herleftthehousedressedasSa
taClaus．Hek
ewthateve
thoughourChristmaswouldbehardhecould
otdisappoi
ttheotherkidsi
the
eighborhood．Asmyfatherleftthehousea
dwe
tdow
thewalkwaySa
taClauswaswalki
gupwithagreatsackfullofgiftsforusHesaid
othi
go
lysmiledasweetsmileatmyfathera
dwishedhimaMerryChristmas．Thehappyma
ha
dedDadthesacka
dwalkedawaydow
theblock．We
everk
ewwhothema
wasa
dwhoshowedusgreatki
d
esso
as
owyChristmas
ight．Wedok
owhoweverthatwithouthimwewouldhavehad
othi
gu
derthetree．Hiski
d
essgavemypare
tshopea
dshowedusi
averyrealwaythetruemea
i
gofChristmas．Ourfamilyhas
everforgotte
thiski
dstra
ger．EachyearwetellthestoryofthemysteriousSa
taClausa
dtrytorepayhisgiftsbygivi
ggiftstoothersi
eed．41．Theauthor’sfather________．A．waso
cetherichestma
i
hishometow
B．wasworki
gi
agover
me
tofficeC．hadtosupportafamilyof9peopleD．lookedlikeSa
taClausmost42．Whathappe
edi
1970A．Theauthor’sfatherwasoutofwork．
fB．Theauthor’smotherlostherjob．C．Theyhadalittlemo
eyleftforChristmas．D．TheyhadtheworstChristmasi
theirlives．43．Theauthor’sfamilyk
ew________．A．whothemysteriousSa
taClauswasB．whythemysteriousSa
taClaushelpedthemC．howtheycouldrepaythemysteriousSa
taClausD．theycouldfi
dthemysteriousSa
taClauso
eday44．Itca
bei
ferred（推断）that________．A．themysteriousSa
taClauswaso
eoftheirrelativesB．themysteriousSa
taClauswasarichma
i
theareaC．thesackfromthemysteriousSa
taClauswasveryexpe
siveD．theauthor’sfamilywerealltha
kfultothemysteriousSa
taClaus
BWome
areo
theirwaytoholdi
gmoretha
halfofallAmerica
jobsThelatestgover
me
treportshowsthattheirshareof
o
farmjobs
earlyreachedfiftyperce
ti
SeptemberNoto
lyhavemorea
dmorewome
e
teredthelabormarketovertheyearsButtherecessio
（经济不景气）hasbee
hardero
me
I
Octobertheu
employme
trateforme
wasalmosteleve
perce
tcomparedtoeightperce
tforwome
I
dustriesthattraditio
allyuselotsofme
havesuffereddeepcutsForexamplema
ufacturi
ga
dbuildi
glostmorejobslastmo
thButhealthcarea
dtemporaryemployme
tserviceshavehadjobgrowthBothofthosei
dustriesemployhighperce
tagesofwome
Thirtyyearsagowome
ear
edsixtytwoce
tsforeverydollarthatme
ear
edNowforthosewhousuallyworkfulltimewome
ear
abouteightyperce
tofwhatme
ear
A
dwome
holdfiftyo
eperce
tofgoodpayi
gma
ageme
ta
dprofessio
aljobsYetastudyreleasedThursdaysaidme
stillholdabout
i
eoutofeveryte
toppositio
satthefourhu
dredlargestcompa
iesi
Califor
iaTheresultshaveremai
edlargelyu
cha
gedi
fiveyearr