As a five-year-old, I didn't know how poor we were. My father would not be home that Christmas Eve. He was in the Army serving overseas. My mother and I worked all afternoon making tree decorations. The kitchen table was crowded with stars made of shiny paper. We were going to get the Christmas tree in the evening, when the prices for them usually dropped.
After sunset, we walked four blocks to a parking lot where they sold Christmas trees. "How much is your cheapest tree?" My mother asked the man standing at the entrance. He held his gloved hands over the fire. "Thirty dollars, miss."
Her smile disappeared, "Nothing for less?" The man picked up a small tree branch and dropped it into the fire. "I just work here. I can't change the price."
The sudden melancholy (忧郁) in my mother's face made me sad. The man looked down at me for what felt like a long time; it probably was only moments. He pointed at a pile of branches in the corner. "Behind it is a tree that we can't sell. You can have it for free."
"Thank you, sir," I said.
There it was, a thing just a little taller than me. It had few branches—almost a ghost (幽灵) of a tree. My mother asked, "Can we take some of these branches?" He waved his arm. "Take it all if you want to, miss."
We headed back home. We set the tree in the living room. I couldn't imagine how we could hang many decorations on such a tree. She was smiling again, "Go to sleep now, son. Santa will decorate the tree for us."
I woke at dawn and rushed into the living room. To my amazement, the tree had a beautiful natural shape. The decorations shone in the morning light. My mother had somehow fixed branches to the tree trunk. A few weeks later, my father returned. When I told him about the tree, tears filled the eyes of that strong soldier.
Since then, I have seen many wonderful holidays. That Christmas remains as my favorite.
Exactly five years ago, on New Year's Eve, I was invited to a children's ball by a man high up in the business world, who had his connections, his circle of acquaintances, and his close friends. So it seemed as though the children's ball was merely an excuse for the parents to come together and discuss matters of interest to themselves, quite innocently and casually.
I was an outsider, and, as I had no special matters to air, I was able to spend the evening independently of the others. There was another gentleman present who like me had just stumbled upon this affair of domestic happiness. He was the first to attract my attention. His appearance was not that of a man of noble birth. He was tall, rather thin, very serious, and well dressed. Obviously he had no heart for the family celebration. The instant he went off into a corner by himself the smile disappeared from his face, and his thick dark brows knitted into a frown. He knew no one except the host and showed every sign of being bored to death, though bravely keeping the role of thorough enjoyment to the end. Later I learned that he was a provincial, had come to the capital on some important business, had brought a letter of recommendation to our host, and our host had taken him under his protection, not at all with love. It was merely out of politeness that he had invited him to the children's ball.
They did not play cards with him. They did not offer him cigars. No one entered into conversation with him. Possibly they recognized the bird by its feathers from a distance. Thus, my gentleman, not knowing what to do with his hands, was compelled to spend the evening stroking his whiskers. His whiskers were really fine, but he stroked them so eagerly that one got the feeling that the whiskers had come into the world first and afterwards the man in order to stroke them.
Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity (阳刚) in which students either sink or swim, the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to conform (符合) to a stereotype, a US study says. Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to conform to the "boy code" of hiding their emotions to be a "real man".
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, warned that boys were being faded by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls. The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys' learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study's author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with specifically "boy-focused" approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision, learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given "hands-on" lessons where they are allowed to walk around. "Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine (女性的) and prefer the modern style in which violence and sexism are major themes," James wrote.
Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to conform to a stereotype that men should be "masterful and in charge" in relationships. "In mixed schools boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means," the study reported.
The teenage years can be a very confusing time filled with anxiety, especially in high school. Here are some powerful tips which can help you succeed in the years.
Know yourself and pick a direction. You may be faced with too many choices in your life and it's unwise to try everything. Consider all the benefits that it brings into your life and then see how you can develop your passion into a possible career option.
Get away from the friends that offer poisonous advice and negativity. There is no place for that kind of behavior at any stage of your life. This does wonders for self-confidence and overall positivity.
Read as much as you can. Stop spending hours in watching your favorite TV shows and instead use that time to invest in yourself by reading. You'll notice in a few days how you begin to see things in a different light.
I am 19 years old, so I understand just how much time can be wasted on technology, especially the Internet and cell phones. Once you spend less time doing things that add no value to your life and instead spend that time enriching yourself, your life begins to shape and turn into exactly what you want it to be.
Make mistakes. Look at a mistake you've made from every possible angle and take the lessons from it. Your teenage years are meant to be spent getting to know yourself. It's okay to make mistakes.
A. Try different things.
B. Just focus on your favorite.
C. Work hard to improve your scores.
D. Limit the time spent on social media.
E. Not all time can you achieve this by trying to be perfect.
F. Pick up a book on anything that expands your knowledge base.
G. And you should value yourself highly enough to get rid of these people.
For the past ten years, my dad and I have attended the same school—he as an administrator and I as a student. Our relationship, in and out of school, has been totally unpredictable.
When I was younger, all 1 my dad said was doctrine (信条). We played games together, and stayed up late reading bedtime stories. I could 2 my dad taking me to school, running into him 3 during the day and riding home with him every afternoon.
As I grew older, we were not as 4 as we used to be. He wasn't cool any more. He wore his socks too high, listened to 5 country music and laughed too loudly in front of my friends. He became a total embarrassment.
However, the 6 that occurred in school were even worse. The worst one happened in seventh grade. My dad came to our New Year party, 7 as Donald Duck, guitar in hand, singing silly songs. Just kill me！I wanted to run away.
This 8 continued into high school, but we somehow began to find a balance. Things started to 9 around the time of my 10th-grade physics project. The 10 was to build a wood bridge with the best strength-to-weight ratio (比率). All the students and physics teachers11. So did my dad, the only administrator! Embarrassed, as usual, I 12 the scene. 13, when I learned from my friends that my dad 14 all competitors and won everyone's admiration, I found that mixed in with my 15 was a touch of pride.
I had needed someone else to show me what I 16 in my dad. It wasn't the fact that he'd won; it was more than that. I began to 17 that we have many of the same values and the same opinions. No matter how much I had tried to 18 him, he still influenced me.
I feel 19 to have such an unusual father. The 20 I have developed with my dad over the years has enabled me to look back and see how I've grown.
When I packed up my life and moved from the comforts of my little hometown to Waco, I remember feeling (lose). All my friends were so excited to start their own lives, but I just wasn't sure I was ready for that yet. Many things worried me. But I hid my fears and when the time (final) came, I (hug) my mother goodbye, made the two-hour one-way drive from Coppel to Waco, and set up my new room.
For the first few (week), I didn't miss home or really feel any kind of emotion at all except tired. There was so much for me to learn that I hadn't had time to think about anything. My energy was directed towards figuring out campus, I was not familiar with at all. I explored every corner, (look) for the perfect place to study. I learned to set (I) a schedule of getting groceries, cleaning my room and doing my laundry on Sundays.
Nowadays, in my second semester, I feel like I have almost adapted the university life. The transition from high school to college wasn't as difficult as my mind made me think it would be. One of the best things college has taught me is how to be (independence).
My Dad's Best Flower
I remember my first home was a small apartment on the second floor with a lovely and spacious balcony (阳台). When my mom was busy in the kitchen, she let me stay on the balcony watching the kids playing in the street. On that balcony I played sometimes with my elder sister, Maria. She was seven years old and when my mon was absent she was like a mother to me. The balcony was a great hobby place for my father. After his work he used to grow carnations (康乃馨) in the flower boxes. His carnations were red, pink and white, and everyone appreciated them for their beauty.
He took care of them with so much love and devotion. He dealt carefully with his flowers like a mother taking care of her baby. Many times I sat on the floor of the balcony for hours observing him and his lovely flowers with patience. He was always doing something on that balcony. He was watering them every day, cleaning the balcony floor, changing the potting soil and when the stems (茎) were thick, strong and high enough, he started his improvement operation like a doctor.
My dad took a tiny knife and with his left hand he held the stem of the carnation and measured the height. Then he made a small mark on the stem with his finger. Afterwards he made a sharp cut with the knife, just enough to fit in a grain of barley (插穗的芽). Then he bandaged the stem with a small bandage. His job was then to water the plants and to take care of them. "No one should touch them", he said to mom. Every day, when he came home from work he went straight to the balcony.
Mom used to tell us: "Do not touch daddy's flowers." For us it was a fascinating experience to watch how the small stems were growing and making flowers. When the carnations had grown big enough, my dad enjoyed watching them every day. We the kids did too.
续写要求：
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；
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4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Para1:
One day, my elder sister, who loved dad very much, had a great idea.
Para 2:
When my dad arrived, he went as usual, straight to the balcony and saw his flowers lying on the floor like dead animals.
