Tomato Changed My Life
Doing things-without being planned was never my strength.
As a 14-year-old, I would refuse to go for walks around the block with my friends if I was the least bit behind in my schoolwork.
Unlike most teenagers, I lived not in my room, but in an unused kitchen upstairs where I spread my books and papers on a large round table. I spent considerable time there, working continuously for hours, and my mother worried. She would try to lure (引诱) me away. “Come and watch the parade!” she would call from downstairs. “All neighbors are out there!” She thought of all kinds of tricks-the swimming pool, ice cream, stray cats and turtles-to remove me from my -studies, but nothing ever worked.
Later, in college, the pattern continued. The library and my college dorm replaced the unused kitchen at home. When spring came along friends would stop by my dorm or peer into my library room to persuade me to play Frisbee on the lawn. “No, I would almost always say.” I have too much to do.
My college study days were gone, but not my need and love for schedules. My friends and sisters tried to keep me away from my plans, but they were hardly ever successful.
This summer, though, while house sitting for my parents, I was persuaded to change my plans in the most unexpected way. The sight of tomatoes growing in my mother’s garden lured me out of my tightly scheduled world. They drew me with the power of a lover’s gaze. Hundreds of them were turning ripe and red by the minute, decorating the garden like decorations on a Christmas tree.
“If I have time, I’ll make tomato sauce (番茄酱).” I told myself. But my long week in the house by myself was already filled with things to do: writing, and finishing a project that I brought home from the office.
Then, watching the fascinating tomatoes continuously falling to the ground in ever-greater numbers, again I mentally argued about all the things I had planned and needed to do.
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。
Finally, I gave in.
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A month later, my parents came back.
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2 . It was a hot Saturday at a crowded mall, and I was walking alongside my mom. Mom is short, skinny, and easy to be
We lived in a small but
My mind was
| A．overlooked | B．separated | C．caught | D．raised |
| A．pointed | B．glanced | C．waved | D．reached |
| A．clothing | B．uniforms | C．trend | D．smiles |
| A．end | B．recover | C．settle | D．escape |
| A．ignorant | B．ashamed | C．afraid | D．guilty |
| A．cheap | B．cozy | C．simple | D．expensive |
| A．accusing | B．convincing | C．terrifying | D．stunning |
| A．connect | B．involve | C．belong | D．equal |
| A．put | B．ease | C．blow | D．shake |
| A．got across | B．took over | C．held on | D．stood out |
| A．chasing | B．wandering | C．observing | D．guarding |
| A．secretly | B．regularly | C．carelessly | D．differently |
| A．exchanging | B．lifting | C．disappearing | D．stretching |
| A．returned | B．existed | C．rose | D．died |
| A．impressed | B．patient | C．content | D．strict |
3 . On 20 December, in Newdale, a series of huge waves caused by an undersea earthquake raced across the ocean near Gold shore. Worse still, it
The day began like any other on Gold shore Beach. People were walking, running or simply siting on the sandy beach,
Sabrina was
| A．kept | B．recognize | C．left | D．found |
| A．survive | B．recognize | C．challenge | D．quit |
| A．impression | B．knowledge | C．wisdom | D．detail |
| A．making up | B．focusing on | C．taking in | D．checking out |
| A．wave | B．sunshine | C．sand | D．wind |
| A．strange | B．powerful | C．unique | D．attractive |
| A．narrow | B．calm | C．distant | D．adventurous |
| A．effects | B．damages | C．sign | D．results |
| A．frightened | B．confused | C．annoyed | D．embarrassed |
| A．stress | B．development | C．credit | D．danger |
| A．working | B．joking | C．helping | D．debating |
| A．on its way | B．in time | C．under control | D．on schedule |
| A．carefully· | B．immediately | C．anxiously | D．curiously |
| A．after | B．since | C．before | D．until |
| A．slid | B．tapped | C．turned | D．crashed |
4 . At age 83, Barbara Humbert dreams of taking part in next year’s “Marathon for All” race at the Paris Olympic Games. It is the first
Unlike your
However, Humbert is unsure whether she will receive the paper for
Many
To
| A．champion | B．goal | C．event | D．reward |
| A．defend | B．beat | C．replace | D．attract |
| A．usual | B．kind | C．special | D．ideal |
| A．served | B．competed | C．volunteered | D．travelled |
| A．normal | B．confusing | C．regular | D．amazing |
| A．gift | B．win | C．practice | D．lesson |
| A．effort | B．admiration | C．admission | D．insistence |
| A．reached | B．identified | C．increased | D．limited |
| A．honour | B．recommendation | C．request | D．command |
| A．awards | B．medals | C．flags | D．T-shirts |
| A．remind | B．warn | C．represent | D．praise |
| A．hiked | B．tracked | C．led | D．covered |
| A．adjust | B．assure | C．gather | D．inspire |
| A．formally | B．extremely | C．hardly | D．secretly |
| A．but for | B．ahead of | C．instead of | D．regardless of |
One day two years ago, my mother came home from work and announced that she had found a pet for the family. My father, little sister, and I eyed her in doubt.
My sister asked what kind of dog it was. My mother said it was a poodle (贵宾犬) named Pepe. I couldn’t believe she wanted a poodle — especially one with such an ordinary name. But she had made up her mind. “Actually, I’m doing a co-worker a favor,” she said. “The woman who owns Pepe says he hates to be alone and needs children to play with him.”
Pepe arrived the next night. His short tail shook happily. I didn’t get very close to him, thinking he should have stayed with his previous owner. My little sister played with him until bedtime, and he would come to me and begged for more attention. I always ignored him. But no matter how I treated him, he’d always like to be with me. He has always been waiting for me at the front door at the end of the day, smiling happily. He seems to know that I will be coming home from school at that time. Every day, he asks me with his eyes to play with him or take him somewhere. At night, he will wait until I fall asleep, leave his bed by the wall heater, walk down the hall and jump onto the end of my bed.
One night, while everyone was sleeping, I was in a half dream state. My throat hurt, my eyes pained, and some animal was crying in my ear. I opened my eyes and saw fog in my room. I wondered who left the window open. Pepe cried and bit my pajama sleeve (睡衣袖). Then I woke up and realized that it wasn’t fog in my room — it was smoke.
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。
Standing up, I couldn’t breathe.
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I turned off the burner with Pepe around me.
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A Little Boy
A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and shabby and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at them.
The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy’s parents told him to stay away from the house, and a lot of other neighborhood children were told the same thing from their parents.
Dusk found the boy lingering on and hesitating what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. “What do you want?” the old man said impatiently. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota (定额) to meet for school with selling the magazines. So he got up the courage and said, “Uh, Sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”
The old man just stared at the boy without a word. The boy could see inside the old man’s house and saw that he had dog figurines (小雕像) on the fireplace mantle. “Do you collect dogs?” The little boy asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.
“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” The old man was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”
The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
The little boy headed back down to the old man’s house.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________From that day on something changed inside the old man.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . This weekend, thousands of motorcyclists are riding on the Black Hills for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Fair. For many of them, an 8-year-old’s lemonade stand has become a popular stop.
Wyatt started the free lemonade stand last year as a way to raise some money to buy a Lego set. But on the first day, he not only made enough cash to get his toys, but he was able to donate $200 to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. “So now, 50 percent goes to college,” he explained. “30 percent goes to St. Jude and the rest goes to... last year it was Legos, this year it’s a dirt bike.”
This year, Wyatt’s lemonade stand went viral after someone posted about it on social media. “I’m still trying to figure out exactly what happened,” said his mother Robin Dennis. “This just blows my mind.”
So far, the post has been shared more than 60,000 times and encouraged hundreds of bikers from all over the U.S. to the Sturgis motorcycle rally. “He loves it,” said Robin. “He loves seeing the people. He loves waving to the people. Even if they don’t stop, they ride by and honk their horn. He makes many friends and becomes more confident.”
Whether he’s serving lemonade, posing for pictures, or sitting on a motorcycle, Wyatt has become something of a local celebrity. He’s raised enough to donate $4,500 to St. Jude this year and he has no plans to pump the brakes anytime soon.
“As long as he’s having fun doing it and it’s what he wants to do, we’ll be out here every year serving lemonade to everyone who’s here,” his mother said.
1. Why do people stop by a lemonade stand?| A．To advocate the annual fair. | B．To worship the local celebrity. |
| C．To support the little boy. | D．To make lemonade for the charity. |
| A．Relieved. | B．Moved. | C．Content. | D．Amazed. |
| A．Speed. | B．Stop. | C．Decline. | D．Expand. |
| A．Roses given, fragrance in hand. |
| B．Birds of a feature flock together. |
| C．A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit. |
| D．Love shows more in action than in words. |
8 . My 15-year-old boy is a high achiever. He is very bright, pursuing everything he does with devotion and determination. And he is a great kid: honest, kind, faithful and caring.
Like a lot of kids who are high achievers, he is a perfectionist and very easy to fall into anxiety. That is manifested in his study, and other things he does as well. For example, he loves tennis but he often worries about losing in the game. Now he has to stop competing because the pressure he puts on himself is becoming unhealthy. He still plays, but playing socially rather than competitively means that it’s an outlet (发泄方式) for him rather than a source of stress.
He does not manage stress well. He puts so much pressure on himself to the point of worrying himself sick over just about every assessment. And he gets so negative about it, everything I say to him is met with negativity, every suggestion with a response that it won’t work, and honestly it’s depressing and tiring.
To help my son, I have a patient conversation with him. He finally follows my advice about physical exercise to ease stress. Whenever he is under a lot of pressure, I will run with him for half an hour and do some push-ups to relieve pressure. Gradually, he becomes less nervous in the later exams and his scores become more and more stable.
Pressure from grades and perfectionism can be really hard to manage when it comes to schooling. As kids, what they need is effective communication and sincere encouragement. So I have always told and shown my son that I’m proud of him, and that pride doesn’t merely depend on top grades.
1. What does the underlined word “manifested” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Rooted. | B．Hidden. | C．Reflected. | D．Involved. |
| A．He often falls ill under pressure. | B．He becomes tired of evaluations. |
| C．He fails to handle stress properly. | D．He views suggestions positively. |
| A．Stop pursuing perfection. | B．Do some exercise with him. |
| C．Talk to others more frequently. | D．Engage in some social activities. |
| A．It is hard for us to pursue the perfectionism. |
| B．The author simply takes pride in his son’s school work. |
| C．We can’t reduce the pressure from grades and perfectionism. |
| D．Communication and encouragement are helpful to teenagers. |
One day my grandfather gave me a gift — a piggy bank. It had an opening through which one could put money in, but the opening was not big enough to reach in and get the money out. The only way to get at the money was to break the piggy bank open. My grandfather explained that was the whole idea: the piggy bank would help save my money so that, at the end of the year, I might have enough for that bike I dreamt about. He asked if I would put some of the money he gave me into the piggy bank. I agreed immediately and promised that I wouldn’t break it open until I could afford my dream bike.
Whenever he gave me a little bit of money, he would say, “This is for spending. But you can save some and put it in the piggy bank if you want to save it up.” When he gave me larger amounts, it was clearly for saving in the piggy bank. For some time, this worked fine. I loved shaking the piggy bank and hearing the sound of the coins. As it became heavier, I grew more excited, dreaming about buying my new bike, and all the adventures I could have on it.
Whenever I wanted to take some money from the piggy bank to buy delicious ice-creams or beautiful pens, I would imagine riding my bike on the street, and thinking of that, my thoughts about ice-creams or pens went away. So for almost six months, I only put money into the piggy bank without taking any out. I thought I wouldn’t break my piggy bank for anything. But one day something unexpected happened. I saw a piece of news on the television that a serious earthquake (地震) had happened in a nearby province. As many houses were destroyed, a lot of children became homeless. Seeing their shabby clothes and crying faces, I was sleepless that night.
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；
Paragraph 1: I knew I should do something.__________________________________________________________________________________
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Paragraph 2: My grandfather was surprised by my behavior._____________________________________________________________________
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A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.
Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”
“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”
“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”
The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.
It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!
Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.
Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.
She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”
Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.
注意：续写的词数应为150左右。
Paragraph 1:
As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
