I will never forget the year I was about twelve years old. My mother told us that we would not be (16) Christmas gifts because there was not enough money. I felt sad and thought, "What would I say when the other kids asked what I’ d (17) " Just when I started to (18) that there would not be a Christmas that year, three women (19) at our house with gifts for all of us. For me they brought a doll. I felt such a sense of (20) that I would no longer have to be embarrassed when I returned to school. I wasn’t (21) . Somebody had thought (22) of me to bring me a gift.
Years later, when I stood in the kitchen of my new house, thinking how I wanted to make my (23) Christmas there special and memorable, I (24) remembered the women’s visit. I decided that I wanted to create that same feeling of (25) for as many children as I could possibly reach.
So I (26) a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help. We gathered about 125 orphans (孤儿) at the Christmas party. For every child, we wrapped colorful packages filled with
toys, clothes, and school supplies, (27) with a child’ s name. We wanted all of them to know they were (28) Before I called out their names and handed them their gifts, I (29) them that they couldn’t open their presents (30) every child had come forward. Finally the (31) they had been waiting for came as I called out, "One, two, three. Open your presents!" As the children opened their packages, their faces beamed and their bright smiles (32) up the room. The (33) in the room was obvious, and (34) wasn’ t just about toys. It was a feeling, and the feeling I knew (35) that Christmas so long ago when the women came to visit. I wasn’t forgotten. Somebody thought of me. I matter.
24().
A. hardly
B. instantly
C. regularly
D. occasionally