Something happens to many children when they are out of school over the summer months. It is called the “summer slide.” This may sound like a ride at a water park. But it's not. Summer slide is when children forget much of what they learned during the latest school year.

    To fight the effects of summer slide, teachers often give students homework over the summer. Many parents may send children to all kinds of camps or find other activities to keep them learning. Some even try to build up their children's strengths by getting them into extra tutoring.

    However, experts say keeping children busy all the time is not good for them. The result is often a tired child with an overcrowded schedule. This keeps a child's brain active constantly—learning, gathering information and preparing for the next event. And this may have the opposite effect the parents are not hoping for.

    What should parents do instead? Nothing. According to Lea Waters, a psychologist specializing in positive psychology and positive education, slowing down actually helps children become the best they can be. Machines need to be reset, while kids need to goof off（偷懒）. She says that goofing off really allows kids to have some downtime, when they're not focused on a specific task but are free to do something that they're interested in doing and that they can do more automatically and get enjoyment from, like shooting baskets or listening to the music.

    She also adds that goofing off does not mean the brain isn't working. It just goes into this default network mode（默认网络模式）and uses that time to process all the information it had during the day, to integrate（整合）new information. It makes a kind of decision about what information to put into memory and what to get rid of, which in fact helps to improve memory.

    Christmas Day was coming. I was just a kid then, and my big sister told me there was no Santa Claus. I fled to my Grandma because she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told me the truth. Grandma was home, and I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus !" She shouted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it." That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad.

    "Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

    "Go where, Grandma?" I asked. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. "Take this money, " she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

    I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people competing to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, holding that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy and who to buy it for. I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker, who was a kid with bad breath and messy hair. He sat right behind me in Mrs Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess(放假) during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red one, which looked really warm, and he would like that.

    "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes."

    The nice lady smiled at me, put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

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；

3）续写分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。

Paragraph 1:

    That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper.……

Paragraph2:

    Grandma and I waited breathlessly for Bobby Decker's front door to open and finally it……

    On a cold windy day, a poor boy tried to pay his way through school by selling goods door to door. Wandering on the street, he was not a successful seller. What's worse, he found that he only had one dime（一角硬币） left. His empty stomach reminded him constantly that for days he hadn't eaten anything. He had no choice but to beg for a meal at the next house. Hesitantly he knocked at door, thinking about what to say when it opened. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. “What can I do for you?” asked the young woman. The boy paused for a while “Would you please give me some … a drink of water?” the boy dare not to look directly into her eyes. She looked at the bony boy and thought he might need something to give him energy so she brought him a glass of milk. His head rising and small hands taking the cup, he drank it up slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don't owe me anything,” she replied with a warm smile on her face. “My mother has taught me never to accept pay for a kindness.” Deeply moved, he said sincerely, “Then I shall thank you from the bottom of my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but it also increased his faith in God and the whole human race. As a matter of fact, he was about to give up and quit before that point.

    Years later the young woman became critically ill. However, the local doctors were unable to give the effective medical treatment. Finally they sent her to a hospital in the big city, where specialists can be called in to cure her rare disease. Among those famous specialists, Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately, he rose and went down through the hospital hall into her room.

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:

    Dressed in his doctor's gown, he went in to see her. …

Paragraph 2:

    The bill was sent to her room. …

阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

    Happy, angry, amazed – these are some of the emotions we like to express these days when we're sending a message on our smartphones! That's why many of us now add little pictures to our texts to brighten up someone's mobile screen but we're also using them as a quick way of telling someone how we're feeling. Yes, emojis have become a vital tool for communication.

    The emoji was first invented in Japan in the late 1990s and the word "emoji" comes from the Japanese words for "picture" and "character". The number of different images has dramatically increased since then and now we have a picture for every mood or situation.

    So now we have the option to give this new creation the visual "thumbs-up" but have you thought why we've become so addicted to using emojis? Professor Vyv Evans has written a book called The Emoji Code. He says, "Increasingly, what we're finding is that digital communication is taking over from certain aspects of face-to-face interaction. One of the reasons emojis are so interesting is that they really do enable us to express our emotional selves much more effectively." So emojis are a sort of replacement for the visual signals or non-verbal clues we normally give when we speak to someone face-to-face.

    Another advantage of emojis is that they are an international language – they don't use words but tell a message in the form of pictures so they can be easily understood whatever your native language is. However, the emojis you send need some thought as they can sometimes be misunderstood – if a friend sends you an emoji of a hammer, you may think he is angry when really he is saying he has hurt himself or he is clumsy!

    Emojis are a good way for showing common emotions. But as linguist Neil Cohn says, "To many, emojis are an exciting development of the way we communicate; To others, they are extinction of language." It does show there is a lot more to our communication than words alone but does this mean the decline in traditional writing?

    Parents everywhere praise their kids. Jenn Berman, author of The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy and Confident Kids, says, "We've gone to the opposite extreme of a few decades ago when parents tended to be more strict." By giving kids a lot of praise, parents think they're building their children's confidence, when, in fact, it may be just the opposite. Too much praise can backfire and, when given in a way that's insincere, make kids afraid to try new things or take a risk for fear of not being able to stay on top where their parents' praise has put them.

    Still, don't go too far in the other direction. Not giving enough praise can be just as damaging gas giving too much. Kids will feel like they're not good enough or that you don't care and, as a result, may see no point in trying hard for their accomplishments.

    So what is the right amount of praise? Experts say that the quality of praise is more important than the quantity. If praise is sincere and focused on the effort not the outcome, you can give it as often as your child does something that deserves a verbal reward." We should especially recognize our children's efforts to push themselves and work hard to achieve a goal, "says Donahue, author of Parenting Without Fear: Letting Go of Worry and Focusing on What Really Matters." One thing to remember is that it's the process not the end product that matters."

    Your son may not be the best basketball player on his team. But if he's out there every day and playing hard, you should praise his effort regardless of whether his team wins or loses. Praising the effort and not the outcome can also mean recognizing your child when she has worked hard to clean the yard, cook dinner, or finish a book report. But whatever it is, praise should be given on a case-by-case basis and be proportionate(相称的)to the amount of effort your child has put into it.

    I always prided myself on being a wise shopper and having a good nose for bargains. So when I came across a sporting goods store with a sign "Going Out of Business Sale" I marched into the crowded store. Up and down the aisles (通道), I wandered, humming to myself and enjoying the energy and excitement of a sale.

    All of a sudden, there, at the back of the store sat acanoe (轻舟) exactly like my husband's dream Supremo Numero-Uno,whose picture had been stuck on the bathroom mirror for years. My heart beat wildly. I pushed my way through the crowds, and nearly fell into the canoe looking for the price tag. There it was, with the manufacturer's suggested price at $6,750 plus tax crossed out and a handwritten TO CLEAR $750 AS IS. Must be a mistake. $6000 off? Salesman. I had to talk to a salesman. I spotted a young fellow with a "Hi. I'm Mathew". "Mathew. Tell me about this El Supremo canoe. What's wrong with it? Why is it only $750?"

    "Oh. There's nothing wrong with it. It's brand new. We're closing the store. It's on clearance like everything else. I'll go check." A few minutes later he came back and said, "I'm sorry ma'am. Someone made a mistake on the sale tag. It should be $4,750 for the whole package."

    I felt tears well up in my eyes. "Oh well", I said sadly. "Of course, it was too good to be true. This is exactly like my husband's dreamboat. I guess I started to dream myself when I saw that price tag. He's going to be 62 years old Friday. Had to retire early for his health. It's been hard on just the pension but the stubborn old fool has been saving $10 every week for years to buy one just like this. I promise I won't buy anything, but it's just an old man's silly dream, you know. Always said he wanted to fish in a canoe after he retired," my voice lowered and I turned and walked away.

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。

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    I was already at the mall door when Mathew caught up with me. "Do you have $750 plus $25 for delivery, ma'am?"

Paragraph 2:

    "Ma'am. There's something you should know. This store was my Grandpa's and the canoe had been ordered by him.