Dear Luck,

    ……

Sincerely

Dr Clark

    Once there was a merchant who had fine silks and rug（s a city on the other side of the desert (毛毯) to sell. He wished to send his goods to Abdul the merchant owned a large caravan（商队）of camels, and he employed many men. For many days, Abdul and his men had been preparing for the journey, because of the boundless desert with hot sand and the grass out of sight for miles. It required many camels to carry the merchant's goods, tents, bottles of water, firewood, bags of rice and some tools.

    At last the caravan was ready for the journey. The sun shone steadily, making the sand so hot that no one could walk upon it in the daytime. So Abdul and his men traveled all that night. One man was the pilot. He rode ahead because he knew the stars, and he could guide the caravan by them.

    They traveled night after night, resting during the heat of the day. Unfortunately, when the caravan started another evening, the pilot led the way as usual, but after a while, weary with many nights of watching, he fell asleep.

    All night long the caravan traveled. At daybreak the pilot awoke and looked at the last star fading in the morning light. "Halt（停下）!" he called." The camels must have turned while I slept. We are at the place from which we started yesterday." Even worse, another man shouted, "The man with the camel carrying the rest water and firewood, who is walking at the end of our group, is gone!"

    There was no water to drink. There was no firewood to cook the food. The men lay down with despair, "We are lost!"

注意：

1) 所续写短文的词数应为 150 词左右；

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。

    It seemed that only one person remained positive.

    A shout of joy burst from the lips of the men.

    According to some experts, the effect of technology on human relationships is worrying as technology becomes a substitute for face-to-face human relationships. It appears to be the case that many people would much rather spend time with their electronic gadgets (电子产品) than with one another. Young people say it is difficult to get their parents' attention and they have to compete with smartphones, tablets and other technology.

    However, a report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project offers a more helpful and encouraging view, suggesting that far from replacing human contact, technology can actually better family relationships. Just over half of the 2, 253 people surveyed agreed that technology had enabled them to increase their contact with distant family members and 47 percent said it had improved the communication with the people they lived with. Moreover, even the closest members of families need time away from each other at some point to seek their own interests. Family members who might otherwise have sat in separate rooms can now be in the same one while still occupying a different mental space.

    Look back at our typical family scene above. Is it any different from four people reading their own books? Or is it driving families apart? Where technology will lead us remains to be seen. Yet there is no need to worry. As a matter of fact, how it affects our family relationships depends on our attitude toward technology.

    It was summer, and my dad wanted to treat me to a vacation like never before. He decided to take me on a trip to the Wild West.

    We took a plane to Albuquerque, a big city in the state of New Mexico. We reached Albuquerque in the late afternoon. Uncle Paul, my dad's friend, picked us up from the airport and drove us up to his farm in Pecos.

    His wife Tina cooked us a delicious dinner and we got to know his sons Ryan and Kyle. My dad and I spent the night in the guestroom of the farm house listening to the frogs and water rolling down the river nearby. Very early in the morning, Uncle Paul woke us up to have breakfast. "The day starts at dawn on my farm," he said. After breakfast, I went to help Aunt Tina feed the chickens, while my dad went with Uncle Paul to take the sheep out to graze(吃草). I was impressed to see my dad and Uncle Paul riding horses. They looked really cool.

    In the afternoon, I asked Uncle Paul if I could take a horse ride, and he said yes, as long as my dad went with me. I wasn't going to take a horse ride by myself anyway. So, my dad and I put on our new cowboy hats, got on our horses, and headed slowly towards the mountains. "Don't be late for supper," Uncle Paul cried, "and keep to the track so that you don't get lost!" "OK!" my dad cried back. After a while Uncle Paul and his farm house were out of sight. It was so peaceful and quiet and the colors of the brown rocks, the deep green pine trees, and the late afternoon sun mixed to create a magic scene. It looked like a beautiful woven(编织的）blanket spread out upon the ground just for us.

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: Suddenly a little rabbit jumped out in front of my horse.__________________________________
Paragraph 2: We had no idea where we were and it was getting dark. ____________________________

Yoghurt

It was a rough week. The price of oil skyrocketed as the temperature dropped sharply in Maine. We were looking at a high of eight degrees that week, and I had missed three days of work so my paycheck was going to be lower than normal. I was stressed, to say the least. I shopped strategically, looking for every possible way to cut pennies so I could buy groceries and keep the house warm.

My eight-year-old son didn't understand when I told him we were struggling that week. He wanted a special kind of yoghurt, but I didn't have the three extra dollars to buy it for him. It was a kind of yoghurt with a cartoon kid riding a skateboard on the front of the box, and a mere two spoonfuls in each cup. It was a kind of product that wasted a parent's money and made me hate advertising.

I felt guilty as a parent when those big eyes looked at me with confusion, as if to say, "It's just yoghurt. What's the big deal?" So I found a way. I put something back as single mothers often do. He got his yoghurt.

On the way driving back from the grocery store, I noticed a homeless man holding a sign by the side of the road. My heart hurt, and I tried not to look at him. I watched people stay away from him on the street and walk by without even meeting his eyes. My son didn't seem to care much, either. I looked at the man closely then-bare hands grasping a piece of cardboard, snot frozen to his face, a worn-out jacket. And there I was struggling because I had to buy oil and groceries. But I decided to help. I pulled over to the man and handed him a five-dollar bill.

注意：续写词数应为150左右。

Paragraph 1:

Seeing this, my son became confused and surprised.

Paragraph 2:

On that day, my son performed an act that most adults wouldn't have done,

Opening presents carefully selected by our parents is our family tradition on Christmas morning, which always pushes the festive atmosphere to the climax. However, this year's Christmas seemed not as happy as usual.

It was Christmas Eve when my sister and I decided to open our presents before our mom got home from work. Though worried about ruining my mom's original plan, we still wanted to sneak a peek (偷看) at the gifts in advance, driven by a strong impulse of curiosity. Since my sister was older, and that put her in charge, she opened the first gift while I was ordered to stand guard at the big picture window in our front room. I was to report any suspicious activity or person, namely our mother, who can easily capture the details of life.

I was so excited that I could barely stand still. I also couldn't keep my eyes on the window very long. My head moved from the window to my sister and back to the window again. I felt like I was watching a Ping-Pong match.

"All right!" my sister shouted. She pulled out a jewelry box. "You know what that means, don't you?"

I jumped up and down. "Yeah, it's my turn!"

"No," she said. "It means that there must be some jewelry under here." I watched my sister rummaging (翻寻) through the presents under the tree, trying to find one she thought was small enough to be a necklace or earrings.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I complained, stomping my foot.

"Are you watching for Mom?" is all that she said. I couldn't do anything except stand guard as she opened present after present. Finally, when my sister's curiosity was satisfied and she had finished wrapping her last present back up, we traded places.

My heart hammered so hard that it felt like my chest was moving in and out. My sister reminded me to be careful so I wouldn't tear the paper, and to wrap the present back up the same way that I had found it.

After unwrapping a few presents, I found it faster to open one end of a present and peek inside. "Headphones! How can my mom know what I want! Without any hesitation, I pulled the headphones out of the box.

注意：

1.续写词数应为 150 个左右；

2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Paragraph 1: 

I was about to put them on when my sister shouted, "Quick! Mom's coming!"

Paragraph 2: 

Christmas morning finally approached, and we were ready to open our presents again!_