I remember believing in Santa when I was a very young girl. However, as I grew older, I learned many 1 that “proved” his nonexistence. Always 2 by nature, I was determined to use 3 to decide whether Santa Claus was 4

    The first year of tests5 when I was 5. I decided that if I 6 all night on Christmas Eve, I could see if Santa really came down the chimney. 7,that was a useless 8. I fell asleep that year, and when I woke up, I saw a 9wrapped present under the10.

    At age 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 11 for Christmas, but this turned into a plot. By then, I 12 knew Santa wasn't real, but I wanted enough 13 to support this. That year was 14, because on Christmas Eve, my mother dragged me to our local Wal-Mart and led me around the toy section. I 15 to say a word, but did let my eyes 16 on a ballet set. I 17 that “Santa” wouldn't know what I wanted because he shouldn't be able to read my 18. However, 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. Christmas morning, there was the ballet set, sitting under the tree again. 19 I didn't use it much, mother ended up returning it a few days later. She 20 Santa was generous enough to leave a receipt. That was the end to my task to discover the existence of Santa.

    I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

    “Mom，come here！There's this lady here my size！”

    The mother rushed to her son；then she turned to me to apologize. I smiled and told her，“It's okay.”

    Then I talked to the boy，“Hi，I'm Darryl Kramer. How are you？”

    He studied me from head to toe，and asked，“Are you a little mommy？”

    “Yes，I have a son，” I answered.

    “Why are you so little？” he asked. “It's the way I was born，”I said.“ Some people are little. Some are tall. I'm just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions，I shook the boy's hand and left.

My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

    It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall .I was born an achondroplasia dwarf(侏儒)．Despite this，I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

    I didn't realize how short I was until I started school. Some kids picked on me，calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

    But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height，I made up for in personality.

    I'm 47 now，and the stares have not diminished as I've grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude，I remind myself，“Look what else I have－a great family，nice friends.”

    It's the children's questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers(a person of the same age，class，position，etc.)，whatever size and shape they come in，and treat them with respect.

They haven't decided to settle in.        is more difficult than they expected. (adjust)

He        agree with the advice given by his boss.

It       for them to offer you the chance.

      scold by the teacher, Tom invented a story to explain why he was late.(scare)

Our country        natural resources.

She        the finest poet in the world. (acknowledge)