I’ve always known that I’m very quick with my hands. If someone throws something, I catch it almost before I’m aware it has been thrown. When I was young, I had no idea how useful this skill would become.
Last week, I was going to visit a friend with her newborn and was on my way to a toy store to buy a gift. I’d once lived in the neighbourhood and I decided to head back to my old cupcake shop for a coffee. Sitting alone at a table outside with my drink, I was approached by an older man, who in a calm and very matter-of-fact way told me to call 911, because there was a baby on a fire escape.
I jumped up to see where the baby was. I was so surprised to see it, wearing a little onesie (连体衣) and lying on the fire escape railings (栏杆) between the second and third storeys. I was nervous, so the baby boy became my only priority.
As I was on the phone to the emergency services, I made eye contact with the child, keeping him calm, telling him to stay there. Some people were going up the stairs to find the parents, who were apparently sleeping through the whole drama.
I just wanted the child to feel safe. I hoped he’d stay there until somebody could rescue him. Apparently he had slipped through pieces of cardboard placed next to an air-conditioning unit in the window, and without bars to protect him he’d crawled (爬) out and up the fire escape towards the next storey. He was only 16 months old. For him to even climb up and balance in that position was incredible.
Then he slipped. Instinctively (本能), he grabbed on the railing as he fell, hanging by his arms. I knew he couldn’t hold on, 25 feet above the street, for long. I sensed people had gathered behind, but my attention was purely focused on my intention to catch the baby.
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。
I made sure I was positioned to catch him.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The moments after he was saved were exciting.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We ate a big breakfast at a local restaurant, like we did every Father’s Day. The present my daughter gave me was a T-shirt with the words “World’s Coolest Dad”. I put it on, feeling that was what made Father’s Day so great.
Just then my volunteer fire-department pager (呼机) went off: “Attention, Pocahontas-Old Ripley firefighters! House fire on Simpson Street. Repeat. House fire on Simpson Street.”
“Gotta go,” I said. I ran to my car and took off. I got to the firehouse in minutes. Another firefighter, Tom Smith, and the chief were waiting. “Don, Tommy, take truck 253. Roll!” he ordered. “The rest of the guys will be right behind you.” As the first on the scene, our job was to make sure everyone was out of the house, locate the nearest hydrant (消防栓), and then wait for backup.
A small crowd had gathered in front of number 907 when we got there. They watched the fire in panic. Thick black smoke could be seen pouring from the one-story house’s open front door. A large man burst through the door, red eyes streaming with tears. “Please hurry!” he called. “My boy’s still in there. I couldn’t get to him!”
There was no time to wait for backup. I left Tommy outside and rushed into the house.
“Anyone here?” I shouted. No answer. I searched every inch of the first two rooms. No child. The fire had grown so fierce by then. It seemed that the roof would collapse at any time. All at once a vision was put into my head—that father begging us to save his child. I mustn’t give up. Not today, I thought. There still might be a chance.
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。
Suddenly I heard a weak cry from the next room.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a special Father’s Day, not only for me, but also for the boy, his father and my daughter.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________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。
She was the prettiest puppy we had ever seen, and the whole family immediately fell in love with her. We named her Onyx because of her black, shiny black coat. She spent her first vacation with us when she was only ten weeks old and had her first bath and swim in the St. Lawrence River. We had no clue that this amazing little ball of fur would end up being our hero.
As she grew older, Onyx became more and more involved in our family activities. On hot summer days, Onyx enjoyed floating on the river with us in her own rubber tube (橡皮圈). Amazingly standing on the top of the tube, she smiled while showing off her perfect balance. Resting her front legs and paws over the edge of the rubber tube, she kept her eyes shut as she floated until she’d had enough of the warm sun on her black coat.
One day, our eighteen-year-old daughter, Margie, announced she was going to swim across the bay. No one in the family was free to go swimming with her. The unwritten rules, regardless of swimming ability, was to have a companion in the water with you, especially when swimming the width of the bay. I was not a good swimmer, so I said to Margie, “Take Onyx with you.” Having heard her name, Onyx woke up from a nap and was ready for action. Margie signed the dog to follow her. Onyx ran to the water next to her. They entered the freezing river together and swam side by side across the bay.
I watched from the bank as they reached the sandbar (沙洲) on the far shore. They rested a few minutes before diving into the water for the return trip. I felt uneasy for some reason and continued to watch the pair swim side by side.
Suddenly I heard Margie calling out, “I have a cram (痉挛) in the leg! ”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing the pair approaching the riverbank, I breathed a sigh of relief.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It’s the Saturday, 1:00 am, and Stormy, my dog, and I were going on a pre-dawn bird-watching adventure. The weatherman predicted fog, but as we hit the road, it’s clear. Along our journey, I stopped at a petrol station, ensuring Stormy was safely locked in the truck.
“Stormy, hang tight,” I whispered, stepping out into the night air.
Back on the highway, as we were near the marshlands, a heavy fog began to swallow everything. At a sharp bend, my truck hit soft ground, and I lost control. “Oh, no!” Panic set in as the vehicle slid off the road with a bang, falling down a steep bank and into the water.
In the strange silence that followed, I was floating inside the car, gently carried downstream by the canal. “Come on, door,” I said, switching uselessly at the handle. It won’t move; the electrical system had shorted out due to the water. “I’ve got a glass breaker,” I reminded myself, reaching for the tool in the center part.
With each failed attempt to break the window — the glass bouncing back at me — I felt a growing sense of urgency. Water moved over the floorboards, cooling my feet. “Stormy, stay calm,” I said, lying down to kick at the window with all my strength. But my efforts only met resistance.
As the water level rose threateningly close to the ceiling, fear clawed at my heart. In a last effort, I dived behind the seat for my toolbox. “Got to find something solid.” My hands brushed against the cold metal toolbox, then the fire extinguisher (灭火器). “This might work.”
“Here goes everything,” I thought, holding the extinguisher and hitting it against the window. The impact resounded through the car, but the glass holds firm. “Not yet,” I begged under my breath, as the extinguisher bounced harmlessly away.
The water kept rising, and so did my fear. A voice inside me screamed to give up, but another thought pierced through — Stormy. “For Stormy, I can’t quit.” Just then, I sensed a pause in the water’s rise.
An unspoken sound said, “You have more time. What will you do?”
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。
“I’ll fight harder,” I promised aloud.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Exhausted, we caught the now flooded vehicle, waiting for daylight.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A couple，whom we shall call John and Mary, had a nice home and two lovely children. One day, John and Mary decided to go on a trip to another city, so they found a kind woman to look after the children and left.
Several days later, they returned home a little earlier than they had planned. As they drove back to their hometown, John and Mary noticed smoke and went to see what it was. They found a house was on fire.“Oh,well, it isn't our house. Let's go home,”Mary said.
But John drove closer and screamed in surprise，“That's Jordan's home. He works in a factory. He wouldn’t be off work yet. Maybe there is something we can do to help.”
“It has nothing to do with us,”cried Mary. “You have your good clothes on,so let's not get any closer.”
John didn't listen to Mary. He drove up and stopped. They were both shocked to see the whole house was on fire. A woman was crying in the yard, “The children! Get the children!”
John seized her by the shoulder and shouted to her, “Don't cry! Tell me where the children are!” “In the basement(地下室)，”cried the woman,“down the hall and to the left.”
John used water to get his clothes wet and put a wet towel on his head before rushing to the basement. The house was full of smoke and fire, and it was very difficult for him to find the children. But he made it. He held one under each arm. As he left，he could hear some more crying. He took the two kids out of the house and into the fresh air，and then asked the women how many more children were still down there.
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，请按照如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答；
Paragraph 1:
Thewoman told him there were two more.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
As he took them out,he felt something strangely familiar about the little bodies.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
I was driving home, northbound on a 6-lane highway. A pickup truck crashed into a car which was switching lanes. A huge accident, involving 5 other cars, unfolded in front of me.Immediately, I ran to a car which was upside down. I got someone to help by holding pressure on a big cut above the woman’s left ear, and then, with help, got her and a large,unconscious man, both upside down, out of the car. I then went to the four other cars to check if anyone else was hurt badly. Fortunately, no one else was in serious condition. It all took just a few minutes.
In the meantime, the southbound traffic had stopped. I looked over and saw a group of 12 people, out of their cars standing in a circle about 15 feet away from a young man, bloody and wounded, lying still on the pavement. I asked a couple of different people what had happened. The young man had gotten out of his car to cross the road and help, when a car drove along the inside lane, very fast, to get around the stopped traffic. The “Good Samaritan” was hit by the car, which launched him high in the air. He lay where he dropped. Everyone said he was dead; several had checked, But a feeling inside me said, “I didn’t check him. Can they be certain he is dead?”
He was covered in blood with arms and legs hurt and his head almost to his chest. I felt for pulses(脉搏) at different spots and felt nothing. Then I checked him once again. I realized at that moment, I was feeling for a normal pulse. When I felt again with this in mind. I thought I felt a very weak and rapid heart rate of about 160. I knew I was not supposed to move his head, but I saw no other way to hopefully open his airway. I pushed his chin(下巴) upwards. He then started taking rapid, shallow breaths.
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。
By then, the ambulances were driving up.
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Due to the doctors and care of nurses, the “Good Samaritan” did survive.
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I am an outdoor lover and I’ve made it a routine to explore different regions annually with a friend during our vacation. This year, in addition to beauty of nature, I’ve experienced something more.
It was late afternoon. A few hours before sunset, Darcy and I decided to hike to Acomat Falls, hidden in the rainforest.
Expecting to spend no more than an hour at the falls, we wore T-shirts and swimsuits and hadn’t told anyone where we were going. After crossing the wide river at a shallow spot and walking upstream about 100 yards, we reached the falls at around 4 pm. We dived into the green pool and floated on our backs, amazed at the canyon(峡谷) walls.
By 4:30, Darcy reminded me that we needed to head back to the car before dark, but I was waist-deep in the river trying to photograph the falls, the hanging vines(葡萄藤), and the dreaminess of the place. Darcy had to wait on a stone. I finally took a good photo—and then she screamed.
With a crack like thunder, a violent wall of water rushed over the falls, turning the dreamy swimming pool into a churning(旋涡的) monster. Flash flood! I jumped out of the river seconds before the flood crashed over the spot where I’d just been standing. Darcy climbed barefoot off toward higher ground. Darcy and I climbed up the canyon on all fours, grabbing vines to pull ourselves up. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the water had risen 20 feet in less than a minute.
Darcy led us through the dense bush, prickly trees, and ankle-deep mud. After we’d climbed 200 feet, we stopped to catch our breath. Now we had a different problem: The road was on the other side of the swollen river. We were stuck in the forested mountain.
We had no rain jackets and were exhausted from the climb. Darcy asked if I had my phone. It was soaking wet, but still blinked on. No service. We decided to move toward higher ground to get a better signal. It was almost dark. For a moment, I got through, and I heard the faint voice of Grace, our rental host. She said she’d call for help. Then the phone went silent—no signal again.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
It seemed that we were in a desperate situation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Trapped there, we wondered whether and how rescuers could find us.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I worked at a local station of the Berlin fire department. We got an alert (警报) around 8:25pm that Friday and rushed to the fire engine, where the printout from the dispatcher (调度员) said there was a nine-year-old boy locked in a safe.
I asked myself: if it were a safe, would it be airtight? I was aware that it might already be too late by the time we arrived. I had to plan for a bad outcome. On the other hand, if we were in time, how long would it take us to open the safe? I knew it would be an incredibly difficult task. It’s what safes are designed for—not to be opened.
It took less than five minutes to reach the property. When I saw a woman crying on the street,
I knew the situation was serious. She was the boy’s mother and she led us into the basement. She told us the boy was alive and we started talking to him; he was very calm. We asked how it had happened: during a game of hide and seek with his five-year-old brother, he had thought the safe would be a good place to hide.
The boy’s parents had got the house from his mother’s father. The unlocked safe had been there when they moved in and was in an area they didn’t use much. The boy’s little brother had shut the safe, then, when he couldn’t open it again. The only person who knew the combination was the boy’s late grandfather.
From the outset, the biggest priority was getting oxygen to the boy. We got oxygen from the hospital. The boy said that he could feel a thin stream of air. I asked his parents if anyone had opened the safe before and they said no. So we had to guess a six-digit code (密码). We started typing them in—but we had to wait 10 minutes between each attempt before we could try again. So quickly we tried them all. No luck.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卷的相应位置作答。
We were fully prepared at this point to open the safe by force, starting with a drill.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then, just as we started to make the first cut, my workmate typed in the correct code.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The snowstorm was supposed to hit the evening of Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. I was working from home, but I had to leave that afternoon and go to my office at First Nations University in Regina, Saskatchewan, so I could sign an emergency financial aid check for a student. As director of finance, I wanted to get it to him as soon as possible, snowstorm or not. Besides, I wasn’t worried. I figured I had more than enough time to make it to the office and get back home.
The route to the university takes about 30 minutes along the Trans-Canada Highway. After I finished my work, it was just past 4:30 p. m. I started heading back home.
Not soon after I left office, the snow started and it was coming down fast. Within minutes I was in a whiteout. The storm was a “snownado,” or what the TV meteorologists call a Saskatchewan screamer, because it comes in fast and so windy that it screams.
The road condition was horrible, forcing me to slow down. The windows were fogging up and getting covered with snow, so I rolled down my driver’s side window, thinking I could better follow the edge of the road and keep to a straight line. But really, I didn’t have a clue where I was or even which side of the road I was on. At one point, I don’t know exactly when, I stopped because I was afraid of driving into a farmer’s field. The Trans-Canada Highway was in between two farms, each 500 yards away, I remember. I kept the car running to stay warm and called 911. They told me to sit tight and wait things out for the night, saying nobody was coming to get me until morning, at the earliest. It was now 6:30 p.m., I had to do something for help.
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。
I posted my situation onto my Facebook (网络社交工具), hoping anyone might read it and help.
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“I can’t drive,” the old farmer replied, “I walked here after my son phoned me about everything.”
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When I woke up, I felt pains all over. A pool of sticky blood surrounded my head. I lay trapped in the bottom of n smooth-walled pit (坑) with an empty water bottle.
I thought of what had happened. I was climbing down the mountain as I was admiring the beautiful scenery. Accidentally. I stepped on a loose rock. Then I slipped, fell with the rock and got stuck somewhere below the top. It was getting dark in the pit. Only my mother knew where I’d gone. I promised to have lunch with her. Thinking of this. I took my phone out and dialed her number with shaking fingers. No service. The silence, which earlier I’d valued, was now horrible.
With a sharp pain in my head, I was terrified. I knew I’d fallen far, but I wasn’t sure where I was. I called 911 because I knew by the pain that my back was severely injured, if not broken. My ear was torn badly. There was still no service. I dug through my bag to assess my supplies and found a whistle and some wipes.
I put the whistle around my neck and blew, though I knew no one would hear me. It was 1:15 pm and I was miles from the town where I lived. I used the wipes to clean off as much blood as I could. I rested. Then I screamed, blew my whistle, and let myself think the unthinkable. What if they can’t find me? What if this is it?
I decided to get moving. I climbed through a small opening, but when I peered over the next edge, my heart sank: there was a 30-foot drop. There was no way down. I was trapped.
I knew with that extreme Arizona heat in the day and bitter desert cold at night, I wouldn’t last long. But I thought my mother was sure to call the police for help if she couldn’t get in touch with me. With a little hope, I prayed the police would send a helicopter (直升机) to my resecu.
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。
Around five hours later, a growing buzz (嗡嗡声) in the air broke the silence.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Though the pilot saw me, it was difficult for the team to get to me.
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