He looks sleepy. He must last night, writing the essay.

Don't sit there . Come and help me with the table.

—有可能是我们的语文老师,他总穿红衣服。（be）

—Who over there?

—It may be our Chinese teacher who is always dressed in red.

    This was my grandmother's first Christmas without grandfather. When we reached her house, it did seem a little 1 without grandfather.

    Grandfather had always said the Christmas 2 was the most important. So we set to work assembling (组装) the beautiful 3 tree that was stored in grandfather's closet (储藏柜). After we finished, we stepped back to 4 our work. It looked wonderful. But something was 5.

    "Where's the star?"I asked. It was my grandmother's 6. As we emptied box after box and found no star, my grandmother's eyes 7 with tears. Grandfather had given it to grandmother fifty years ago. Now, on her first Christmas without 8, the star was gone, too.

    "Let's 9 in the closet where the tree was, "my sister Donna said. We 10 under beds and over shelves, inside and outside 11we had excluded every possibility. We could see grandmother was 12, although she tried not to show it. By now, it was 13 outside, and time for bed, as Santa would soon be here.

    The next morning, my sister and I 14 early to see what Santa had left under the tree. After breakfast, the family sat together to 15 presents."The last gift is to grandmother from grandfather. "Father said, in a puzzled voice.

    "From who?"There was 16 in my grandmother's voice.

    "I found that 17 in the closet when we got the tree down, "Mother explained.

    My grandmother opened it. Her face lit up when she pulled out a(n) 18 golden star. There was a note attached. Her voice trembled (颠抖) as she read it:

    Don't be 19 with me, dear. I broke your star while putting away the tree. Thought it was time for a new one, I hope it brings you as much 20 as the first one. Merry Christmas.

    Danielle Steel, America's sweetheart, is one of the hardest working women in the book business. Unlike other productive authors who write one book at a time, she can work on up to five. Her research before writing takes at least three years. Once she has fully studied her subjects, ready to dive into the book, she can spend twenty hours nonstop at her desk.

    Danielle Steel comes from New York and was sent to France for her education. After graduation, she worked in the public relations and advertising industries. Later she started a job as a writer which she was best fit for. Her achievements are unbelievable: 390 million copies of books in print, nearly fifty New York Times best-selling novels, and a series of "Max and Martha" picture books for children to help them deal with the real-life problems of death, new babies and new schools. Her 1998 book about the death of her work shot to the top of the New York Times best-selling list as soon as it came out. Twenty-eight of her books had been made into films. She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for one of her books being the Times best-seller for 381 weeks straight.

    Not satisfied with a big house, a loving family, and a view of the Golden GateBridge, Danielle Steel considers her readers to be the most important resource and has kept in touch with them by e-mail. While she is often compared to the heroines of her own invention, her life is undoubtedly much quieter. But, if she does have anything in common with them, it is her strength of will and her inimitable (独特的) style. There is only one Danielle Steel.

The spirits of giving

    Two weeks before Christmas, two girls were walking down the street, laughing on some ice that remained from a recent snow. Merrily they shared what they hoped to 1from Christmas.

    They stopped to talk to an old man named Harry, who was on his knees2weeds around a large oak tree. He wore a pair of 3garden gloves. His fingers were sticking out of the ends, blue from the4.

    Harry told them he was getting the yard in 5as a Christmas gift for his mother, who had died several years before. He said with his eyes 6with tears,"My mother was all I had. She loved her7and her trees, so I do this for her at Christmas."

    His words8the girls and soon they were down on their hands and knees helping him 9around the trees. When they were finished, Harry pressed a quarter into each of their hands and said, "I wish I could 10 you more, but it's all I've got right now."

    The girls had often passed his house, and as they 11 on they remembered that the house was always12. No decorations to add cheerfulness were anywhere in sight. Harry sat behind curtain windows, looking 13.

    The quarter in one little girl's palm(手心) seemed to burn a hole of guilt 14 they walked on. The next day she called her friend and they 15 to put their quarters in a jar marked "Harry's Christmas Present". Then they began to seek out small jobs to16more. Every nickel, dime and quarter they earned went into the jar.

    Two days before Christmas, they had enough money to buy new 17and a card. Christmas Eve found them18Harry's doorstep singing carols(圣诞颂歌). When Harry opened the door, they presented him with the gloves wrapped in pretty paper and a19pumpkin pie a mother had just baked. With 20hands he tore open the paper from the gloves, and then to their surprise, he held them to his face and wept.