1 . I remember believing in Santa when I was a very young girl. However, as I grew older, I learned many _______ that “proved” his nonexistence. Always_______by nature, I was determined to use _______to decide whether Santa Claus was _______.

The first test_______when I was 5, I decided that if I _______all night on Christmas Eve, I could see if Santa really came down the chimney. _______, that was a useless_______. I fell asleep that year, and when I woke up, I saw a _______ wrapped present under the________.

At the age of 7, I came up with another test to see if Santa was real. That year, I didn’t send out my Christmas letter to Santa because I wanted ________for Christmas. But this turned into a plot. By then, I ________knew Santa wasn’t real, but I wanted enough________to support this. That year was ________. Because on Christmas Eve, my mother dragged me to our local Wal-Mart led me around the toy section. I ________ to say a word, but did let my eyes ________on a ballet set. I________that “Santa” wouldn’t know what I wanted because he shouldn’t be able to read my ________. However, my mother would know everything that caught my eyes in the store. If I got the ballet set the next morning, I would have my evidence. On Christmas morning, there was the ballet set, sitting under the tree again.________I didn’t use it much, my mother ended up returning it a few days later. She ________ Santa was generous enough to leave a receipt. That was the end to my task to discover the existence of Santa.