A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years, this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you". The bearer asked, "Why? What are you ashamed of? " The pot replied, "For these past two years I am able to deliver only half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you don't get full value for your efforts".
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion, he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." As they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it somewhat. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
Paragraph 1:
“Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? ” The bearer said to the pot.
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Paragraph 2:
We're all cracked pots and each of us has our own unique flaws.
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When I was in second grade, I did something that really taught me a lesson. After finishing my homework on a sunny weekend, I was thinking about what to do for fun. Then my best friend, Eric, called me and asked me to go for a bike ride in a park near our school. I readily agreed.
I got on my bike and couldn’t wait to fly to the park. As soon as I entered the park, I saw Eric, who was reading a book on a stone bench. How could this fellow be so quiet today? What a rare thing! I shouted to him, “Eric, I’m coming!” But Eric remained the same. This guy became crazy about reading. What book interested him so much?
It was not until I patted him on the shoulder that he looked up. Eric quickly put his book on the bench, smiled at me and said, “I’m so sorry! Now let’s start riding!” Then we rode our bikes freely in the vast park. After a while, we went on our own routes to enjoy the fun. Suddenly, I found myself riding to the stone bench where Eric had just sat, and I noticed the book again. It raised my curiosity greatly. I thought to myself, “What kind of book could it be that made him so captivated (着迷)?” I stopped and bent down to pick up the book. Wow! A Little Story, a Big Lesson. This was the book of my dreams! Suddenly, an idea came to my mind: Take the book away secretly!
I looked around, but there was no sign of Eric, so I put the book into my jacket, looked for Eric and deliberately rode my bike past him in the park. I told him that there was something urgent going on at home, so I had to leave first. Eric smiled and said goodbye to me. Then I hurried home on my bike. When I passed the living room, my mother saw me and asked, “What’s that bilge (鼓起) in your jacket?” “Oh. Nothing…,” I replied. Then I slipped into my room and opened the book.
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。
Paragraph 1
Suddenly, my mother came in.
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Paragraph 2
Finally, I told my mother exactly what had happened.
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Two things changed my life: my mother and a white plastic bike basket. I have thought long and hard about it and it's true. I would be a different person if my mom hadn't turned a silly bicycle basket into a life lesson I carry with me today.
Managing the family budget（预算）must have been a very hard task，but my mother made it look easy. If we complained about not having what another kid did, we'd hear something like, "I don't care what so-and-so got for his birthday; you are not getting a TV in your room, a car for your birthday or an expensive birthday party. "We had to earn our pocket money by doing the housework. I can still remember how long it took to shine（擦亮）the legs of our coffee table. My brothers can no doubt remember hours spent cleaning the house. We made our own beds(no one left the house until that was done）.We had to keep track of our belongings（物品），and if something was lost， it was not replaced.
It was summer and, one day, my mother drove me to the bike shop to get a tire fixed—and there it was in the window. White, shiny, plastic and decorated（装饰）with flowers，the basket winked（眨眼）at me and I knew—I knew—I had to have it.
"It's beautiful," my mother said when I pointed it out to her. "What a nice basket."
I played it cool for a short while. But then I guess I couldn't stand it any longer: "Mom, please can I please, please get it? I’ll do extra chores for as long as you say. I'll do anything, but I need that basket. I love that basket. Please, Mom. Please?"
"You know, "she said，gently rubbing my back while we both stared at（注视）what I believed was the coolest thing ever," If you save up you could buy this yourself."
"By the time I make enough it'll be gone!"
"Maybe Roger here could hold it for you," she smiled at Roger, the bike store Owner.
"He can't hold it for that long, Mom. Someone else will buy it. Please, Mom, please?"
"There might be another way," she said.
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。
And so our paying plan began.
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Days later, a neighborhood girl appeared with the exact same basket fixed to her shiny, new bike.
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Carter enjoyed riding the school bus home. The ride home gave him some time to relax after a busy day of fifth grade. He usually sat alone, and he enjoyed that too. With four siblings（兄弟姐妹）he didn't get much alone time.
The bus stopped and the tallest boy in his class, Dexter Fisher, stepped off followed by his younger brother, Billy. Their house was the last stop before Carter's house. As the bus pulled away, Carter looked back over his shoulder to watch the boys. Dexter was yelling and waving his hands at his little brother. Billy said something Carter could not hear. Dexter yelled something and gave his younger brother a hard shove （猛推）and knocked him to the ground.
Carter leaned toward the window to get a better view. Billy was still on the ground and Dexter was walking away. Carter watched as Billy wiped at his eyes. The poor kid was crying.
Carter turned in his seat. He felt nauseous （恶心的）.He hated seeing little kids get picked on. It just wasn't right. The sight of Billy on the ground crying was burned into his memory. He tried to think of something else.
He thought of the model car he was working on at home, a 1967 Corvette. He started building it over a week ago and just finished putting it together last night. Tonight, as soon as he finished his homework, he could start painting the car. That was his favorite part. He already had the perfect color of blue picked out.
He hurried off the bus, ran through his yard, and breezed through the kitchen with a quick hello to his mom. She was making spaghetti. His favorite. It smelled delicious.
He ran up the stairs two at a time and rushed into his room.
“Surprise!” his brother Jackson said, throwing his arms into the air.
Carter looked down at his desk in horror. His Corvette! Jackson had painted it red. An awful dull shade of red that didn't look good on a car at all. Like the color of Dad's tractor!
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；
Carter's heart started to beat faster while his breath was coming faster too.
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After hearing what Jackson explained, Carter felt really guilty.
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1.2020年你主要经历了什么;
2.经历带给你的启示;
3.你对新年的期望。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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On Monday night, Cindy' s nine-year-old daughter Daisy announced she was going to practice one last time for the upcoming third grade talent show. The following day, she' d be performing "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten, which they both knew would be a crowd pleaser among her young classmates. She had prepared herself for the show for nearly two months, during which she herself made the final decision to sing to the guitar. She had learned to play the guitar for two years.
As she began to play, Cindy closed her eyes, imagining for a moment what the children' s faces would look like as she began to play and sing. Most of her classmates had never heard this girl sing, let alone play the guitar. As she shared her musical gift in that spotlight moment, Cindy knew it would be hard for her to contain her smile. Cindy guessed that she would be a little nervous before so many students and teachers. But she wouldn't be invited to witness what would happen. She was a little disappointed.
"Parents aren't allowed to come to the third grade talent show, Mom," she said matter-of-factly two weeks ago, breaking her heart right in half.
“What? You must be mistaken," Cindy said, feeling inappropriately emotional about this news. They were only students of the third grade. They should be accompanied by their parents on such important occasions. They may be nervous. Her mind was full of kind thoughts and love, but she said nothing. Perhaps that day she had something unhappy so she was unwilling to talk much with her. Perhaps her school would give out invitations to all the parents welcoming them to appreciate their children's performances. She decided to offer her puzzle, so she asked with caution, "Would parents be invited to the show?"
"No. No parents. It's just for kids. " she said, doing nothing to soften the blow…that is, until she saw the look on her face. Tapping her hand gently, she said with confidence, "Don't worry, Mom. I'll be fine.”
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。
Cindy knew she would be fine.
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Cindy desired to watch her growth especially on such occasions.
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Albert was mad about computer games.He could spend hours and hours in front of the screen, and even though his parents found it hard to believe, he really enjoyed every minute of it.He hardly left his seat.When people encouraged him to get involved with normal life, he would respond: "This is my doorway to the world, there is much more here than you realize."
Among all his games there was one he especially liked.In it he would move a character around, collecting turtles（乌龟）on an infinity（无限）of levels and screens.He was a real expert at it.Maybe there was no one else in the world who had collected as many turtles as he had, but, nevertheless, Albert still wanted more and more and more...
One day, when he got home from school, everything had changed.As usual, as soon as he arrived, he ran to his room to switch the computer on.But this time he heard some strange noises, like breaking glass.Suddenly the screen broke, and from inside came dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of little turtles.And they filled every square inch of his bedroom.Albert was astonished.He couldn't believe what was happening.But after pinching（掐）himself, he shut down and started the computer up many times, and called to his parents to see if he was dreaming about this.As it happened, he had to accept that on that day something very strange was happening.
On entering, his parents put their heads in their hands.Seeing that the turtles were staying in Albert's room, they decided to make them his responsibility.
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。
Looking after thousands of turtles day after day was no easy task.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Albert forgot about his beloved computer games, the turtles disappeared and things changed completely.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sophia frowned as she helped her mother and father set out the cooking supplies in the shiny steel kitchen. Her family had just moved here from San Francisco,having bought a small restaurant, which was set to open in the next few days.
“Moving here was a dumb idea," Sophia grumbled,mostly to herself. The girl had been joyless about the move, but her parents had made the decision and were now too busy getting ready for the grand opening to listen to her complaints.
The first few days at her new school hadn't been easy,either. She found it hard to talk to people she didn't know, and it seemed like the students hadn't even noticed her. Sophia sighed and got back to washing dishes.
On the day of the grand opening,Sophia' s parents were all smiling,welcoming customers into the restaurant, brightly decorated in gold and red. Even Sophia was in a good mood as she rushed around,seating guests,handing out menus,and pouring tall glasses of water. This was a big day for her family.
At one of the tables sat a family with two daughters who were about Sophia' s age. As she filled their glasses,Sophia realized the twins were in her class,Emily and Jenny. Sophia ducked her head down so her long hair covered her face,and she turned away from the table.
Sophia' s mother found her soon after, in the kitchen loading the dishwasher.
“Honey, what are you doing back here? We need you out front with the customers. ”
“Mom, I don't want to be out there. There are kids from school!”
“So?” her mother asked.“That's good! Go take them some fortune cookies and say hello!”She clucked her tongue disapprovingly at Sophia and disappeared out of the kitchen.
Sophia frowned. She grabbed a handful of fortune cookies that they gave out after every meal,but first she tore open a wrapper and cracked a cookie open for herself. She popped a sweet, crunchy piece in her mouth, and absently read the fortune paper it held.
“Many friends are found with a single smile,” it read.
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。
Sophia sighed. She put a handful of cookies into a small tray and left the kitchen.
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Sophia blushed and nodded. This girl knew her name?
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Jack and Rose were sitting face to face. At this moment, the landlord came in and asked, “Are you sure you do not rent the house any more?” He kept silent and she only shook her head. They were going to divorce, so it was obvious that they would not continue renting the house any more.
Then the landlord began examining the house. After looking around,he screamed, “Goddamn! See how you have ruined my house? The walls are full of nails! How could I rent the house to others?"
Jack said,"The room is too small and can hardly accommodate all loads of our stuff. So we could only hang them on the walls."The landlord did not listen to him and turned around up to the floor.
Rose began looking around her familiar room. Four years ago, she became his bride here. On the night of their marriage, he felt deeply guilty to her, saying,“I feel so sorry for you for having you live in this small room. In the future I will earn a lot of money to buy our own house.”
The room was only 13 square meters with two nails on the wall next to the door, one for her to hang her bag and the other for hanging umbrellas. At that time,she threw all her stuff such as her bag and umbrella on the floor once she entered the room, staring at the whole mess and feeling terribly upset.
There were three nails on the left wall, on which he hung his clothes yesterday. After she lived in the room, he removed all the clothes boxes and bought her a desk in the spared room because he knew she loved writing and drawing.
There were four nails on the right wall that were used to fix their wedding photo frame. But now there were only four nails without the frame. She still remembered he got hurt on his fingers when trying to drive the nails home. It was her who pushed him to receive an injection against tetanus(破伤风)。
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 landlord tried to pry(撬动，撬开) the nails out when complaining at the same time.
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They hung all the things back to the wall.
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