anything but 绝不是;根本不是 nothing but 除 ... 之外;只有 Why did I come today? I wondered . My Christmas 1 contained several people that claimed they wanted nothing, but I knew their feelings would be hurt 2 I didn’t buy them anything, so gift buying was 3 but fun . Hurriedly and 4 , I finished shopping and joined the long checkout lines. In front of me were a boy of about 5 and a younger girl. She carried a beautiful pair of shiny, gold house slippers (拖鞋) . When we finally 5 the checkout register( 付账登记处 ), the girl 6 placed the shoes on the counter( 柜台 ). She treated them as though they were a 7 . “That will be $6.09.” the cashier said. The boy 8 his pockets. He finally came up with $ 3.12. “I guess we will have to put them back,” he 9 said. “We will come back some time, maybe tomorrow.” With that statement. a soft 10 broke from the little girl. “But Jesus would have loved these shoes. “she cried. “Well, we’ll go home and work some more. Don’t cry. We’ll surely 11 ” he said. Quickly I handed $ 3.00 to the cashier (结账员) . These children had waited in line for a long time. And, 12 , it was Christmas. Suddenly a pair of arms came around me and a small voice 13 said. “Thank you, lady.” “What did you 14 when you said Jesus would 1ike the shoes?” I asked. The boy answered, “Our mommy is sick and going to 15 .Daddy said she might go before Christmas to be with Jesus.” The girl spoke. “My Sunday school teacher said the streets in heaven are shiny gold, just like these shoes. Won’t mommy be 16 walking on those streets to 17 these shoes?” My eyes 18 as I looked into her tear-stained (泪痕斑斑的) face. “Yes, ”I answered, “I am 19 she will.” Silently I thanked God for using these children to 20 me of the true spirit of giving.