Never in my wildest imagination did I picture myself standing on the back of a running horse. I’m not a cowgirl and don’t even ride horses for pleasure.
But I was doing a television fitness show, and someone in the group had the bright idea that we should go to the rodeo (牛仔竞技表演) grounds and ask the trick rider if they could teach me a stunt (特技表演) to do on camera. We could use this short video as the new opening to the show. I agreed the stunt would be eye-catching and prove how flexible a fit person can be.
That was how I ended up at the rodeo grounds with a camera group, watching the remarkable performances of three talented young cowgirls. Once their show was over, we approached them, detailing our ideas for the television show.
The cowgirls asked me which particular stunt I was interested in learning. I especially liked one stunt — one of the girls led a horse to continuously and slowly run around the grounds while one of the other girls ran across the grounds toward a small trampoline (蹦床). It was timed perfectly so that she jumped onto the trampoline, up into the air, and then onto the horse’s back. As she landed on its back, she stood up and stretched her arms outward as the horse continued slowly running. It looked impressive.
They talked me through the necessary moves, stressing the timing since I would need to be in the air at the correct time when the horse ran past. I alone would judge the speed of the horse and my own speed to jump onto the horse on time.
It was clearly difficult. I was a little hesitant, afraid of being unable to do that well and slowing down the filming. But I knew the most important thing for me was to concentrate on the task at hand.
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 first time out, I hit the horse’s back part and fell to the ground.
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At 6: 00 pm, we completed the stunt filming, with my knee injured.
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When we were finally dismissed from the last class of the day, the students streamed out of the classrooms. It was another boring day after school. I dragged my feet home as I sighed. Yet another uneventful day, I thought. Little did I know that the day would take a turn for the worse.
The lift lobby (电梯间) of my flat was old and dirty. The walls, which were painted white, had been dirtied over many years. I reached my flat’s lobby, and pressed the lift button and went in. Just then, Mrs Lim, my elderly neighbour, hobbled (蹒跚) in. She looked ancient with tissue paper white hair, wearing a faded old-fashioned dress. I held the lift door open, flashing a friendly smile, and politely greeted her. I asked her how she felt that day and pressed the buttons. She thanked me for being so polite, then we were silent for the rest of the ride.
The lift fell down increasingly fast. There were loud clanking sounds here and there while the lift grew slower and slower. My heart beat hard and fast as my hands turned cold and wet with sweat. Unfortunately, the lift came to an abrupt stop at the fifth floor. I pressed the buttons hard several times, but it was of no help. The lights on the buttons had gone out. It soon dawned on me that we were trapped. An icy fear crept up my spine. Mrs Lim was hysterical (歇斯底里).
“We will never get out!” she cried with her face pale. It had become a colourless mask. I had no time to lose. I pressed the bell in the lift immediately. The sound was surely deafening, but what other choice did I have? Mrs Lim burst into tears. I tried my very best to comfort her, telling her that everything would be all right and that we needed to find out how to get out safely. Mrs Lim began having trouble breathing, and I immediately helped her sit down and loosened her collar.
Paragraph 1: Several minutes passed, but no help came.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Bang! My hopes were lifted when I heard the firefighters on the other side of the lift door.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was the second day I left my lovely hometown for the city to live with my grandfather, who was taking me to the supermarket for the first time.
“I forgot. You’ve never seen a supermarket before, have you?”
I shook my head, indicating indifference to the surroundings.
“Imagine it like this,” Grandfather said, “This store’s speaking to you. It is telling you some of the new things that you’ve never learned.” I did not understand.
“A trading post in a remote town only shows you a small part of the world. This store speaks of a world that is a very big place.”
“So I should just forget my roots, is that it?” Angry and upset, I was expressing my reluctance to live here.
“Absolutely not. Carry it with you, so that you may freely navigate in both worlds, big and small.”
Ignoring words from him, my gaze fell on a woman selecting some green apples. I thought so what if it’s a big world, but I’d rather purchase whatever in a trading post for they only stocked one type of apples, at least all ripe!
Noticing the expressions on my face, Grandfather chuckled. He gracefully walked over to the table where the green apples were and selected half a dozen.
“You’ll get a stomachache if you consume green apples,” I said.
Grandfather appeared as though he was going to laugh again, but he didn’t.
There was no word any more. I followed him while Grandfather filled the cart with our necessities, encountering numerous new items. I was burning to ask him what those strange foods were, and what their flavors and origins were. However, I kept it in my mind that I was supposed to be bored and uninterested in anything, thus, keeping silent all the way.
As we exited the supermarket, Grandfather was smiling as if he understood some private jokes. About halfway back, he gestured for me to stop, bending over to find the plastic bag.
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: He picked out a green apple.
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Paragraph 2: With his words in mind I couldn’t help taking a bite, too. _
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Sara, my neighbor, and I were sitting in our yard, chatting, and frowning at the wooden house across the street.
Nobody in the neighborhood had met these two young men there yet. The two men had long hair and beards and dressed strangely. They kept to themselves. When they came outside, they never made eye contact with anyone. “They sure don’t fit into the neighborhood,” Sara said, the corners of her mouth turning down as she stared at that house.
Sara said, “What about our street parties? We’ve always included everyone. Should we invite them?” I sighed, “Try being nice, Sara.” Suddenly, Sara sat up straight and her eyes grew wide with curiosity when a government car pulled up before Mrs Swain’s house next door. We hurried over. Mrs Swain was recovering from cancer and lived alone. Sara and I tried to keep an eye on her.
The man from the car put a piece of paper on Mrs Swain’s door and hurriedly left. Mrs Swain looked old, thin, and very tired when she opened the door. We three looked at the paper. It read: “Someone complained your grass’ length is against city rules. Please cut it in five days, or you’ll be fined.”
It was a shame that nobody had cut her grass for her. However, Sara and I lived alone, and we were both pregnant. What was worse, we were on a tight budget, and the other families here were on vacation.
Sara and I comforted Mrs Swain, telling her we’d figure out a way. Mrs Swain blinked in confusion, “Who would complain? Everyone knows that my old lawn mower is broken. And I’ve been sick too.” “It may be those two guys across the street,” Sara whispered, angrily staring at that wooden house.
Just then, a voice that seemed too gentle to be coming from the strange young man behind me said, “What is going on? Is she alright?” He nodded toward Mrs Swain. Sara looked at him coldly and said, “Some guys reported her because her grass is too high.” Her eyes ran over him disapprovingly, but he didn’t seem to notice.
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 young man and his friend quickly made eye contact and nodded seriously.
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After they finished the work, Sara and I walked in shame to apologize for judging them.
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My father, Michael, led me through the little wooden house he’d filled with his paintings. “When I have an exhibition ...” he began, pointing to the artworks he’d created, before stopping. “Poor Pa,” I thought. In 1994 he got Parkinson’s Disease (帕金森氏病), which had shocked the whole family as he was only in his forties.
A husband and father to three, Pa had had a successful career running an advertising agency and had always been extremely creative. Outside of work, he’d spent 15 years fronting the cover band, Musical Chairs, which performed at the pub in Sydney’s Double Bay each week and, when I became a mother, he developed a very close bond with my daughter.
Even when his Parkinson’s advanced, my father decided he wanted to paint. “Why don’t you try classes?”my mum Louisa suggested to him. He agreed. In art lessons, the class practised painting still life objects, like pears, but my father had other ideas for his inspiration. He began producing abstract pieces, inspired by his favourite artist, Jackson Pollock, a leading abstract expressionist. “Why abstract?” I asked him. “Because,” he replied,“it helps us to see the world around us in a different way. You can look at these paintings and ask ‘what if?’”
Soon, I realized he was right. When I observed my father’s work, I could interpret each of them in many ways. Once he got started, he showed no signs of slowing down. The little house was quickly filled with more and more works.
But in 2019, Pa developed cancer and was given just three months to live. The thought of losing him was too much for any of my family to accept, but we soon received great news that a new form of treatment can help him greatly. Since he continued speaking about wanting to share his paintings with the world, I knew what had to be done.
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。
I told him I would help organize an exhibition.
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A month later, the big day finally came.
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My ex-husband had made some very bad choices in his life, and I did not want my children to pay for them all their lives, so the boys and I talked and we decided to move. We moved 2,700 miles from home. We had a small car that pulled a small U-haul over the Rocky Mountains. I could barely read a map (my 8-year-old reads them great, I learned).
We arrived in our new town three days later, and found an apartment. I started the boys in their new school and went to our new home to unload the U-haul. I had brought all the clothes, dishes, blankets and toys that I could fit in the U-haul. As I began unloading, a lady whom I had briefly met the day before was driving down the road and she stopped to help me unload and carry everything up the three flights of stairs. After getting moved in, I was blessed two days later when I found a job.
Things were going great. The boys went to the Boys & Girls Club after school, and I would pick them up after work. In December, two months after moving, the manager of the Boys & Girls Club called me and said that there was a group of people who wanted to choose a family for Christmas and would I mind if they chose our family. My first thought was no, because we had all the love we needed for the holidays, but then he said that my children had told him that there was no furniture in the house, and this group had a lot of used furniture, and that the boys and I would be making them very happy. So I agreed.
They called me and asked what the boys wanted for Christmas and I told them that anything would be appreciated, and I told them what their favorite toys were.
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。
They showed up on December 23.
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My children and I have supported a child every year since then.
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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”.
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After being treated in the hospital for weakness, he made a full recovery!
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It was the last day of the month-long summer camp. All the camp leaders and volunteers were preparing for the grand wrap-up event that evening. Some were setting up chairs and tables outside; some were preparing water balloons for games we would play later; and some were cutting fruits and veggies for snacks.
One of the leaders, George, came to me, handed me a small broom and a dustpan, and asked me to sweep the gym. Alone. While the others were chatting and laughing outside. While the gym was dusty and stuffy (不通风的) after weeks of camp and crafts.
I didn’t have a choice. I was sixteen, and George was my elder. I was a staff member at camp, and George was my employer. I put on as cheerful a face as I could and began to sweep the floor of the gymnasium.
Every time I made a decent (合宜的) pile of dust and scraps (残羹剩饭) to push into the dustpan, I had a nice little part of the gym cleared. But I would look up and see the rest of the gym and realize how big the job was. The whole situation felt so unfair.
I wasn’t really happy then. I’m not proud of it, but I was angry as well. I could hear the sounds of people talking, laughing, and generally having a great time outside. There was silence in the gym, except for my sweep, sweep, sweep.
During a break between sweeps, I looked up. George was quietly and matter-of-factly moving the speakers and cleaning the stage at the front of the gym. I noticed he worked alone as well. He didn’t seem particularly excited about what he was doing, but I noted the calmness and joy in his eyes as he went about his work, doing what had to be done because he was there and he was able to do it.
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。
I watched him silently for the next ten minutes.
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“Thanks, Laura.” he said and nodded as if acknowledging the small sacrifice I had made.
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It was early morning, yet already it had been a very bad day. One thing after another, the downward spiral (螺旋) continued when a large bottle of orange juice slid from my hands and fell to the floor. Glass and sticky juice splashed to the farthest corners of the kitchen. Shocked, I looked at the mess. Then I dropped heartbrokenly down to the floor, my eyes filling with tears. The tears seemed to show that “today is just not my day.”
Bad day or not, things had to be done. Filled with anxiety and negative mental baggage, I got in my car to drive into town. In the few minutes it took to travel to the bank I made a decision. I would be careful not to pass my bad day off to anyone else. I would be friendly and polite. And I would NOT be angry when that careless driver pulled quickly and rudely in front of me causing me to brake suddenly.
Standing in line at the bank, I was silently talking to myself. Actually, I was scolding myself. All of the events that had accumulated and contributed to my bad day were, in reality, so very minor and trivial. I was over-reacting. I was filled with self-pity. I tried to imagine the innumerable, individual lives that had been affected by terrorist attacks, by war, by hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
For the second time that day my eyes filled with tears as I realized how disconnected I felt from all those individuals who are trying to cope with truly miserable experiences in their lives.
They all seemed so distant and unknowable, and this justified and strengthened my belief that I was being self-centered and selfish. I was sure that all my efforts to be a caring and loving person were in vain.
A voice broke through my mental distractions. Somehow I had mechanically finished my bank transaction (交易) and the teller was trying to get my attention. “Young lady,” she was saying, gently, “Young lady!”
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。
I looked up and into the eyes of the bank teller, a silver-haired grandmother with a gentle beauty.
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In the moment of her touching my hands, my self-doubt disappeared.
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Often, when he came to visit, my grandfather would bring me a present. These were never the sorts of things that other people brought, such as dolls, books or toys. My dolls and toys have been gone for more than half a century, but many of my grandfather’s gifts are still with me.
Once he brought me a little plastic cup. I looked inside, expecting to see something special. But there was only some loose soil in it, which made me disappointed. He smiled at me affectionately. Turning around, he picked up a little teapot from my dolls’ tea set and took me to the kitchen where he filled the little cup with water. Back in the living room, he put it on the windowsill(窗台) and handed me the teapot. “If you promise to put some water in the cup every day, something may happen.” he told me.
At that time, I was only five years old. This whole thing made no sense to me at all. I looked at him doubtfully and asked, “Do I have to water it every day? What will happen?” He nodded to me with encouragement, “Yes, every day, dear.”
And so I promised. At first, curious to see what would happen, I did not mind doing this. But as the days went by and nothing changed, it got harder and harder to remember to put water in the cup. After a week, I asked my grandfather if it was time to stop yet. Shaking his head no, he said, “Every day.” The second week was even harder, and I became regretful of my promise to put water in the cup. When my grandfather came again, I tried to give it back to him, but he refused to take it, saying simply the same words, “Every day.” By the third week, I began to forget to put water in the cup during the day. Often, I would remember only after I had been put to bed and would have to get out of bed and water it in the dark. But I did not miss a single day.
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。
One morning, something amazing happened.
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This was perhaps my first lesson in the power of perseverance.
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