The Christmas I will never forget happened when I was 9. I believed in Santa with all my heart. How could I not when I received everything I wished for.
December 1st. Mom would announce, “It’s time.” Hearing those words, we all knew it was time to write our letters to Santa. One day I asked mom why we always wrote our letters on December 1st. She said because so many kids were writing letters to Santa, he needed time to read them and make all the toys the kids wanted. Once our letters were finished, mom would put them in her purse and mail them the next day.
Christmas Eve finally arrived. We were all so excited. We did our Christmas Eve traditions. Daddy read us The Night Before Christmas’ story. Then it was time for sleep. I had such a good feeling about Christmas this year. It was difficult to fall asleep. But sleep finally came and so did Christmas morning. I woke up hearing my brothers yelling. Jimmy came running and jumping on my bed. “Santa’s been here, sister! Let’s open presents!”
We ran down the stairs. Our eyes were glowing like wildfire as we eyed over the presents under the tree. My brothers and I quickly snuggled (依偎) among the packages. We all watched as each person unwrapped a gift. I kept watching as my brothers unwrapped gifts. My dad didn’t hand me any package. “This year you are going to be the last to get your presents because you are the oldest.” he declared. I didn’t think anything of it, so I whispered “OK.”
One by one all of the packages had been opened. There was none left. I couldn’t understand. I had been so good this year. Tears began sliding down my cheeks. I ran up to my room. My mom went up the stairs for me to come back down. Dad wanted to talk to me, sobbing, I slowly made my way back.
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。
Dad signed to me to follow him.
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The memory of that Christmas stayed with me all these years.
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How Do We Celebrate Mother’s Day
It is specially in a big family like ours that such an idea takes hold—we decided to have a special celebration of Mother’s Day. We thought it a fine idea. It made us all realize how much Mother had done for us for years and all the efforts and sacrifice that she had made for our sake.
We decided that we’d make it a great day, a holiday for all the family, and do everything we could to make Mother happy. It was our plan to make it a day just like Christmas, so we decided to decorate the house with flowers and ribbons. We got Mother to arrange the decoration, because she always does it at Christmas.
Well, after breakfast we had it arranged as a surprise for Mother that we would hire a car and take her for a beautiful drive away into the country, which would be a great enjoyment for her. We got everything arranged for the trip, and we got Mother to cut up some sandwiches and make up a sort of lunch in case we got hungry. Mother packed it all up in a basket for us ready to go into the car.
Well, when the car came to the door, it turned out that there hardly seemed as much room in it as we had supposed, because we hadn’t considered Father’s fishing basket and the rods, and it was apparent that we couldn’t all get in. Father that he could just wait at home. But of course we all felt that it would never do it, especially as we knew he would make trouble. The two girls, Anne and Mary, would gladly have stayed and helped Mother get dinner, only it seemed such a pity to, on a lovely day like this, have their new hats home to miss the beautiful day. Will and I would have dropped out, but unfortunately we wouldn’t have been any use in getting the dinner.
So in the end it was decided that Mother would stay home and just have a lovely day round the house, and get the dinner. We all drove away with three cheers for Mother, and Mother stood and watched us from the window for as long as she could see us. Father caught such big fish that he felt sure that Mother couldn’t have landed them anyway, if she had been fishing for them, and Will and I fished too, though we didn’t get so many as Father. We all had a splendid time.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式作答。
It was quite late when we got back, and Mother had dinner just nicely ready for us.
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Mother said it was the most wonderful day in her life, with tears shining in her eyes.
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The Perfect Christmas Tree
In our house in Middle Cove, Newfoundland, the tradition was to find the perfect tree before Christmas Eve. And this year, my brother Gilbert and I were being trusted to do it entirely on our own. And we took the challenge very seriously. So, axe in Gilbert’s hand, saw in mine, we set out for all the spots we imagined we might find a magnificent fir (冷杉树).
We were young, but we knew the rules. Trees could not be taken from personal land and not near any road.
We started out with the best of intentions. We were on Pine River Lane, and looking at the firs in the fields, but none of them looked quite good enough. It was getting dark but we still had no luck. On the way home, it was Gilbert who stopped, grabbed my arm and said, “I see it!”
“You see what?” I said.
“Right there, look. It’s perfect.”
And he was right. It was a young tree, two metres tall, standing alone. It was the classic Christmas tree. In all my years, I had never seen such a perfect one.
Perfect except for one small problem. The tree was pretty close to the road. Also, it was behind a fence, so the tree was in someone’s yard. And not just any someone. It was in the yard of Timmy Green, my best friend.
However, the chances of our finding another one like it were slim to none.“You stand guard,” Gilbert said. And with that, we were over the fence and on our bellies crawling toward the target. I lay in the snow and put the Greens’ house under surveillance (监视). I was to whistle or cough if I saw anyone coming.
Within a few minutes, it fell.
“Grab the end,” Gilbert said, and we lifted it over the fence. Now we were on the road.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Suddenly Gilbert’s eyes widened. “Our footprints!” he said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________So it shocked me when I found Mr. Green in our house with my parents, drinking tea on Christmas Eve.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A week before Halloween, my young children wild with great happiness were walking and running around our home in their Halloween costumes. Just then the babysitter called, telling me that she was extremely sorry for asking for a day off. I knew that emergencies did occur, and I told her that I completely understood. But what was actually going through my mind were feelings of frustration and self-pity. And I had to pack my three kids into the car, and then drove to the hospital.
On the way, numerous things flooded into my mind, and I especially thought about how life should be going. I was thirty years old, a mother of three girls-five-year-old twins and a one-year-old baby. At this moment, I should be playing with them in the park or visiting the library together. But I was, once again, going to see the doctor. It had been a year since I was diagnosed with cancer. I knew that I was one of the lucky ones. I was grateful that surgery and chemotherapy (化疗) were over, and this was just a routine blood test. As always, there was the remaining fear that the cancer would come back. To be honest, my family and friends were great during the past year when I was in bad condition, but they were also busy with their lives. Therefore, I did not want to burden them with my feelings of unhappiness. What I just wanted to see were the positive things in life and I really wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude to them.
When we finally arrived, we sat in a crowded waiting room. Nothing special occurred until my youngest daughter, dressed up as an angel, walked up to a woman who was in a wheelchair and accompanied by her caregiver. My daughter looked at the woman and pointed to the vending (售货) machine next to her, saying sweetly, “Tweet.” This was how she said “Trick or Treat”, who had been coached previously by her twin sisters.
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。
Surprisingly, the woman, a complete stranger to us, knew exactly what my daughter meant.
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My daughters thanked everyone who gave them treats.
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I was four years old in 1993, when my family emigrated .(移民) from the United Arab Emirates to Toronto. Young enough to be changed by my new home, but old enough to know I was different from everyone around me. I was the only Arab and only Muslim in my junior kindergarten class. Beyond those obvious differences, Canadian life proved to be quite distinct in other ways. And I discovered another surprise that December.
Overnight, everything was suddenly covered in red and green. My classmates talked excitedly about cookies and what gifts they’d asked Santa for that Christmas. At some point, I must have asked myself, “What is Christmas?” There’s nothing quite like it in the Muslim world. The closest comparison might be Eidal-Adha, which translates from Arabic to “Festival of sacrifice”. While both holidays show the same spirit of sharing with the less fortunate and spending time with loved ones, Eid meant new clothes and a family dinner. And that was about it. No tree decorated with ornaments (装饰物), and no gifts covered in wrapping paper.
Christmas was completely foreign to me, but then my parents unexpectedly informed me that Santa would be paying us a visit on Christmas Eve. “But aren’t we Muslim?” I asked.
“Yes, but Santa loves all children equally and gets them all gifts,” my mother replied.
So on that first Christmas Eve in Canada, she hung oversized red and white stockings, each one customized with our names, off our bedposts. I have a distinct memory of the restless expectation that kept me awake long after bedtime and my joy when I got up on Christmas morning to find my stocking filled with gifts.
Still in my pyjamas(睡衣), I ran over to the kitchen to tell my parents that Santa had indeed visited us last night. I asked if they’d seen him, and Mom said, “Of course!” Mom offered Santa a cup of coffee, as is the Arab custom when hosting guests. He needed the energy for the long night ahead, she told me.
When I returned to school after the holidays. I had a story to share with my classmates. Santa had visited me too! I could show off gifts while other kids showed off theirs.
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。
My parents kept our Christmas tradition going for years, until I was too old to believe in Santa anymore.
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As an adult. I’ve come to realize creating a sense of belonging is joining in traditions.
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Right before Thanksgiving, I prayed, “Lord please make me a blessing to others as Santa”.
A week later as my husband and I were preparing for this year’s Santa visits with my Mrs. Claus basket, we discovered a letter to Santa from a young mother named Mary, who was ill and was asking if there was a Santa and if miracles did happen that her young children would have a good Christmas because she was told by doctors that it could be her last. In it was her name, phone number and address.
I tried to make contact with Mary, but however many times I tried, I had no luck in getting someone to answer the phone. One week before Christmas, I decided to make a call one more time.
This time a woman answered the phone. I discovered that it was Mary’s mother. She first said that no one lived there by the name of Mary. I had two choices: to thank her and hang up or keep trying. I decided to continue and explained that I was Mrs. Claus and that we had found a letter written to Santa by Mary at this telephone number, expressing the desire to help her kids. She was in shock and told me that Mary had had an operation two weeks before.
The mother started crying as we continued talking. In the end, she said she would ask Mary to call me back and we would talk more. The next day, as promised, I received a phone call from Mary. We talked about her children. She gave me their names, ages, and a little about them. I told her that we wanted to fulfill her wishes and make her dream come true this Christmas to help her family. She cried and I did too as we spoke. Before hanging up, she said that she was happy that her children would have a good Christmas.
In the following days, we were busy making preparations. Much to our delight, everything was ready just before the Christmas eve. We waited eagerly for the daybreak.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
On Christmas morning, we arrived at Mary’s home.
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Paragraph 2:
The time went by quickly and it was time to say goodbye.
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After dinner, Mrs. Quimby told the family that Grandma, who lived on a farm, had sent in a lot of pumpkins for jack-o’-lanterns (空心南瓜灯) for the neighborhood children. There was one in the basement waiting to be carved, she added. Ramona sprang to her feet and dashed down to bring it up, but it was too heavy for a second-grader. Finally Mr. Quimby gave a hand.
“Let’s make it smile like last year,” exclaimed Ramona.
“Hmm. Let’s see.” Mr. Quimby studied the pumpkin, turning it to find the best side for the face. With a pencil he sketched (素描) a nose-shaped nose, not a triangle. Then the mouth turned up on both sides. “smiling!” Ramona clapped her hands.
Mr. Quimby nodded with a smile, cut a circle around the top of the pumpkin and lifted it off for a lid. Without being asked, Ramona found a big spoon for scooping out the seeds. Picky-picky, the Quimbys' shabby old cat, came into the kitchen to see if something had been put in his dish. When he found that it had not, he paused, sniffed the pumpkin smell and angrily walked out with his tail twitching.
Mr. Quimby began to whistle as he carved with skill and care, first a mouthful of teeth, each one neat and square, then eyes and eyebrows. He was working on two ears shaped like question marks when Mrs. Quimby announced it was bedtime for Ramona. Unwillingly Ramona ran, took a shower and quickly returned. Now, Mr. Quimby had just carved a few C-shaped curls (卷发) around the hole in the top of the pumpkin. He reached inside and dug a candle holder in the bottom.
“There,” he said, putting down his knife. “A work of art.” Mrs. Quimby found a candle stub (残根), inserted it in the pumpkin, lit it and set the lid in place. Ramona turned off the light. The jack-o’-lantern was smiling with a flickering flame. “Wow!” Ramona threw her arms around her father before going to bed with great satisfaction.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
In the middle of the night Ramona awoke to a noise.
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Paragraph 2:
On the table their jack-o’-lantern no longer had a whole face.
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