(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　One morning, just before Christmas vacation, I was selling tickets to our grade school's last evening performance of The Nutcracker．

　　One of my customers that day was a 　　1　　．He emptied a pocketful of change onto the table．

　　“How many 　　2　　?”I asked．

　　“I don't need tickets,” he said．“I'm paying．”He 　　3　　 the coins across the table．

　　“But you'll need tickets to see the show tonight．”

　　He 　　4　　 his head．“I've already seen the show．”

　　All the school children saw The Nutcracker with their classes that morning．It 　　5　　 for evening performances only．I pushed the pile of nickels, dimes and quarters 　　6　　．“You don't have to 　　7　　 to see the show with your class,” I told him．“That's 　　8　　．”

　　“No,” the boy insisted．“I saw it last night．My brother and I arrived late．We couldn't find anyone to buy tickets from, so we 　　9　　 walked in．”

　　Lots of people in that crowd had probably“just 　　10　　 in”．The few volunteers present couldn't 　　11　　 everyone for a ticket．Who would argue anyway?

　　He pushed his money back to me．“I'm paying now for 　　12　　 night,” he said．I knew this boy and his brother must have squeezed(挤)into the back of that crowd．And being late, they 　　13　　 possibly have seen the whole show．I 　　14　　 to take his money．A pile of coins in a kid's hand is 　　15　　 carefully saved pocket money．I wondered 　　16　　 he'd like to buy with it instead．

　　“If the ticket table was closed when 　　17　　 got there, you couldn't pay,”I reasoned．

　　“That's what my brother said．”

　　“Nobody knows the 　　18　　，”I assured him．“Don't worry about it．”

　　Thinking the matter was 　　19　　, I started to push the coins back．He put his hand on mine．

　　“I know the difference．”

　　For one silent moment, our hands bridged the money．　　20　　 I spoke, “Two tickets cost two dollars．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

(1)

(2)

(3)

　　Glynis Davis：

　　I first piled on the ponds when I was in the family way and I couldn’t lose them afterwards．Then I joined a slimming club．My target was 140 pounds and I lost 30 pounds in six months．I felt great and people kept saying how good I looked．But Christmas came and I started to slip back into my old eating habits．I told myself I’d lose the weight at slimming classes in the new year… but it didn’t happen．Instead of losing the pounds, I put them on．I’d lost willpower and tried to believe that the old bagel of fish and chips didn’t make any difference but the scales don’t lie.?

　　Roz Juma：

　　To be honest, I never weigh myself any more．I’ve leant to be happy with myself．It seemed to me that I would feel sorry about every spoonful of tasty food that passed my lips．My idea is simple．You shouldn’t be too much thinking about food and dieting．Instead, you should get on with life and stop dreaming of a supper-thin body．This is obviously the size I’m meant to be and, most of all, I’m happy with it．

　　Lesley Codwin：

　　I was very happy about winning Young Slimmer of the Year．I’d look in the mirror unable to believe this slim lady was me!That might have been my problem——perhaps from then on I didn’t pay any attention to myself．Winning a national competition makes everything worse, though, because you feel the eyes of the world are fixed upon you．I feel a complete failure because I’ve put on weight again．

　　Ros Langfod：

　　Before moving in with my husband Gavin, I’d always been about 110 pounds, but the pleasant housework went straight to my waist and I put on 15 pounds in a year．Every so often I try to go on a diet… I’m really good on a few days then end up having the children’s leftovers or eating happily chocolate——my weakness．I’d like to be slim, but right now my duty is the children and home．I might take more exercise when my kids are older．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)