1. 你对此的理解；
2. 结合具体实例；
3. 你的启发与感悟。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
David Ballesteros looked at the lawyer. He couldn’t believe his ears. The lawyer told him that his father left the 1923 Singer sewing machine (缝纫机) to him. It once belonged to his great-grandmother and his father considered it his greatest treasure.“That’s very nice,”David said.“But what else? What about the legacy (遗产)? The money? What does it all amount to?”
The lawyer, Mr. Jarvin, put down the will. He felt sorry for David but he thought David’s father had explained the terms of the will before he died. David remembered that his father just told him he’d be passing on his riches, but he never specified the amount — that was what he was trying to find out!
Mr. Jarvin said carefully,“David, no money at all.”“That’s impossible!” David screamed. His father owned clothing factories all over the United States. He was rich! Mr. Jarvin explained that all the money was donated to charity under the terms of his father’s will.
David was reeling (晕头转向) from the shock. He’d lived a life of wealth and now he was left with nothing but an old sewing machine! Mr. Jarvin said to David that his father left him a letter which may explain his decision. David grabbed the envelope. His father’s decision was to leave him a poor man! What kind of explanation could he possibly have for that! He drove back to his apartment just in time to see a van (厢式送货车) pull up.
“Mr. David Ballesteros?”asked the man from the van.“Yes,” David said.“We have a delivery for you, sir.”He gestured to the old sewing machine.“Where would you like it?”David was about to scream“In the trash (垃圾桶)!”but it occurred to him that the old item might be worth some money, so he ordered the man to take it up to his apartment. After the man left, David poured himself a drink and looked at the sewing machine.“I have an MBA. I’m prepared to run companies. What am I supposed to do with a sewing machine, Dad?”he asked aloud.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Para1:
Then he remembered the letter and opened it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Para2:
When David put down the letter he had tears in his eyes.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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。
These days, Marathon des Sables runners carry a GPS tracking device and helicopters monitor their path to make sure no one gets lost, but when Mauro, a police officer, participated for the first time in 1994, there were no such safeguards in place. When you’re running through the largest desert on Earth, one wrong turn can cost you your life. Mauro Prosperi did just that during the Marathon des Sables, a six-day ultramarathon that many regard as the toughest foot race in the world.
The race was almost 156 miles long, taking runners across sand dunes (沙丘) with few natural sources of water. Temperatures in the Sahara could reach as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and each runner carried over 20 pounds of food, water, and emergency supplies on their backs. Most of these runners wouldn’t end up finishing the race, which was about the same length as six regular marathons.
That was how, on the fourth and longest days of the race, the runner Mauro encountered a severe sandstorm that turned him around and sent him wildly off course.
He spent eight hours waiting out the storm, huddled in a sand dune. The next morning, he expected to see rescuers heading his way. Instead, all he saw was desert in all directions. “After running for about for hours, I climbed up a dune and still couldn’t see anything,” he said. “That’s when I knew I had a big problem.”
A search party was organized to find Mauro, but rescuers had no idea he had been so far off course. Twice a helicopter circled over his head, and twice they didn’t see him wildly waving at them from below. He sent up his only flare (照明弹) and even set his backpack on fire hoping to catch their attention, but it was no use.
When Mauro’s water ran out, he began drinking his own urine. He found a marabout shrine, an ancient building that once served as a tomb. He took shelter from the sun’s rays there, drinking the blood of bats.
With his energy running out, he thought, “I am bound to die here”.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After being treated in the hospital for weakness, he made a full recovery!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When I was seven, I found a watch while walking down the hallway of my school. The watch was expensive-looking, set with gold. As I picked it up, greedy (贪欲) suddenly came over me, and instead of turning it into the office like I should have, I became the owner of the watch.
When I got home from school, I found Mom cooking dinner in the kitchen. Thinking that she would be impressed, I held out my prize for her to see with a feeling of excitement and pride. Mom, however, was far from impressed. Instead, she was angry at her son keeping the watch instead of turning it in. Mom then ordered me to go straight back to school and take the watch to someone at the office. I started to argue, but after taking a good look at the expression on Mom’s face, I realized that would get me nowhere. There was nothing left for me to do but obey (服从).
I have to admit, I was rather angry with Mom for making me give up the watch. I felt that it was justly mine since I was the one who had found it. Yes, I knew she was right, but greed had forced me to keep the watch, and now pride wouldn’t allow me to admit that I had done something wrong. But time passed, and I forgot all about the lesson that I learned from the watch until fourteen years later.
While I was attending college, I had managed to get a job at a Walmart pushing carts off the parking lot. One morning, I found a checkbook (支票簿) that had been left in a shopping cart. Quickly, I took it to the customers service desk and gave it to the employee there so that the customer who had lost it could pick it up.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
3.请按格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
Later, as I was outside pushing carts, a man came up to me.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Then my thoughts went back to the day when Mom had made me return the watch.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
