We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed to a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop. She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floor. "
"Yes. I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them," the nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working later?"
Mum just pushed harder, each swipe(拖一下) of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.
After a long time，Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you. "
Outside, Mum told me, "Dagmar is fine. No fever. "
"You saw her, Mum?"
"Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It's a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush. "
One summer evening I was sitting by the open window, reading a good science story book. I was so interested in the story I was reading that I did not notice that it was getting dark. When I realized it was too dark for me to read easily, I put the book down and get up to turn on the light. Just then I heard someone crying: "Help! Help!" It seemed to come from the trees at the other end of the yard. I looked out but it was now too dark to see anything clearly. Almost immediately I heard the cry again. It sounded like a child, but I could not imagine what anybody would be doing in our backyard, unless one of the neighborhood children had climbed a tree and had not been able to get down.
I decided that I ought to go out and have a look in the yard, just in case someone was in trouble. I got a flashlight and a stick, I thought it might be useful. Armed with these, I went out into the yard. Once again I heard the cry and this time there was no doubt that it came from the trees at the far end of the yard. "Who's there?" I called out as I walked across the yard toward the trees. But there was no answer. With the help of my flashlight, I searched all over that end of the yard, including the branches of the trees. There was no sign of anybody or anything. I came to the conclusion that my imagination was playing tricks to me, probably because of the story I was reading about strange creatures on another planet.
Feeling rather foolish about hunting around in my own backyard with a baseball bat, I went back into the house and put the bat and flashlight away. I had just sat down to read my book again when I was frightened by the cry of "Help! Help!" This time from right behind me. I dropped my book and jumped up. There, sitting on the table was a large green and red bird. It was my neighbour's parrot! While I was out in the yard, the parrot must have seen the light in the living room and come in through the open window.
My dad doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would bake（烤） great bread，but he is and he does. Every Saturday he produces homemade bread. When he's done, the whole house smells delicious.
The rest of the week, Dad fixes cars at work. The shop where Dad works doesn't have enough work, so he's under a lot of stress（压力）. I think Dad began baking bread to help him relax.
I've been feeling kind of stressed out myself since I found out I didn't make the school swim team. Now I'll have to wait a whole year to try out again. Plus, I'm taking some difficult classes this year.
I think Dad knew I was feeling bad. Last Saturday he asked me how things were going. I said OK, even though I didn't feel OK at all. He looked at me for a moment, and then he said it wastime for me to help. Then he headed to the kitchen.
I followed right behind him. Once we were there, Dad took out his big mixing bowl, handed me a large wooden spoon, and told me to mix while he added the ingredients（烹饪原料）. Dad isn't big on measuring, but he knows how much of each ingredient to use, and the bread always turns out great.
When I finished stirring, Dad showed me how to knead the dough（揉面团）. Next came the most difficult part-doing nothing. We put the dough back into the bowl and then we waited for more than an hour for the dough to slowly rise and double in size. Next, we divided it into two and waited for it to rise again. Afterward, we put the dough into pans and waited another hour for the dough to rise and double.
Dad said the waiting is always the hardest part. "It's hard to resist（抵制）putting the dough directly into the oven（烤箱），but if you do，the bread wil1 be hard. The most important lesson of all is learning to be. " Dad taught me more than how to bake bread.
When I met and married a Japanese man in New York, I thought he would learn a bit more English and we would continue to live our lives there. But in life's twists and turns, we ended up living in Tokyo! I was the one who needed to learn Japanese and fast! There is no experience quite as lonely as living in a foreign country without a grasp of the language. Especially to make friends and to break that loneliness, it is the first and foremost goal to attain... always an uphill climb, while totally awkward!
I was a trained English Language teacher, and while I lived abroad I did that work, and when we moved back to America I planned to continue it. The country's financial difficulties at the time, however, saw deep cuts to the English as a second language in schools and to refugee language programs. So I simply took a job in a department store, at its Child Playroom.
But this store was located near a major company that hired some of its workforce from many other countries. Often a preschooler in my playroom could not speak a word of English, and would look so lost and lonely! My heart flew to them! We interacted with each other a lot. We would play English language games and they would teach their language to me.
Years later, when a small girl who had come from South America could speak good English, she said to me, "Teacher, remember when I called you Maestra?"Another child whose language was only Russian originally-we built a robot from blocks and fed it block food and learned English words that way-would come years afterwards and continue to play that same game! These moments became my life compass-due north is that place where when persons are different, Love Matters!
I'm often asked how to study English effectively. I think this means getting the most out of your study time, and that means variety. .
Study Every Day
It's important to study English every day. However, don't exaggerate (夸张)! . This habit of studying English every day will help keep English in your brain fresh.
A Little Grammar, a Little Listening, a Little Reading, and a Little Writing
. Study a little grammar, then do a short listening exercise, and then read an article on the same topic. Don't do too much; twenty minutes on three different types of exercises is plenty!
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Give yourself one grammar goal when reading a new article or watching a new video. For example, try to write down each example of a form you are studying such as the present perfect. Use colored pens to highlight (使……突出) forms that you are studying.
Use Different Learning Methods
Don't just use one way to study English. Use many kinds of methods which will make all the parts of your brain help you. . All of these methods together help with your learning.
Find Some Friends
You can practice the exercises together, have conversations together (in English) , and, as you study English together, help each other with exercises you may not understand.
A. Forget Grammar B. Review Grammar as You Watch or Read C. Here are some simple exercises to help you warm up D. Here are some basic ideas to help you as you study English E. Study for thirty minutes every day instead of two hours once a week. F. Make sure that you study a number of areas rather than focusing on just one G. For example, if you are learning new vocabulary, create a word map, describe a picture, make a list... |
I've heard such a story. On a Friday1 , a poor young artist stood at the gate of the subway station, playing his violin. The music was 2 , and many people who hurried to go home3 and put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next night, the young artist took out a large piece of4 and laid it on the ground. Then he began5 . The music sounded more pleasant. Some people gathered and they found the6 on that paper, "Last night, a gentleman put a (n)7 thing into my hat. Please come to get it back. " When the people saw that, they felt very curious and8 what it could be. After about half an hour, a man9 there in a hurry and said, "It can't be true! You... you... "
The young violinist asked, "Did you10 something?" "A lottery ticket (彩票)," the man answered11 .
The violinist took out a lottery ticket. "Is it?" he asked.
The man was too12 to say a word. He13 a lottery ticket a few days ago. The awards (奖) opened yesterday and he won $ 500, 000. So lucky and excited did he feel that he14 50 dollars and put it into the hat when hearing the music. However, the lottery ticket was also thrown into the hat without being15 . After the violinist finished his performance, he found the lottery ticket in his hat. Thinking that the owner would probably return to look for it, he came back to where he was given the lottery ticket.
Someone asked the violinist why he returned the lottery ticket to the man. He said, "Although I don't have much money, I live happily; but if I lose honesty, I won't be happy forever."
Mark, a journal editor, who is fond of journey. Ever since( graduate)，he has been scheduled to organize a trip to an old temple. So as to save transport fare, he was(determine) to cycle there, although there would be many disadvantages. However, I preferred to travel by bus. Because Mark was very stubborn, was his shortcoming, once he made up his mind(do) something, no one could persuade him changing his mind, not( care) about others' feelings. Finally, I had to give in to his determined attitude as usual. So we both set off with necessities( wrap) in our woolen parcel, including our insurance contact, a map, wild survival tools and even pillows.
When we were passing through high altitude, our pace slowed downthere were many sharp bends on the mountain road, under which a river was roaring while( go) through the deep valley, where the waves are rolling as if the water were boiling. In addition, the weather forecast wasn't( rely) either. We had got to hide into a cave, In which we had a poor view of everything. Mark made a fire and we sat beside the flame to warm ourselves.
At midnight, it stopped raining and brilliant stars were so beautiful that I couldn't help thinking what an unforgettable trip it was!
I think about him every time I pass by a pink magnolia（木兰） tree in bloom（开花）. My Irish granddaddy, tall and thin, full of energy and laughter, held a special place in my heart. He lived across the street with Grandma, and their home was open to us whenever we ran over to visit. We wouldn't go into their house to find him. We would run to the backyard where he would be working in his garden.
Flowers, vegetables-whatever he planted-grew well. From early spring to late autumn, the backyard was colorful.
On the side of the yard grew two apple trees and a small pear tree. A high magnolia tree stood in the middle. Its shiny, dark green leaves and large pink flowers attracted the attention of all who saw it. Besides being beautiful, it was perfect for climbing, but I didn't know how to climb it!
My granddaddy wanted to teach me. He really tried. But I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get back down, or that I would get stuck high up in the tree, so I didn't want to try.
But my granddaddy did want me to try. One early spring morning, Granddaddy was standing on his porch（门廊） waiting for me when I walked outside. "Come over here，" he said excitedly. "The tree has borne lollipops（棒棒糖）！"
"What?" I ran across to the backyard to see the wonderful sight. "No pink magnolia flowers this year," he said sadly as he shook his head. "But this is the first year ever for our tree to bear lollipops!"
He looked at me. "Do you think you could climb up the tree-just to the lowest branch-and gather one or two? Then throw them down to me. I would love a lollipop!"
注意： 1．续写词数应为150左右； 2．请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
I was staring in amazement.
Paragraph 2:
I climbed down and burst into the kitchen, hands tightly holding my treasures.
