“Jordi! Wake up!” Father’s voice called from the hallway, and I sat up quickly. The day finally came! The day that I would be a castellar—a tower builder. Mama had breakfast ready. “Are you prepared for your moment of fame?” Papa asked in excitement. My throat was suddenly very dry, and the bread got stuck as I swallowed. Taking a big swig of juice, I put on a smile. “I'm ready” I would do well. I wanted to make him proud.
Here in the eastern part of Spain, casteller groups were very popular. My city hosted the competition this year. Before that, I’d watched my parents compete. But never before had I been part of the tower. It was so high. And it sometimes fell. I was hesitant to be up there. But for the past year, I had been practicing the climb. I was twelve, and I must not be a coward (胆小鬼). So for the first time in a competition, I would help build the tower!
In town, I saw that the center was packed with people and casteller teams from all over the country. Hands sweating, I was waiting for our turn to compete. Mom came and patted me on the shoulder. “Have focus. Have faith.” I nodded to show that I understood and would do my best to follow the suggestions.
Soon, too soon, it was our turn.
My father and three of the strongest men stood in a circle facing each other as they held tightly to each other’s arms. Four more strong men stepped behind, each wrapping his arms around the chest of a man and giving him a bear hug. Then fifty more men and women crowded behind and began pushing on their backs to keep them tightly together.
Our base was solid. Four smaller men climbed onto the backs of the base group and stood on their shoulders. They then grabbed onto each other’s arms and held firmly, creating a strong second tier (层). Another group of men would form the third tier. Then, a group of women, including Mom, started climbing and began to form the fourth tier. Our tower was growing taller and taller.
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: Then suddenly it was kids’ turn to make the last tier.
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Paragraph 2: “Jordi. Easy!” My mother whispered the words.
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I arrived at the pool hall on Wednesday with a heavy heart. Teams from other schools were already suited and warming up by the pool or in the water. The bleachers (露天看台) were full.
“I don’t think I can do this.” I said, twisting the belt of my bag.
“You’ll be fine, and I will be right here watching.” Mom said, dropping an arm around my shoulder and squeezing.
I bit my lip and looked out over the other swimmers. “You sure?”
Mom leaned forward. “Remember, it’s just you. Don’t worry about any of the other swimmers. Just swim your race.”
“OK.”
The warmups and preparations were over before I knew it, and the first round of swimmers were up on the blocks.
I felt sick. I watched my competitors swim, and they looked so strong and skillful in the water. The events screamed by, one after the other. My knees shook as each event clicked closer to mine. The knots in my stomach twisted and coiled like a bag of ropes.
Then the one-hundred breaststroke (蛙泳) was announced.
Nerves choked my throat.
“Just swim your race. Don’t think about the other swimmers.” I repeated it over and over in my mind.
I bent forward on my block in line with the rest of the swimmers, waiting. My body tensed up like a spring. My heart pounded in my ears.
The buzzer (蜂鸣器) sounded. I sprang forward, diving into the water and kicking like a dolphin. Then my head broke free of the water. Just count strokes. I kept my eyes focused on the black line in front of me, ignoring the splashes of movement on either side. Pull. Breathe. Kick. I hit the end of the pool and then my first turn came. I took a deep a breath and turned over, pushing hard against the wall and bursting back the way I came.
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。
Paragraph 1
Then everything changed.
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Paragraph 2
I was the last one to finish the race.
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“You’ll have to be quicker to beat Kendall on Friday,” Coach Dugan said. For weeks, I’d been hearing about how fast he was. I was tired of it. But I stll walked back to the starting line. A good start gives you a half success.
Eric said to me, “I heard that Kendall trains with Olympic coaches.”“What? No way,” I said. Not only that, I heard he cheats and does whatever it takes to win.
“Let’s go, boy,” Coach shouted. I got ready and exploded, driving hard toward the finishing line. I crossed two full steps ahead of everyone else. Coach clicked his stopwatch and nodded.“Better, Alex. But let’s do it again.” I couldn’t get any faster. Besides, Kendall trains with Olympic coaches!“You have to work harder,” Coach Dugan said. Easy for him to say, he wasn’t racing Kerry Kendall.
Then came the day to compete. The infield bustled (忙乱) with kids from every middle school in our district. I sat on the grass, looking for Kendall and preparing for the competition.
“Are you Alex?” a voice asked. I looked up over my shoulder, Kerry Kendal. I nodded. Kendall sat down next to me.“Heard you’re fast,” he said, touching his nose to his knee. I checked him out. His leg muscles (肌肉) looked like he worked out plenty. After a minute, he asked,“Is it true you have a private (私人的) trainer?” I laughed.“Coach Dugan was good, but he was no private trainer. Well, I heard you trained with Olympic coaches.” He was surprised. “You’re kidding, right? I train by running the hills. After practice I run those hills until my legs ache. That sounds like Olympic coaches to you?”
I finally learned the truth that for this competition Kendal had worked hard. Running the hills was tough, but he did it after his regular practices every day. I wonder how those foolish rumors (谣言) started and why I believed them. Seeing Kendall stood in place, I said, “Nice talking to you. Good luck in the dash.” He stopped and turned.“The same to you.” We looked at each other and smiled, and then he started over to join his team.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为75左右;
2.续写部分的开头语已为你写好;
Paragraph:
Then the competition began.
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Thin, average, and undisciplined, I was the underdog of the boys’ basketball tryouts (选拔赛) in seventh grade. Making the team was very important to me. Although I was extremely nervous, I truly thought I would make the team. But I went in overly optimistic, and quickly faced a cruel reality check.
When on the court, I huffed and puffed like an old man on his last legs; clearly, I was out of shape and having trouble keeping up. When it hit me that this was only the first day, and that there was a second to follow, I realized I would have to step it up in order to gain a spot on the team.
Unfortunately, day two went exactly like day one: I missed shots, passed badly like an out-of-breath fool. Hoping the coach was not watching all my bad moves, I had trouble keeping a positive attitude. Finally, Coach-who at five-foot-four usually seemed small, posted the lists of the Boys A and B Teams. Everybody quickly ran to catch a glimpse of the chosen few.
After scanning the list once, twice, three times, my name was nowhere. Although I had predicted the disaster that had now settled on me, with my head hanging. I slowly walked to the car. This experience definitely had not gone as I planned.
On the way home, I complained “How could that foolish boy is a better choice than me? And…”
“Adam!” my mom cut me off. “Why don’t you realize maybe you need a little more practice? You’d better go to basketball camps next summer.”
Although I did not want to believe her, I knew it was true. Failing to make the team was nobody’s fault but mine. Right then and there, in the middle of my anger, I realized I had to get my act together.
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:
Then I threw myself into as many basketball opportunities as I could find.
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Paragraph 2:
When I took part in the eighth-grade basketball tryouts,I was moderate,swift and strong.
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A couple of years ago, I volunteered to be a finish-line “hugger” at the Kentucky Special Olympics held in Richmond.
The day of the event dawned dull, wet and gray. Even though it started to rain and a cold wind blew, most of the participants were so excited that they didn’t seem to notice the weather at all.
My job was to stand at the end of a lane on the track and hug the person in that lane when he or she crossed the finish line. It seemed to me that many of the participants completed their races just so they could get that finish “hug”. As the arms of the hugger closed around them, their faces lit up with pure joy, whether they came in first or dead last.
While we huggers stood around, we talked. I was told that most of the participants had been training for the races all year. I also noticed that, the Special Olympic participants weren’t here just to win. They didn’t talk negatively about the people they were racing against. In fact, they hugged and wished each other luck before they started, and hugged again when it was over, whether they had won or not.
What I remember most vividly from that day was the long-distance race. It was a long race by any standards: twelve laps around the track. There were only four participants, three boys and one girl. They were only a couple of laps into the race when the rain started up again. Standing in the rain, I began to feel miserable. My feet hurt. I was soaking wet. I was hungry. I was cold when the rain and wind came and hot when the sun came out. I thought irritably: This race is lasting entirely too long. Even though the three boys were nearly finished, the girl was at least four laps behind. I wondered why she kept going when there was obviously no way she could win.
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 three boys finished but they didn’t leave right away.
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As she approached the finishing line, the girl was barely running.
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“Go Denny, go!” my teammates yelled.
The cheering from the my classmates grew louder as I reached the final turn. I found myself in the lead. I knew better than to look back at the runners behind me. That would slow me down. Besides, I could hear them breathing. I launched into my sprint(冲刺).
I pumped my arms harder as I pounded down the straightaway. It made my legs go faster. I don’t know what strange connection in the body makes that work, but it does. I threw my chest forward into the string. It dropped across my body. I thudded to a stop.
I was breathing hard, but at least I was still on my feet.
“You made it in sixty-eight seconds,” Coach Setlich told me. “That’s good enough for third place overall. Nice job, Denise.”
I smiled and nodded, since I didn’t have enough breath to answer. I was exhausted but I had to walk slowly around so my muscles wouldn’t tighten up.
A few minutes later, Coach Setlich found me resting on the high-jump mats. She looked worried. “Denise, I need you to run the relay. Tracy pulled a muscle in the long jump.”
I pushed up onto my elbows. “I’m not a sprinter.”
“Not the sprint relay. The medley (混合接力). I want you to run the last leg (赛程) . Amanda and Cindy, each one hundred meters. Megan ,two hundred meters, one lap (圈).”
I looked at her with horror. “You want me to run four hundred meters again?” I screamed.
She nodded. “We have a shot at second or third in the team standings if your relay does well.” the coach’s eyes glowed. Second place may not sound exciting, but we had been near the bottom of the standings all season. Now in the league championships, we were definitely showing improvement. I struggled to my feet. “Couldn’t I run the two-hundred-meter leg instead?”
Coach shook her head. “The other girls on your relay team are sprinters and they don’t understand the pacing for the longer distance.” she said.
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:
I followed Coach Setlich to the edge of the track. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
A second runner came by, getting ahead of me. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For me, it was normal to feel lost at the inter-camp track. Four camps of kids were ready to lead their teams to a blue ribbon andwinthe day. Not me. I was too little to be the leader and too skinny to be anathlete. I knew this by the time I was twelve, because my camp counselors and the other kids reminded me of it every chance they got. So when our camp needed a fourth runner in the two-mile race around thelake, I knew I was no one's first choice.
I hid in the shade of a maple tree as they called the names of the runners, my body tensed as I heard a counselor call, “Fred! Where is Fred! He is in this race!” It wasBarry. He spotted me under the tree. “Fred! We need a 12-ycar-old who hasn’t been in other events to run the two-mile!”
He gave me a push towards the starting line. Having noconfidenceand trying to save myself from the shame of taking the last place as four camps watched, I pleaded with him.
“But I don’t know the way around the lake!”
“You’re in. Just follow Bill!” Barry smiled.
Bill was my friend and the fastest runner in our camp. And then Barry said, “When you make it to the last stretch on the field, just throw yourheadback and run.”
At the starting line, I stood next to Bill and trembled.
“On your mark... Get set...” The gun cracked and sixteen of us took off. I stayed close on Bill's heels, a little too close for Bill, I guess. He shouted at me, “Back off!”
I did. Two guys passed me, but I kept my eyes on Bill.
It was tiring. The distance was widening between Bill and me. We made the turn from the dusty road onto the muddy, wooded trail that would go around the lake back to the field. Through the trees, I saw Bill trip over a tree root and fall. A runner from another camp passed him.
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
In a moment. Bill was up again and running.
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Paragraph 2
I didn't blow when I crossed the finish line.
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Tom and his friend were walking to work. They were talking about the big football match.
"Are you going to see the match?" Tom's friend asked him.
"No, I must go to work." Tom said.
Tom worked in the office of Mr. Bates. When Tom got to the office a letter was waiting for him. He opened it.
"Dear Tom." the letter began. "I'm writing to thank you for all your help. I'm sending a ticket for the big match. I cannot go to the match because I am ill. I shall see it on TV. You can go to the match with my ticket."
Tom looked at the ticket. He could not believe that he had it. A ticket for the big match!
He looked at the ticket again. "I must go to the match." he thought. "I must. But how can I go? How can I get out of the office? I can't tell Mr. Bates that I'm ill. He will know what I'm doing. He'll know I'm trying to get out of the office and go to the big match."
Tom thought and thought. He could not do any work. Then, at twelve o'clock, he knew what to do. He stood up and walked to a telephone at the end of the street. He spoke to his sister, Jean. "Jean, this is Tom," he said. "I want you to make a telephone call to my office. Ask to speak to Mr. Bates. Tell him you are speaking from a doctor's office. Tell him that my mother is ill."
He put down the telephone and went back to the office. At one o'clock, Mr. Bates came up to him.
"I have had bad news for you, Tom," he said. "Your mother is ill. The doctor telephoned. You must go to her."
"Thank you." Tom said. "I'll go now. I'll come back as soon as I can." He left the office quickly for the football ground. The big match did not start until three but the ground was nearly full. But Tom's ticket was a good one. He could stand near the front. The football match was very good. Many people saw the match on TV. People at home could see everything in the football ground.
1.所续短文词数应为150词左右；
2.至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段开头已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
The next morning, when Tom walked into the office, Mr. Bates came up to him.
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Paragraph 2:
Turning around, Tom saw a new television on the wall.
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