Three months later was the Middle School Championship Baseball Game of the spring season! The winners would all get trophies (奖杯), Jonas was determined to bring home a trophy to put on his shelf for he had never won one before.
He insisted on practicing in the stadium with friends every day. Day in and day out, the gloves became worn-out. Jonas thought, “I want a pair of new baseball gloves for better practice!“
Jonas passed by a store and saw a pair of delicate gloves, which cost thirty-five dollars. But when Jonas asked for the new baseball gloves, his mother only sighed. “Your birthday isn’tuntil July, ” she said. “If you want the gloves sooner than that, you will have to buy it yourself. If you want something, earn it by yourself. ”
Jonas thought hard. He was too young to drive to work like Dad, and he couldn’t turn his bedroom into an office to work at home like Mom. He went to his favorite thinking spot to look at the bird feeder in his back yard.
As Jonas was thinking about getting a job, it began to snow. At first there were only a few flakes (雪花), but soon the ground turned white.
“I know!” cried Jonas. “I’ll shovel (铲) the sidewalks on snow days. If I’m fast, I can do a lot of houses and make a lot of money. ”
So Jonas put on his warmest sweater and fastened the button of his winter coat. He also added scarf, gloves and a hat. Then he went into the garage to grab a shovel.
Jonas started next door. He rang the bell and asked Mr. Travers if he would like his sidewalks shoveled. “Yes,” said Mr. Travers. “But you should wait until it stops snowing before you start or you will have to do it twice.”
“I’ll be back!” said Jonas. He went around the block to see who would like their walks shoveled after the storm. He had eight customers by the time he got back to his own house.
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 it stopped snowing, Jonas grabbed his shovel and got to work.
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Tired but happy, Jonas looked at the forty dollars earned from his work.
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2 . The year I turned fifty, I resolved to do something new every day. However, balancing 365 new things with work and family, while still managing to do the laundry and get dinner on the table every night, was not always easy. In the early weeks of the project, I found it difficult to find so many new things.
It wasn’t long before my friends learned that I was open to almost anything I could consider a new thing, and the invitations began pouring in not just from friends, but friends of friends. As a result, my life was new. I went dog sledding. I attended a fashion show. I went to numerous lectures on all kinds of topics that I never would have previously considered useful or interesting and found something to appreciate in every single one. I even signed up immediately when learning about a local group trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by doing something unusual.
As time went by, whenever I learned about something that seemed remarkable, I did what I could to pursue it. Instead of “Why”, I began to ask “Why not”. Now I find it is easier to just keep my eyes open to the possibilities that surrounded me. It turned out that there were new things everywhere, and all I had to do was make a little effort to enjoy them.
I looked back on the year. It doesn’t matter to me that many of my “new things” weren’t exactly meaningful. What matters is how to make full use of them when discovering there is an endless number of new things for me. It seemed to me an obvious sign that at fifty, my life was full of promise. I could continue to grow, stretch my wings, and learn more every day for the rest of my life. I enjoyed the idea of something new, and it gave me a reason to welcome each day as an opportunity to experience the world a little differently.
1. Which of the following can best describe the author’s feeling according to Paragraph 1?| A．Better late than never. | B．Action speaks louder than words. |
| C．Saying is one thing but doing is another. | D．Experience is the best teacher. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Appreciative. | C．Cautious. | D．Tolerant. |
| A．Make the most of new things. | B．Wait for your life to start over. |
| C．Try to find more new things. | D．Never say never when in trouble. |
| A．Dream for a New Life | B．The Value of Friendship |
| C．Remarkable New Things | D．A Year of New Things |
