As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, rooms to be cleaned. Parents are  with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real . On Christmas Eve, young children find the  almost unbearable（难以忍受的）. They are  between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to  up late so that they will not  the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie  for a long time, hoping to get a short look at Father Christmas.

　　Last Christmas, my wife and I  managed to hide a few large presents in the storeroom. I feared the moment when my son, Jimmy, would  me where that new bike had come from, but  he did not see it.

　　On Christmas Eve, it took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly  when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began  stockings. Then I pushed in the  I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get  sleep that night, for the children were  to get up early. At about five o'clock the next morning, we were woken by loud sounds coming from the children's room － they were shouting excitedly!  I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came  into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary,  close behind pushing her new baby carriage. Even the baby arrived, he moved  the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him. Suddenly it burst. That woke  up completely. The day had really begun with a bang（巨响）.

1.A. faced　　　　 B. met　　　　　 C. filled　　　D. pleased

2.A. question　　　B. matter　　　　C. problem　　　D. business

3.A. joy   　　　B. excitement      C. presents     D. parents

4.A. pulled　　　B. divided　　　C. separated　　  D. torn

5.A. get　　　　 　B. stay　　　　　C. stand　　　 D. wake

    6.A. lose　　　　　B. break　　　　 C. miss　　　　 D. leave

7.A. awake　　　　B. wake　　　　　C. asleep　　　　D. sleep

8.A. hopefully　　B. busily      C. gladly　　D. successfully

9.A. answer　　　 B. tell　　　　　  C. ask　　　　　 D. search

10.A. sadly　　　　B. unluckily   C. possibly　　D. fortunately

11.A. morning　　　B. midnight    C. evening　　　D. daybreak

12.A. filling　　　　B. sewing　　C. mending　　D. preparing

13.A. present　　　 B. stocking　　　 C. bike　　　　　 D. tree

14.A. 1ittle　　　　 B. some　　　　　C. enough　　　 D. much

15.A. sorry　　　　 B. sure　　　　　C. glad　　　　　 D. eager

16.A. Before　　　　B. After　　　　 C. Until　　　　　D. Since

17.A. running　　　 B. laughing　　　 C. shouting　　　 D. riding

18.A. walked　　　　B. moved　　　　C. followed　　　D. jumped

19.A. with　　　　　B. on　　　　　　C. over　　　　 D. by

20.A. him　　　　　B. her　　　　C. me　　　　　　　D. us

完形填空

　　All kinds of people came in to have their shoes shined. Most folks were friendly. But this man was different.

　　“How much do you make a week, boy?”he asked me. I felt he was __1__ at me.

　　He kept giving a sharp __2__ around every now and then. All the time I kept __3__ where I'd seen his face. Suddenly I knew. I'd seen his __4__ in the post office many times. He was the big robber: __5__ by the police in three states!

　　“You know, ”he was saying,“it's imagination people __6__. You'll never get anywhere as a shoeshine boy.”

　　I kept brushing on his shoes as __7__ as I could. The sooner I finished, the better. He said,“When I was sixteen, I had __8__ $ 2 500 of my own.”

　　That reminded me of something. Was it $ 2 500 or $ 5 000 or $ 25 000? I wasn't __9__. I knew a big reward was __10__ for him.

　　But what could I do about it? __11__ him with a can of shoe polish（擦亮剂）? A man his __12__ could grind（压碎）me into the floor. If only someone would come in! He kept talking away（喋喋不休）.“Along with __13__, it takes courage. The courage to take a chance. Start something on a shoestring（鞋带）.”

　　Suddenly I saw Officer Dailey __14__ across the street. Then, real fast, I began tightening the man's shoestrings.

　　The policeman was at the window when I cried out,“Officer Dailey, __15__! This man's a robber.”

　　“__16__,”the man shouted angrily. He started to jump off the stand. But he didn't go the __17__ he planned. He fell flat on his face and knocked himself out cold.

　　“That was __18__ clever of you,”the officer said. “You'll get a reward of $ 7 500 for him.”

　　“Well, it really wasn't my __19__,”I said.“It was his. He told me that __20__ you had courage and imagination, you could start something big on a shoestring.”