A woman remarried a man from Mexico. She already had a 16-year-old daughter named Bethany, while her husband had a 14-year-old daughter named Maria. Maria and Bethany had been in each other’s lives since they were children. Their relationship as stepsisters was good until recently.
The entire family was busy planning Maria’s Quinceanera (成人礼). The woman’s husband and his ex-wife joined forces to get her a beautiful dress to celebrate the occasion. In total, the dress cost $3,000.
Bethany made it clear that she was jealous (嫉妒的) of the party. Her mom had to make her understand that in Mexican culture, a Quinceanera was a great deal, just like how she had a sweet sixteen party. However, Bethany kept comparing her party to that of Maria’s. It was a massive issue for her, and it reflected in the way she behaved around everyone at home.
Knowing how it made Bethany feel, the mom tried to spend more time with her daughter to assure her that she wasn’t being disregarded. They even got her a lovely dress for the Quinceanera, but much cheaper than Maria’s dress.
Two weeks before the big day, Maria and Bethany got into an argument regarding the TV. Bethany retaliated (报复) against her stepsister by tearing off the back part of her Quinceanera dress. After finding out what Bethany did, everyone was angry. The mom couldn’t believe what her daughter did and quickly gave her husband and his ex-wife money to get a new dress.
The mom told Bethany that she needed to get a job to pay back the total price of the dress. It was her punishment for such an unreasonable act against her stepsister. However, Bethany claimed her mom was unfair by choosing Maria over her. This made the mom question whether she was in the wrong for giving her daughter no choice but to find a job. She wrote about the story online, hoping to get opinions from others on whether what she did was wrong.
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。
To her surprise, she got everybody’s support.
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________内容包括：
1. 情况介绍；
2. 你的评论；
3. 你的建议。
| 总体情况 | 利用周末做家务的中小学生占91.50% | |||
| 技能比例 | 打扫卫生 | 洗碗 | 烹调 | 做农活 |
| 85.50% | 81.60% | 36.80% | 22.2% | |
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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It all started at tea-time. Mrs. Bendall, Dicky’s mother, and Mrs. Spears, who was spending the afternoon with her, were quietly sitting and sewing (做针线活)in the drawing room. The children were eating their bread and butter nicely and quietly, and the servant girl had just poured out the milk and water, when Dicky suddenly took the bread plate, put it upside down on his head, and held the bread knife tightly.
“Look at me!” he shouted.
His shocked sisters looked, and before the servant girl could get there, the bread plate shook, slid to the floor and broke into small pieces. At this awful point the little girls lifted up their voices and shouted their loudest.
“Mother, come and look what he’s done!”
“Dicky’s broken a great plate!”
“Come and stop him, mother!”
Can you imagine how mother came running?But she was too late. Dicky had jumped out of his chair, run through the window on to the veranda(走廊), and, well—there she stood—helpless. What could she do? She couldn’t chase after the child. She couldn’t hunt for Dicky through the apple trees. That would be undignified (不 体面的).
“Very well, Dicky, ” she cried, “I shall have to think of some way of punishing you.”
Seeing this, Mrs. Spears said, “Oh, my dear. I’m sure you make a great mistake in trying to bring up children without beating them. Nothing really takes its place.” “Believe me. There is nothing like handing the naughty kid to his father,” she added.
Mrs. Bendall, deep inside, was terribly shocked to hear the advice. But Mrs. Spears seemed to take it as a normal thing, so she did it too.
The children had gone to bed before Dicky’s father Edward came back. Mrs. Bendall rushed to him, “You have to beat Dicky.”
“But why on earth should I start beating him?” responded Edward. “We’ve never done it before.”
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 he heard the reason, a burst of anger went through him.
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Instead of beating him, Edward decided to talk openly with Dicky.
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Finding happiness in life
When John walked into the dining room in the morning, his wife Jenny and his two children, Kevin and Sophie, were sitting at the table. The atmosphere was frosty as John sat down. Sophie, who was only five years old, gave her father a weak smile. Kevin, his teenage son, didn’t look up from his food. Jenny looked at him silently with her arms folded across her chest.
“OK,” John began, “I’m sorry. I know I let everyone down yesterday.”
Kevin looked accusingly at his father. “You missed my music performance at school again! You’ve never come to see me do anything,” he said angrily.
Jenny placed a hand on John’s shoulder. “That’s true! John, you always miss family activities. The last time we had a family outing was five months ago! And I’m exhausted from all the housework.”
As he drank his coffee, John reflected on his life. He had so much to be thankful for: a successful business, a harmonious family and a lovely home. In fact, he had everything he had ever wanted, but he knew something was wrong. He had always believed that with hard work, he could make his family happy. But he realized he was failing. He was spending more time at work and less time at home. He was working in the office until late in the evening and even during weekends. When at home, he was talking on the phone with his clients or sitting in front of the computer reading or writing emails. He was neglecting his family. He hadn’t taken his wife to a nice restaurant for months. Kevin was passionate about music, but John couldn’t remember the last time he saw Kevin perform at a school concert. Sophie was growing up so fast and John had even missed her last birthday party. John realized he had become an absent husband and an absent father.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Later that day, John went to work, determined to make some changes.
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Soon, John felt a big improvement in his life and work.
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In the quiet town, the John family lived a seemingly peaceful life. John, a hardworking architect, and Sarah, a dedicated teacher, had always struggled to provide the best for their son, Ethan.
As Ethan entered high school, the issue began to change their once harmonious home. School grades were the first battleground. While John believed in traditional hard work, Ethan, a creative soul, found himself passionate to the arts. Every time he painted, his mother Sarah would praise him wholeheartedly, but John only blamed it a waste of time. So Ethan often argued with his father.
One stormy night, the conflict came to a head. John, reviewing Ethan’s report card, furrowed his brow at the grades. “Ethan, you need to focus more on your studies. These grades won’t help you become an engineer. Stop drawing!”
Ethan couldn’t bear the disappointment in his father’s eyes. “Dad, I want to be a painter, not an engineer.” he argued back. Sarah, trying to stop the argument becoming more serious, quickly interrupted, “John, maybe we should let Ethan try. It could be his true calling.” However, he stuck to his beliefs, “Art won’t put food on the table or pay the bills. You need a stable job.” The debate echoed through the house.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Sarah, torn between the two, tried to settle it.
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As the storm outside gradually became calmer, a newfound understanding blossomed within their family.
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“I’m not putting up a Christmas tree this year. I just don’t have the spirit,” my husband Bill’s mom said sadly over the phone.
My husband’s parents used to have a big Christmas. There were many lights in their yard, decorations hanging from the ceiling, a big well-decorated, freshly cut tree, etc. It was amazing.
But this year would be different. With Bill’s dad passing late that November, it was understandable that his mom’s holiday spirit was nonexistent. Christmas decorating had been something husband and wife had undertaken together for over fifty years, and she simply would not do it alone.
Still, it was heartbreaking to think that not even a tree would decorate their home this year. Phone calls were made to Mom and conversations were made with her children and grandchildren in order to try to bring back her holiday spirit. Yet, it was no use.
That season, every Christmas song I heard in the stores only made me sadder as I thought of the barren (荒芜的) spot in Mom’s heart. There had to be something that could be done to bring some joy back into her life.
One afternoon, while passing a discount store, I saw many fresh green tabletop trees. They were so beautiful. Then I got an idea. I walked into the store, and selected a multi-colored string of lights and many other decorations I could find. Then I grabbed the largest tree, paid for all the things and walked home with four bags in one hand and a tree in the other.
I couldn’t imagine what I looked like, out in the cold, carrying a tree for half a mile. I only knew I felt a boost in my own heart — a boost I hoped Mom would also feel when I delivered the tree to her. And I wanted her to know that if Dad had still been alive, he would have wished her to be happy. If he had seen her unhappy, he would have been sad.
When I got home, Bill saw the tree. I told him that I would give it to Mom.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
But he shook his head, saying, “I wouldn’t give this to her. She’s not going to like it…”
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Just when Bill and I secretly put the tree in Mom’s yard, the door suddenly flew open.
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That was the night before Christmas, and all through my head, were the three words my friend Julia said, “Santa’s not real.”
It was 1994, and at age nine I was way too old to still believe in Santa Claus. And yet, blindsided by Julia’s response to my deep love for Santa that year, I doubled down and branded (加污名于) Julia a liar. After all, movies had taught me that Christmas magic was more important than what I’d already begun doubting as fact. What did she know, anyway?
But by Christmas Eve, I realized that Julia wasn’t wrong; that there was no way the Santa I was looking at while standing next to my parents could possibly make it to the North Pole and back to Cambridge, Ontario, by nightfall.
My dad headed off to buy a new suit for the holidays, and my mum led me to Shoppers Drug Mart. I looked at the chocolate while listening to the Christmas music playing over the store speakers. With each mention of Santa Claus or red-nosed reindeer I started to feel warm. I silently followed my mum up to the check-out counter, and felt the words rising, knowing there’d be no turning back once they came out.
“Mum,” I said, as the cashier rang us through. “Are you and Dad Santa?”
The cashier began scanning (扫描) items faster and faster, her widened eyes stuck to the digital display. I didn’t wait for a response before pressing on. “Is Santa real?”
The cashier was moving at record speed, and couldn’t wait to get me away. My mother, forever honest, simply looked at me. “Well, sweetie, what do you think?”
That was enough. I wan’t stupid. “SANTA’S NOT REAL!” I cried. By the time we made it to the car, I was crying quietly, looking out of the car window, vowing (发誓) never to forget the pain their lies had caused.
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。
At home, I sat sadly on the living room floor.
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I certainly didn’t want to ruin my little cousin’s Christmas.
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During that hot summer, little Sammy and his sister Marie spent their vacation at their grandparents’ farm. The farm was filled with fun and adventure, but one day, an unfortunate accident occurred. While playing, Sammy accidentally shot his grandmother’s beloved pet duck with a slingshot (弹弓). Panicked, he quickly hid the duck behind a pile of old wood in the yard. He was afraid to tell his grandmother the truth, worried about being punished.
However, what he didn’t know was that his sister Marie had seen the entire event. The next day, when Grandma asked Marie to wash the dishes, Marie seized the opportunity to shift the responsibility onto Sammy. She said, “Sammy told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, Grandma.” Sammy was shocked and confused because he had not said such a thing. Marie approached him and whispered threateningly, “Remember the duck?” It was then that Sammy realized Marie had seen his secret and was now using it to make him do the housework she didn’t want to do.
This situation continued for several days. Whenever there were household chores to be done, Marie would threaten Sammy with “Remember the duck?”. Sammy felt an increasing burden of guilt and responsibility.
注意：续写词数应为 80左右。
Finally, he couldn’t bear the secret and pressure any longer and decided to tell everything to Grandma
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Have you ever felt the need to grab a pen and start writing your thoughts on a piece of paper? Tom had always been a lover of stories, and of words that come together to create vivid imagery (意象). He would spend hours writing down his thoughts and ideas, crafting worlds and people with his pen and paper.
But when it came to his parents, they didn’t believe how much he enjoyed writing. In fact, they discouraged him, telling him that he should focus on more practical career fields like becoming a lawyer.
The annual writing competition arrived once again, which was a time to show creative writing as well as the vivid imagination of students. Although Tom had a burning passion for writing, he had always hesitated to enter the race. He was worried that his parents would disapprove of him spending so much time writing, leading him to miss the competition in previous years. But this time, he decided to take a chance and see if he could win this race. Perhaps if his parents saw how talented he truly was, they would come to support him.
Days passed as he carefully prepared his writing, pouring his heart and soul into every word. When he finished, he read it over and felt proud of what he had written. He prepared to hand in his writing, but his parents still believed he was wasting time. He still decided to submit his entry anyway.
Weeks went by before the contest’s results were announced. Tom waited anxiously, wondering if his writing was good enough to win a prize. He checked out his mailbox every day after school.
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, the day arrived and the winners were announced.
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