“Guys, remember. This competition is extremely difficult. There will only be a few selections to make it to the final round with the judges,” the music teacher, Mr. Brooks, explained. “But I hope all of you put your best foot forward and make our academy stand out!” The teacher was talking about a state-wide competition held by the best musicians in the area.
Shahnaz, the new student who had only come to the class two weeks before, took the teacher’s words to heart and put her heart and soul into a composition. She had learned how to play the piano for a long time and really did well in it. She wanted to prove herself.
All the students were supposed to improve their compositions with the help of their teacher, Mr. Brooks. However, he spent most of his time guiding the few outstanding students in his class.
He never had much to say to Shahnaz unless it was a comment about her mistakes, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to impress him. He was a good piano player and could teach her a lot. She hoped that her composition would be improved under the guidance of Mr. Brooks.
“OK,” Mr. Brooks said during one of his lessons, “it’s time for Shahnaz to play.” Shahnaz sat in front of the piano and began moving her fingers softly. She practiced and practiced once her composition was done and could almost play it by heart.
Finally, the piece was finished. Shahnaz looked at Mr. Brooks nervously and hoped to receive his recognition. But he just sighed “Frankly, you made many mistakes. You shouldn’t take part in the competition.”
注意：
1.续写词数应为150个左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
Shahnaz left Mr Brooks’ class that day with a heavy heart, but she refused to let his words break her spirit.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The night of the competition finally arrived.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Leah had been trying for Auditions(试演)for All-State Band. Then, the day before the audition, she met into Rachel Jacobs. “So, Leah, I hear you are auditioning for All-State. Do you really want to embarrass yourself?” Rachel said snottily (自负的). Rachel and Leah had been fighting for first chair in the school band ever since Leah had gotten it. “Rachel, I’m still first chair,” Leah replied.
That afternoon, Mr. Johnson, the school band director, stood up to make an announcement. “Kids,” he said, “today Rachel Jacobs would like to challenge Leah Foster for first chair.” Leah wasn’t worried; Rachel had challenged her four times and nothing had come of it. However, Leah hit the note wrong, and her sound was not good at all. Rachel, on the other hand, played perfectly. Leah was shameful. It was one of the band pieces she should have known. Rachel was given first chair, and Leah left the band room with tears. She went through the rest of her classes in a haze.
“We’re leaving for the audition in one hour!” said her mom the next morning. “I don’t feel well. Maybe next year,” said Leah. Then she burst into tears and ran from the room. Her mom followed her into her bedroom and sat on the foot of her bed. “Oh, Leah. First of all, I’ve heard you play your song, and you’re not going to shame yourself. Bravery isn’t about not being scared—it means doing something despite the fact that you’re afraid. And if you go out there and do your best, we’ll be proud of you, no matter what the outcome.” Leah’s mom smiled. “So what do you say? Do we have an audition to go to?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Leah replied. “Good girl! Get dressed now. We still have half an hour.” Leah sat outside the audition room nervously grasping her flute (笛子). Finally, they called her name.
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:
Leah stepped onto the audition stage.
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“Congratulations! You deserve it,” mom said, sticking out her hands.
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Although Emily’s singing was very pleasant to hear, lacking of courage, she never dared to sing in front of strangers.
One summer, the neighborhood where she lived would hold a singing competition. Her best friend, Lucy, came to invite her to participate in the competition, but Emily said. “I’m afraid to take part in it.” Her mother said, “It’s okay, just do it bravely.” Emily followed her mama’s advice and decided to give herself a try. The day came. Emily and Lucy went to the competition site. But she was too frightened to walk onto the stage. She had been waiting until others finished singing. She shakily forced herself to stand on the stage. She started to sing, but her voice was so low. What’s worse, she was so nervous that she forgot the lyrics after singing a few words. Being laughed at by others, embarrassed and shy, she ran away from the stage.
Some naughty boys ran after her and said, “Emily, coward (胆小鬼)! Emily, coward!” Emily didn’t argue with them. What she wanted was to go back home as quickly as she could. Finally, she rushed into the house, hugged her mom and cried sadly.
“Well, my poor girl. Don’t cry. Tell me what happened to you,” asked her mom. Emily looked up at her mother and told her what she had experienced.
Listening to her, her mom cupped her face and said, “It doesn’t matter, girl. As long as you practice singing more in front of strangers, you will become braver little by little. So, my girl, don’t be beaten by a failure. You can go out to practice singing every day. No matter who is listening to you, go on singing and never stop. I believe there will be a harvest for you.”
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
Emily followed her mom’s advice and walked into the park where many people were singing and dancing.
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The second year, the neighborhood held the singing competition again.
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My husband and I had purchased the piano so our son and daughter could take piano lessons. But I had a secret dream that I did not share with anyone: I wanted to learn to play the piano and so that I could sit on a piano bench and perform one day.
Days later, I passed our announcement board, which listed items for sale, various jobs, and at the bottom, someone was offering piano lessons.
My voice trembled (颤抖) when I called the number the next day. When the tutor named Melody learned that I was the student, she hesitated. She had never taught a busy adult learner, but she was willing to try if I was determined to learn.
When my first lesson ended as arranged, Melody opened the door to her next student, a six-year-old boy full of enthusiasm. Melody introduced us and told me his name was Jeff. “I’m going to learn to play the piano,” he told me. No doubts or insecurities got in the boy’s way. His enthusiasm struck me, and on my way home, I whispered, “I’m going to learn to play the piano.”
However, I wasn’t a star pupil. I didn’t have instant recall on how to read music. Getting both hands to cooperate was difficult and then I was introduced to the pedal (踏板). Maybe I had been just too psychologically stressed out. Consequently, Melody blamed me for not practicing enough. Therefore, I had to look at my tight schedule to see where I could make time to improve myself.
The following week, Melody told me I would need to participate in the December performance and that I had to play by memory. I would have one month to memorize two pieces and I hadn’t even seen them yet! I was in despair and wanted to give up. “It’s the conventional (依照惯例的) way,” Melody said to me in a firm voice, “and even Jeff is memorizing the pieces he is playing. Think why you came here!”
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。
Her words suddenly had reminded me of my secret dream.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On the day of the performance, I stepped slowly onto the stage.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Sally had longed to become a dancer since three. However, a terrible car accident made that ambition nearly come to an end overnight in 2011. Sally, then a 15-year-old high school student in California was injured severely in the accident that left her paralyzed(瘫痪的) from the waist down. For most people, that would have dashed any hope of a dancing career. But for Sally, it was just the beginning of new life. Instead of being a barrier, her wheelchair made her more courageous. “I wanted to prove to my community and to myself that I was still‘normal’,”she said with a determined look,“Whatever normal meant.”
In her eyes, Normal meant dancing, so Sally did it in her wheelchair right alongside her nondisabled high school dance team. “Half of my body was taken away from me, and I have to move it with my hands,” Sally said. “It definitely took a lot of learning and patience.”
After graduation, Sally expanded her dance network to include women who had the same situation as her. She met people online who had suffered various spinal cord injuries (脊髓损伤), and invited them to dance with her by sharing her determination. “It was such an amazing experience.” Hoping to reach more people in a larger city, Sally moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and formed a team of dancers with disabilities called DREAM. “I want to show that dance is dance, whether you’re walking or you’re rolling.”
In Sally’s dancing team, there was a girl Ella aged 12, who had been feeling depressed since the terrible accident. Having known about the girl’s situation, Sally made efforts to seek every chance to help the little girl find back the confidence to live. Thanks to Sally’s continuous efforts, the little girl recovered physically and mentally day by day. The other day, an invitation to a national dancing competition arrived. After a heated discussion, they reached an agreement that they would recommend Ella to the competition on behalf of the team.
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。
On hearing the decision, Ella felt more than worried.
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The audience stood up and clapped for Ella’s excellent performance.
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A Songwriter And An Army Dad Share One Touching Story
Two years ago, Connie Harington, a Nashville songwriter, was driving in her car, listening to a story on the public radio program Here & Now. And she heard a father remembering his son—a firefighter who was killed in a rescue mission.
“He mentioned that he drove his son’s truck,” Harrington says. “And he went on to describe the truck.”
Jared Monti was 30 when he was killed in rescue action in 2006. In the radio broadcast, his father, Paul, said his reasons for driving the truck Jared left behind were simple, “What can I tell you? It’s him. It’s got his DNA all over it. I love driving it because it reminds me of him, though I don’t need the truck to remind me of him. I think about him every hour of every day,”
Harrington was moved by what she heard and wrote down everything she could remember, all while fighting tears. A few days later, Harrington started turning those thoughts into a song, with two co-writers. Singer Lee Brice recorded the song, I Drive Your Truck and last month, it vaulted to No.1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
As the song grew in popularity, Paul Monti, the man whose words on the radio inspired it in the first place, got a message. It was from a woman whose son was rescued in the fire by Jared. “She sent me a message and told me that she had heard this song and that I had to listen to it,” Paul says.
Here’s the thing: Songwriter Harrington couldn’t remember the name of the father whom she’d heard on the radio—but she wanted desperately to find him, to let him know he was the inspiration. “You feel like this song was such a gift,” Harrington says. “And it has contributed to healing, I think, in people. And we just wanted him to know that it was his words that touched us.”
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 lots of fruitless Internet searches, she finally found his name, Paul Moni.
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At the celebration party, Paul shared a more touching story about his son.
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As a single mother, I’ve never doubted my daughter Jane’s dream to be a singer on the stage. At an early age, she was crazy about singing. Whenever she had a chance, she would sing to her heart’s content. Her sweet and charming voice tended to get people around attracted to her songs.
Living in a small city, I took several odd jobs, determined to do everything in my power to support her. Soon after Jane attended school, her music teacher Mary noticed her talent by chance and volunteered to give her some guidance on how to sing. Jane practiced so hard that before long she made great progress in singing.
Unfortunately, one noon a year later, Jane was crossing the street when a careless driver knocked her down. She was rushed to hospital. When I hurried there, the doctor told me that my daughter would probably not stand on her own feet. I froze with shock, feeling as if I had been thrown into a dark world. Weak and dizzy, I was about to fall to the ground when someone took hold of me.
It was Mary, who got the news and raced here. She comforted me, saying firmly, “Grace, Jane needs you. You must stay calm and strong.” I nodded. Having calmed down, I entered the ward with Mary.
That night, Jane recovered her consciousness (知觉) and opened her eyes. Holding her hand, I said, “My dear, everything would be fine.” Mary comforted her gently, “I know you are a strong girl, Jane. Don’t worry. We’ll be standing by you.” I was heartbroken to see tears streaming down Jane’s cheeks.
After two months, we returned home from hospital. Her teachers and friends frequently visited her. Jane eventually accepted the fact that she would have to get around in a wheelchair. Never did she refer to the subject of singing again. I knew she was a nice and understanding girl, who was afraid that talking about her original dream would upset the two of us.
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, however, Mary came with good news.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the host announced it was Jane’s turn, she was wheeled onto the stage.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.音乐的重要性;
2.最喜欢的音乐类型;
3.说明理由。
注意：写作词数应为80左右。
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Early in the morning I went to the ocean beach to play my guitar. The usually crowded beach was deserted except for two people. On one side of the boardwalk (木板人行道) was a woman who was cleaning the beach with a broom; on the other side was a lone figure sitting and staring to sea. I chose a spot between them and began to play.
As I played, the woman with the broom swept her way right next to me. She stopped sweeping and leaned on her broom, smiling at me. She appeared to be homeless with dirty mismatched clothes.
“You sure play beautiful music.” she said. “I think my friend would like you music. I want to hire you to play for her.” She pointed to the lone figure staring out at the ocean, then produced a few coins from her pocket. “I don’t have much, and I know you’re worth a lot, but if I give this to you, will you play a song for her? She’s going through a lot. I know the music will make her feel better.”
I told her I’d be happy to play for free.
As we walked over to her friend, the Broom Lady told me that her friend had not talked for weeks.We approached, and the Broom Lady introduced me, “Annie, I got you a present to cheer you up. It’s a guitar man who is going to play a song specially for you.”
Annie didn’t move. She was wearing dark sunglasses and had an old coat pulled up to cover most of her face.
I sat next to Annie and played. As I played I put every thought into having good things happen for this woman. I played for quite a while.
Suddenly, Annie turned toward me and said, “You make it so beautiful. I can feel it inside my heart.”
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:
She took off her sunglasses.
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Paragraph 2:
When I stopped playing and looked up, I was shocked to see a small crowed around us.
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