Isabel Allende was born on August 2, 1942, in Lima, Peru. Her parents were both from Chile, where their families had held a great deal of political influence. Not only was Isabel's godfather once the president of Chile, but her father and her stepfather were both important diplomats. Despite her connection to political power, Isabel's childhood was not easy. At the age of two, Isabel's biological father abandoned her family, which forced them to live with her grandparents in Chile. During this time, she was exposed to her grandmothers love for astrology (占星术) and storytelling, which influenced her writing in the future.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Isabel Allende worked as a journalist, writing for both magazines and television. After her godfather, President Salvador Allende, lost power and was murdered in 1973, Isabel and her family left Chile because they felt it was too dangerous to remain under the rule of Augusto Pinochet, the new, cruel leader of Chile. For thirteen years, Isabel and her family lived in Venezuela, where she began to write fiction.

She used personal experiences to inspire her writing throughout her career. In fact, many of her novels are based on personal life events. In 1985, Isabel Allende published her first novel called The House of the Spirits. This bestselling novel was inspired by a letter Isabel wrote in 1981 to her ill grandfather. The novel turned out to be a story about two Chilean families whose lives are changed because of a military coup. One of her later novels, Paula (1994), is about her daughter, who passed away from a rare disease at a young age.

Isabel Allende has won many awards for her bold and creative writing. Not only has she won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 2010, but she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

I like being 100% stimulant free—no coffee, caffeinated tea, chocolate, caffeinated soda, etc. I base this on lots of personal experimentation. I've gone some years of my life with no stimulants, and I've also gone for a long time consuming coffee daily. The two modes of living are totally different.

Caffeine tends to make me obsess more over minor tasks and lose focus on big picture goals. When I consume coffee daily, Ill check email more often. I'll spend more time on social media. I'll web surf more. I'll spend more time organizing and reorganizing instead of moving the needle forward on big projects. I'll feel extra busy but have less to show for it.

Stimulants always exhaust me eventually, especially after months of daily use. I can't seem to make good progress on bigger projects, and I can tell that my mind is becoming too chaotic. I might spend 8 hours at my desk and get 90 minutes of important work done. I know I am at the point when I need to take at least several weeks off.

I love the taste of coffee, and it's delightful to drink a cup of it, but I've learned that I can't really have any relationship with it if I want to function at my best. It's way too addictive (上瘾的) for me. If I have even a small amount, I risk slipping into the pattern of having it daily for months.

I've learned that it's best to avoid chocolate too (including cacao) because chocolate is a gateway drug back to coffee. Same goes for green tea. So while I have enjoyed those in the past, I feel safer not having them. I like how my brain works better when not under the influence of stimulants.

A huge 42 percent of marriages in the UK end in divorce, the highest rate in Europe. What is happening in the UK to cause such a phenomenon? Many consider the family to be the basic building block of society. If marriages and families are falling apart, is the UK society also falling apart? Is the UKs cultural identity breaking down? The UK of today is one of the most multicultural countries on earth. There are exotic sights and sounds on the street corners of every British city. British cuisine is now one of the most diverse around. Everyone speaks with a different accent.

Is such diversity a good thing? Well, it makes the UK a very exciting place to live in. There are new ideas everywhere. There is great freedom to be who you want to be, and most people will not criticize you for who you are. Yet such freedom seems to come at a cost. Some British people regard ethnic minorities (少数民族) as coming to the UK to steal jobs. When the economy does badly, this feeling increases as unemployment rates rise. So, it could be argued that the breakdown of marriages in the UK is in some part because of the pressures put upon families by wider problems in British society. Many people become stressed when those problems arise, and that can then make their family life unhappy as well.

Another possible reason for the high divorce rate might be that marriage no longer has the same value or meaning for British people as it once did. Church attendance in the UK has been falling for the last 50 years, suggesting fewer people consider marriage a holy thing. Since 1991, there has been a drop of 50 percent in people getting married in church rather than a register office.

Then there is the financial side. In the past, married couples paid lower government taxes than single people. That tax incentive (激励) policy, which used to reduce a couples tax by up to 500 in a year, has now disappeared, making the cost to keep a marriage higher.

However, the 42 percent UK divorce rate isn't the highest rate in the past forty years! Meanwhile, some measures are being taken to strengthen marriage in the UK by the government.

You want to have fun and adventure and so you decide to travel somewhere to do it. Sounds like a simple enough thing. And basically it is. But what is adventure?

For those who love sports, adventure travel can have a whole different meaning than for those who like history. The physical travel types that you can find include such adventure travel as white water rafting (白浪漂流), climbing and hiking to some mountains somewhere. To the hiker, backpacking across Ireland might be their adventure.Often the goal is to push their body's limits and test their individual endurance (耐力).

For those who less want to climb mountains, it might mean traveling to Nepal and joining in the local festivals.Anything that is going beyond the normal defines (定义) adventure.

Adventure depends on the persons physical limits, how much money the person has and what the person enjoys doing. If your life is quite busy, then sitting on a beach in the moonlight with your family might be adventure for you. The point is not what you do but that you have a good time and that it is an adventure for YOU—not for the person next to you.

Do not sit home this year when vacation time rolls around. You will be rewarded handsomely.

A. Adventure travel is not necessarily suitable for everyone.

B. To those sports lovers, adventure travel means nothing but harm.

C. Adventure travel is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all type of vacation.

D. That is the key here and the answer can be different for different people.

E. Just go beyond your normal routine and head out on an adventure vacation.

F. For this type of person, adventure travel almost always means something physical.

G. Wine tasting in Italy is also vacation adventure for those who enjoys peace and comfort.

Since it never occurred to anybody at the school to provide the services of an interpreter, I had to sit in the front row so that I could 1the teacher's lips. Classroom discussions were almost impossible to 2because I couldn't hear what was being said around the room. In a vain (徒劳的) effort to keep up with them, I was always asking 3happened to be sitting next to me what was being said. Eventually, I 4watching everyone shrug their shoulders carelessly and rolling their eyes. I began to 5that I knew what was going on. Fitting in was so important to me that every time the kids laughed, I laughed along 6I felt confused most of the time. Then, 7fate (命运) threw me light.

On one sunny afternoon, my teacher, Mrs. Jordan, asked the class a question. I 8what she said and immediately raised my hand. I couldn't believe it—despite my fears, I felt unbelievably 9because—for once—I was sure I had the right answer. But, when she called on me, I was suddenly afraid. Here was an opportunity to 10the teacher and show her I was 11of her love. I didn't want to blow it. I took a deep breath and nervously answered her question.

Her explosive12shocked all of us. She enthusiastically stepped her right foot on the floor,13 directly at me. With sparkling eyes and a wide smile she cried, "THATS RIGHT, STEPHEN!"

14in my young life, I felt like an instant star with peer's respect and admiration. My heart 15with pride. My confidence increased. It was 16what a great effect the simple three-word phrase 17with unbelievable enthusiasm had on my young life. THATS RIGHT, STEPHEN! It got me to think that I would find my 18in this world, no matter how many difficulties I had to 19. From that day, my grades and speech improved dramatically and my peers suddenly looked at me with new 20.

A ritual is a ceremony that involves a series of actions performed in a fixed order. The people who carry out rituals follow specific steps that (practise) since ancient times. People had rituals a variety of reasons. For instance, many tribes sacrifice (祭供) animals to respect their gods. Sheep and oxen were some animals that were  (common) used. Other groups, such as the Aztecs, a Central American tribe, performed human sacrifices.   large number of rituals were related to farming. In spring, many  (society) held ceremonies that were done  (ensure) good farming conditions. Some were meant to make the day clear and sunny while  were done to bring rain. In fall, farmers thought that some rituals were made their harvests rich.

Ancient people had rituals for other events, (include) marriages, births, and funerals. And war cultures often held rituals. The Maori people developed a war cry dance to  (fright) the enemy before a battle and to inspire their warriors. They, like many others, called upon the God of War using a ritual dance called the perperu haka when facing an important battle.

内容包括：

1）求职意愿；

2)应聘目的；

3）求职优势。

注意：

1）词数80左右；

2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

My son Ben had barely heard of his cousins Marcia and Juli before we moved to their hometown. Since wed become neighbors, I thought he should get to know them. So, I invited the cousins over for a meet-and-greet one afternoon.

When the bell rang, Ben rushed to open the door. In came Marcia, a chatty, retired schoolteacher in her 70s. Dragging behind her, relying heavily on his walking stick, was her over-eighty-year-old husband Juli, who used to be a sports lover. Not having seen him since I'd become a mom, I wondered whether he was kid-friendly. With one glance, I quickly decided that he probably wasn't.

After the introductions, we sat down to have a chat. Ben, who was 4 at the time, stared curiously at the cousins. Suddenly, he eyed Julis walking stick, which stood right beside his chair. "Why do you have a stick? " he asked abruptly.

Juli paused for a while as he hadn't expected my son to speak to him. Then he seemed pleased that Ben had noticed something about him. He briefly explained, and invited Ben to try out the walking stick. Excited, Ben stepped up, took it in hand and walked with it around the room. The serious look on Julis face softened as he watched. That afternoon, Ben popped in and out of the room several times to have fun with his new friend. Toward the end of the visit, Ben sneaked over to Juli, wordlessly climbed onto his lap and gave him a hug. After a little surprise, Julis lips curved into a subtle smile.

During the following two years, Juli often came to babysit Ben. The two would call each other buddy and laughed loudly together, even though one was much older.

One summer evening, unexpectedly, I received a painful call saying that Juli had just passed away, which came as a shock to me. I gently told Ben about the terrible loss, explaining that Juli was 85. "That was so young!" Ben shouted between tears.

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。

Para 1: The next day, we decided to visit cousin Marcia.

Para 2: Before we left, Marcia told Ben that she had something special to give hi