Looking for Chon

广东中山市龙山中学 袁丹纯

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难词探意

1. scrape by 艰难度日

2. ramp /ræmp/ n. 斜坡；活动梯

Sometimes Mary hated living so far from work. Mary kept looking at her watch. Today the bus was already fifteen minutes late.

“Maybe I just won't go to work today,” Mary said to herself. But she knew she didn't mean it.She couldn't afford to miss work—with two children to feed. Life was so difficult that it took every penny she made just to scrape by.

That's why she and the children had moved to the country.Rents were cheaper out there. Mary watched the birds flying in the distance. She wanted to be as free as the birds in the sky. Mary sighed. It was hard to work all day at the restaurant and then come home to housework late at night. And late buses didn't make her long days any easier.

As Mary watched, one of the birds seemed to be dropping out of the sky. Only it didn't exactly look like a bird. Somehow it looked more like an airplane. Mary watched as it slowly floated toward her. As the thing came closer, Mary saw that it wasn't a plane either. It looked like a flying lizard! Mary was frozen with fear. She knew that there was no place to hide. She prayed that the thing in front of her would go away. But the ship landed right on the road in front of her. Out came a longramp.

Mary hid her face in her hands. Her whole body was shaking.Next she heard a hissing sound,like gas escaping from a pipe. Then all was quiet. Mary opened her eyes and peeked through her fingers. She couldn't believe what she saw. A woman in a gleaming silver bodysuit was standing a few feet in front of her. She carried a small box and smiled softly.

“Are you Chon?” Mary heard. “What?” Mary asked. “Are you Chon?” the question came again.Mary stared. The woman's lips had not moved! The words had just appeared in Mary's head, like thoughts. “I have a gift for Chon,” the woman said. She opened the box she was holding. Suddenly the air around her seemed to glow with yellow light.

Language

Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentences

1. Life was so difficult that it took every penny she made just to scrape by.

译文：生活太难了，她不得不靠赚来的每一分钱紧巴巴地过日子。

分析：本句中so...that...表示“如此……以至于……”的意思，有因果关系。 she made是定语从句，修饰前面的every penny.

2. Next she heard a hissing sound, like gas escaping from a pipe.

译文：接下来她听到嘶嘶声，好像是管道漏气的声音。

分析：本句的escaping from a pipe为非谓语，修饰前面的gas。

Ⅱ. Useful sentence patterns

Expressions for emotion

1. Sometimes Mary hated living so far from work.

2. She wanted to be as free as the birds in the sky.

3. Mary sighed.

4. Mary was frozen with fear.

5. Mary hid her face in her hands.

6. Her whole body was shaking.

7. She couldn't believe what she saw.

Expressions for environment

1. Mary watched the birds flying in the distance.

2. As Mary watched, one of the birds seemed to be dropping out of the sky.

3. Somehow it looked more like an airplane.

4. Mary watched as it slowly floated toward her.

5. It looked like a flying lizard!

Ⅲ. Sentence pattern to learn

She couldn't afford to miss work—with two children to feed.

分析：“with + 名词+ 非谓语”是一个地道的表达，能给文章增添不少色彩。

仿写：他带着脑子里的很多问题，跑到了数学老师的办公室。

Reading

Check

阅读上面的短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。注意：

1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。Paragraph 1:

It was gold!___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2:

“You are Chon I am looking for,” the woman said.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

写作导引

一、分析语篇，理清要素

要想续写内容与所给材料内容连贯、衔接紧密，必须充分了解所给材料的大意。 本文是一篇记叙文，文章分析如下：

二、阅读续写开头语，展开合理想象

我们可以基于原文本和续写段落首句提供的信息，构思要续写的故事情节。 这一构思分为四步：

第一步，根据已给出的文本判断文章的立意。

根据续写第1段的首句“It was gold！ ”可知，外星人以为她是肖恩，要给她金子。 她会欺骗这个外星人吗？ 从续写第2段首句的You are Chon I am looking for可以看出，上一段中玛丽一些好的行为让外星人确认她就是值得送礼物的肖恩。 譬如，玛丽没有为了生活而欺骗别人，她拥有诚实的品质。 这是本文要传递的价值观。

第二步，围绕续写第1段所给出的段首句“It was gold! ”进行提问构思：

（1）Would Mary pretend she was Chon in order to get the gold?

（2）If she did, what would happen next? Would the alien find out her lie?

（3）If she did not, what would happen next?

（4）Is there any relationship between Mary and Chon?

第三步，根据续写第2段所给出的段首句倒推续写第1段一定要写什么。

分析一下第2段所给出的段首句“‘You are Chon I am looking for,’ the woman said.”可以推断续写第1段中玛丽应该否认了自己是肖恩，而且她做了一些事情让外星人肯定她是肖恩。 如此安排能确保两段之间衔接合理，情节连贯。

第四步，围绕续写第2段所给出的段首句进行提问构思：

（1）How did the alien know that Mary was Chon?

（2）What would Mary do if she was given the gold and how would she feel?

（3）What would be the ending?

三、润色成篇

在续写的过程中要注意“续”的原则，做到主题、情节、语言风格一致。 具体如下：

（1）通过分析，本文的主题是弘扬积极正面价值观的，如诚实，续写时应注意结局的走向；

（2）续写的情节应和前面的开始和发展吻合，根据人物的性格特点进行合理的预测；

（3）前文中有多处心理描写、语言描写和环境描写，且用了大量的非谓语、定语从句和丰富的动词，续写时应关注并模仿这些语言风格；

（4）续写时注意句型长短相间，句型丰富，语法、用词、标点符号的准确性。