You know how when big things in your life aren’t going well and the little things bother you more? That happened to me last year. Like many people during the pandemic, my husband, Paul, was laid off. I was still working, but my job was only part-time and would likely be ending soon too. I was worried about money, pandemic and our future.
That’s when our mailboxes really started getting to me. I’d never liked our mailboxes much. They stood at the end of our long driveway, far enough away from our house. Fortunately, I didn’t see them often. The mailboxes had already been in rough shape when we moved in and the paint was faded.
At some point, someone had driven into the pole. It was now bent slightly, making the mailboxes bend, pointing in different directions. Still, because the boxes could hold the mail and the mail carrier wasn’t complaining, there really was no need to replace them.
“I wish we could have better mailboxes,” I found myself thinking as I pulled out of the driveway one day on my way to work. It was just a passing thought. I probably would have forgotten all about it if not for the news we got the next morning.
The next day, my neighbor Ailsa told me a girl drove her car right into the mailboxes and completely knocked them down. Ailsa saw the accident and gave her our number and information. “That certainly wasn’t in our budget,” I thought. Though I wanted new mailboxes, getting them would be expensive. With our income decreasing since Paul’s layoff, this was an expense we didn’t need. I sighed.
However, the next day where our old, rusted mailboxes had once stood were two new shiny mailboxes-one black, one white. Each one had large, neat numbers on the sides, the white mailbox with black numbers and the black one with white numbers. They were beautiful. I sat there, feeling surprised.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1:
I opened one of the mailboxes and found a note.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
When we called, the girl’s mother answered.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 . The great philosopher Plato said, “Happiness springs from doing good and helping others.” It means that giving help to people in need can also bring
The other day, I heard that Doreen, an old
One Saturday morning just before Doreen
Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones
| A．contribution | B．pleasure | C．satisfaction | D．relief |
| A．architect | B．expert | C．painter | D．composer |
| A．immediately | B．actually | C．gradually | D．obviously |
| A．striking | B．confusing | C．alarming | D．challenging |
| A．worsening | B．lessening | C．improving | D．threatening |
| A．intended | B．announced | C．proved | D．offered |
| A．promoted | B．recommended | C．introduced | D．welcomed |
| A．reminded | B．puzzled | C．impressed | D．awakened |
| A．ever | B．never | C．seldom | D．once |
| A．broke away | B．dropped by | C．went off | D．passed away |
| A．company | B．respect | C．treat | D．gift |
| A．comforted | B．attracted | C．entertained | D．touched |
| A．glad | B．aware | C．capable | D．confident |
| A．strike | B．content | C．surround | D．impact |
| A．contacts | B．memories | C．travels | D．chats |
As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents in Texas, which was a welcome change from my Huston life of school and I loved it.
One of the best parts of spending summers with my grandparents was caravanning(乘房车度假)with the caravan club. Every few summers, we would join the trips organized by the caravan club and it was during one of these trips that my grandfather said to me the right words at the right time—it’s much harder to be kind than clever.
I wasn’t very old, maybe ten or eleven, but I was forming my opinions about the world, and of course, I thought I knew much more about things than I actually did.
I was then, as I am now, a big reader and a crazy fan for numbers. Anyone who has been on a long road trip knows that no matter how many books you bring, how beautiful the scenery is, you still have too much time to think. So I spent a good deal of my extra time calculating. I calculated gas mileage. I figured out the average per-item price of groceries bought over the course of the trip. And at some point, I saw an anti-smoking ad on TV. The announcer declared that every time a smoker took a puff of a cigarette(抽一口烟). he was shortening his life time by two minutes. My grandmother was a smoker. I hated it, and not just because I knew that it was bad for her. My guess is that any kid who rides for thousands of miles sitting in the smoke-filled backseat of a 1973 Olds car grows to hate smoking. So on one particularly long driving day, I decided to do the math.
I don’t remember exactly what the number was. Two minutes per puff, twenty puffs per cigarette, twenty cigarettes per pack, one pack a day for thirty years. About sixteen years? When I was satisfied that I had come up with a reasonably accurate number, I poked my head between the two front seats and tapped my grandmother on the shoulder.
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。
I told grandma that she had taken sixteen years off her life from smoking.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My grandpa got out of the car and asked me to follow.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 . Do you feel like you are not living the life you want? It’s your life, so why does it seem like you are not in control? Below are some important lessons for life.
You are constantly (一直) comparing yourself to others.
You are afraid of change. Why are most people afraid of change? Mostly because we fear the unknown, and anything that threatens our serenity (平静) is seen as problematic. But it does not have to be this way.
You are wasting time on things you cannot control. The painful truth is that there are many things that you cannot control in your life.
Putting these important lessons for life into practice will surely improve your life.
| A．As Mark Twain said, comparison is the death of joy. |
| B．In fact, being able to accept change has many benefits. |
| C．Spend more time on the things that are within your control. |
| D．Change must happen, so you might as well learn to enjoy it. |
| E．A better approach would be to compare your present self to your future self. |
| F．The information you are using as a basis for your judgement is likely incorrect. |
| G．The sooner you realise that fact, the closer you get to living the life you want. |
5 . My mother was always knitting (针织). What a shock to me when she recently told me that knitting helped her
My mother taught me to knit when I was about 6. But I soon
Knitting during the pandemic
Knitting scarves, shawls (披肩) and blankets for my daughter when she went away for university brought me
My mother’s legacy is vast, but the major life
| A．get through | B．get across | C．get into | D．get on |
| A．noticed | B．remembered | C．realized | D．adapted |
| A．made out | B．gave up | C．held onto | D．struggled with |
| A．delight | B．feature | C．importance | D．pressure |
| A．grades | B．health | C．loss | D．achievements |
| A．eased | B．worsened | C．improved | D．strengthened |
| A．common | B．usual | C．ordinary | D．unique |
| A．devote | B．belong | C．sell | D．donate |
| A．concerned about | B．connected to | C．addicted to | D．interested in |
| A．sorrow | B．disappointment | C．comfort | D．excitement |
| A．preserved | B．moved | C．impressed | D．surrounded |
| A．lifted | B．balanced | C．covered | D．protected |
| A．lesson | B．plan | C．experience | D．skills |
| A．checking out | B．tearing down | C．putting aside | D．working out |
| A．push | B．give | C．find | D．lose |
6 . For years, people had been warned that New Orleans was vulnerable (脆弱的). The FEMA had stated that a hurricane hitting the city would be one of the deadliest disasters in the history of U.S. But then, in September 2004, New Orleans had been spared by Hurricane Ivan. However, it had provided the city with a clear warning. It had showed the need to prepare for the next hurricane. But the authorities did not act quickly or decisively enough. Eleven months later, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city.
In 2003, the Harvard Business Review published an article titled Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming. The authors, Max Bazerman and Michael Watkins, argued that while the world is changeable, unpredictability is often not the problem. The problem is that we still fail to act, even if faced with clear risks. Psychologists describe this inaction as normalcy bias (偏见). In the face of disaster, people have often been slow to recognize the danger and do nothing until it is too late.
Part of the problem may simply be that we get our clues from others. In a famous experiment conducted in the late 1960s, psychologists filled smoke into a room in which the participants were filling in a questionnaire. When the subject was sitting alone, he or she tended to note the smoke and calmly leave to report it. But when in a group of three, they were much less likely to react: each person remained passive, ensured by the passivity of the others.
Another cognitive (认知的) shortcut is optimism bias. In an experiment, psychologists Neil Weinstein asked more than 250 students to predict pleasant future such as good jobs and clear risks such as an early heart attack. To their surprise, the students felt that good things were likely to happen to themselves, while unpleasant things waited for other students, although they didn’t have any evidence to support that idea.
1. What contributed to the destruction of the city when the hurricane came?| A．Absence of warnings. | B．Inaction of the authorities. |
| C．Shortage of supplies. | D．Unpredictability of the disaster. |
| A．People didn’t go to hospital due to the confidence in physical condition. |
| B．Americans followed others to buy toilet paper crazily during the pandemic. |
| C．Few people got prepared for the pandemic at first because others didn’t do so. |
| D．Residents in New Orleans worked together to build shelters facing a hurricane. |
| A．By telling stories. | B．By listing facts. |
| C．By making definition. | D．By giving examples. |
| A．Are Disasters Predictable? |
| B．Are We Ready for the Next Disaster? |
| C．Why Do We Fail to Prepare for Disasters? |
| D．What Is the Common Bias in Face of Disasters? |
7 . It had been a very busy day with a number of client meetings, so when I parked my car in the city some distance from my last appointment, I was hoping that it would be a quick one so that I could then beat the afternoon city rush hour.
I had a very important family document that needed to be signed by a large government department. As I stepped out of the lift on the third floor, it was a relief to find that there were only two people ahead of me in what I had anticipated would be a long queue, so I was expecting that it would be a simple and quick process.
Within a few minutes. I was in discussion with the customer service attendant as he outlined why he considered that my documentation could not be signed. I was very annoyed with his very unbearable explanation of what needed to be done, so I asked him if there was any way he could help me to have the paperwork signed on the spot and avoid a further delay. His answer was no.
Upset by what I considered to be such a negative and “by the book approach” from the customer service attendant. I asked to speak to the department supervisor (主管) in the hope that I could solve what I believed to be some very minor issues.
After a short wait, the department supervisor came to the counter to speak to me. After hearing my explanation, he responded quickly, “Believe me, I can organize to have the paperwork signed immediately and you can be on your way.” Within ten minutes, the documentation had been signed, so with a big smile, I was on my way.
At that very moment, I was reminded of a quote by W. Clement Stone. “There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”
1. Why was the author eager to finish the document?| A．To go and have another client meeting. |
| B．To avoid the rush hour in the afternoon. |
| C．To hand in the important document on time. |
| D．To get a relief from a whole day’s busy work. |
| A．By following rules as they went. |
| B．By signing the paperwork immediately. |
| C．By helping to solve some minor issues. |
| D．By giving a detailed explanation patiently. |
| A．Tough and polite. | B．Generous and emotional. |
| C．Helpful and capable. | D．Creative and professional |
| A．Attitude matters in solving a problem. |
| B．Attitude is just as important as ability. |
| C．People’s attitudes differ from person to person. |
| D．Negative and positive attitudes can be changed. |
8 . The walls of our house were supposed to be white. But I never remember them being white. At first, they were grey, then turning black. My father was a coal worker. He made charcoal (木炭) in our house. Have you ever seen charcoal being made? The little bags you buy in the store for barbeque, they come from somewhere, and honestly, it’s a very dirty business.
I remember one day I was bagging up the charcoal with my dad, and it was really cold and raining. All we had was the tiny roof over our heads. After a few hours, I got to go to school, where it was warm. My dad stayed out there working, all day. If he didn’t sell that day, maybe we wouldn’t have enough to eat. I thought to myself: At some point, everything is going to change.
For this, I owe football everything. I started football early. I played so much football that every two months, my boots would break apart. When I was seven, I must have been pretty good, because I scored 64 goals for my neighborhood team. That year, my dad got a call from a coach saying they wanted me to play there. My dad asked, “Oh, it’s too far away. Nine kilometers. How will we get him there?” My mom said, “No, no, no! Don’t worry, I’ ll take him!” And that is when Graciela was born.
Graciela was an old yellow bicycle that my mother would use to drive me to training every day. It had a little basket in the front. Imagine this: A woman biking through town with a little boy on the back and a bag in the basket with his boots. Up hills. Down hills. Through the dangerous neighborhoods. In the rain. In the cold. In the dark. Graciela got us where we needed to go.
Nowadays people look on YouTube, watch the World Cup and see the results, but they don’t know the journey. They don’t know about my living room walls turning from white to black. They don’t know about my father working under a little roof. They don’t know about my mother riding Graciela through the rain and the cold.
1. Why did the walls of the author’s house turn black?| A．His family wanted to change the look of their old house. |
| B．The color black could cover up his father’s dirty business. |
| C．The author often made indoor barbeques with the charcoal. |
| D．There was a lot of coal dust created from his father’s work. |
| A．Graciela was a yellow bicycle with a basket. |
| B．Graciela was named after the author’s mother. |
| C．Graciela was born when the author was nine. |
| D．Graciela got the family wherever they wanted to go. |
| A．Determined. | B．Confident. | C．Ambitious. | D．Easygoing. |
| A．In time of test, family is best. | B．Happiness is a choice, not a result. |
| C．One who fears failure limits his activities. | D．Behind every glory there is always a story. |
Cathy, my mom, whose pet phrase (口头禅) was “Never give up”, was our family’s beacon of positivity. It was not a title she earmed without concerted (一致的) effort, however. When she was only thirty years old, her husband was killed in a car accident and she was left to raise me alone.
My mom could have lived under a black cloud. Instead, she challenged herself to find joy every day. Leading by example, Mom taught me just how much one could accomplish with a positive attitude. She has taken the same approach in her relationship with her grandchildren-Max and Charley.
One hot summer afternoon, my mom and her two grandsons, having spent two hours building sand castles and collecting sea shells on the beach, sank into their beach chairs to have a rest. How they longed for delicious ice cream to cool themselves, especially the two kids!
Suddenly, my mom heard the familiar loud clang (叮当声) of the ice-cream man’s bell from her beach chair. She turned quickly and saw him briefly, spotting his distinctive green shirt and catching the gleam of his waving bell before he turned and disappeared over the dunes (沙丘).
Happily, the ice-cream man’s visit was a daily occurrence at the beach, although the lag time between the sound of his bell and the departure of his truck was not long. One must be quick enough to catch him to buy the ice cream.
Max and Charley were in great disappointment when they didn’t catch him in time that day because they really wanted to have a taste of those cool ice-creams. That was until my mom’s eyes sparkled and she said to the kids, “Never give up!” She explained to the kids that the truck might be gone, but they should be able to catch him up at its next stop. And the kids agreed immediately.
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。
Paragraph 1: So Max and Charley, accompanied by my mom, began their mission.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2: Max and Charley, encouraged by my mom, ran another three blocks.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“You’ll have to be quicker to beat Kendall on Friday,” Coach Dugan said. For weeks, I’d been hearing about how fast he was. I was tired of it. But I stll walked back to the starting line. A good start gives you a half success.
Eric said to me, “I heard that Kendall trains with Olympic coaches.”“What? No way,” I said. Not only that, I heard he cheats and does whatever it takes to win.
“Let’s go, boy,” Coach shouted. I got ready and exploded, driving hard toward the finishing line. I crossed two full steps ahead of everyone else. Coach clicked his stopwatch and nodded.“Better, Alex. But let’s do it again.” I couldn’t get any faster. Besides, Kendall trains with Olympic coaches!“You have to work harder,” Coach Dugan said. Easy for him to say, he wasn’t racing Kerry Kendall.
Then came the day to compete. The infield bustled (忙乱) with kids from every middle school in our district. I sat on the grass, looking for Kendall and preparing for the competition.
“Are you Alex?” a voice asked. I looked up over my shoulder, Kerry Kendal. I nodded. Kendall sat down next to me.“Heard you’re fast,” he said, touching his nose to his knee. I checked him out. His leg muscles (肌肉) looked like he worked out plenty. After a minute, he asked,“Is it true you have a private (私人的) trainer?” I laughed.“Coach Dugan was good, but he was no private trainer. Well, I heard you trained with Olympic coaches.” He was surprised. “You’re kidding, right? I train by running the hills. After practice I run those hills until my legs ache. That sounds like Olympic coaches to you?”
I finally learned the truth that for this competition Kendal had worked hard. Running the hills was tough, but he did it after his regular practices every day. I wonder how those foolish rumors (谣言) started and why I believed them. Seeing Kendall stood in place, I said, “Nice talking to you. Good luck in the dash.” He stopped and turned.“The same to you.” We looked at each other and smiled, and then he started over to join his team.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为75左右;
2.续写部分的开头语已为你写好;
Paragraph:
Then the competition began.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
