"Wanted: Violin. Can't pay much. Contact…"

    I rarely read the classified advertisements, so why did I notice that one? I laid the paper on my lap and closed my eyes, remembering what had happened many years before, during the Great Depression when my family struggled to make a living on our farm. I, too, had wanted a violin.

When my older twin sisters began showing an interest in music, Harriet Anne learned to play Grandma's piano, while Suzanne turned to Daddy's violin. Simple tunes became lovely melodies. My baby brother danced; Daddy hummed and Mother whistled. I just listened.

    When my arms grew long enough, I tried to play Suzanne's violin. Oh, how I wanted one! But I knew it was out of the question.

    One evening as the twins played in the school orchestra. I closed my eyes tight to capture the picture firmly in my mind. Some day, I'll sit up there, I vowed silently.

    It was not a good year. At harvest the crops didn't bring as much as we had hoped. Yet even though times were hard, I couldn't wait any longer to ask, "Daddy, may I have a violin of my own?"

    "Can't you use Suzanne's?"

    "I'd like to be in the orchestra too, and we can't both use the same violin at the same time."

    Daddy's face looked sad. That night, and many following nights,I heard him remind God in our family prayers,"…and Lord, Mary Lou wants her own violin."

    One evening we all sat round the table. The twins and I studied. Mother sewed and Daddy wrote a letter to his friend, George Finkle, in Columbus, Ohio. Mr Finkle, Daddy said, was a fine violinist.

    When Daddy received a letter from Columbus a few weeks later, he asked me, "Mary Lou, do you want to go with me to visit Mr. Finkle?"

    He drove us to Columbus and we came to a fine, old house. A tall man opened the door. He and Daddy heartily shook hands, both talking at once.

    "Mary Lou, I've been hearing things about you. Your Daddy has arranged a surprise for you!" He picked up a case, opened it, lifted out a violin and started to play. The melody surged and spoke like waterfalls. Oh, to play like him, I thought.

    Finishing the piece, he turned to Daddy. "I found it in a pawnshop(当铺)for seven dollars. It's a good violin. Mary Lou should be able to make a beautiful music with it." Then he handed the violin to me.

注意：

⒈所续写短文的词数应为150左右;

⒉至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语;

⒊续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;

⒋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 noticed the tears in Daddy's eyes as I finally comprehended. It was mine!

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    I forced my thoughts to the present and read again the advertisement.

    I always wondered how people would react if I tried to approach a total stranger for help in a busy place like a street corner or in a bustling mall. I personally have always hurried past a stranger who tried to catch my attention in a busy place or when I am rushing around.

    Yesterday I had a taste of being stuck in such a desperate situation where my only hope of help would have to come from a total stranger.

    I was in a busy shopping mall buying a large piece of luggage. After the purchase in one of the large, fancy, expensive shops, I picked up my phone from my pocket to call my driver waiting in the parking lot and my phone was dead.

    I then requested the shop assistant who had just sold me the luggage, which was not cheap at all, if she could ring the number of my driver for me. She replied, still all smiles, "I'm sorry Sir, but it is the shop policy that we cannot use mobile phones while working in the shop."

    As I was wondering what kind of policy that was, I saw a nice-looking teenage boy coming toward me. Remembering my wife's interesting theory that beautiful people are more likely to give you a hand when you're in trouble, I thought I might have a chance. But before I could say a word, he walked past me. It turned out he simply didn't see me.

    I waited a bit longer in the mall but it seemed nobody bothered to look at me. Disappointed and tired, I got out of the shop on to the busy street in front. I stood there with people rushing by, looking at their faces to see if there was a sign of kindness on their face. I began wondering how many times I had reacted to strangers like the shop girl and the teenager.

注意：

1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2）应至少使用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。

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    At that point I saw a young mother with her two kids.

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    Finally a man wearing a cheap T-shirt and dirty jeans seemed to notice me.

Unfair Comparisons

    Thanks to social media, the distance between friends is smaller than ever. But does that make us happier? Not necessarily. A recent study has found spending too much time comparing your life with the seemingly perfect lives of your friends on social media can result in depressive symptoms.

We've all done it —- browsing through our WeChat friends' updates while feeling that green-eyed monster holding its head in our minds: Are their homes bigger and more tasteful? Are their vacations more expensive and exciting? Are their careers more successful and rewarding?

    Comparison is the thief of joy. The more time you spend on social media, the more likely it is for you to feel depressive symptoms, according to a new study out of University of Houston. The study, led by Mai-Ly Steers, examines the potential impact online social comparison can have on a person's mental health.

    "The underlying mechanism is social comparison," Steers said. "The reason why you feel these feelings is that you tend to socially compare yourself with your friends."

    This social comparison theory was popularized by US psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1950s. According to an article in The Atlantic  Festinger argued that people have born tendencies to track their progress and measure their self-worth by comparing themselves with other people. That social comparison leads to feelings of insignificance and insecurity. Research has since found that making social comparisons, especially upward comparisons (to people we think above us for whatever reason), are associated with negative health outcomes like depressive symptoms and decreased self-esteem.

    "You can't really control the strong desire to compare because you never know what your friends are going to post. In addition, most of our friends tend to post about the good things that occur in their lives, while leaving out the bad. If we're comparing ourselves with our friends'' sharable highlights', this may lead us to think their lives are better than they actually are, and thus make us feel worse about our own lives."

    So if you are the jealous type, maybe think about signing off of your WeChat for a while. Your well-being may depend on it.

阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

    Have you heard an old saying "The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence"? It means other places often look better, more interesting than the place where you live. "Let's go to KFC for dinner and then watch some Japanese cartoons!" We all know it: more and more Chinese kids love American and Japanese food and movies. Some people worry that young Chinese are beginning to feel that way. They see young Chinese ignoring(忽视)Chinese culture and, instead, buying Japanese cartoon books, watching Korean soap operas and even celebrating western holidays.

    Foreign books and soap operas are good, but Chinese writers and actors are just as good. As for holidays, Christmas is nice, but it can never have the meaning for Chinese that Spring Festival has, and the West has nothing to compare with the Mid-Autumn Festival. China has lots of cool things in its culture: calligraphy, Beijing Opera, quick meals on the streets, and even Jay Chou! And let's not forget the part of Chinese culture I like best: its friendliness. Not all countries are as warm as China.

    It's good to enjoy other cultures and learn from them, but they can never replace your own culture. It's good to look on the other side of the fence, but make sure you take a good long look. You will find that the grass isn't always greener.

    Although some people become worried about that, I don't think they should. Will we get more powerful without learning from other countries? Will Chinese people live more happily without American fast food? Besides, it's fun to learn about different cultures. Chinese kids can learn about other cultures and have fun, but they also need to learn more about their own culture. Be proud of Chinese culture and of being Chinese!

    Getting up early has been seen as a good habit since ancient times. Many years ago, people thought that if we went to bed early and got up early, we would be energetic (精力充沛的) the whole day. So, getting up early is of great importance to us all.

    In fact, morning is the best time of a day. In the morning, the air is the freshest and people are usually in the best condition. Many of us may have the experiences that we memorize some things more quickly and correctly in the morning than any other time of the day. And it is certain that we find it easier to understand what we learn. If we get up early and do some morning exercises or only take a short walk in the morning, without doubt we can build up our bodies and become much healthier. Also we will have enough time to make a plan and get ready for our work or study of the day if we get up early. For example, if everyone in the family gets up early, the wife will have enough time to prepare the breakfast for the whole family. Children will have enough time to catch the school bus, and the husband will never forget to change his dirty shirt. Everything is in order. However, if we get up late, we'll probably have to do everything in a hurry.

    Getting up early is such a good habit that we should try our best to keep it. If we stick to (坚持) getting up early every day, we will certainly benefit a lot from it.

My parents came to the US from India in the 1960s, along with other immigrants from India. Back then, there were few Indians anywhere around the US. My father came to Kansas,where he would get his Ph.D. Six months later, my mother came with the three of us kids — my sister, my brother, and me. We were just six,five and three years old then.

It was the very first winter when we were in Kansas. It was so cold,but we didn't have heavy coats or warm clothes. We didn't have a concept of how cold it really could be in the Midwest, and there was a new surprise every day. We didn't have a car or anything like that, and my dad didn't have a US driver's license. But anyway, my father was studying for his Ph.D. , and he would walk up and down a big hill to and from the campus on a regular basis.

Since I was three years old, I didn't go to school, but my sister and brother were in school. My father had to walk down the big hill to take them to school every day and then walk back up the hill to go to university.After about three weeks of living like this, a woman called Valerie,whose son John was in the same class as my brother, started noticing them. On a very cold snowy morning,when they went to school as usual,Valerie passed by. She pulled up and said, "I see you on the way every day. Don't you feel cold without coats?"My father responded,"We didn't expect the weather would be so cold in Kansas."Valerie said,"Maybe I can take your daughter and son to school. Would you like a ride?"

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Hearing that, my dad nodded with great joy.

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Later, Valerie and her family became so dear to my family.