1 . A Doll from Santa

Alice‟s mother died when she was five years old. That year was 1925, and life was hard. Alice, who grew up to be my mother, told me that her family was too ________to even afford to give her a doll.

One afternoon in December 1982, I was decorating the tree to prepare for the Christmas season. A young lady ________me with a sample of her handiwork: beautiful handmade ______. She was taking orders for Christmas. I decided to get one for my daughter, Katie, who was almost five years old. Then I had an idea. I asked the lady if she could make me a _____doll for my mother — one with gray hair and a pair of glasses: a grandmother doll.

The doll maker felt that this idea was certainly ___and took it on as a creative challenge. So I placed my Christmas ___: two dolls, one blonde and one gray-haired for Christmas morning! Things really started to fall into place   ________a friend had told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus in my area, would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home to   __________my Katie her presents!

Christmas Day arrived and at the planned time, ___did Santa Claus. Katie was delighted that Santa had come to see her at her   ________house, the happiest I had ever seen her in her young life. My mother was enjoying watching her granddaughter‟s _______to the visit from this special guest. As Santa turned to leave, he looked once more into his bag and took out one more   _____. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, surprised by her name being called, ___that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift, which was accompanied by a message card that read: For Alice,

I was cleaning out my sleigh before my ________this year and came across this package that was supposed to be delivered on December 25, 1925. The present inside has _______, but I felt that you might   _________wish to have it. Many apologies for the_________of the gift.

Love, Santa Claus

My mother‟s reaction was one   of   the   greatest   deeply   ____scenes   I have   ever witnessed. She couldn‟t speak but only gazed at the doll she had          _________fifty-seven years as tears of joy running down her cheeks. That doll, given by “Santa”, made my mother the happiest “__________” alive.

2 . A trip across the Pacific will guarantee you a different experience with a tipping culture you’ve never come across in China.

In the US, giving a little _______ money to service workers on top of your bill is a common _______.

Though US national law _______that businesses pay workers at least $7.25 (45 yuan) per hour, employees receiving tips—often waiters and waitresses—are the exceptions. They _______ only receive $2.13 an hour, and tips _______the difference. As the Wall Street Journal put it, “The American system of tipping holds the promise of great _______ for waiting staff.”

So how should you tip if you are in the US?

_______you pay tips as a percentage of the bill. Offering an extra 15 percent of the _______to the waiter or waitress in a restaurant and to the delivery man or woman is customary and _______. You can offer more for great service and less for ________ service.

Yet there is an________. For take-out food, you don’t have to ________tips for the sellers. Tipsare not expected at fast food restaurants, cafés or ice cream shops either, though a tip jar ________be right by the cash register (收银机). Don’t feel obligated to throw some money in, remembering that it doesn’t hurt. Those workers do not __________on tips.

Other service workers also receive tips. For taxi drivers, 15 percent is the norm (标准), ________if they help with your bags. The same goes for tour guides.

Today, you can even pay tips on a credit card. When receiving a copy of the bill to sign, you

________thinking about when to tip and how much you should tip causes a big ________for many Chinese people, it’s important to________in mind that as long as you show respect and use your reasoning, things will be just ________.