Tom and Bertie were students at a boarding school （寄宿学校）． Both were sad because they had to stay at school over the（1）　　 holiday．Tom's parents were far away from home．Bertie's sister was（2）

　　 ， so he couldn't go home until she was well．

    The day before Christmas， the boys were（3）　　fairies（精灵）： whether they were somewhere to make them happy over the Christmas． （4）　　 ， Tom's aunt， Laura， appeared．She invited Tom to her home． Tom's face shone with happiness． However， when he saw Bertie，he turned to his（5）　　．

    "Dear Aunt， "he said， "I am very sorry， but I can't go．" "Can't go？And why not？"

    "Because I can't leave Bertie alone， "he said．" When I was going to be（6）　　，he asked his mother to let me go home with him． And， he has（7）　　 been away from home at Christmas time before， so I can't go without him．"

    For a （8）　　． Aunt Laura looked at Tom as if she could not believe him．Then she caught him in her arms and kissed him．

    "My dear， you shall not（9）　　Bertie． We shall all enjoy ourselves together． Boys， remember，it is kindness that is never wasted in this world． "

    So Bertie and Tom（10）　　that there was such a thing as a fairy after all．

（1）A． summer	B． winter	C． Christmas
（2）A． angry	B． sick	C． lonely
（3）A． playing with	B． fighting with	C． talking about
（4）A． Firstly	B． Suddenly	C． Slowly
（5）A． aunt	B． friend	C． teacher
（6）A． free	B． alone	C． out
（7）A． never	B． ever	C． always
（8）A． week	B． day	C． minute
（9）A． refuse	B． help	C． leave
（10）A． found	B． hoped	C． doubted