Polly, my stepmom, suggested the sweetest name to our pet dog: Mercy. We don't know why she gave the strange name. We soon learned it was just what this new dog would need.

My parents' bad tempered dog would jump out of bed and go-go-go all day long. So when they brought home a Christmas tree, they expected everything would be out of order. However, to their astonishment, Mercy didn't seem to take any care. She paid zero attention to the tree which suddenly grew in her living room. Nor did she react to the fancy presents under it, including a wrapped box of Milk-Bones.

Dad and Polly were quite careful; they'd never had a dog that didn't force them to move everything to higher ground as if they were expecting a flood. But Mercy seemed to take no notice. He didn't take any glance at it at all.

A few days before Christmas, Polly awoke early in the morning as usual. She passed the dusty living room and then stopped in surprise. Glancing back into the room, she saw that every last present was gone. Only the tree was still there.

Had they been robbed? Why hadn't Mercy barked? Where was she? Had the robbers taken her away? Polly noticed scrap of ribbon (丝带) on the floor, then bit of torn wrapping paper few feet away, some lights beyond that. The clues all made a mark leading toward the back door.

Polly put on the switch, bathing the backyard in light. The perpetrator's (肇事者)head lifted and froze. Alarm and guilt made her eyes wide. Oh, yes, it was Mercy.

She lay under her favorite tree in soft nest of shredde (碎片) wrapping paper, chewed-up boxes, and curling (缠绕) bits of ribbon. Presents, unpacked from their packages, were spread over everywhere. Beautifully wrapped boxes had gaping holes. Pieces of paper were mixed with the last remaining evidence of gifts. All the gift tags (标签) that could have been used as thank-you cards were destroyed.

Clearly Mercy's self-control had failed.

……

As for Thank-you cards, Mercy provided the answer.

I was 11 years old when I asked my mom for a piano and piano lessons. Even I myself didn't know how to stop the fever growing from my whole heart and soul. What interested me most was the fantastic feeling of standing in the spotlight and being admired by tens of thousands of music fans.

But we were affected by the economic decline. In fact, we could barely make ends meet at that time and even couldn't afford to buy our favorite cheese cakes. So she said a polite "no".

That didn't stop me. I Googled the measurements for a keyboard, drew the keys on a piece of paper and stuck it on my desk. I would click notes (音符) on an online keyboard and "play" them back on my paper one—keeping the sound they made on the computer in my head. I spent six months playing without touching a real piano. I was occupied by the thought of playing a real piano. The desire was so strong that I could hardly control my passion.

Once my mom saw that I was serious, she borrowed money and bought me 10 lessons. I still remember the first one. I was struck by how real the sound of the piano was. The sound was so pure and inviting that nobody could drag me away from the magic musical instrument. I held it dear. My mother stood in front of it, listening attentively to my playing with tears in her eyes. I sat my grade one after eight lessons. Once I started secondary school, we couldn't afford lessons again. I passed grade three, then grade five, practicing only on my piece of paper.

My school didn't offer music A-level. I found the Purcell School for young musicians. The tryouts were difficult. Some of the questions involved an evaluation of the composer or when some piece was written. I felt depressed. Would I step back? I said to myself a polite "no".

注意：

1）续写词数应为150左右；

2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Paragraph 1:

One evening, my mom said she had a surprise for me.

Paragraph 2:

Two years later, I left Purcell School.

I was confident at the audition (试演) for the school play and felt pleased to get a role. It just felt good to be in the play, even if I had only four or five lines. I worked hard at perfecting those lines. I repeated them over and over again. I put in the emphases and intonations (语调) that my drama teacher had suggested and, because I was on stage much longer than for just four or five lines, I had many actions to rehearse (排练) and perform. "Do them in front of a mirror," my drama teacher had advised me. "Watch how you look; practice and rehearse as often as you can." I did just that. I worked and worked at it. It was fun and exciting rehearsing.

Then finally the big night came. Suddenly, things felt different. The theater was full of people. As I dressed, I could hear the chatting and noises of the audience. I looked around at the other more experienced actors and saw that their previous confidence seemed to have disappeared. Had they got their makeup right? Was the costume done up correctly? What if they forgot their lines? The more people talked about their anxiety, the more nervous everyone became. The worries spread from person to another—like a baton (接力棒) being passed in a relay race—until the whole of the backstage area seemed to be full of tension and worry.

I was on stage early, at first performing my non-spoken role in the background with several other guys around the same age. When, suddenly, I heard my cue (出场提示), the lights were bright in my eyes, I couldn't see the audience but knew there were hundreds of people out there all watching me. The words that had flowed so easily when I stood in front of a mirror didn't want to come, and when they did I found myself hurrying into them. I tried to slow down my thoughts and my words.

注意：

1）续写词数应150左右；

2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

But I suddenly realized I had missed a sentence. 

I bowed to the audience excitedly and went back to my drama teacher.

Hannah and I have been best friends since primary school and we spend almost every day with each other, sharing everything happening in our daily life and discussing problems in our school work. Sometimes, other children say we are no fun because we are both very academic and like to study, but we like it that way. We are both very hard-working and always get good grades at school.

Last Monday, we had a surprise math quiz. Thinking it was quite easy, I was not worried about the results at all. I must have sounded very proud of myself after the quiz, saying how easy it was and how I was sure to get a good grade. Unexpectedly, the next day after class, my math teacher told me that I had the lowest grade in the class! My heart sank and a great sense of shame washed over me; I must be really stupid to fail a simple math quiz!

Afterwards, I pretended to be cheerful, as if nothing had happened, but Hannah sensed something was wrong. When we went to wash our hands in the girls' washroom before lunch, Hannah tried to figure out what was the matter. Struggling to hold back my tears, I admitted I had failed the math quiz. "But you are a born math genius and you have put all your efforts in it. There must be some mistakes!" Hannah couldn't believe her ears. "I shouldn't have been so confident. Would you please keep it a secret for me?" I begged. Hannah nodded, promising not to tell anyone else about the secret.

However, that afternoon I noticed that my classmates were staring at me as I came into math class and, when I went to sit down, I was shocked to find a piece of paper on my desk that said, "Stupid Sarah got a D!" I was so upset that I felt like crying. I thought that Hannah must have told my classmates about my grade after promising not to. Everyone must have been laughing behind my back!

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。

I was so angry that I went straight to Hannah.

……

The next morning, my math teacher came to me, apologizing for his carelessness.

In our weekly staff meeting, our editor Ashley was not pleased with the quality of our reporting. "Our readership is way down. We need better stories for this Thursday's school newspaper. Does anybody have any ideas?" she said.

I handed her my article about our basketball team beating Deerfield High School the previous night by one point. "Sports stories are fun," she said, "but not good enough for the front page. We need something to really get people's attention."

After our meeting, we left the newsroom together and heard someone screaming, "Perry is missing!" Perry was a big red parrot and had been our school mascot(吉祥物) for ten years. He played an important role in students' lives, both in and out of class. He had also been a constant presence at school events, inspiring a sense of unity among students.

Everyone gathered around Perry's empty cage, heartbroken. Suddenly, a student from the crowd came over and showed me a photo. "You're a reporter for the school paper, right? I happened to take this yesterday," he said. In the photo was a Deerfield High School basketball player with something large hidden under his shirt around the size of a parrot.

"He must have stolen Perry to get back at(报复) us for winning the game!" Ashley cried. We hurried back to the newsroom, agreeing to run the photo on the front page with the headline "Deerfield Stole Perry". "This is just the story we need. Everyone will read it," Ashley said confidently.

After she left, I took a closer look at the photo. The clock in the background read 4:15 p.m., but our game against Deerfield hadn't started until 4:30 p.m. Why would the boy have taken Perry before we even played? An uneasy feeling came over me that we might have falsely accused someone.

I went to Perry's usual caretaker to ask if he knew Perry was missing. "He's not missing. He's retired. He's ready for some quieter days," he said. Learning the truth, I immediately told Ashley and suggested writing a story to say goodbye to Perry.

Paragraph 1:

To my surprise, Ashley insisted on reporting the "Deerfield Stole Perry" story. 

Paragraph 2:

On Thursday, the paper came out with the headline "Bye Bye, Perry" on the front page.

I am the kind of person who is shy and doesn't express himself much among others. I spend a significant amount of time on introspection（内省）. I lack the ease to engage in conversations with others. But I find this, on the other hand, can be an advantage.

Once, as a school boy, I wondered if I, such an introverted（内向的） person, would be considered eccentric （古怪的）. And I was even afraid that I could possibly get nowhere in my study.

I went to school, where I was just an average student and struggled with shyness. My parents had high expectations, hoping I would finally be able to secure the first position at the end of the sixth grade. However, achieving that was no easy job. Given the keen competition between classmates and my then situation, it was challenging to stand out. I inquired with my friend, Tom, who consistently ranked first, and he revealed that his two aunts had been helping him, providing tutoring support.

Asking for help was never easy for me; my shyness stopped me from seeking assistance. I believed that I had to depend on myself—it was my sole responsibility to learn and educate myself. This mindset surprisingly ignited（激发）a race within me to claim the top position in my class. However, I realized there were barriers on my path--several subjects troubled me. And I understood that achieving the first position would take a couple of years of hard work.

I embarked on（开始） this journey when I was in the fourth grade. Attention focused in class and more time spent after class, I found I was gradually on the right track. By the fifth grade, work on my study was progressing steadily and improvement was obvious. Even Tom showed his surprise or I could say envy. But I knew my performance in writing still needed improving. And I knew, though without additional support, I could count on myself.

注意：

1．续写词数应为150左右；

2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。