On his twenty-fourth birthday their life changed. On the night before his birthday, Mark called Matt, “Hi! Matt,” his voice sounded strange. He continued, “ I have an important project to work on. I’m having some problem with this. Maybe, you could come over and help me with it giving me some new ideas. Could you” Matt asked, “What time” Mark kept in silence for a minute, and then he said, “At 8 pm. Is it good for you” Then Matt answered, “OK! See you later.” At that night, it was Matt’s birthday. So, he didn’t want to spend his birthday helping Mark with his project. Matt went to a club with some other guys.
The next morning, Matt noticed that Mark was acting differently. When he went to talk to Mark, Mark ignored him completely. He left the classroom without saying one word. As Mark was walking away, Matt said in an angry voice, “You are selfish. You are just thinking about yourself. I was having fun on my birthday. Why can’t you understand it”
标准答案
One possible version
While he was saying it, Mallory, one of his classmates and friend, stood up and started to say, “How can you say such thing to Mark You don’t know what happened! Last night, he called you many times, but he didn’t get any answer from you. He worried about what was going wrong with you. He took his car and drove all night looking for you. He looked at the hospital, the jail, and bars ……” Matt started to apologize to Mallory and to himself, saying, “Why did he do it He could work on the project by himself, and ……” At that time Mallory spoke angrily, “Shut up! He had prepared a surprise birthday party for you, and we waited for you or for a call all night long.”
Tears fell from his eyes. Matt didn’t know what to say or what to do. Before he said anything, Mallory had left the classroom. He sat down and stayed there for a long time. He looked around the classroom. It was cold and plain without his friends. It was empty, just like his living room now.
极夜轨迹
Steve, a twelve-year-old boy, was about to be lost forever , by the U.S. education system. Remarkably, he could read, yet, in spite of his reading skills, Steve was failing. He had been failing since first grade, as he was passed on from grade to grade. Steve was a big boy, looking more like a teenager than a twelve year old, yet, Steve went unnoticed…… until Miss White.
Miss White was a smiling, young, beautiful redhead, and Steve was in love! For the first time in his young life, he couldn’t take his eyes off his teacher; yet, still he failed. He never did his homework, and he was always in trouble with Miss White. His heart would break under her sharp words, and when he was punished for failing to turn in his homework, he felt just miserable! Still, he did not study.
In the middle of the first semester of school, the entire seventh grade was tested for basic skills. Steve hurried through his tests, and continued to dream of other things, as the day wore on. His heart was not in school, but in the woods, where he often escaped alone, trying to shut out the sights, sounds and smells of his alcoholic home. No one checked on him to see if he was safe. No one knew he was gone, because no one was sober（清醒的） enough to care. Oddly, Steve never missed a day of school.
One day, Miss White’s impatient voice broke into his daydreams. “Steve!!” Startled, he turned to look at her.
“Pay attention!”
Steve locked his gaze on Miss White with adolescent adoration (青春期的爱慕), as she began to go over the test results for the seventh grade.
“You all did pretty well,” she told the class, “except for one boy, and it breaks my heart to tell you this, but……” She hesitated, pinning Steve to his seat with a sharp stare, her eyes searching his face.
“……The smartest boy in the seventh grade is failing my class!”
She just stared at Steve, as the class spun around for a good look. Steve dropped his eyes and carefully examined his fingertips.
After that, it was war!! Steve still wouldn’t do his homework. Even as the punishments became more severe, he remained stubborn.
“Just try it! ONE WEEK!” He was unmoved.
“You’re smart enough! You’ll see a change!” Nothing fazed him.
“Give yourself a chance! Don’t give up on your life!” Nothing.
“Steve! Please! I care about you!”
Wow! Suddenly, Steve got it!! Someone cared about him? Someone, totally unattainable and perfect, CARED ABOUT HIM??!!