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).
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The cramps in my legs finally started to go away.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Three days later, when I opened the door of the vet’s, Shep welcomed me with wild enthusiasm.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My parents love the saying “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" so much that they even bought a pillow with those words on it. But I was recently in a situation where I was SO ready to give up.
It started last week when my friend Ollie and I were helping his grandmother Mary to carry boxes from her garage to her car for the homeless shelter rummage sale (义卖).
At the sight of a big old trunk (行李箱)，we asked Mary what was inside. But she told us that as she had lost the key, she had to find a master locksmith to figure it out. "Let me have a try!" said Ollie. “I bet I can open that lock in two minutes flat! Maybe there's a treasure inside, like gold or diamonds or an ancient map!"
Mary smiled. "I'll tell you what. If you two treasure hunters can open this trunk, you can have it, along with whatever is inside."
Ollie got a tool kit and we set out to open the lock. But he definitely lost that bet. Those two minutes turned into two hours, with no luck at all. We had tried every tool in the kit, but the lock wouldn't move slightly.
“It's no use." Ollie sighed. "I guess we have to give up."
“But we can't give up!" I said. "What about 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again"?"
Ollie shook his head. "Unless you know a magical key fairy, we're never getting this unlocked."
Just then, my little brother Tex showed up. He showed great interest in the trunk. "It looks like an upside-down boat! Can I turn it over and pretend I'm sailing in the ocean?"
"Sure," Ollie replied. "It's no good for anything else."
“Ahoy!" Tex said, climbing on top after Ollie and I turned it over. “I’m the captain!” He giggled as he jumped up and down. And right then, a screw (螺丝) from a hinge (铰链) came loose and rolled to the floor.
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。
“That's it! I know how to open it!" said Ollie.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oh! There were only lots of shoes in the trunk!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
