Rich Danieu, a man awaiting a heart transplant (移植), had to stay in Strong Hospital in Rochester, New York, since January. His days were filled with uncertainty, medical procedures, and a longing to be with his family. The slim hope of getting cured had almost driven Danieu’s mood down to the ground. He was close to giving up. What’s worse, he was frustrated at the thought of missing a crucial event: his 5-year-old daughter Mara’s school’s father-daughter dance.
Shortly after Danieu’s arrival at the hospital, Mara had excitedly shared the news of her school’s upcoming father-daughter dance. She had been eagerly looking forward to her father’s participation. But Danieu’s illness had kept him away from his daughter’s joyous event. As the day of the dance drew near, Mara’s excitement began to be replaced by a deep sadness. “My daughter was a little upset, for I couldn’t go with her,” Danieu said to a nurse with a heavy heart.
Mara’s grandfather stepped in to take her to the dance, hoping to make the evening special for her. They both got dressed up, arrived at the school hall, and even had a beautiful photo taken. However, for Mara, something was wrong, because she noticed everybody else was with their dads. Excitement gave way to disappointment. On their way home, Mara was walking silently, without saying a word, when her grandfather received a call from the hospital.
The nurses at Strong Hospital had been closely following the family’s story. Having witnessed what Danieu was experiencing due to missing such a crucial moment in his daughter’s life, they decided to do something. They knew they couldn’t make a big change, but they could certainly create a moment of magic. On the night of the dance, with delicate care, they transformed an empty hospital room into a magical dance floor, complete with twinkling lights and soft music playing in the background.
At the same time, Danieu lay in his hospital bed, a sense of disappointment at his heart. When he was gazing out the window, a nurse came in with a warm smile.
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。
Led to the room, Danieu didn’t know what awaited him.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That special dance brought great strength and hope to Danieu.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________My mom is the greatest morn ever! As I grew up, I saw her as my hero for all the things she would do for me. I remember she would fix my baby dolls and help me color pretty pictures when I started elementary school. I remember in middle school, I would see her do things that fathers were supposed to do, like fixing the car without caring how greasy her hands would get. Now that I’m in high school, I see how she is strong but sensitive at the same time. She looks at life with a positive attitude no matter what the situation is.
One day I came home from school and saw papers on the kitchen table and my mom sitting with a worried face looking at my dad. My dad wasn’t working at the time because he had broken his leg. I had heard my parents talk about money issues a couple of times before, but I never asked about the situation.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We have to be out of the house in two weeks,” my morn said. She had her elbows (肘部) on the table and one hand over her forehead. Then I realized this was a serious problem. That very day, she made phone calls and started to look for a place to rent.
We had no money and no idea what we were going to do. I read the papers on the table, which said we had lost the house because we hadn’t been paying the rent. I was surprised that all this was going on. My dad seemed to be doing nothing about it and my mom never said anything about it. It seemed like everything was falling apart, but my mom seemed as if this was making her stronger.
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 whole week she tried her best to find a place for rent.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“We are starting to move today,” she said with a smile on her face.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a lovely summer morning, and all the world was bright and fresh, filled with pleasant smell of flowers and trees. How sweet!
Allen’s heart was overflowing with joy at the thought of his daughter, Jessie. “She is just as lovely and shining as the sunshine.” he said to himself.
As a father of a young daughter, Allen was always employed in making the ends meet and hardly could he spare time for his daughter. Today, he turned off the phone, setting aside a whole for the joy of parenthood in the park.
On arriving at the park, Jessie ran through the pathways, giggling for all the fun it was to run in such green grass. The deep-green tree leaves shone in the summer morning breeze and the birds and butterflies danced in the air as if saying: “Allen, you have a perfect daughter!” Allen chased after the little angel, heart filled with happiness.
Suddenly, Jessie discovered a vendor(小摊贩) selling apples. She turned around, using her puppy eyes and adorable face to beg her father to buy an apple. Allen didn’t bring a lot of money but it was enough to buy two apples. So he bought two apples for his daughter without any hesitation, thinking “she deserves everything I could afford.”
Jessie held an apple in each hand excitedly. And at the same time, Allen lowered himself, joking: “Would you like to share an apple with Daddy?” Out of Allen’s wildest expectation, hearing this, his daughter quickly took a bite from an apple before her father spoke anything more. Unbelievably, she then also bit the other apple. The father was speechless, frozen with sadness on the spot, not knowing what to do next. He wanted to know what mistakes he had made in raising children, making his dear daughter so greedy. His heart was filled with deep sorrow. “Maybe I just thought too much. My daughter is too young to understand sharing and giving.” Allen tried to comfort himself but with the smile disappearing from his face.
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。
After several more bites, however, Jessie held an apple in one hand, saying “father, eat this one.”
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Grandma tried to straighten out her fingers. “Jessica, I think I am done knitting (编织),” she said. “My fingers just won’t do what I tell them any more.” I looked at Grandma’s hands, remembering that she had taught me how to knit gloves for my dolls since I was little and that her hands had been sure and strong whatever she had knitted. Grandma had always said that I was very good with her knitting needles and balls of yarn (纱线).
But this winter she could hardly bend her fingers. The doctor said Grandma had arthritis (关节炎), suggesting she should keep her hands warm. I made her cups of tea to hold and moved her chair closer to the fire. However, her fingers were still difficult to move.
I wasn’t used to seeing Grandma’s hands so still. In the morning, her hands were still in her lap. In the evening, her quiet hands even made her voice stay still. I tried to help her find her voice. “Grandma, tell me about when you were a little girl like before,” I begged, knowing she loved to tell interesting stories of her nine brothers and sisters and herself during their childhood. “That was so long ago, Jessica,” whispered Grandma. “I can barely remember.”
This winter there were no hats with matching gloves or soft sweaters knitted by Grandma. But I missed her voice more than those. What about her sister Olga giving their snowman a bath in hot water? What about her brother Peti cutting off her doll’s beautiful hair and then hiding it? Were those words still moving silently in her head?
After dinner, Grandma fell asleep in her rocking chair. Mom sorted through our knitting items, among which an old pair of gloves caught my attention. The gloves were Grandma’s favorite ones with the names of Grandma and her nine brothers and sisters on the fingertips. Each time she wore them, all her happy childhood memories would become very interesting stories in her mouth.
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 gloves gave me an idea.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Grandma, shall we knit a new pair of gloves?” I asked hopefully.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When my sister, Dona, and I were little kids, my parents both joined the army. They stayed far away from our town and hardly returned home. My grandpa took on the big responsibility of taking care of us. Still, without our parents by our side, Dona and I sometimes felt lonely and sad, especially one winter.
One morning in that winter when Dona and I were sitting in our bedroom, dull and quiet, Grandpa said, “My dear, how about trying skating for fun?” Our faces immediately lit up and we answered together, “Great, we surely like it, Grandpa!”
He smiled and quickly set about building us a skating rink (溜冰场) in our yard. The process of building a skating rink was not easy. First, Grandpa laid out long wooden boards around the yard. Next, he made the base of the rink flat. Grandpa then began spraying the water, lightly at first, until the first layer of ice was established. He would then put some water onto the ice each night. And thus, the ice became thicker and thicker.
In the darkness of the night, from the kitchen window Dona and I watched Grandpa with great expectations. His back and shoulders rounded to protect him from the freezing wind. He stood alone, busying himself creating a perfect skating rink for us. The only light was from the moon and stars.
One night, Grandpa suddenly pressed his waist and the look on his face showed he was painful. Quite concerned, Dona and I rushed out and asked, “Grandpa! What’s wrong?” “My waist is painful. Don’t worry! I’ll be fine just after a little rest,” he smiled. Dona and I offered to help create the rink. But he said it was too cold outside at night and that building the rink needs much experience and lots of skills. Then, we gave up the idea of offering him a hand, but demanded he build the rink a few days later. Seeing we were determined, he walked into the room with us and had warm tea. Before long, Dona and I were tired and went to bed.
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。
When we fell asleep, Grandpa quietly walked out into the yard.
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Amazed, we hurriedly put on the skating equipment and rushed out._
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Jackson’s parents died, and his neighbor Mrs Herring adopted him. The Herrings was a large, happy family.
One day, Jackson had a big argument with Mrs Herring and he packed up and left the Herrings’ house in anger. With no place to go, Jackson spent the night on the street. The next morning. Jackson was standing outside the Herrings’ home, regretting what he had done the previous night. However, he was still hesitant to enter until he heard a voice behind him say. “Where were you last night?We all were worried about you.”
After they entered the house, Mr Herring told Jackson Mrs Herring suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital the night after Jackson left.
Jackson felt terrible about what he had done. But he felt worse when Mr Herring told him how much Mrs Herring loved him.
“She had helped your mother during her delivery, and she was there for you when you were a baby!After you live with us, she always tries her best to make you feel at home. She really hopes you can call her Mom.”
“I was really horrible, wasn’t I?” asked Jackson. “I need to apologize to Mrs Herring. She’s done a lot for me.”
“Well, then, I have an idea,” Mr Herring said.
A few days after this, Mrs Herring returned home from the hospital to find her house decorated with balloons. And there were also flowers on the living room table, where a beautiful cake awaited her. “Happy birthday, honey, and welcome back home,” Mr Herring, said as he led her inside. On her 60th birthday, all the family members wished Mrs Herring, but her sad eyes were searching for Jackson everywhere.
“He isn’t here?” she asked sadly. “I’m sorry, honey,” said Mr Herring. “How about putting everything aside and just cutting the cake?” Mrs Herring sighed. She sat at the table and was about to blow out the candles when the doorbell rang.
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。
On the doorstep stood Jackson with a huge bouquet (花束) of red roses in his hands.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then Mrs Herring asked Jackson to blow out the candles together.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Like the Christmas before, we didn’t send Christmas cards; we called my family in Canada. Ginny and I talked to my mom. We spoke to my uncles and aunts. I hadn’t seen any of them in seven years and Ginny hadn’t met them yet, but she hoped to one day.
Those calls were completed, but I couldn’t relax. I still had one more call to make, and I was afraid. I paced up and down inside the room. I wasted time at my computer. I needed to call but I couldn’t.
Five years ago, I received an e-mail from my brother. At that time, I had been out of work for several months. My life was very stressful. My brother’s e-mail was nothing terrible but it made me angry.
I wrote back. As I typed, my anger grew. Months of frustration (沮丧) flowed into my unkind response. I said things that were not nice, but I sent the e-mail without hesitation. More thoughts occurred to me. I wrote a second e-mail.
I screamed abuse at my brother in the emails. I didn’t care if I ever heard from him again.
The next day I received another e-mail from him. I didn’t read it. I just deleted it, and then I blocked his e-mail address.
For five years, he tried to get through to me but I ignored him. I had lived with this terrible guilt. I thought about contacting him, but was ashamed of myself for what I’d said.
It was time to fix it. I picked up the phone and stepped outside. I wanted privacy. Ginny didn’t know I was calling my brother. I took a deep breath, blew out a cloud of my breath into the cold December air, and dialed (拨号) his number. Even after five years, I still knew it by heart. A phone rang 3,700 miles away in Nova Scotia.
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。
There was no answer, so I left a voice message.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then a week after I called, I received an e-mail.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We were very poor. To help support the family, Grandma would go to the mountains to dig wild vegetables, and then sell them. In this way, Grandma had to spend the whole day in the mountains. After she came back from collecting a lot of wild vegetables, she had to pick them until late night. Early in the morning, my grandma would take the vegetables, walk through the mountain road, and go to the market to sell them.
I hated Grandma digging wild vegetables all day long, because as soon as I finished my homework, I had to help her pick vegetables. And this dirty work often made my fingers black. In that case, no matter how hard I washed my hands, the dirty black color couldn’t be washed away, which made me very upset. My grandma noticed I hated the black color so much; she once suggested using bleach and iron filings (漂白剂和铁屑). It worked. However, it really hurt so I refused to try them again.
One day, something unexpected happened.
“Everyone, you need to invite your parents to school. OK?” the teacher said to us, “the school requires students to bring your parents to school, mainly to discuss your school work.”
Of course it didn’t matter to other classmates, but I… Grandma was the only one who could come to school with me, Hearing what the teacher said, I sighed (叹气) helplessly, “Oh…” The worn-out clothes, the slightly hunched (弓背的) back, and the most terrible thing was the dirty black color on Grandma’s fingers!
I couldn’t tell how worried and frightened I was and I didn’t know what to do. Anyway, I didn’t want the teacher to see the color of my grandma’s fingers. I came home with an unhappy face and said hesitantly (犹豫地): “Well, Grandma, the teacher asked parents to go to school tomorrow.”
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 couldn’t help stealing a look at her hands.
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The next afternoon, a classmate told me my grandma was in the teacher’s office.
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The 16th of September was my cousin’s birthday, He is 4 years younger than me and his birthday is just seven days before mine. Those seven days were the worst days of my life. I thought “Isn’t seven supposed to be a lucky number?” and wondered who came up with that idea.
That evening my mother sent him and me to get some stuff from the store so she could make him a cake. On every other Sunday at this time of the day I’d be on the soccer field kicking the ball around with my older friends, but instead this Sunday found me walking to the shop with my cousin.
On the way to the store my cousin spotted an apricot(杏) at the edge of a branch, It was as large as an apple and as yellow as a new crayon fresh from the box. The rule was whoever spotted it first owned it. Even if you climbed the tree to get it, it still did not belong to you. I decided to go to get the beautiful, delicious-looking fruit for my cousin, seeing that it was his birthday.
I started to map out my course of action as to how I was going to get this fruit. I could have hit it with rocks until it fell, but no, it was too beautiful to be bruised(碰伤) by the force of a stone thrown at it. I continued to climb on to a fence which was directly parallel to the apricot tree. At the top of the fence I paused a while to take a look around. “Wow! Cool view from 12 feet off the ground.” My cousin laughed and told me to hurry up and get it so we could go home. My next step was to jump from the fence, catch the main branch, and then climb to victory. Come on! I’d done this tons of times, and I didn’t even hesitate.
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。
As I grabbed the branch, that juicy apricot met me eye to eye.
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As we entered the house, my mother noticed I was covered in dirt.
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“Mom, what’s this?” my little daughter in the living room called and pointed to an instrument box. “Oh, it’s my flute(长笛),” I said and opened it. There was the old silver flute that I played years ago. “Play it, Mom.” my daughter asked excitedly.
“Oh, I don’t know whether I’ve forgotten how to play it,” I said. Then, I was lost in thought. The flute carried me back to the days when I was thirteen. That year, because of my dad’s new job, in the middle term. I moved to a new school and left my old friends. Besides, I was a socially awkward girl. So in the new school, I became very lonely and bored.
Two weeks after I went there, the school band was wanting new members. I extremely wished to join it. I loved music. Joining the band could help change my boring school life. And I could meet people with the same hobby, which would be much easier for me to make new friends. But to join the band, each member needed to buy an instrument and take lessons to learn it. My family was on a tight budget at that time. So I didn’t think my parents would support my wish. Besides, I didn’t want to put further financial pressure on my parents.
That day, I arrived home after school, tired and sad. It was another tough day. My dad was reading the newspaper on the sofa “Hi,” he said. “Hi, Dad,” I answered softly. “What’s the matter?” he questioned, finding there was something wrong with me. “Nothing, Dad,” I replied. “Come over here,” he said, asking me to sit down beside him.
He looked at me as I sat down. Then, he talked with me, wishing to know what was troubling me. Still, I didn’t want to tell him about my loneliness at my new school and my big wish to join the band. However, after he kept asking. I finally told him. Not wanting him to feel stressed, I added I could ultimately deal with my problem without joining the band.
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:
Just as I finished my words, my dad dropped the paper and stood up.
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Paragraph 2:
Then, my dad and I walked out of the store, with me carrying the beautiful flute.
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