Different sports filled my days in my youth. I dreamed or a big win some day, with a big trophy (奖杯). I was skillful and fast, or so I thought. However, I soon learned my skills seemed quite weak because the bigger, stronger boys seemed to occupy every corner of the playground. Once I was in the 100-yard hurdles, the only recognition I received for my performance was two bloody knees.
In college, I took a swim competition, dreaming of the glory! It turned out I achieved nothing. As an older adult, I still maintained an active lifestyle. In 2010 I signed up for a stair-climbing challenge to raise money for fighting against lung cancer. My father had died of the same disease, so this was a meaningful cause for me. Then, in 2019,the organization offered an even more challenging climb option: the vertical (垂直的) mile. So I would have three hours to climb up and down twenty-eight floors fifteen times, plus three more.
I trained hard. When the challenge started. I felt confident. But soon my legs started feeling heavy. What was worse, I began experiencing leg cramps (抽筋). My progress slowed dramatically and I quickly fell behind. When came down after finishing lap 14, it was past the time limit, so my big win had escaped once again.
Soon after the climb, I struggled to experience the sense of self-satisfaction. And I had, after all, set a goal for myself to prove what I was made of, what I had inside me. And what I had inside me was, “Nice try, but you didn’t make it.” So, a year later, at age 62 and after numerous workouts, I was back. Like last year, I was well ahead after an hour and I again started feeling some discomfort in my legs. I heard myself cry out loud, “Oh, no not again!” I finally stopped and sat down on the stairs, feeling quite depressed and wondering if my dream was over. A few climbers stopped to offer help. I was touched, but embarrassed to accept. Except for one climber. An angel climber, really.
Jessica, who I happened to know, was a salesman’s friend when I bought new running shoes at his store. And without that connection, she might have climbed past me as I sat on those steps, my legs shaking. But all those things did happen, and Jessica stopped to help.
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。
When she saw I was cramping, she offered me some sports drinks containing electrolytes (电解质).
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The cramps in my legs finally started to go away.
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“Wake up, Mom!” I felt a little hand on my face and reluctantly opened my eyes. There was my son, ready to start the day. I also heard my babies awake in the next room. Ready or not, the day had begun!
I loved being home with my little ones, but I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. My husband and I had just bought a house, and some unexpected expenses made our budget tighter than it had ever been. I was weary of spending more pennies. We weren’t foolish with our money. We worked hard. We were doing all the right things, but we had had one financial disappointment after another.
I was going to pick up my kids’ photo portraits from the studio at the local mall. Despite our small budget, it was important to me to have pictures of my children as they were growing up. The previous week, I had found a coupon (优惠券) and used some change from the car to buy a $7.99 portrait package, and today was the day I was to pick up the portraits. Since we were going to the mall, I decided to make it an outing and packed some sandwiches for us to eat at the food court. What’s more, there are many ride-on toy cars in the mall’s food court for fun and for free.
After breakfast, we went off. After we parked, we walked into the portrait studio at the mall, and I approached the counter. The young woman smiled.
“May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m here to pick up our photos.”
The woman asked my name and opened her drawer. “Ah, yes, here they are. Aren’t they just so adorable?” She took out the photos, and the smiling faces of my kids warmed my heart.
“Yes, they are great. Thank you,” I said.
She put the photos into an envelope. Then she spread out additional photos of my kids that I hadn’t ordered. I knew what that meant. The upsell pitch (推销) was coming.
“Would you like to purchase these extra portraits? They are only fifteen dollars apiece!” she smiled sweetly.
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。
My heart turned cold. “I don’t have fifteen dollars.”
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As we were having our lunch, the young woman came up and pressed something into my hand.
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When I was eleven years old, I had a big accident. I get scared even now when I think about that time. I went skating near my house. There were many people, and I saw some of them falling on the ice.
It was my first time to go ice skating, so I was nervous. I was wondering how to skate.
I went with a friend who was very skillful. He spent some time teaching me how to skate, but I didn't learn much. He left me and skated all around. As soon as he left, I fell down. I envied the other people because they could skate well.
I was bored because I kept falling so I took off my skates and just walked around on the ice in my shoes. It was cold and my hands were frozen.
Suddenly, I stepped on something that was not hard. What was it? It was a weak place in the ice. When I stepped there, I sank under the ice. I thought that I was going to die, but I did my best to grab something to get out from under the ice. I tried to grab the edge of the ice, but it was very difficult for an eleven-year' old child.
It seemed like a very long time, like a year. Then, fortunately, someone helped me. He grabbed my arms and pulled me up. So, I lived and I'm still alive today.
I thanked him. At that time, my friend came back. I was annoyed at him because he was supposed to take care of me, but he didn't. He was embarrassed. When I took a taxi home, the taxi driver was surprised and asked what had happened. I didn't want to say anything because I was tired and scared. Even now, whenever I think about that time, I feel uncomfortable. I don't want to go skating again even now.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为 150 个左右；
2）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1：
It was long before (过了很久) I went skating once again,
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Paragraph 2：
However, ever since then I haven't found any time to go skating,
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At noon that day, I drove back to my house after the performance. Just as I entered the living room, I heard a gentle sound coming from the bedroom upstairs—it was the sound of my favorite violin.
“Thief!”
I dashed upstairs. Sure enough, as expected, a boy of about 12 years old was petting my violin. The boy had messy hair and a thin face, his oversized coat seemingly filled with something. At first glance, I found a new pair of shoes missing. It seemed that he was surely a thief.
Then, I saw his eyes full of fear and despair. My anger was immediately replaced by a smile, I asked, “Are you Mr. Ram’s nephew, Michael? I’m his housekeeper. Two days ago, I heard his nephew living in the countryside will come. It must be you. You’re really like him!”
On hearing my words, the boy was first astonished, but then quickly said, “Has my uncle gone out? I think I’d better first go out for a walk and visit him again in a while.”
I nodded and asked the boy who was preparing to put down the violin, “Do you like to play the violin so much?”
“Yes, but I’m so poor that I can’t afford it,” the boy replied.
“Then, I give this violin to you.” The boy looked at me questioningly, but he picked up the violin. Going out to the living room, he suddenly saw on the wall my huge color photo I performed in the Sydney Opera House. He involuntarily trembled for a moment and ran out without looking back.
I was sure that the boy had understood what happened because no one would decorate the living room with the housekeeper’s photo.
Paragraph 1:A few years later, I was invited to be a judge at a music competition of senior high school students.
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After the competition, “Michael” ran to me, holding a violin box.
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