As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent and rooms to be cleaned．Parents are 1 with a difficul job of hiding presents from curious young children．If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real 2 ．On Christmas Eve, young children find the excitement almost unbearable．They are torn between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to 3 up late so that they will not 4 the fun．The wish for gifts usually proves stronger．But though children go to bed early, they often lie 5 for a long time, hoping to get a short 6 at Father Christmas．?
Last Christmas, my wife and I 7 hid a few large presents in the storeroom．I 8 the moment when my son, Jimmy, would 9 me where that new bike had come from, but 10 he did not see it．
On Christmas Eve, 11 took the children hours to go to sleep．It must have been nearly 12 when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began 13 stockings．Then I pushed in the 14 I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree．We knew we would not get much sleep that night, for the children were 15 to get up early．At about five o’clock the next morning, we were 16 by loud sounds coming from the children’s room．They were shouting excitedly! 17 I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came riding into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary, followed close behind pushing her new baby carriage． 18 the baby arrived．He moved 19 the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him．Suddenly it burst．That woke us up 20 ．The day had really begun with a bang(巨响)．
Since my family were not going to be helpful,I decided I would look for one all by myself and not tell them about it till I'd got one．
I had seen an agency（中介机构）advertised in a local newspaper．I rushed out of the 1 in search of it．I was wildly excited,and as 2 as if I were going on the stage．Finding the 3 quite easily,I ran breathlessly through a door which said“Enter without knocking,if you please．”
The simple atmosphere of the office 4 me．The woman looked carefully at me 5 through her glasses,and then 6 me in a low voice．I answered softly．All of a sudden I started to feel rather 7 She wondered why I was looking for this sort of 8 ．I felt even more helpless whenshe told me that it would be 9 to get a job without 10 ．I wondered whether I ought to leave, 11 the telephone on her desk rang．I heard her say．
“ 12 ,I've got someone in the 13 at this very moment who might 14 ．”She wrote down a 15 ,and held it out to me,saying;“Ring up this lady．She wants a 16 immediately．In fact,you would have to start tomorrow by cooking a dinner for ten people．”
“Oh,yes,”said I 17 having cooked for more than four in my life．I 18 her again and again,and rushed out to the 19 telephone box．I collected my thoughts,took a deep breath,and rang the number．I said confidently that I was just what she was looking for．