Tomato Changed My Life
Doing things-without being planned was never my strength.
As a 14-year-old, I would refuse to go for walks around the block with my friends if I was the least bit behind in my schoolwork.
Unlike most teenagers, I lived not in my room, but in an unused kitchen upstairs where I spread my books and papers on a large round table. I spent considerable time there, working continuously for hours, and my mother worried. She would try to lure (引诱) me away. “Come and watch the parade!” she would call from downstairs. “All neighbors are out there!” She thought of all kinds of tricks-the swimming pool, ice cream, stray cats and turtles-to remove me from my -studies, but nothing ever worked.
Later, in college, the pattern continued. The library and my college dorm replaced the unused kitchen at home. When spring came along friends would stop by my dorm or peer into my library room to persuade me to play Frisbee on the lawn. “No, I would almost always say.” I have too much to do.
My college study days were gone, but not my need and love for schedules. My friends and sisters tried to keep me away from my plans, but they were hardly ever successful.
This summer, though, while house sitting for my parents, I was persuaded to change my plans in the most unexpected way. The sight of tomatoes growing in my mother’s garden lured me out of my tightly scheduled world. They drew me with the power of a lover’s gaze. Hundreds of them were turning ripe and red by the minute, decorating the garden like decorations on a Christmas tree.
“If I have time, I’ll make tomato sauce (番茄酱).” I told myself. But my long week in the house by myself was already filled with things to do: writing, and finishing a project that I brought home from the office.
Then, watching the fascinating tomatoes continuously falling to the ground in ever-greater numbers, again I mentally argued about all the things I had planned and needed to do.
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。
Finally, I gave in.
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A month later, my parents came back.
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Many years ago, when I was working as a psychologist at a children’s institution in England, an adolescent boy showed up in the waiting room．I went out there where he was walking up and down restlessly．I showed him into my office and pointed to the chair on the other side of my desk．“Please sit down,” I said．
David wore a black rain coat that was buttoned all the way up to his neck．His face was pale, and he stared at his feet while crossing his hands nervously．He had lost his father as a baby, and had lived together with his mother and grandfather since．But the year before David turned 13, his grandfather died and his mother was killed in a car accident. Now he was 14．
I looked at David．How could I help him? There are human tragedies that psychology doesn’t have the answer to, and which no words can describe．Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically．
The first two times we met, David didn’t say a word．He sat in the chair and only looked up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me．As he was about to leave after the second visit, I put my hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t look at me either．“Come back next week, if you like,” I said, I hesitated a bit．Then I said, “I know it hurts.”
He came, and I suggested we play a game of chess．He nodded．After that we played chess every Wednesday afternoon- in complete silence and without making any eye con-tact．It seemed as if he enjoyed my company．But why did he never look at me?
Some months later, I sat starring at David’s head, while he bent over the chessboard．I thought about how little we know about therapy(治疗)—about the mysterious process associated with healing．Suddenly, he looked up at me．“It’s your turn,” he said．
注意：1．续写的词数应为150左右;
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After that day, David started talking．
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Finally, he needn’t come to me for therapy．
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3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
It was the last day of school, and the long year spent in fourth grade had finally come to an end. It had rained heavily all day, and by the afternoon it became chilly. The sun had dipped below the horizon (地平线) as I got home soaked (湿透) and cold. I rushed into my room and slipped into some dry clothes. Once I had changed, I joined my mother in the kitchen. She had already lit the fire to prepare supper.
The wood soon caught fire, and the warmth spread around the room. I tried to get closer to the fire as my body was shivering with the intense cold. My mother gently rubbed my back and said, “I am proud of you, my little hero,” as I told her how my schoolwork had improved. I remember her bright smile and the joy in her eyes.
My mother started humming the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson. I immediately began to sing with my mother. We would always sing songs like this together. My mother knew how much I loved singing. She always felt sorry that she couldn’t afford to pay for music classes for me.
Life was not easy for us during that period. I was living with my mother after she separated from my dad, which happened the year before when I was in third grade. Sometimes the nights were tedious (单调乏味的) and tiresome as we did not have a television and the batteries in our old radio would often run out. However, I enjoyed the 20 songs that my mother and I sang together. As she hummed the tune and I sang along, I dreamed of a world where performing on stage would be the pillar (支柱) of my life. The turning point of my childhood came after the end of fourth grade. Our neighbor moved away and left his old piano to us.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
My mother was so happy that she could teach me singing at home with this piano.
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The next term, I became the lead singer of the school chorus, which was one step closer to my dream of becoming a singer and inspiring people with my voice.
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It was time for the ice cream event that my small youth group had waited for many months. The group consisted of five boys; one of them was Scott.
Scott always had a positive attitude. He looked on the bright side of things and never criticized anyone. But Scott was different from the rest of us because he was disabled, suffering from a disease which caused hands shaking constantly. Therefore, he was unable to participate in activities in most cases. No one ever made fun of him to his face, but at times, people would laugh or stare in his presence. But Scott never worried; he just kept his head up high and ignored them.
Finally, the night of the ice cream event descended. My friends and I rushed to the church basement and waited with scoops (冰淇淋勺) in hand for the guests to arrive. One by one, people filed in, all hoping to get a creamy and tasty scoop of ice cream. But what they ended up getting was a hard and frozen mass. We waited for a while for the ice cream to melt, and eventually it did.
Once the ice cream melted, we had another problem. It had turned into three pools of coconut, chocolate, and strawberry. But we persisted in serving it. We had our chance to serve, except for Scott. So, being as kind as possible, I gave Scott a chance to scoop and serve. As soon as Scott gripped the scoop, our ice cream troubles grew beyond control. Milky ice cream was flung in every direction and made a mess on people, but there was no sign for him to come to a stop on account of his terrible control of trembling hands. At that moment, a stir of unrest and dissatisfaction rippled through the crowd.
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。
Abruptly, a woman stormed forward and grabbed the scoop.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tears blurred his eyes as Scott got hold of the scoop again.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Once upon a time, there lived a poor but cheerful shoemaker. He was so happy that he sang all day long. The children loved to stand around his window to listen to him.
Next door to the shoemaker lived a rich man. He used to sit up all night to count his gold. In the morning, he went to bed, but he could not sleep because of the sound of the shoemaker’s singing. One day, he thought of a way to stop the singing. He wrote a letter to the shoemaker inviting him over for a cup of tea.
The shoemaker came at once, and to his great surprise, the rich man gave him a bag of gold as a gift. The shoemaker took the bag and thanked the rich man. When he returned home, the shoemaker couldn’t wait to open the bag. He had never seen so much gold in his life! He sat down at his bench and began, carefully, to count it. The children watched through the window.
There was so much there that the shoemaker was afraid to let it out of his sight. So he took it to bed with him. But he could not sleep for worrying about it. So he got out of bed and went to hide it in the attic (阁楼), but he was not sure if that was a good place.
Very early in the morning, he got up and brought his gold down from the attic. He had decided to hide it up the chimney (烟囱) instead. But after breakfast, he thought it would be safer in the chicken house. So he hid it there. But he was still uneasy, and in a little while he dug a hole in the garden and buried his bag of gold in 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。
Paragraph 1:
He was in no mood for singing and found it difficult to focus on his work.
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At last the shoemaker felt so unhappy that he took his bag of gold and ran next door to the rich man.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I’ve been a leader of a youth group in my community for a number of years. Among all those organized group activities, the kids’ favorite is called ARK night, with ARK standing for Acts of Random Kindness. A couple of times a year, on a Sunday night, we go out into our community to perform kind acts for others.
We split into small groups and complete assignments around town. One group typically goes downtown to where the homeless population is gathered and hands out sandwiches and cold water in the summer, and hand warmers and hot bread in the winter. Sometimes a group makes posters and goes to local police and fire stations to say thank you. We often have groups that visit nursing homes and hospitals to share a smile and conversation with the patients.
One time, the small group I was leading left Post-it notes with positive messages on the windshields (挡风玻璃) of all of the vehicles in the visitors’ parking lot at the hospital. The hope was that someone who was sad or worn out after visiting a patient would be cheered up by our note.
We had spent the first part of the evening in my home, with the kids writing positive messages on their Positive notes, things like “Tomorrow is another day.” “Keep smiling.” “Things will get better.” and “Have a nice day.” One girl had curvy, beautiful handwriting and she decorated the corners of her notes with pretty multi-colored hearts.
After the kids left their notes on all those cars, one girl said to me, “We didn’t see one single person. How will we know that our notes made a difference?”
“We’ll just have to trust that they did,” I said. Normally, the kids could see the reactions of the people they were helping, and I could tell they were disappointed at the lack of interaction with people during this assignment. I wondered about it, too. Would the notes cheer anyone up, or would they be thrown away like the advertisements that are sometimes left on car windshields?
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 day, I noticed a post by a friend of mine on Facebook.
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It was one of our Post-it notes!
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Our three kids were all under age five. We’d recently moved to the suburbs, and I’d stopped working to be a stay-at-home mom. Most of our friends lived outside our immediate community and didn’t have children. This all added up to a nonexistent social life for my husband and me.
I needed to fix this, so I became a room parent in my son’s kindergarten class, partly to spend time with him, but also to make more friends within the school community. I also signed my son up for weekend soccer. While those activities gave me the opportunity to socialize with other moms, it was challenging to cultivate friendships. I only saw my fellow room parents a few times a -year, usually during class parties. On the soccer sidelines, I found it impossible to watch the game, keep track of my young children, and maintain conversations with other parents at the same time.
I desired deeper interactions with the smart, interesting moms I saw around school. But we all led busy lives. How could I make this happen?
“You should throw a party,” suggested a friend who happened to be a professional event planner. “I can’t do that. I don’t really know these women,” I replied quickly. I hardly even had my closest friends over to my house. The thought of hosting an adult party terrified me.
“Just invite a few people that you’ve talked to and ask them to bring along a friend. You’ll meet even more people that way. It will be fun,” my event-planner friend said. I ran this idea by my husband, and I was certain he’d agree it wouldn’t work. “Great idea,” he said. “I’ll stay upstairs with the kids, and the party can take place on the main floor.”
I picked a date and set up an electronic invitation, making a guest list of moms from my son’s soccer team, my fellow room moms, and a few other moms I’d started saying “hi” to at school pick-up. But I didn’t hit Send. I started to talk myself out of it. There were so many reasons this wouldn’t work.
注意：1. 续写词数为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
With four mess makers in my household, I imagined many “what ifs”.
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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Long long ago, there was a little prince who was used to having everything he wanted. He was so badly behaved that he wouldn’t let anybody have a new toy if he didn’t have it first. If any child in the land wanted a new toy, they had to buy two and give one to him. Therefore, the little prince had no friends except for his toys.
One day a magic toymaker, who invented the most wonderful toys, came to the land. The little prince liked his toys so much that he invited him to spend an entire year in the palace, promising him great wealth if he made him a new toy every day. The toymaker set just one condition: “My toys are very special and need an owner who will play with them” he said. “Will you be able to devote a little time to each one every day?” “Of course, I will” the little prince replied impatiently.
From then on, every morning the little prince received a new toy. Every day the toymaker delivered a toy better than the previous ones. The little prince appeared very happy.
But the toy collection kept growing and, after a few weeks there were simply too many toys to play with all of them every day. So, one day the little prince put a few toys to one side, hoping that the toymaker wouldn’t notice. However, when it was night time and he was ready to go to bed. The toys that had been put away lined up in front of him and, one by one, demanded their daily playtime. The little prince couldn’t get to sleep until well past midnight because he had to play with every single toy.
Next day, tired after all his efforts, the prince slept very late. In the little time left of the day, he had to get to know a new toy and then play with all the others too. Once again, he finished very late and was so tired he could hardly stop yawning (打哈欠).
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。
Every day was a little bit worse than the one before, with the same amount of time but one extra toy to play with.
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The children saw the prince, wondering whether the prince would force them to hand over their toys just like before.
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I could hear one of my classmates expressing her impatience with my slow crawl up the ladder (梯子),“If she’s afraid of heights, why would she sign up for a Bungee Jumping (蹦极) class?” My friend was at the top of the ladder, trying to cheer me up. How did I wind up on a ladder hanging above the Hudson River?
It was my friend who invited me to the Bungee Jumping class. At first, I was doubtful, but her enthusiasm and guarantees of strict safety procedures won me over.
I had been fearful of heights since primary school. Avoiding my fear of heights became second nature. I tried not to look down at balconies or staircases. I avoided traveling by plane as much as possible. I declined invitations from friends to join them on roller coasters (过山车).
But here I was, at age twenty-six, facing my fear of heights in a rather extreme way. I had come around to the idea of trying Bungee Jumping. I figured it wasn’t much different from swinging on the monkey bars as a kid. The one obstacle I didn’t expect was the ladder. In order to reach the Bungee Jumping, I had to climb up a twenty-two-foot ladder.
My friend’s distraction techniques helped to take my mind off my dangerous task. I found a rhythm and kept going. With a slow and steady (稳定的) pace, I made it to the top.
An instructor tied me to a safety belt and told me to step to the edge of the platform. I held the Bungee Jumping bar with sweaty hands, surprised that it was too thick to fix my hand around. Instead of a firm grasp, my hands were in a weak, bear-claw position.
The cheers from my classmates rang out below. An instructor reminded me of the safety rules, including the net below that would catch me at the bottom. He reminded me to listen to the directions while in the air, so I could perform well.
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 stood face to face with my fear of heights.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My second round of Bungee Jumping went a bit more smoothly.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The medals don’t mean anything and the glory doesn’t last. It’s all about your happiness. The rewards are going to come but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing.
—Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Today I am going to share my experience that is related to the quote that I just read. It all started last year when the drawing competition took place. I really wanted to win it and get the trophy(奖杯)of the best artist, so I started working really hard on my weak points in drawing and I started to plan on how I could win the trophy. I spent so many hours working on it that the time flew really fast.
Finally the big day came. I was so excited but nervous at the same time. I just hoped my plans would work to make me good enough to win the trophy and the competition.
I went to the hall where we had to draw. I saw my best friend so I waved to her and she waved back. When the drawing competition started, I drew what I needed to draw in the place and I was feeling very confident that I would finally get the trophy of the best artist.
Then came the day when they called out the winner. I was so confident to get the prize that I didn’t even bother to hear who was getting it because I knew I would be the one to get it. Then I heard my friend’s name being called and this shocked me so much.
How could she get it and not me? I congratulated her and went home making sure nobody saw how sad I was. I was happy for my friend but I was very disappointed at the same time, so I did something that I usually do when I am sad or disappointed—read a book.
注意：1．续写词数应为150个左右；2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I saw a book with some moral stories, which gave me a lot of inspiration.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After reading this story. I finally understood why I didn’t win the competition.
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