On March 25, 2010, Kate and David Ogg heard the words every parent dreads: Their newborn wasn't going to make it. Their twins--a girl and a boy--were born 14 weeks premature, weighing just over two pounds each. Doctors had tried to save the boy for 20 minutes but saw no improvement. His heartbeat was nearly gone, and he'd stopped breathing. The baby had just moments to live.
"I saw him gasp, but the doctor said it was no use," Kate said. "I know it sounds stupid, but if he was still gasping, that was a sign of life. I wasn't going to give up easily."
Still, the couple knew this was likely goodbye. In an effort to cherish her last minutes with the tiny boy, Kate asked to hold him.
"I wanted to meet him, and for him to know us," Kate said. "We'd resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him, and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments."
Kate unwrapped the boy, whom the couple had already named Jamie, from his hospital blanket and ordered David to take his shirt off and join them in bed. The first-time parents wanted their son to be as warm as possible and hoped the skin-to-skin contact would improve his condition. They also talked to him.
"We were trying to have him," Kate said. "We explained his name and that he had a twin and how hard we had tried to have him."
Then something miraculous happened. Jamie gasped again--and then he started breathing. Finally, he reached for his father's finger. The couple's lost boy had made it.
Eight years later, Jamie and his sister, Emily, are happy and healthy.
Too often a learner of English who has read one or two classics tries to imitate(模仿)their style. The fact, however, is that style cannot be imitated. Different authors have different styles. They do not try to write the way they write. So the imitation of any style often results in affectation(矫揉造作).
And the result will be till worse if the style imitated is that of a work written a hundred years ago or more. We are of the 21st century, and we should not write the English of the last century.
I would advise you not to aim at a special style. Take care to write correct, simple, idiomatic, and clear English, that's all.
But imitation is not always bad. Very often it is important to imitate something. Where personal style is out of place, imitation is the only means by which correctness may be secured. In writing an advertisement about something, for example, you have to imitate some such advertisement that you have read. You cannot possibly write a good one if you have never read any, though you may have read very widely in general literature.
You will do well to collect a number of short advertisements, formal invitations, announcements, and business contracts, etc. When you have occasion to write one of such, you have simply to do a little imitating and adapting. The following is an ordinary formal invitation:
Mr. and Mrs. M. S. Adams request the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Williams's company at dinner on Saturday evening, May the seventeenth, at seven o'clock, 86 Star Street.
This invitation is from Mr. and Mrs. M. S. Adams to Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Williams. Surely, with this piece before you, you can write a new one. You have simply to change the names, the day, the date, the time, and the address.
In 2013 Tallinn(爱沙尼亚首都塔林) became the world's first capital city to offer people free public transport. Last year Estonia(爱沙尼亚)set the aim to become the first country with free public transport nationwide. Buses are now free of charge in 11 of its 15 counties.
Tallinn's city government came up with the idea of free transport in 2008. Even though the city paid more than 70% of public-transport costs, ticket prices were still too high for poorer people. Crowdedness had also become a problem. Since 1991, the number of people owning cars has doubled.
Opponents(反对者) thought the idea unaffordable and critics(批评者) predicted the transport system would become overcrowded and lack money.
Surprisingly, public transport has improved, despite a €12 million hit to the system's finances from lost ticket sales. Tallinn's population has grown, leading to an increase in local tax intake. Additional revenu(e 财政收入)comes from tourists, who still have to buy tickets. The use of public transport in Tallinn
has gone up by 10%, while the number of cars in the city has gone down by 10%, meaning less congestion. Now other countries are looking at Estonia's experience. Tallinn officials say they have had interest from France, Sweden, Poland, Italy and Germany. Other places have already introduced free public transport for certain groups or at certain times. In England 1/3 of all bus trips are fare-free especially for pensioners(领养老金者); Wales runs free travel at weekends to improve tourism. But so far full fare-free travel is rare. The city of Hasselt in Belgium ran free public transport for 16 years before reintroducing fares because of increasing costs.
How to Strengthen Teeth Naturally
You can work on strengthening your teeth by getting the right vitamins and minerals in your diet. You can also protect your teeth through healthy habits. In addition, avoiding certain foods and habits can help strengthen your teeth.
Get the right nutrients(营养)
Make sure you're getting 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium(钙)a day. You probably know calcium helps keep your bones strong. Eating certain amount of calcium in your diet every day will help increase the strength of your teeth.
Aim to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in your weekly diet. Try selecting a variety of colors when choosing your produce, as that ensures you'll be getting a wide variety of vitamins. Fill your plate up halfway with fruits and vegetables at every meal, then fill the rest of your plate with some protein and whole grains.
Brush your teeth twice a day
To brush well, hold your toothbrush at a 45℃ angle to your teeth. Brush all the surfaces of your teeth gently and try to brush for at least 2 minutes.
Visit your dentist regularly
Visit your dentist at least once a year for x-rays and cleaning. If you start to get a buildup of plaque(牙菌斑), which can weaken teeth, the dentist can remove it for you in time.
Quit smoking
You probably are aware that smoking causes lung cancer and other health problems. In addition, it can also weaken bone tissue, including your teeth. If you've been thinking about quitting, now may be the time.
A.These visits help find problems before they begin.
B.These foods naturally clean your teeth, helping to keep them strong.
C.Eat a balanced diet
D.The same is true for your teeth.
E.Set a timer to help you brush longer!
F.Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium properly.
G.Strong teeth are important for a healthy mouth!
It was a Friday night and I was1 a restaurant, washing dishes. A plate2 through my wet fingers and fell onto the floor in 3. My face flushed(发红) and inside I was screaming, "Why me!?" as if my4 would make the plate whole again.
The broken plate was only one of the many 5 fighting inside me. There were a dozen 6 smaller but urgent concerns.
For me, it was impossible to get some much 7 rest or some study time before a coming exam. I had to8 with the family expenses(开销). So I got back to work.
It was 12 a.m. when I finally finished my work. I got on the 9 home and took out my notes to study. I got the10 looks from people out of bars because I was studying on a bus in the middle of the night.
Their 11 didn't bother me at all. I knew something had to change in my family and it 12 to me to begin it. Fortunately, I also knew I had desire and 13in my blood. My grandfather was among the first Mexican immigrants who 14 in L.A.. Both of my parents left Mexico in their early teenage years and began working long 15 as a cook and a maid. The spirit was16generations, which helped me both in school and at work.
As I walked through the front door at home, I saw my mother had fallen asleep17 me despite her own long day. In my bedroom watching my brothers breathe slowly made me feel my body's tiredness. However, it would be a while before I could 18 them in sleep. I had an essay 19 early the next morning, and Ms. DePaolo doesn't20 late work.
The year was 1956. My first husband and I and our nine-month-old baby, Pam, moved from St. Louis to Fort Worth, Texas. We found a (love) apartment and settled in quickly. One chilly morning, I (head) for the Laundromat(洗衣店). I turned the engine of our 1953 Chevy (warm) up the car and put Pam in her car seat, back then was in the front seat. I locked the car door. I put the basket of laundry in the back seat and locked the other door.(sudden), I realized I had locked the (key) and my baby in the car and locked (I) out. I immediately went into panic mode. My neighbors had both gone to work, and there were no cell phones back then. As I looked up the street, I saw a red Ford pickup (drive) toward me. The driver stopped when he saw me crying and waving my hands. The man on the passenger side of the truck got out and said, "I have a car just like this one; let me see if my key will open the door." It did! I have told so many people that God was the passenger in a red Ford pickup in October 1956.
阅读下列短文,根据所给情节进行续写,使之构成一个完整的故事。
Desiree, a 4-year-old girl, was sobbing quietly over her father, Ken, who had died nine months earlier. She was hugging a photograph of her father with her fingers running around his face. "Daddy", she said softly, "Why won't you come back?"
Instead of gradually adjusting to her father's death, Desiree refused to accept it. "Daddy will be home soon," she'd tell her mother. "He's at work." When she played with her toy telephone, she pretended she was chatting with her father. "I miss you, Daddy," she'd say, "When will you come back?" Desiree's situation made her mother worried.
Days later, it was Ken's birthday. "How will I send him a card?" Desiree asked her mother. "How about if we tie a letter to a balloon," her mother said, "and send it up to heaven?" Desiree's eyes immediately lit up.
Her mother took her to a store and Desiree picked out a balloon with HAPPY BIRTHDAY above a drawing of The Little Mermaid(美人鱼). Desiree and her father had often watched it. The child's eyes shone as they were on the way to Ken's grave. Then Desiree dictated a letter to her dad. "Tell him, 'Happy birthday, I love you and miss you,'" she rattled off(快速说). " 'I hope you get this and can write to me on my birthday in January.' "
Her mother wrote the message and their address on a small piece of paper, which was then wrapped in plastic and tied to the end of the string on the balloon. Finally, Desiree released the balloon. For almost an hour, they watched the shining spot of silver grow smaller and smaller till disappear. "Now Dad's going to write back to me," Desiree declared confidently.
Every day since they'd released the balloon, Desiree had asked her mother, "Do you think Daddy has my balloon yet?" Several weeks passed, and she stopped asking.
注意:
所续写短文的词数应为 150 左右;
应使用 5 个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语;
续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;
续写完成后,请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1
One day, 3,000 miles away, Wade was on a duck hunt when suddenly something in the bush caught his eyes.
Paragraph 2
Desiree's fifth birthday came and later on the afternoon, a package arrived.