IrememberbelievinginSantawhenIwasaveryyounggirl．However，asIgrewolder，Ilearnedmany（41）___that“proved”hisnonexistence．Always（42）___bynature，Iwasdeterminedtouse（43）___todecidewhetherSantaClauswas

　　I remember believing in Santa when I was a very young girl．However，as I grew older，I learned many （41）___ that“proved”his nonexistence．Always （42）___by nature，I was determined to use （43）___to decide whether Santa Claus was （44）___．

　　The first year of tests （45）___ when I was 5．I decided that if I （46）___ all night on Christmas Eve，I could see if Santa really came down the chimney．（47）___，that was a useless（48）___．I fell asleep that year，and when I woke up，I saw a （49）___ wrapped present under the （50）___．

　　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 （51）___ for Christmas，but this turned into a plot．By then，I（52）___ knew Santa wasn’t real，but I wanted enough （53）___ to support this．That year was （54）___，because on Christmas Eve，my mother dragged me to our local Wal-Mart and led me around the toy section．I （55）___ to say a word，but did let my eyes （56）___ on a ballet set．I （57）___ that“Santa”wouldn’t know what I wanted because he shouldn’t be able to read my （58）___．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．（59）___I didn’t use it much，mother ended up returning it a few days later．She （60）___ Santa was generous enough to leave a receipt．That was the end to my task to discover the existence of Santa．

　　41．A．theories B．facts C．situations D．choices

　　42．A．cautious B．typical C．curious D．desperate

　　43．A．data B．exams C．tricks D．tests

　　44．A．real B．wise C．merciful D．generous

　　45．A．worked B．happened C．succeeded D．failed

　　46．A．called up B．kept up C．stayed up D．made up

　　47．A．Instead B．Otherwise C．Therefore