle and brought it crashing down in ruins.
“Boo-hoo-hoo!” cried Baby Sister. “You’ve broken my castle, and I wanted Mamma to see it. Boo-hoo-hoo!” She picked up a block and cast it as hard as she could at Benjy’s head. He ducked (躲避), and it missed him, striking a picture and breaking the glass.
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。
At this moment the back door opened again and their mother walked in.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Benjy thought a lot about Mom’s advice and decided to make a change.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lani Williams and her mother, Sincerity, have lived in the historic town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui for most of their lives.
Last week, as wildfires began to destroy their beloved town, both the mother and daughter jumped in their car to escape.
Embers (灰烬) were already falling down on them. So Lani got her mom into the car. But then the traffic already stood still. Then she saw another fire beside them on a whole house. Lani thought they were going to die in the car.
Lani and her mom determined the only way out of the fire’s path was to get out of their car and climb over a nearby seawall, into the ocean water.
That escape route, though, proved too difficult as Sincerity has trouble walking and uses a walker for assistance.
As Lani and Sincerity was thinking what to do, a man, a complete stranger, came to their aid.
The man, later identified as Benny Reinicke, told Sincerity to lean on his back so that he could carry her over the seawall and into the water.
He said, “Auntie, put your weight on me. I got you there.”
Reinicke carried Sincerity on his back over the seawall, and then stayed with Sincerity and her daughter in the ocean water for over eight hours as they waited for the fires to die out.
“I just kept thinking to myself, like, this is a young guy that could have just left. He could have swum around to safety, leaving us behind,” Lani said. “But he didn’t. He stayed with us the whole entire time and made sure that all of us were safe.”
After they made it out of the ocean to safety, Lani and Sincerity lost touch with Reinicke.
When everything came to normal, Sincerity told her daughter that they should find Reinicke and say thank you to him. Lani tried her neighborhood for some information about Reinicke but she found nothing.
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。
So Lani decided to turn to the social media.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Lani told Reinicke that she and her mother would arrange a face-to-face meeting with him.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the small town of Riverdale, life was never easy for 17-year-old Emily. Her family had faced financial struggles since her father’s business went down, leaving them in debt. To make matters worse, Emily's mother had fallen ill, adding medical bills to their list of concerns. Despite these challenges, Emily refused to let adversity define her. She worked tirelessly after school to support her family and kept up with her studies, determined to secure a scholarship for college.
One day, as she was browsing the internet for potential scholarship opportunities, Emily came across an article about a local charity event that offered a full scholarship to the winner of a talent competition. Without hesitation, she decided to enter the talent competition. Emily was an accomplished pianist, having practiced piano for hours every day throughout her childhood. She poured her heart into practicing for the competition, hoping it would be her ticket to a better future.
On the day of the competition, Emily felt a mix of nerves and excitement. She watched as other contestants showcased their talents—some sang, others danced, and a few of the contestants played instruments. When it was her turn, Emily took a deep breath and began to play. Her fingers moved gracefully over the keys, and the melody filled the room. She was nearly absorbed in the pieces that she had practiced hundreds of times. As the last note echoed, the audience erupted in applause.
The judges discussed for a while before finally announcing the winner. To Emily’s dismay, she didn’t win the scholarship. The judges praised her performance but said they were looking for something “different” this year. Emily left the event feeling defeated, wondering when she would ever escape her difficult circumstances.
Despite not winning the scholarship, Emily realized that sometimes, when one door closes, another opens. Her perseverance and determination had led her to a path she never could have imagined.
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 she walked home, lost in thought, a stranger approached her.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Emily was overjoyed and gratefully accepted the judge’s offer.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Ryan Swift was a bright and thoughtful boy with a big heart. He lived in Adams County, Colorado, and attended a small primary school. His teacher, Mrs. Miranda Green, was a kind and dedicated educator who always spend extra time with the kids to help them.
At home, the Swifts often expressed gratitude for Mrs. Green’s daily emails, which provided them with ways to help Ryan improve. They sometimes mentioned that the teachers were not fully rewarded for the contributions they made in developing children into responsible adults. Kids were always listening to their conversations, and they were quick to model adults’ behaviour.
As Ryan’s birthday drew near, a sense of excitement grew inside him. He would get this year’s birthday money from his parents, but this time, he wanted to do something truly special rather than spend the money on toys or treats for himself. Ryan decided to give Mrs. Green, his beloved teacher, a well-deserved pay rise.
The next morning after his birthday, Ryan arrived at school with a big smile on his face. Holding his school bag to his chest, he had a secret of his own — he had carefully placed $15 in bills along with a heartfelt note inside a plastic zip-lock bag.
Dear Mrs. Green,I don’t think that you get paid enough for what you’ve done for us, so will you accept this gift?
Ryan Swift
He was the first to arrive at the classroom and tiptoed up to Mrs. Green’s desk. With a bit of anxiety, he placed the zip-lock bag on her desk, making sure it was hidden under a pile of papers. His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he quickly returned to his seat, trying to act as usual.
Throughout the morning, Ryan stole glances at Mrs. Green, wondering when she would find the surprise. The anticipation was almost unbearable, but he knew that the joy on her face would be worth it. “Mrs. Green must be thrilled to have this pay rise!” Ryan couldn’t help smiling to himself when picturing the scene in his mind.
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。
Mrs. Green finally discovered the zip-lock bag when her class finished.
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Learning about it, a local newspaper decided to interview the Swifts and the teacher.
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I was always afraid of water. This fear could not be explained, but I knew that the moment I stepped near any body of water, my legs would turn to jelly (果冻). I would imagine myself drowning in the water and thrashing around (乱扑腾) helplessly. That was why I had never gone into a swimming pool until swimming became a school requirement. My school wanted all pupils to pass a swimming test, and if they could not, then they would have to attend weekly swimming lessons in school, which made me tremble.
Thus, my parents signed me up for swimming lessons at the pool near my house. With great unwillingness, I attended those weekly lessons, and each one was great suffering for me. I was naturally clumsy, and my fear of water did not help at all. Every lesson, I would be spending my time thrashing about in the water, while my classmates would be swimming countless laps effortlessly and even turning over like dolphins in the water. How was I going to pass the test at this rate?
In my swimming class, there was an exceptionally athletic girl. Tall and muscular, her name was Kathy. She was the best swimmer in our class and always looked at me with disdain (鄙视), especially when I thrashed about hopelessly in the water.
Once, after a particularly long and hard swimming lesson, I spotted Kathy swimming gracefully in the pool. Gathering my courage, I asked gently, “Kathy, can you teach me to swim?” She stared at me coldly. It was as if I stood at the edge of an endless ocean of inadequacy, my fears appearing like dark storm clouds threatening to drown me. Yet, in that moment, a glimmer of hope flashed within me, a desperate longing for guidance and acceptance. Would Kathy’s icy exterior (外表) melt under the warmth of empathy, or would I remain forever thrashing in the sea of my own fears?
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。
To my surprise, she nodded after a few moments of silence.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Congratulations!” Kathy said when she learnt I had passed the swimming test.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Snow had just melted off the ground that April day at our house in Regina Beach, Saskatchewan. I had just cleaned up the pool in preparation for selling the house. The year before, I had lost my job, and now our financial situation was terrible. In despair, I had finally put the home on the market, and a buyer was due to show up later that day. Even worse, I would have to give up my beloved Great Dane (大丹犬), Brigitte, because I could no longer afford the cost of feeding it. The thought of losing the dog and our beautiful home was almost more than I could bear.
Deep in despair, I sat typing letters for jobs. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my 13-month-old son, Forrest playing near our big, gentle dog, Brigitte.
Brigitte came to our house on Christmas eve when the doorbell rang and I was sure some of my Christmas packages had arrived. I ran to the door and swung it open, but no one was there. I sensed something and looked down, only to find a beautiful Great Dane sitting there, looking up at me with big, intelligent eyes. There was no way that she could have rung the doorbell by herself, was there? Perhaps, someone had found the puppy somewhere and left her there, and then rang the doorbell and ran away. They accurately guessed I would welcome an additional family member and take care of her.
Thinking of these, I couldn’t help but sigh and went straight back to work. However, I hadn’t typed more than two sentences when Brigitte began barking madly and running out of the sliding glass door overlooking our pool.
I raced to see what was happening and noticed that the sliding door was slightly open. Suddenly, I realized my son was nowhere to be seen. In panic, I opened the door and ran outside.
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 saw my son struggling in the water.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Later, I told the story of the dog to the buyer.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The first time I can remember wanting to be a writer was when I was eleven or twelve years old. It happened in the kitchen on a weekday night. I had written a poem titled How do I know the World Is Real?
I was sitting at the kitchen table finishing it off when my father walked up behind. I could feel him reading over my shoulder. I felt anxious and embarrassed. This little thing I was making, this first poem, was being examined by a very serious critic. My father was a qualified writer, an award-winning playwright, a Shakespearean scholar and a teacher of literature, including poetry.
So there I sat, hoping he would be distracted (分心的) by something and go away but he didn’t. It must have only been a minute, but it felt much longer. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder, gentle and warm. “You may have a talent for writing,” he said. And then he turned his attention to the refrigerator, took out a beer and went back to his reading chair in the living room.
I wrote lots of poetry in the months that followed and I began to think of myself as a writer. I liked that feeling.
But soon other interests — touch football, the Junior Police Club, Virginia Lanzo — crowded themselves into my life. Gradually I wrote less and less. I still longed to be a writer and so I began to feel guilty about not writing. To relieve my guilt, I promised myself that my other activities were life experience and that I needed life experience to become the good writer I wanted to be. It old myself that it was okay not to write so long as I spent some time now and then wanting to be a writer.
This was the shape of my delusion (错觉) when, at 16, I asked my father finally, “So how does a person become a writer?”
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。
Unexpectedly, he didn’t highlight rich life experience.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My father’s words washed away my doubts and anxieties.
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