I had never noticed her. She was not the kind of girl who could draw attention. She was not tall and just plain. In class, she liked sitting at the back, reading or taking notes. It was once I asked her to read aloud the text that I looked at her with new eyes when I heard her standard American pronunciation. Later on, the National College English Speech Contest would be held. I thought it over and filled in her name with a smile. I red-penciled her draft of speech, corrected her pronunciation, and even adjusted her body language.
However, I was always kind of worried because she was too introvert(内向的)and too quiet. Could she seize this rare opportunity?
On the night of the contest, I told her to take it easy. Blushed(脸红的), she looked at me and said nothing.
My heart sank. It seemed that she did tense up. I pated her and let her go to draw lots(抽签). As a result, what she drew was No. 9 while No. 8 was recognized English master-hand(高手).
Sure enough, the English master-hand was fairly successful in the speech with his humor and highly personal style. The whole audience would make a warm applause almost every 30 seconds until she appeared on the stage, still talking over his speech with excitement.
My palms began to sweat. I sat there, with no courage to look at her. It was the first time that she went up the stage, so I couldn't blame her for any slips. But at that moment, I found I was so scared of her failure.
The strong spotlight made her so small and so insignificant that nobody seemed to notice she had been on the stage, I said to myself, no hope.
But the moment that shocked me occurred. I clearly heard a voice, a very loud voice, “Now, please focus on me.” She said this sentence three times in all, louder and louder.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150词左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The whole audience fell silent.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After her speech ended for a long while, a thunderous applause sounded in the whole audience.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A freezing downpour washed the street in front of the small-town bar. I sat gazing into the watery darkness, alone as usual. I had been in that old bar for half an hour, quietly drinking, when my thoughtful eyes finally focused on a medium-sized lump (一团) in a puddle (水洼) a hundred feet away. For another ten minutes, I looked out through the window trying to decide if the lump was an animal or just something.
The night before, a German dog named Shep had come into the bar begging for potato chips. He was starving and just the size of the lump in the puddle. Why should a dog lie in a cold puddle in the freezing rain? I asked myself. The answer was simple: Either it wasn’t a dog, or it was, he was too weak to get up.
The wound in my right shoulder ached all the way down my fingers. I didn’t want to go out in the storm. Hey, it wasn’t my dog. It was just a stray on a cold rainy night, a lonely drifter (流浪者). So was I, I thought, as I tossed (扔) down what was left of my drink and headed out the door.
He was lying in the three inches of water. When I touched him, he didn’t move. I thought he was dead. I put my hands around his chest and raised him to his feet. He stood unsteadily, and his head hung like a weight at the end of his neck. His floppy ears were just hairless pieces of flesh dotted with open sores (伤口).
“Come on, Shep,” I said, leading him to a corner next to the bar, where he lay on the cold cement and closed his eyes. A block away I could see the lights of a late-night convenience store. It was still open. I bought three cans of dog food and fed him. He couldn’t swallow but poorly look at me. He was dying!
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 local vet (兽医) was still at his office, so I loaded the poor creature into a taxi and headed there.
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Three days later, when I opened the door of the vet’s, Shep welcomed me with wild enthusiasm.
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